Blinking wifi LED

[Sir Galahad]

Hi,

I know there have been several threads about the issue that I will be talking about, but studying any of these hasn't lead to a working solution for me.
I recently purchased a Dell Latitude E6400 and installed Intrepid on it today. Everything is working just fine, but unfortunately the wifi LED is constantly blinking to indicate network traffic rendering my laptop almost inoperable because it is so distracting.
As has been suggested in another thread I put the following script in /etc/network/if-up.d/ and made it executable.



#!/bin/sh

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for dir in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X; do
echo none > $dir/trigger
done
fi


This is what /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:RX/trigger and /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:TX/trigger look like after disabling and enabling networking:



xian@lothlorien:~$ cat /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:TX/trigger
[none] AC-online BAT0-charging-or-full BAT0-charging BAT0-full mmc0 phy0rx phy0tx phy0assoc phy0radio rfkill0
xian@lothlorien:~$ cat /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:RX/trigger
[none] AC-online BAT0-charging-or-full BAT0-charging BAT0-full mmc0 phy0rx phy0tx phy0assoc phy0radio rfkill0


Before setting up the above script, "none" wasn't in square brackets, though I have no idea as to what that means.
However, the wifi LED is still blinking annoyingly.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Sir Galahad

[Sir Galahad]

For some obscure reason, after restarting X for the umpteenth time it seems to be working now.

[Sir Galahad]

I just realized that it blinks again after a reboot. It only stops to blink when I log out of Gnome and log in again.

Any ideas on this?

[Baloo Bear]

Hi

I had a similar problem on a Dell Inspiron 1525.

I installed and ran the application luvcview. Once this had been executed, the problem was solved, apparently permanently.

Baloo

[4Play]

I have the same problem, have tried using the trigger = none script, setting the brightness to zero manually...nothing worked.

I also installing luvcview (thought it was strange, since this is a webcam viewing application) and as expected, it didnt work for me...

I am *almost* going back to 8.04...this blinking led thing is one of the many problems I am having with intrepid :(

[jpg_ny]

I'm facing the same problem
The wifi led is blinking and on a laptop this is not very useful.
I tried a lot "tips" proposed so far I'm out of luck.

My wifi card is a Intel 3945ABG on a dell laptop D620.

[lariosa42]

Same here with a Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG wireless card on a Dell Inspiron E1405 running Intrepid. It is destroying my sanity.

Old school solution: Get some electrical tape and scissors, cut the tape the size of the flashing light. Apply the tape to the flashing light and viola! (This solution brought to you by the blinking 12:00 on VCRs in the 80's.) A higher-tech solution would of course be appreciated.

[caraboy]

Just installed Intrepid on my HP530. I have the same problem with 3945ABG. And at this laptop the wifi led is blue and in front of the screen. :-P You can just imagine how annoying it is. :D

[hchizkool]

hi i can make the file on my desktop but not in etc/network/if-up.d because it says "you are not an owner, so you cannot change these permissions" anyone able to help?

[hchizkool]

hi i can make the file on my desktop but not in etc/network/if-up.d because it says "you are not an owner, so you cannot change these permissions" anyone able to help?

[lariosa42]

It sounds like you just need the proper permissions. Just open a terminal window and type

gksudo nautilus
then enter your password. This opens a window which has the proper permissions. You should be about to browse from this window to the directory (folder) you want and simply drap and drop the file into it.

[laptoplinux]

Anyone know if this situation will be fixed eventually? If not, please post if you find out anything.

I know blinking on activity is supposedly how the new driver was designed to work, but it would be great if there was an option to change the behavior to something more sane...

maybe like this:

off = wifi not working/ not on
blinking = only when making a connection
on solid = connected

The constant blinking is very distracting on my laptop. That was one of the things that drove me back to Hardy for now, and I don't think I can run any linux distro that operates that way without a guaranteed way to change it.

[lariosa42]

I'm surprised that more people are not totally irritated by this. That blinking light is going to drive someone to murder. My electrical tape trick (see above) is preserving my sanity for now, but it sure makes my laptop look tacky.

[davidY]

This is a very horrible feature, and I either stop using ubuntu after half an hour and switch to windows (dual boot yay) or I turn the computer off.

[laptoplinux]

I know this may sound a bit childish, but if that blinking wifi light remains a part of the kernels from now on, I will probably abandon Linux entirely for OSX. That may sound a bit extreme, and I'm sure the light doesn't annoy some people as much as it does others (depending on hardware design and an individual's ability to tune it out), but I really can't stand it, and my abandonment would be for practical reasons more than anything else. I just hope someone eventually corrects this in a future kernel.

Of course, there is yet hope. If this gets fixed in Jackalope or a future Ibex update, or even in another Linux distro that proves suitable, all is forgiven.

[iponeverything]

I know this may sound a bit childish, but if that blinking wifi light remains a part of the kernels from now on, I will probably abandon Linux entirely for OSX. That may sound a bit extreme, and I'm sure the light doesn't annoy some people as much as it does others (depending on hardware design and an individual's ability to tune it out), but I really can't stand it, and my abandonment would be for practical reasons more than anything else. I just hope someone eventually corrects this in a future kernel.

Of course, there is yet hope. If this gets fixed in Jackalope or a future Ibex update, or even in another Linux distro that proves suitable, all is forgiven.

sound like a bug that intel driver and not a feature. Why don't open a ticket on launchpad if you would like it fixed.

Just found this:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/157418

You should post a followup to launchpad to say you can also confirm the bug.

