wifi LED not working in Dell Vostro A860

[drskartik]

I have Dell Vostro A860 with ubuntu jaunty 9.04 installed.
My wifi light(LED) is not working though I have no problems in running the wifi. I don't know if it is a hardware or a software problem(the comp is few months old only), is there any way to check it out. Dell support center could not solve the problem, I have tried upgrading to the latest BIOS version also. Has anyone else faced the same problem, i could find one post for the same problem in 8.04 http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=936167&highlight=wifi+LED.
regards
Kartik

[lornaleeming]

The WiFi LED can be turned on and off; press Fn key + F2 key to activated/deactivate the LED. This may be all you need to do!
LornaLeeming

[drskartik]

I tried that now but with no success.
Kartik

[Heero_Yuy_X]

NO !!! :D The FN+F2 key switches between running on battery or AC power, tried it in Windows 7...
I still have the wifi LED problem though in both OSes...

Cheers drskartik ! (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=769956) we have the same issues and the same laptops :D\
Btw, can u give me the link to that bios update??

[chasem1991]

I have Dell Vostro A860 with ubuntu jaunty 9.04 installed.
My wifi light(LED) is not working though I have no problems in running the wifi. I don't know if it is a hardware or a software problem(the comp is few months old only), is there any way to check it out. Dell support center could not solve the problem, I have tried upgrading to the latest BIOS version also. Has anyone else faced the same problem, i could find one post for the same problem in 8.04 http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=936167&highlight=wifi+LED.
regards
Kartik

I have the same laptop, I have had XP, Vista, Win7, Ubuntu 9.10 (32 and 64), and the only OS that the light has worked on was Vista.

[Heero_Yuy_X]

That's weird... :-k

[drskartik]

NO !!! :D The FN+F2 key switches between running on battery or AC power, tried it in Windows 7...
I still have the wifi LED problem though in both OSes...

Cheers drskartik ! (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=769956) we have the same issues and the same laptops :D\
Btw, can u give me the link to that bios update??
Heero_Yuy_X,
I am using the BIOS A02 version ow.
Sorry, I cannot recollect how I updated it!!(I followed some instructions on the net and it worked), but I did not have to use an external Hard drive/floppy etc.
These links will probably work:http://www.ubuntu-unleashed.com/2007/09/howto-easily-upgrade-dell-bios-in.html,
and
http://www.ducea.com/2007/08/27/dell-bios-firmware-updates-on-debian/.
Hope these works,
regards
Kartik

[Heero_Yuy_X]

Thanks for the links !! :KS

I was able to update bios easily, though it still didnt solve the problem... :(

[inmortal009]

I have the same laptop, I have had XP, Vista, Win7, Ubuntu 9.10 (32 and 64), and the only OS that the light has worked on was Vista.

Yeah I got the same problem...with vista the led work fine but now with Xp isn't working :( My wifi don't gonna work or just the light ??? May I have to worry for that??

[EvilPhoenix]

I'm not familiar with the hardware configs on the Vostro series, however the Latitude series of laptops (business) sometimes have problems with wifi LEDs. The other times it does have the LED working, it blinks to signify activity.

So assuming this happens as well with other hardware, then you've got a decision between blinking constantly LED or off LED.

[Heero_Yuy_X]

I think it's some kind of a hardware issue, there is not even an option in BIOS on controlling the LEDs...

[drskartik]

Solved!!
I am running ubuntu 10.10(latest build), and wifi light has started working after an update! Dont know if this issue was tackled in particular during this update.
regards
kartik