1

After a kernel update of Kubuntu 19.10 (i.e., via normal updates), wifi has stopped working, and the driver is not loaded anymore. I have tried to run sudo modprobe -v iwlwifi unsuccessfully with this result:

insmod /lib/modules/5.3.0-24-generic/updates/dkms/compat.ko 
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'iwlwifi': Operation not permitted

I believe this may be due to SecureBoot and the fact that I need to sign the iwlwifi module.

I found this example for signing kernel modules for SecureBoot and tried it out for the VirtualBox example shown there. This worked for VirtualBox. (It had bothered me for a while that VirtualBox didn't work anyway.) Then I tried the same thing with iwlwifi as follows:

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./MOK.priv ./MOK.der $(modinfo -n iwlwifi)

But this time, there was no effect. The error message above ("Operation not permitted") persisted.

I tried disabling SecureBoot in the BIOS, but then Kubuntu wouldn't start up anymore. I could enter the password, but then the desktop was grayed out and the system froze.

So I switched Secure Boot back on. When listing yesterday's updates, grep " upgrade " /var/log/dpkg.log yielded, among other things:

2019-12-07 09:47:31 upgrade backport-iwlwifi-dkms:all 7906-0ubuntu1 7906-0ubuntu2~19.10.1

In my attempt to fix things, I deinstalled and subsequently re-installed backport-iwlwifi-dkms. While re-installing, I was guided through the process for signing the module for Secure Boot. This looked promising initially, but after a reboot, the system would not start anymore. So now I am getting a freezing system with a grayed out desktop with or without Secure Boot activated. I can still boot into the previous kernel version from the boot menu, though.

Eoan backports are enabled in the sources list.

While in the previous kernel version, dkms status yields the following output:

backport-iwlwifi, 7906, 5.3.0-24-generic, x86_64: installed (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!)
virtualbox, 6.0.14, 5.3.0-23-generic, x86_64: installed
virtualbox, 6.0.14, 5.3.0-24-generic, x86_64: installed (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!)

And ls -al /lib/modules/*/updates/dkms yields the following output:

/lib/modules/5.3.0-23-generic/updates/dkms:
total 636
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   4096 Dec  8 15:33 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root   4096 Nov 15 09:06 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 547635 Nov 15 09:06 vboxdrv.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  15523 Nov 15 09:06 vboxnetadp.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  38803 Nov 15 09:06 vboxnetflt.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  36331 Nov 15 09:06 vboxpci.ko

/lib/modules/5.3.0-24-generic/updates/dkms:
total 4408
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Dec  8 15:37 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root    4096 Dec  7 09:49 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1124323 Dec  8 15:37 cfg80211.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    7227 Dec  8 15:37 compat.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  684483 Dec  8 15:37 iwlmvm.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  676194 Dec  8 12:29 iwlwifi.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   82699 Dec  8 15:37 iwlxvt.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1272979 Dec  8 15:37 mac80211.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  548088 Dec  8 12:06 vboxdrv.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   15523 Dec  7 09:49 vboxnetadp.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   38803 Dec  7 09:49 vboxnetflt.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   36331 Dec  7 09:49 vboxpci.ko

Edit: @heynnema asked me to post the output of several commands as part of his answer below:

Step 3:

ls -al /etc/modprobe.d:

total 60
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Dec  5 13:52 .
drwxr-xr-x 143 root root 12288 Dec  7 09:49 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 root root  2507 Jul 31  2015 alsa-base.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   154 Aug  1 02:54 amd64-microcode-blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   325 Apr 30  2019 blacklist-ath_pci.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root  1518 Apr 30  2019 blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   210 Apr 30  2019 blacklist-firewire.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   677 Apr 30  2019 blacklist-framebuffer.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   156 Jul 31  2015 blacklist-modem.conf
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root    41 Oct 31 12:22 blacklist-oss.conf -> /lib/linux-sound-base/noOSS.modprobe.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   583 Apr 30  2019 blacklist-rare-network.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   127 Oct  3 10:38 dkms.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   154 Sep 30 19:37 intel-microcode-blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   347 Apr 30  2019 iwlwifi.conf

more /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf:

