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I just did a clean install, overwriting my old Windows. I'm pretty much a novice and don't know where to start. I've tried reading a few answers that seemed relevant but find it all a bit confusing, the people asking seem to have a better grasp on using terminal code etc than I do and I don't want to take any risks.

Currently, I'm doing a full update using an ethernet cable - hoping that might fix it but suspect from the questions I've seen on my adapter it probably won't.

My wireless adapter is a Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter.

When I go into the network setting and try to turn on the wireless it turns on for half a second then turns off.

Bearing in mind I am a complete novice, is anyone able to assist in getting the wireless working?

Hardware details:

connor@connor-X450JF:~$ sudo lspci -nn 
[sudo] password for connor: 
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor DRAM Controller [8086:0c04] (rev 06)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor PCI Express x16 Controller [8086:0c01] (rev 06)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0416] (rev 06)
00:03.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller [8086:0c0c] (rev 06)
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI [8086:8c31] (rev 04)
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 [8086:8c3a] (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #2 [8086:8c2d] (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset High Definition Audio Controller [8086:8c20] (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #1 [8086:8c10] (rev d4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #3 [8086:8c14] (rev d4)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #4 [8086:8c16] (rev d4)
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family USB EHCI #1 [8086:8c26] (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation HM86 Express LPC Controller [8086:8c49] (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode] [8086:8c03] (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 8 Series/C220 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller [8086:8c22] (rev 04)
01:00.0 3D controller [0302]: NVIDIA Corporation GK107M [GeForce GT 745M] [10de:0fe3] (rev a1)
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter [168c:0032] (rev 01)
04:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Qualcomm Atheros QCA8171 Gigabit Ethernet [1969:10a1] (rev 10)

rfkill list

connor@connor-X450JF:~$ rfkill list
0: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: yes
    Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no

UPD: Tried rfkill unblock 0 no output to report, wireless still cannot be enabled

Tried rfkill unblock acer-wirelessgave output Bogus unblock argument 'acer-wireless'.

UPD: Installed Ubuntu 13.10 from the website - here is the output from if config

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 74:d0:2b:e7:1f:8c  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:19 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:882 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:882 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:84283 (84.2 KB)  TX bytes:84283 (84.2 KB)

usb0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr fa:b6:e0:ab:ce:3a  
          inet addr:192.168.42.17  Bcast:192.168.42.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::f8b6:e0ff:feab:ce3a/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:2754 errors:2 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:2
          TX packets:2673 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:2204062 (2.2 MB)  TX bytes:488800 (488.8 KB)

Here's iwconfig

usb0      no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=16 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off

The rfkill list:

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: yes
    Hard blocked: no

So I ran sudo rfkill unblock all and nothing happened:

connor@connor:~$ sudo rfkill unblock all
connor@connor:~$ rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: yes
    Hard blocked: no

UPD: Using this troubleshooting guide I ran sudo lshw

Here is the output:

configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:18 memory:f7900000-f79fffff
           *-network DISABLED
                description: Wireless interface
                product: AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter
                vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
                logical name: wlan0
                version: 01
                serial: 24:fd:52:79:9c:53
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical wireless

I can't make heads or tails of it. Anyone else? Is driver=pcieport even a driver?

A million rep points from me for Danatela - how can I reward this wonderful human being for all his/her help?

9
  • OK, thank you for taking the time @Danatela - I understand you are a volunteer and I appreciate what you do
    – ConnorJ
    Mar 31, 2014 at 10:23
  • @ChrisR. asks: A soft block is usually the wireless being switched off on by the keyboard. Is there a function key that turns the wireless on off (usually looks like a radio tower with radio waves coming from it)?
    – Danatela
    Apr 7, 2014 at 15:46
  • Well, I did soft block my wireless once, this is the link for how I solved it: askubuntu.com/questions/62730/…
    – mmm3743
    Apr 10, 2014 at 9:06
  • Keyboard button doesn't work
    – ConnorJ
    Apr 11, 2014 at 10:47
  • @mmm3743 How do I "save"? I pasted the code line by line as per the first reply but the commands at the end had no option for saving?
    – ConnorJ
    Apr 11, 2014 at 10:51

3 Answers 3

2

Is the module asus_nb_wmi loaded? Check:

#lsmod | grep asus

If so, please try a driver parameter:

#sudo -i
#echo "options asus_nb_wmi wapf=0" > /etc/modprobe.d/asus.conf
#exit

Reboot and see if the Fn+F2 behavior is changed. If not, try the sequence above again, but with the integer 1 or then 4.

1
  • Nope. I tried "1" because that's the output from the lsmod | grep asus command. WHICH IT DOES NOW!!! W00000!
    – ConnorJ
    Apr 11, 2014 at 12:12
0

Try rfkill list

$ rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
1: asus-wlan: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no

If it shows some devices are soft-blocked, run rfkill unblock ID where ID is number of device. For you solution is to run:

sudo rfkill unblock all

Also try to switch aerial on/off using keyboard. On my notebook it sometimes helps. I use Fn+F11 chord. And the icon looks like threetheethed fork or like the radio – as ChrisR. says.

If it shows that device is hard-blocked, you should unplug your notebook, remove the battery, then press and hold the power button for a while, then try it.

THE SOLUTION

with credits to mmm3743 and fossfreedom

from Cannot change soft block setting to "no" for AR9287 Wireless Network

Copy and paste (line by line) the following into a terminal:

sudo modprobe -r acer-wmi
cd /etc/modprobe.d
sudo nano blacklist.conf

Then add blacklist acer-wmi as a new line at the end of the file.

Save and reboot.

17
  • Updated original - it said "bogus" unblock argument for ID. Also, the device is inside my laptop so won't be able to do a hard reset like you describe
    – ConnorJ
    Mar 28, 2014 at 7:18
  • No hard block on the rfkill list, there is a soft block though - see original post
    – ConnorJ
    Mar 28, 2014 at 7:21
  • Would you believe the laptop has an inbuilt battery that I can't remove, lol? I tried the unblock acer-wireless, it still says bogus argument
    – ConnorJ
    Mar 28, 2014 at 7:31
  • No output - still can't enable wireless
    – ConnorJ
    Mar 28, 2014 at 7:56
  • No output doesn't mean rfkill failed it means something else is broken. Mar 28, 2014 at 7:58
0

I am not sure that my answer will definitely work but you can give it a try. Actually the wireless problem has become a common problem in Ubuntu 12.04 and it happened with me too when I installed Ubuntu 12.04. Here is what I did to make it working:

  1. First connect with any wired Internet connection or USB Dongle; It will be needed to download the drivers and it is only one time work.
  2. Open terminal and execute this command:

    sudo jockey-gtk
    

    this application will search for all available drivers and try to download and install if missing.

  3. Once successfully finished, you'll get that some wireless drives has been installed. Just restart your system once.

Hope it works for you too. Reply what happens!

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