[davidY]

It seems there is a bug filed for it
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/250211 (this one is the main bug the above one is the duplicate)

My fix is to have a file in /etc/network/if-up.d/ with permission to execute as root (chmod +x as root) the file is as follows:


david@user18:~$ cat /etc/network/if-up.d/stopblink
#!/bin/sh
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:radio/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:RX/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:TX/trigger

echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:RX/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:TX/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:radio/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc/trigger

it is overkill, but i don't really care. It stops blinking

[ant1060]

Overkill??? NEVER MIND!!!!!
The light has finally stopped flashing and now I can start to enjoy Ubuntu again.
Thank you so much ... I was on the point of killing something myself!!!
:)

[gjohn2]

thank you! i was getting ready to stab someone, because of this damn light.
the script works.

[lariosa42]

laptoplinux -

Seriously, using a little black tape is way less of a headache than going back to windows. Time required to cut and apply tape: 30 seconds. Time required to reinstall windows: way more than it's worth. Plus you would be stuck with windows, which will make your computer far uglier than a little piece of black tape.

davidY -

Thank you! I want to try this, but first, how much overkill is this? I admit I don't really understand what your script does (I tried), so I just want to know if I'm screwing something else up.

[davidY]

- lariosa42
Well the script was mashed from various sources which all looked similar to this. I think it tells the driver to blink on nothing - so it never blinks. Apparently there are many different things you can tell it to blink on.

You can make a file (eg stopblink) paste it in, go to commandline and "chmod +x stopblink", then do "sudo ./stopblink", and it will run the command once - put it into your /etc/network/if-up.d/ folder to make it run whenever the wifi connects up by "sudo mv stopblink /etc/network/if-up.d/."

[iponeverything]

laptoplinux -

Seriously, using a little black tape is way less of a headache than going back to windows. Time required to cut and apply tape: 30 seconds. Time required to reinstall windows: way more than it's worth. Plus you would be stuck with windows, which will make your computer far uglier than a little piece of black tape.

davidY -

Thank you! I want to try this, but first, how much overkill is this? I admit I don't really understand what your script does (I tried), so I just want to know if I'm screwing something else up.

Don't worry. It just a command line version of electrical tape.

To tell you the truth, I am big fan of the simple solution.

[laptoplinux]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said anything about going back to Windows? I used to use Windows, like 3 years ago. But besides being a primitive, clunky mess, Windows is entirely unsuited for the work that I currently do.

If anything, I'd go pickup a shiny new Macbook and carry on. But until I am forced to move off of Hardy or replace my current computer, that's all moot.

(That script may work to fix the blinking. If so, great. But Ibex also had a bad habit of constantly dropping connections on me.)

We'll just see what happens. Surely enough people will be annoyed by this that the devs will eventually correct it.... right?

[oz-sco]

Ok so i've created and run the script file


#!/bin/sh
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:radio/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:RX/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:TX/trigger

echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:RX/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:TX/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:radio/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc/trigger

and the wifi light is on, when nothing is happening, but when i say, load up a new web page it starts flashing again. I'd like it never to flash, have i done something wrong? or do i need another script?

cheers Oz

[lariosa42]

I have the same results as oz-sco. The light doesn't blink all the time anymore, but it still blinks often enough to be irratating.

(Note, to get the above script to work, I had to change all the "0000:0b:00.0" parts of the driver strings to "0000:0c:00.0".

[corman]

any possibility that this script could disable the light totally? I almost am ready to switch back to Hardy where the bug disabled it. I have a crazy bright blue light on the top of the lid and it drives me nuts. Thanks in advance for any help!

[laptoplinux]

oz-sco's script worked when I tested it on a live CD of Fedora 10, though I had to make one small change to this:


#!/bin/sh
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl39450000:0c:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl39450000:0c:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:radio/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl39450000:0c:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:RX/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl39450000:0c:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:TX/trigger

echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:RX/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:TX/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:radio/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc/trigger

In other words, changing the "0b" to "0c" for each line of the first half. I have no idea what the difference is.

After running this script, the light would be off when the wifi was off, blink for a couple of seconds when connecting, and stay solidly lit while connected. (The way it should have been all along, in my opinion).

I guess to make it permanent I'd need to make this script automatically run at startup, or is that necessary?

[sharon.gmc]

I have the same problem with my Acer laptop

[corman]

Sweet, thanks alot laptoplinux, I changed the oc part to what it said on my machine, now no blinking. but i still dont know how to disable it totally.

[jespdj]

I know this may sound a bit childish, but if that blinking wifi light remains a part of the kernels from now on, I will probably abandon Linux entirely for OSX. That may sound a bit extreme, and I'm sure the light doesn't annoy some people as much as it does others (depending on hardware design and an individual's ability to tune it out), but I really can't stand it, and my abandonment would be for practical reasons more than anything else. I just hope someone eventually corrects this in a future kernel.

Funny... I remember that with 8.04 people were complaining that the Wifi LED doesn't work (see for example bugs 176090 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/linux/+bug/176090), 224488 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-backports-modules-2.6.24/+bug/224488)), and now that's fixed and people start "threatening" that they are leaving Linux because the LED is working...

[corman]

Funny... I remember that with 8.04 people were complaining that the Wifi LED doesn't work (see for example bugs 176090 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/linux/+bug/176090), 224488 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-backports-modules-2.6.24/+bug/224488)), and now that's fixed and people start "threatening" that they are leaving Linux because the LED is working...

HA! I never complained I had hoped the bug would be overlooked in Intrepid! but alas it was fixed...

[oz-sco]

ok with the scripts, i can get my light to stay on all the time, or off all the time, which is better, but i can't seem to get my script to run automatically..