# /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf
# iwlwifi will dyamically load either iwldvm or iwlmvm depending on the
# microcode file installed on the system.  When removing iwlwifi, first
# remove the iwl?vm module and then iwlwifi.
remove iwlwifi \
(/sbin/lsmod | grep -o -e ^iwlmvm -e ^iwldvm -e ^iwlwifi | xargs /sbin/rmmod) \
&& /sbin/modprobe -r mac80211

dkms status shows nothing. ls -al /lib/modules/*/updates/dkms:

total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Dec  8 17:25 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Dec  7 09:49 ..

sudo lshw -C network:

  *-network:0 UNCLAIMED     
       description: Network controller
       product: Cannon Point-LP CNVi [Wireless-AC]
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 14.3
       bus info: pci@0000:00:14.3
       version: 30
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:c9738000-c973bfff
  *-network:1
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: Ethernet Connection (6) I219-LM
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 1f.6
       bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.6
       logical name: enp0s31f6
       version: 30
       serial: 98:fa:9b:d4:56:64
       size: 1Gbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e1000e driverversion=3.2.6-k duplex=full firmware=0.4-3 ip=192.168.1.213 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=1Gbit/s
       resources: irq:147 memory:c9700000-c971ffff

Step 4:

Un- and re-installed virtualbox (as virtualbox-6.0 did not exist). The remaining two commands in Step 4 do not return anything.

Step 5:

ls -al /lib/modules/5.3.0-24-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/iwlwifi.ko:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 640985 Nov 13 22:41 /lib/modules/5.3.0-24-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/iwlwifi.ko

modinfo iwlwifi:

filename:       /lib/modules/5.3.0-24-generic/updates/dkms/iwlwifi.ko
modinfo: ERROR: could not get modinfo from 'iwlwifi': No such file or directory

dpkg -l *virtualbox*:

Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name                           Version       Architecture Description
+++-==============================-=============-============-============================================================
ii  virtualbox                     6.0.14-dfsg-1 amd64        x86 virtualization solution - base binaries
un  virtualbox-2.0                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-2.1                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-2.2                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-3.0                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-3.1                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-3.2                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-4.0                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-4.1                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-4.2                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-4.3                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-5.0                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-5.1                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-5.2                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-6.0                 <none>        <none>       (no description available)
ii  virtualbox-dkms                6.0.14-dfsg-1 all          x86 virtualization solution - kernel module sources for dkms
un  virtualbox-guest-additions-iso <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-guest-dkms          <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-guest-modules       <none>        <none>       (no description available)
un  virtualbox-modules             <none>        <none>       (no description available)
ii  virtualbox-qt                  6.0.14-dfsg-1 amd64        x86 virtualization solution - Qt based user interface
un  virtualbox-source              <none>        <none>       (no description available)

cat /etc/network/interfaces:

cat: /etc/network/interfaces: No such file or directory

cat /etc/netplan/*.yaml:

# Let NetworkManager manage all devices on this system
network:
  version: 2
  renderer: NetworkManager

Step 6:

VirtualBox cannot be opened. Error message:

Kernel driver not installed (rc=-1908)

The VirtualBox Linux kernel driver is either not loaded or not set up correctly. Please reinstall virtualbox-dkms package and load the kernel module by executing

'modprobe vboxdrv'

as root.

If your system has EFI Secure Boot enabled you may also need to sign the kernel modules (vboxdrv, vboxnetflt, vboxnetadp, vboxpci) before you can load them. Please see your Linux system's documentation for more information.

where: suplibOsInit what: 3 VERR_VM_DRIVER_NOT_INSTALLED (-1908) - The support driver is not installed. On linux, open returned ENOENT.

