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I have Ubuntu 14.04 running on a Compaq CQ60 laptop. Ever since I installed Ubuntu (back on 12.04), the "toggle wireless" button next to the power button hard locks the WiFi adapter, causing me to have to run the sudo rfkill unlock wifi command in Terminal.

Issue is, other people use the computer and press the button by accident when I'm not around to fix it, causing the laptop to be (basically) useless. I'm looking for a way to change the button's action or disable it entirely. I've seen a lot of questions on here having to do with the power button, but not the wireless toggle button.

About all I know about it is it's a ACPI button and it worked properly when Windows ran on the computer. (Ew) Does anyone know how to change its' ACPI action and/or where its' ACPI action script is located on the filesystem?

Thanks for reading!

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  • Is the module hp-wmi loaded? check from the terminal: lsmod Is the behavior improved if you remove the module entirely? sudo modprobe -r hp-wmi If so, we can simply blacklist it.
    – chili555
    Jun 20, 2014 at 20:26
  • The module appears to be called hp_wmi. When I ran that command, suddenly the button works as it should. If you press it again, it will re-enable the WiFi as expected. But for future reference, why don't you post that and how to disable it entirely as an answer to this question.
    – user101351
    Jun 20, 2014 at 21:20

1 Answer 1

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Now that we know that the module hp_wmi is blocking the wireless, let's blacklist it. From the terminal:

echo "blacklist hp_wmi" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-hp.conf

Reboot and you should be all set.

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  • Sadly, that didn't disable the button entirely. Do I need to undo the sudo modprobe -r hp_wmi command I ran earlier to make it work? (Would I replace the -r with an -a?
    – user101351
    Jun 21, 2014 at 3:55
  • To reload the module, simply do: sudo modprobe hp-wmi. Can you confirm that if it is blacklisted, the behavior is not correct, but if removed after boot; i.e. modprobe -r, the behavior is correct?
    – chili555
    Jun 21, 2014 at 11:52
  • The blacklist doesn't change anything. modprobe -r makes it the behavior correct, but blacklisting it after that does nothing.
    – user101351
    Jun 21, 2014 at 21:33
  • The blacklist only blocks the module on boot. Are you confirming that on fresh boot, with the blacklist in place, the behavior is incorrect?
    – chili555
    Jun 21, 2014 at 22:52
  • By behavior, I assume you mean the LED color of the button. Blacklist, or no blacklist, the behavior is correct, but the button isn't disabled. Does that make sense?
    – user101351
    Jun 22, 2014 at 20:33

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