As described by DavidY i have the script in my etc/network/if-up.d directory, and have typed the "chmod +x noblink.sh"
Am i missing something? running this script manually each time i boot is beginning to annoy me.

So anyone please, how do i run this, or perhaps any other script automatically.

cheers Oz

[oz-sco]

Anyone? I'd simply like to know how to make this script run automatically each time i boot my machine please?
The "just chmod xxxxx" type instructions don't appear to work, so clearly i need a little more information.
Or could someone at least point me to a basic guide to writing and running scripts of this sort in Linux?

cheers Oz

[Muflon]

After a few weeks I have become accustomed to the flashing and would miss it, if it disappeared. :)

Muflon

[laptoplinux]

Funny... I remember that with 8.04 people were complaining that the Wifi LED doesn't work (see for example bugs 176090 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/linux/+bug/176090), 224488 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-backports-modules-2.6.24/+bug/224488)), and now that's fixed and people start "threatening" that they are leaving Linux because the LED is working...

I also never complained about the wifi light not working in Hardy. In fact, I didn't even notice that the light wasn't working until I tried out Ibex and was incessantly reminded of the light's presence. But anyway, there is a script now to fix it, and I'm still doing just fine on 8.04. I'll just wait and see. Upgrading every other release cycle is getting to be a tradition with me anyway.

[lariosa42]

oz-sco:

Try System-->Preferences-->Sessions. This allows you to create and edit startup commands. Click the "Add" button and give it a name that will help you remember what it is. For command, just try what you normally have to type to get it to execute. On my system I would type



/etc/network/if-up.d/stopblink


I'm not totally sure if this will work since you may need the proper permissions to get it going, but this is one way to get something to execute on startup.

I am also fairly new to Linux. I second your request for a basic guide to shell scripting.

[Moz Holmes]

Using oz-sco's script and laptoplinux's adaptation of it, the blinking has finally stopped on my Dell Inspiron 640m laptop. Thank you both!

It should be noted that the default behaviour of the LED on XP, the OS this laptop was originally (and unfortunately) designed around, is not for it to blink when wireless connectivity is up.

I have had no problems with this blinking LED issue since first installing Ubuntu on this system, starting with Dapper Drake - only with Intrepid.

Not complaining, not threatening to leave Ubuntu... just trying to leave something constructive. ;)

Cheers

[jsschreck]

I can confirm also that oz-sco's script and laptoplinux's adaption of it worked for my Dell Inspiron 1525 (this was factory pre-installed with 8.04). Further, lariosa42's addition of the script into the boot-up routine ensures that the light stops blinking boot after boot.

You will want to change around the first few lines in the script to match your directory set up. For me, the script is the following code:



#!/bin/sh
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:radio/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:RX/trigger
echo none > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0b:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0:TX/trigger

echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:RX/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:TX/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:radio/trigger
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc/trigger


John Schreck

[lavarock]

Just want to confirm that the above script fixed it for me as well. I have a dell XPS M1210.

[laptoplinux]

I'm just coming back to this thread after working on this problem with Jaunty.... This is a "feature" of all the newer kernels for now.....](*,).

Anyway, To give credit where it's due, it was lariosa42's suggestion to change the 0b to 0c (post #25 of this thread). All I did was try it and confirm that it worked for me.

I've done a little more digging with it in the Jaunty Beta. I also played with it some in the Fedora 11 Beta. This is a kernel issue, so the distro shouldn't affect things too much.

At least with Fedora (and I'm assuming it would be the same on Jaunty--Fedora just happens to be what I tested under):

The /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0c:00.0/leds/iwl* and /sys/class/leds/* settings appear to mirror each other; change on and the corresponding setting in the other area is changed. Symbolic link maybe?
That being the case, I'd just go for changing the /sys/class/leds/iwl* triggers. Less to type.

Also, under the latest release betas, I found that changing the RX and TX triggers to "none" appeared to have no effect. Changing the radio trigger to "none" made the light turn off completely, and changing the assoc trigger to "none" made the light remain solidly on.

In case anyone is wondering, the values of these triggers can be found by using cat (example):

cat /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:assoc/trigger

This will produce a list of values, with the one in brackets being the currently selected one.

Again, this is just some digging I did in preparation for giving Jaunty a shot later. I don't really understand this stuff, and I can't guarantee it will work for any machine other than mine.

[mobusby]

The files you want to change are in /sys/class/leds and are symbolic links to the LED controls. You can do


stat /sys/class/leds/*
to see where the links point to, but it is unimportant.

TX and RX are for transfer and receive (respectively), and control behavior when transferring or receiving data; assoc takes over when the card connects to an access point; radio takes over before association takes place, and just lets you know if the card is active or not.

This script is perhaps a bit more elegant, and works if you have multiple effected wi-fi cards installed. It only allows blinking when connecting. The LED remains solid and on at all other times (when the wi-fi card is enabled or when it has a steady link). I find this behavior minimally invasive but still useful for debugging and troubleshooting network issues.



#!/bin/bash

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi

Place this script in /etc/network/if-up.d/ (call it whatever you want) and do


sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/<script name>
sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/<script name>

This worked for me with Intrepid and works now on Jaunty RC. Hopefully it will work for other people, too!

[Illusion65]

Hi mobusby,

I just posted in the buglist (http://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/250211/) for this that the problem is with the phy0:assoc/trigger property -- even though it seems to be set to phy0assoc, it is not; but probably is set to phy0rx or phy0tx, causing the LED to blink when there is traffic.

Running:

sudo echo phy0assoc >/sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:assoc/trigger
will clear the problem until the next WiFi network connection is made.