Enabled the backports, wanted to re-install backport-iwlwifi-dkms, but it was already there. I clicked on re-install. After that, dkms status returned backport-iwlwifi, 7906, 5.3.0-24-generic, x86_64: installed. Output of sudo lshw -C network:

  *-network:0               
       description: Network controller
       product: Cannon Point-LP CNVi [Wireless-AC]
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 14.3
       bus info: pci@0000:00:14.3
       version: 30
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list
       configuration: driver=iwlwifi latency=0
       resources: irq:16 memory:c9738000-c973bfff
  *-network:1
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: Ethernet Connection (6) I219-LM
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 1f.6
       bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.6
       logical name: enp0s31f6
       version: 30
       serial: 98:fa:9b:d4:56:64
       size: 1Gbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e1000e driverversion=3.2.6-k duplex=full firmware=0.4-3 ip=192.168.1.213 latency=0 lin
       resources: irq:147 memory:c9700000-c971ffff

ls -al /lib/modules/*/updates/dkms:

total 3776
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root    4096 Dec  8 18:48 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root    4096 Dec  7 09:49 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1124323 Dec  8 18:48 cfg80211.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root    7227 Dec  8 18:48 compat.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  684483 Dec  8 18:48 iwlmvm.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  674835 Dec  8 18:48 iwlwifi.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   82699 Dec  8 18:48 iwlxvt.ko
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1272979 Dec  8 18:48 mac80211.ko
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  • Do you mean a "kernel update" as a part of a normal update, or did you manually change the kernel? Do you have the backports repo enabled in your Software & Updates? Edit your question and show me dkms status and sudo modinfo compat.
    – heynnema
    Dec 8, 2019 at 15:36
  • I have updated the question after your input as well as some new developments. I currently cannot show the output you are asking for, at least not with the most recent kernel, because of those developments mentioned in the last paragraph of the question. Should I run them with the previous kernel? Dec 8, 2019 at 16:27
  • Boot to the prior kernel, and show me dkms status. I don't think that sudo modinfo compat will work then. Disable the backports repo. Once I see the dkms output, I'll write an answer for you. Start comments to me with @heynnema or I may miss them.
    – heynnema
    Dec 8, 2019 at 16:32
  • Done; see latest edits at the end of the question. And you are right that the second command returns an error. Dec 8, 2019 at 16:35
  • Thanks for the dkms info. You have a few problems. Show me ls -al /lib/modules/*/updates/dkms. Remember the @heynnema
    – heynnema
    Dec 8, 2019 at 16:38

1 Answer 1

1

Step #1

Boot to the prior kernel.

At least temporarily disable the backports repo and update the software databases.

In terminal...

sudo dkms remove backport-iwlwifi/7906 --all # remove dkms driver

sudo dkms remove virtualbox/6.0.14 --all # remove dkms driver

dkms status # should show nothing

ls -al /lib/modules/*/updates/dkms # recheck dkms directories

Boot to the newer kernel, and check if wifi works again.


Step #2

sudo rm -i /lib/modules/5.3.0-24-generic/updates/dkms/iwlwifi.ko

sudo rm -i /lib/modules/5.3.0-24-generic/updates/dkms/vboxdrv.ko

ls -al /lib/modules/*/updates/dkms # should show nothing

reboot # reboot the system

recheck wifi.


Step #3

ls -al /etc/modprobe.d # show me conf files

more /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf # show me

dkms status # should be nothing

ls -al /lib/modules/*/updates/dkms # should show nothing

sudo lshw -C network # show me network config


Step #4

sudo apt-get remove virtualbox # uninstall VB

sudo apt-get install virtualbox # reinstall VB

dkms status # show me

ls -al /lib/modules/*/updates/dkms # show me


Step #5

ls -al /lib/modules/5.3.0-24-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlwifi/iwlwifi.ko # show me original iwlwifi kernel module

modinfo iwlwifi # kernel module info

dpkg -l *virtualbox* # show me

cat /etc/network/interfaces # show me

cat /etc/netplan/*.yaml # show me


Step #6

Now... to bravely move ahead...

dkms status # should show virtualbox, with no errors

Try Virtualbox and make sure it works.

Re-enable the backports repo and update the software database.

Run Software Updater # reinstall backport-iwlwifi-dkms

Don't re-sign the iwlwifi module for now.

dkms status # show me again

sudo lshw -C network # show me again

ls -al /lib/modules/*/updates/dkms # show me again

retest wifi


Final...

  • booted to the prior, working, kernel

  • we uninstalled the backport-iwlwifi dkms kernel module

  • booted back to the -24 kernel

  • removed and reinstalled virtualbox and virtualbox-dkms

  • re-signed the virtualbox kernel modules

  • wifi and virtualbox both working now

1
  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat.
    – Thomas Ward
    Dec 9, 2019 at 2:26

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