I have not been able to find a way to clear the problem "automatically". Even putting that line as a script in the /etc/network/if-up.d/ directory did not fix it for me (nor did putting your script there).

The /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0* links are recreated when a new connection occurs, so I think the "fix" will be within the HAL or UDEV systems.

Doug

[ptader]

mobusby, thank you. Your script worked for my Dell Precision, M90 with 9.04

One tip for everybody - test by clicking the "Enable Wireless" and/or "Enable Networking" on and off in the NetworkManager applet in the menu bar. Better than rebooting or rerunning the network init script.

[jmr1948]

Hi,

I just installed 9.04 and am experiencing this problem. I created the file "stopblink" referenced above and it turns of the wireless led if I run it with the sudo command in terminal. But I can't figure out a way to run it automatically at startup. Just putting the command "etc/network/if-up.d/stopblink" as a startup command does nothing. Tried a few other things involving the init.d directory, to no avail.

I actually know nothing about linux, so any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

BTW, I'm not averse to using a piece of black tape, but this solution seems so agonizingly close that I'd love to do it.

Thanks

[ptader]

Lets take a look. What do the following commands (in bold) return? Did you make your script "executable"? I called my script wifi_led.


ptader@falcon:~$ ls -l /etc/network/if-up.d/
total 24
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 886 Mar 23 05:19 avahi-autoipd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 504 Mar 23 05:19 avahi-daemon
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4297 Mar 31 04:11 mountnfs
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 1171 Mar 20 19:49 ntpdate
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 547 Apr 26 11:20 wifi_led
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 32 Apr 24 13:38 wpasupplicant -> ../../wpa_supplicant/ifupdown.sh

ptader@falcon:~$ cat /etc/network/if-up.d/wifi_led
#!/bin/bash

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi

Hope this helps,
Paul

[lavarock]

I have not been able to find a way to clear the problem "automatically". Even putting that line as a script in the /etc/network/if-up.d/ directory did not fix it for me (nor did putting your script there).

The /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0* links are recreated when a new connection occurs, so I think the "fix" will be within the HAL or UDEV systems.

Same for me, and to Paul, I had the same script and set the right owner (root) etc but it still doesnt work.
However manually do

# su
# echo phy0assoc >/sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:assoc/trigger
# exit
works (btw for me sudo doesn't work)

BTW found out the problem why the script is not working for me, since gnome Network Manager comes with Ubuntu 9.04 disconnects my wireless connection every 5 minutes, I had to switch to wicd, and wicd doesn't call these scripts in /etc/network/if-up.d/. Once I add my script in wicd it works, btw my script is:

#!/bin/bash
echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:assoc/trigger

[ldjuda]

The files you want to change are in /sys/class/leds and are symbolic links to the LED controls. You can do


stat /sys/class/leds/* to see where the links point to, but it is unimportant.

TX and RX are for transfer and receive (respectively), and control behavior when transferring or receiving data; assoc takes over when the card connects to an access point; radio takes over before association takes place, and just lets you know if the card is active or not.

This script is perhaps a bit more elegant, and works if you have multiple effected wi-fi cards installed. It only allows blinking when connecting. The LED remains solid and on at all other times (when the wi-fi card is enabled or when it has a steady link). I find this behavior minimally invasive but still useful for debugging and troubleshooting network issues.



#!/bin/bash

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi Place this script in /etc/network/if-up.d/ (call it whatever you want) and do


sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/<script name>
sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/<script name> This worked for me with Intrepid and works now on Jaunty RC. Hopefully it will work for other people, too!
Just informing users that this worked on my Dell XPS M1210 after I rebooted. Thanks mobusby!

[giancaldo]

works perfectly for me on the dell e6500. Thanks from me too mobusby

[mobusby]

It seems my little script needs updating for Karmic. Now there is an extra ":" in the directory names. This modified script should be a bit more flexible with names.


#!/bin/bash

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi

Cheers!

[arslano]

hello

i'm very new at ubuntu, and i couldn't figure out how to do this.

i created an empty document and i gave blinking.sh as a name of the file. and then i copied the code into this file, and i put the file to if-up.d folder

but nothing chaned. my notebook is dell xps 1340.

furthermore i didnt understand how to run echo.. command in the terminal. for e.g i type


sudo echo phy0assoc >/sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:assoc/triggeronto terminal windows but it says no such file or directory

can you please help me?

p.s. this is the output of stat /sys/class/leds/*


File: `/sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0:assoc' -> `../../devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:16.0/0000:06:00.0/leds/ath9k-phy0:assoc'
Size: 0 Blocks: 0 IO Block: 4096 symbolic link
Device: 0h/0d Inode: 10868 Links: 1
Access: (0777/lrwxrwxrwx) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2009-10-24 23:56:59.381687188 -0400
Modify: 2009-10-24 23:48:03.737685179 -0400
Change: 2009-10-24 23:48:03.737685179 -0400
File: `/sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0:radio' -> `../../devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:16.0/0000:06:00.0/leds/ath9k-phy0:radio'
Size: 0 Blocks: 0 IO Block: 4096 symbolic link
Device: 0h/0d Inode: 10859 Links: 1
Access: (0777/lrwxrwxrwx) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2009-10-24 23:56:59.381687188 -0400
Modify: 2009-10-24 23:48:03.737685179 -0400
Change: 2009-10-24 23:48:03.737685179 -0400
File: `/sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0:rx' -> `../../devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:16.0/0000:06:00.0/leds/ath9k-phy0:rx'
Size: 0 Blocks: 0 IO Block: 4096 symbolic link
Device: 0h/0d Inode: 10886 Links: 1
Access: (0777/lrwxrwxrwx) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2009-10-24 23:56:59.381687188 -0400
Modify: 2009-10-24 23:48:03.737685179 -0400
Change: 2009-10-24 23:48:03.737685179 -0400
File: `/sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0:tx' -> `../../devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:16.0/0000:06:00.0/leds/ath9k-phy0:tx'
Size: 0 Blocks: 0 IO Block: 4096 symbolic link
Device: 0h/0d Inode: 10877 Links: 1
Access: (0777/lrwxrwxrwx) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2009-10-24 23:56:59.381687188 -0400
Modify: 2009-10-24 23:48:03.737685179 -0400
Change: 2009-10-24 23:48:03.737685179 -0400

thanks

[arslano]

now i change the code as


sudo echo phy0assoc >/sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0\:assoc/trigger

but it's written on the terminal windows is:

Permission denied

??

[yunone]

now i change the code as


sudo echo phy0assoc >/sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0\:assoc/trigger

but it's written on the terminal windows is:

Permission denied

??

its pretty straight forward and it did the trick for my Dell E6400

lets start

open terminal
type the following in terminal "sudo gedit"

you will notice it opens gedit, now with root privileges

paste the script from Mobusbys post into the text file
save the file as "blink" in the following folder "file system>etc>network>if-up.d

now close gedit

in terminal type the following

sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/blink

press enter

type the following in terminal

sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/blink

press enter


close terminal

restart machine


that should do the trick, if not post back


cheers

[hcm2009]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said anything about going back to Windows? I used to use Windows, like 3 years ago. But besides being a primitive, clunky mess, Windows is entirely unsuited for the work that I currently do.

If anything, I'd go pickup a shiny new Macbook and carry on. But until I am forced to move off of Hardy or replace my current computer, that's all moot.

(That script may work to fix the blinking. If so, great. But Ibex also had a bad habit of constantly dropping connections on me.)

We'll just see what happens. Surely enough people will be annoyed by this that the devs will eventually correct it.... right?

Hi all!
I've just visited this forum. Happy to get acquainted with you. Thanks.

[ldjuda]

The files you want to change are in /sys/class/leds and are symbolic links to the LED controls. You can do


stat /sys/class/leds/* to see where the links point to, but it is unimportant.

TX and RX are for transfer and receive (respectively), and control behavior when transferring or receiving data; assoc takes over when the card connects to an access point; radio takes over before association takes place, and just lets you know if the card is active or not.

This script is perhaps a bit more elegant, and works if you have multiple effected wi-fi cards installed. It only allows blinking when connecting. The LED remains solid and on at all other times (when the wi-fi card is enabled or when it has a steady link). I find this behavior minimally invasive but still useful for debugging and troubleshooting network issues.



#!/bin/bash

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0:assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi Place this script in /etc/network/if-up.d/ (call it whatever you want) and do


sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/<script name>
sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/<script name> This worked for me with Intrepid and works now on Jaunty RC. Hopefully it will work for other people, too!

This script worked on Ubuntu 9.04 installed on a Dell XPS M1210 but now it does not work on Ubuntu 9.10.

[yunone]

This script worked on Ubuntu 9.04 installed on a Dell XPS M1210 but now it does not work on Ubuntu 9.10.

i just did this last night on 9.10 on my E6400 and it works like a charm


can you step by step walk us through what you are doing?

[ldjuda]

i just did this last night on 9.10 on my E6400 and it works like a charm


can you step by step walk us through what you are doing?

sudo nano /etc/network/if-up.d/stopBlinkpaste the the script then save.


sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/stopBlink
sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/stopBlink
sudo -i
reboot

[yunone]

sudo nano /etc/network/if-up.d/stopBlinkpaste the the script then save.


sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/stopBlink
sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/stopBlink
sudo -i
reboot


grab mobusbys new script right above and do the following...this is what i did and works great


its pretty straight forward and it did the trick for my Dell E6400

lets start

open terminal
type the following in terminal "sudo gedit"

you will notice it opens gedit, now with root privileges

paste the script from Mobusbys post into the text file
save the file as "blink" in the following folder "file system>etc>network>if-up.d

now close gedit

in terminal type the following

sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/blink

press enter

type the following in terminal

sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/blink

press enter


close terminal

restart machine

[ldjuda]

grab mobusbys new script right above and do the following...this is what i did and works great


its pretty straight forward and it did the trick for my Dell E6400

lets start

open terminal
type the following in terminal "sudo gedit"

you will notice it opens gedit, now with root privileges

paste the script from Mobusbys post into the text file
save the file as "blink" in the following folder "file system>etc>network>if-up.d

now close gedit

in terminal type the following

sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/blink

press enter

type the following in terminal

sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/

press enter


close terminal

restart machine
Appreciate the help but that method is the same as mine but the difference is you using gedit while I prefer using the console. That method did not resolve my issue. Also have in mind we both have different hardware. I can get the wifi led to stop blinking by disconnecting and connecting back to my wireless network. But once I reboot I have to do the same process again which is tedious.

[ldjuda]

It seems my little script needs updating for Karmic. Now there is an extra ":" in the directory names. This modified script should be a bit more flexible with names.


#!/bin/bash

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fiCheers!
It's seems that I miss this post by mobusby patching the script for Karmic. Thanks dude, this script works on my XPS-M1210 Laptop. Much appreciated.

[Cris(c)]

The script not only stops the blinking but also kills the led. Now the led is always off in my Sony VAIO VGN-C240e laptop...is there something I'm missing?

UPDATE: Never mind. Now it's working perfectly....thanks!

[picopir8]

This script works for a short period (<1 minute) after boot or wakeup from suspend but then begins flashing again. I have wifi during the time when it is not flashing so I know the script must have run. In order to stop the blinking I have to manually disable then re-enable wifi.

Also my led does not blink on/off it alternates between red/blue. Normally it is red when wifi is disabled, blue when connecting, and alternating when connected. This script stopps the blinking but it is sometimes red when connected and othertimes blue. It seems to be somewhat random. It would be nice if it were always blue when connected.

[spez]

I've upgraded the script and it works with karmic. Using this script I can stop the led blinking when I'm connected on my home wi-fi, while when I connect at the University wi-fi (in wich use a script to authenticate myself) the led continues to blink, even if I run the script manually.
how can I solve?

[squaregoldfish]

Just been playing around with this one in Karmic on my Dell Inspiron 1525. If I echo 'none' into the trigger files, the wifi LED is switched off altogether. However, if I use 'phy0radio' instead, I get a solid LED when the network's active.

Steve.

[yunone]

edit..i should my own instructions better :)

[arslano]

its pretty straight forward and it did the trick for my Dell E6400

lets start

open terminal
type the following in terminal "sudo gedit"

you will notice it opens gedit, now with root privileges

paste the script from Mobusbys post into the text file
save the file as "blink" in the following folder "file system>etc>network>if-up.d

now close gedit

in terminal type the following

sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/blink

press enter

type the following in terminal

sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/blink

press enter


close terminal

restart machine


that should do the trick, if not post back


cheers


Thank you for the instructions. However, it didn't work for me.

My network adapter is 'ath9k', and I just replace 'iwl' with 'ath9k', and this is my 'blink' file in if-up.d directory:


if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0:assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fiIs there any problem with the CODE? After I save this file, I can confirm that I entered the above commands which are:


sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/blink

sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/blink



Thank you

[arslano]

Hello

This is the last edit of mine, and still I can't stop blinking the led. Can you help me please?


if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::rx
do
echo none > /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::rx/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done


for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::tx
do
echo none > /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::tx/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done


for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::radio
do
echo none > /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::radio/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::assoc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi

These are the directories in /leds:

ath9k-phy0::assoc ath9k-phy0::radio ath9k-phy0::rx ath9k-phy0::tx mmc0::

[yunone]

Hello

This is the last edit of mine, and still I can't stop blinking the led. Can you help me please?


if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::rx
do
echo none > /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::rx/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done


for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::tx
do
echo none > /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::tx/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done


for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::radio
do
echo none > /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::radio/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::assoc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi

These are the directories in /leds:

ath9k-phy0::assoc ath9k-phy0::radio ath9k-phy0::rx ath9k-phy0::tx mmc0::

unfortunately i cant help with the code, sorry....maybe Mobusby will chime in

[Ampi]

I had problems with my LED light as well on an Acer Aspire One ZG5 while using UNR 9.04.
But when I upgraded to UNR 9.10 the problems is fixed for 95%. Sometimes the light doesn't function most of the time it does, but blinking pretty much never.

[laptoplinux]

I have a Dell Latitude D820 on Ubuntu Karmic, and I've tried the Karmic-modified version of the script, but no luck. Has anyone else with a similar laptop figured out how to keep the light either off or constant while connected to a wifi network?

[laptoplinux]

Ok, better question. I've figured out how to make the script work, but I have to manually run it every time the computer connects to a wireless network. Is there a way to make this script run automatically each and every time a wireless connection is made?

[ClanClover]

I have a Dell 6400 and just updated to 9.10 and the blinking LED problem re-appeared as it did when I updated to 9.04! Why can't this be sorted in the kernel? Anyway Mobusby's final code worked for me:

#!/bin/bash

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

# customize this loop to act on any relevant wi-fi cards
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi


But can we have this sorted next time there is an update?

[john newbuntu]

Mobusby's post #41 in this thread (April 23,2009) worked for me. I have a Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop where I have recently installed Ubuntu Karmic 9.10 running the 2.6.31-15-generic linux kernel along with Windows XP media center edition.

Now, just a small tip here. When you place your script in /etc/network/if-up.d make sure that your script does not end with an extension. For example "stopblink" will work but not "stopblink.bash". Also, to ensure that your script is getting picked up at network startup time, run this command on a terminal:


sudo run-parts --list /etc/network/if-up.d

Thank you mobusby and everyone else who participated.

[dmflad]

Dell D620 LT running Ubuntu 9.10 32-bit. Used Mosby's script (post 41) and how-to but still blinking. Used the stat command [stat /sys/class/leds/*] to see where/what and then saw that I needed to add a second colon(:) at ln 18 col47 of script to match what STAT cmd shows. Bounced network connection and blinking has stopped. Thanks folks for all the work you do!

[ant1060]

Hi :)
A big thank you to Mobusbys :D and to Yunone :D for their posts N°49 and N°52. I followed these and now my wifi light has stopped blinking and sanity has been saved...
What would we do without the kind people who know the answers to problems and take the time to let us know how to fix them?
Cheers and thanks once more!

[SamJack]

Mobusby,

Thank you very much. You're a true savior of my sanity. The LED stopped blinking and with that my eye has stopped twitching finally while my facial tics have reduced. ;)

Thank you. It can get so difficult for someone beginning to use Linux. The first few months is where help from stalwarts keeps us newbies alive.

best,
Sam

[mobusby]

Welcome to the community, Sam!

[tacutu]

darn, this doesn't work anymore in Lucid Lynx!

[ptorpman]

Hi!

Thanks for this script! I am now running Ubuntu 10.04 on my Inspiron 9400 and the blinking has disappeared!!! I am so happy ;-)

I just had to change the paths a bit... to

/sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0c:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0::assoc/trigger
etc.

i.e add another colon and change 0b to 0c...

Once again, thanks!

/ Peter

[heinzawin]

ok, Can anyone tell me step by step? I am new to ubuntu.

[yunone]

Hi!

Thanks for this script! I am now running Ubuntu 10.04 on my Inspiron 9400 and the blinking has disappeared!!! I am so happy ;-)

I just had to change the paths a bit... to

/sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl3945/0000:0c:00.0/leds/iwl-phy0::assoc/trigger
etc.

i.e add another colon and change 0b to 0c...

Once again, thanks!

/ Peter

can you post a simple step by step for people please?


thanks in advance

[mobusby]

This fix is working on 10.04 RC (Lucid RC) with the following script:


#!/bin/sh

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0*assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi

As before, create the script in /etc/network/if-up.d/ (call it whatever you want, I named the script "iwl-no-blink").

sudo gedit /etc/network/if-up.d/iwl-no-blink
And give it the proper ownership and access rights

sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/iwl-no-blink
sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/iwl-no-blink

[OMFGitsme]

mobusby (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=414630), your script worked for me after I made a few modifications. I just needed to change the directories.

#!/bin/sh

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::rx
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::tx
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX
done
fi

Now my light only blinks when connecting to a network.
Thank you.

[Dolmio]

This fix is working on 10.04 RC (Lucid RC) with the following script:


Works great. Thanks a lot :D

/Dolmio

[yunone]

no more love on 10.10.... i have tried the three fixes but they no longer work for me on 10.10


thanks in advance

[spez]

yes I confirm this script is not working on 10.10
can anybody tell us how to fix?

[jac_tict]

Yes, not working on 10.10 :-(
No /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy* anymore.

[cjsteele]

I got this nailed in 10.10 -- to disable the blinking, you have to add the following line to /etc/modprobe/*iwlagn*.conf (there should only be one file in there, on my HP EliteBook 8530w its /etc/modprobe.d/intel-5300-iwlagn-disable11n.conf)

options iwlcore led_mode=1


...once I did that, I simply did a `rmmod iwlagn` and `modprobe iwlagn`, and my blinking stopped!!!

w000t!

Cheers,
-C

[cjsteele]

options iwlcore led_mode=1


For the record, I figured that out by using `systool` a la:



# lsmod | grep -i iwl
iwlagn 202721 0
iwlcore 146875 1 iwlagn
mac80211 266657 2 iwlagn,iwlcore
cfg80211 170293 3 iwlagn,iwlcore,mac80211
# systool -m iwlagn -av | grep led
# systool -m iwlcore -av | grep led
led_mode = "0"
#


EUREKA!

I knew all I had to do was flip the bit...

Cheers,
-C

[nic-clark]

I got this nailed in 10.10 -- to disable the blinking, you have to add the following line to /etc/modprobe/*iwlagn*.conf (there should only be one file in there, on my HP EliteBook 8530w its /etc/modprobe.d/intel-5300-iwlagn-disable11n.conf)

options iwlcore led_mode=1


...once I did that, I simply did a `rmmod iwlagn` and `modprobe iwlagn`, and my blinking stopped!!!

w000t!

Cheers,
-C

Thanks for that... I might be being a bit thick, but what is a rmmod and modprobe and how do I do it - I'm a bit new! I have put the line in the right file already and saved it.

thanks!

[cjsteele]

Thanks for that... I might be being a bit thick, but what is a rmmod and modprobe and how do I do it - I'm a bit new! I have put the line in the right file already and saved it.

thanks!


Sure! So, from a shell:


# vi /etc/modprobe.d/iwl*
<make your change>
# rmmod iwlagn
# modprobe iwlagn


Those are the commands you use to manage/mangle the loadable kernel modules. You'll want to know how to use these if you have to do too much with hardware.

Cheers,
-C

[Evilandi666]

I tried that, but it doesn't work for my hp.

I have the same module as you, also iwlagn.

But options iwlcore led_mode=1 didn't do anything,

after reloading iwlagn,

systool -m iwlcore -av | grep led

says (same as before the changes):

led_mode = "0"

and the led is blinking... :(

edit:

You have to do the following:
rmmod iwlagn
rmmod iwlcore
modprobe iwlcore
modprobe iwlagn

or reboot then it begins to work ;)
Sry guys!

[Coreigh]

Using 10.04 on an HP nc6320 this worked:

echo none > /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0\:\:assoc/trigger

Notice there are TWO colons between phy0 and assoc

I opened a terminal and ran the script manually and it returned an error that indicated a path problem, and then was able to resolve it.

I don't have anything running 10.10 right now to check.

I'll boot a 10.10 LiveCD and post here if I can get any results.

[Coreigh]

First thing I notice is that on the 10.10 LiveCD the led does NOT blink.
Second is that when I re-booted in to 10.04 I had to manually run the "no-blink" script to stop the blinking.
Third when in 10.10 the path /sys/class/leds leads to mmc0:: instead of phys0::

I hope someone find this helpful.

[LK_gandalf_]

Hi, I have a Dell xps m1530 and freshly installed Kubuntu 10.10 64bit...and the damned blinking wifi-led problem.

I tried the script in the first page, but it's from a post written in 2008.....and it doesn't work.
Quite disappointing I found that after 2 years the problem is still unsolved, or at least it seems like this. Have I miss something? :)

[tanpopo_chan]

For the sake of clarity, I'm going to repost my solution... This is taken from my reply here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10342938&postcount=6

By the way, I have an HP Pavillion dv6-2145es and I'm running Maverick (Ubuntu 10.10).


First, I looked up all of the possible solutions for the drivers available... Most are posted in this thread. (Thank you to OMFGitsme and mobusby!)

Then, I checked which driver I had by doing the following:

Open a terminal and put in:

sudo lshw -C Network

And this was my output:

*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:08:00.0
logical name: wlan0
version: 01
serial: c4:17:fe:74:70:5c
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=2.6.35-24-generic firmware=N/A ip=192.168.0.14 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
resources: irq:17 memory:f1200000-f120ffff
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:09:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 03
serial: c8:0a:a9:0e:22:af
size: 10MB/s
capacity: 1GB/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
resources: irq:45 ioport:2000(size=256) memory:f1004000-f1004fff memory:f1000000-f1003fff memory:f1010000-f101ffff
Notice how in the section "configuration" of my "Wireless interface" it says driver=ath9k? Welp! That's the solution to the problem! All you have to do is check which driver you've got and search the forum!

If you have the iwlagn driver, all you have to do is follow the solution from http://ubuntuguide.net/stop-the-blinking-wireless-led-light-on-ubuntu-10-10-laptops, and if you have the ath5k driver, follow the instructions posted at http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=9835897&postcount=7.
If you have the ath9k driver like me, here's what you do.

First, let's create a file where the code will execute. You can name it however you like, but just make sure you create it in the directory "/etc/network/if-up.d/". I named mine ath9k-no-blink.
So, let's go back to the terminal and type:

sudo gedit /etc/network/if-up.d/ath9k-no-blink


When gedit opens, paste the following, then save and close. This is us telling the led how to act. In other words, we're saying, "when the wifi's off, turn red, and when it's on, turn blue."

#!/bin/sh

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::rx
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/ath9k-phy0::tx
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX
done
fi


Now, after closing gedit, put in the following two lines in the terminal. Here we're making sure that only root can manipulate this file and giving it permission to execute.:

sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/ath9k-no-blink
sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/ath9k-no-blink

Now, restart the computer and voilá! Problem fixed!


So just to wrap it up, if you have the ath9k driver, follow the instructions above.

For the ath5k driver, check this post: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=9835897&postcount=7

If you have the iwlagn driver, follow the solution from http://ubuntuguide.net/stop-the-blinking-wireless-led-light-on-ubuntu-10-10-laptops.

[cjsteele]

so, yeah... I already solved this, you need to go ahead and sort-out what I showed you in my previous posts.

Its real simple: you need to put two-and-two together, and solve it.

Cheers,
-C

[slackhappy]

cjsteele's method works fine for me (nice find!). It is the option supported by the in-kernel driver, so if it isn't working for you, you are probably missing a step. The other methods are really just hacks, and will probably vary by kernel release or dist release.

Here's a pointer to the lxr code:
module_param definition of led_mode (http://lxr.linux.no/linux+v2.6.37/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl-led.c#L46)

Note the intel dev's comments:
"led mode: 0=blinking, 1=On(RF On)/Off(RF Off), (default 0)"

Note, however, that in the future there probably won't automatically be a module config file is /etd/modules.d, so you will have to make it yourself.

The reason it is there now is to disable the buggy 802.11n code, but this will probably be fixed soon. You can track that here:

Ubuntu bug (with current workaround) (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/maverick/+source/linux-firmware/+bug/630748)
Linux bug (https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16691)

[cjsteele]

I'm glad someone found this useful... it was a bugger to sort-out the first time.


Cheers,
-C

[yunone]

this worked for me in 10.04.1

Dell Latitude E6400

thanks again Mobusby!!!!!!





This fix is working on 10.04 RC (Lucid RC) with the following script:


#!/bin/sh

if [ "$IFACE" = "wlan0" ]; then
for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*X
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for TX, RX
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy*radio
do
echo none > $direc/trigger
# never trigger blinking for radio
done

for direc in /sys/class/leds/iwl-phy0*assoc
do
echo phy0assoc > $direc/trigger
# do trigger blinking during association
done
fi

As before, create the script in /etc/network/if-up.d/ (call it whatever you want, I named the script "iwl-no-blink").

sudo gedit /etc/network/if-up.d/iwl-no-blink
And give it the proper ownership and access rights

sudo chown root /etc/network/if-up.d/iwl-no-blink
sudo chmod a+x /etc/network/if-up.d/iwl-no-blink

[mwsaz]

Hi,

Just in case some people are having the same issue, there is a much simpler workaround (as posted above) :

Create /etc/modprobe.d/wlan.conf with this single line inside :

options iwlcore led_mode=1And the blinking is gone! :)

http://www.linuxfocus.org/~guido/gentoo-x301/ (http://www.linuxfocus.org/%7Eguido/gentoo-x301/) (Annoying wifi led)

[yunone]

Hi,

Just in case some people are having the same issue, there is a much simpler workaround (as posted above) :

Create /etc/modprobe.d/wlan.conf with this single line inside :

options iwlcore led_mode=1And the blinking is gone! :)

http://www.linuxfocus.org/~guido/gentoo-x301/ (http://www.linuxfocus.org/%7Eguido/gentoo-x301/) (Annoying wifi led)


in 10.04.1 and in 10.10 this caused my adapter to disappear completely and i no longer had the option to turn on wireless...i see it posted a lot on the webs, but cant figure out why its causing my adapter to disappear from the network icon

[Bromden]

wlan.conf is not working on 12.04.

How can i solve this problem?