10.04 Wireless Networks - wireless is disabled

[gopaleen]

Hi, I have a Lenovo Ideapad B470 with an Intel Centrino® Wireless-N 1000. When I check the wireless network it says it's disabled and it's greyed out... I'd appreciate any help.

[2F4U]

Can you enable it through NetworkManager? Any errors when trying it? Is wireless turned off by a hardware switch or through the BIOS?

[gopaleen]

When I go into the BIOS it says Wireless enabled. But in NetworkManager.state it says WirelessEnabled=false.

[praseodym]

Change it to "true" by hand. Show also

lsmod
iwconfig
rfkill list

[gopaleen]

I changed it to true but when I restart NetworkManager it reverts back to false.

user@user-laptop:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
rfcomm 47397 4
sco 18154 2
bridge 81986 0
stp 12931 1 bridge
bnep 18345 2
l2cap 53688 16 rfcomm,bnep
btusb 18683 2
bluetooth 72288 9 rfcomm,sco,bnep,l2cap,btusb
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 28012 1
snd_hda_codec_realtek 336223 1
binfmt_misc 17498 1
ppdev 17180 0
joydev 17597 0
snd_hda_intel 32995 2
arc4 12529 2
snd_hda_codec 103312 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_i ntel
snd_hwdep 13652 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 96468 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi 13324 0
snd_rawmidi 30385 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 14899 1 snd_seq_midi
ath9k 117625 0
i915 518754 3
snd_seq 61538 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
mac80211 298255 1 ath9k
acer_wmi 23713 0
ath9k_common 13855 1 ath9k
snd_timer 29708 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
drm_kms_helper 42312 1 i915
ath9k_hw 322670 2 ath9k,ath9k_common
snd_seq_device 14490 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
uvcvideo 67619 0
videodev 81906 1 uvcvideo
ath 23643 2 ath9k,ath9k_hw
psmouse 73514 0
v4l2_compat_ioctl32 17116 1 videodev
snd 67573 14 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_i ntel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,s nd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
cfg80211 182202 3 ath9k,mac80211,ath
drm 227591 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
serio_raw 13208 0
ideapad_laptop 13583 0
i2c_algo_bit 13368 1 i915
soundcore 12680 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 18484 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
sparse_keymap 13890 2 acer_wmi,ideapad_laptop
video 19280 1 i915
lp 17789 0
parport 46360 2 ppdev,lp
ahci 26002 2
r8169 47734 0
libahci 30664 1 ahci
user@user-laptop:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=off
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on

pan0 no wireless extensions.
user@user-laptop:~$ rfkill list
0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: no
1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
3: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: no
5: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

[praseodym]

The module acer_wmi is wrong on a Lenovo, blacklist it via

echo "blacklist acer_wmi" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Reboot and:

sudo rfkill unblock all

[gopaleen]

Thanks Praseodym. I did it but now I'm getting:

user@user-laptop:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
rfcomm 47397 4
sco 18154 2
bridge 81986 0
stp 12931 1 bridge
bnep 18345 2
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 28012 1
snd_hda_codec_realtek 336223 1
l2cap 53688 16 rfcomm,bnep
binfmt_misc 17498 1
ppdev 17180 0
joydev 17597 0
btusb 18683 2
bluetooth 72288 9 rfcomm,sco,bnep,l2cap,btusb
arc4 12529 2
snd_hda_intel 32995 2
snd_hda_codec 103312 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_i ntel
snd_hwdep 13652 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 96468 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
i915 518754 3
snd_seq_midi 13324 0
snd_rawmidi 30385 1 snd_seq_midi
ath9k 117625 0
mac80211 298255 1 ath9k
snd_seq_midi_event 14899 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 61538 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
drm_kms_helper 42312 1 i915
drm 227591 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
snd_timer 29708 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14490 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
uvcvideo 67619 0
ath9k_common 13855 1 ath9k
ath9k_hw 322670 2 ath9k,ath9k_common
ath 23643 2 ath9k,ath9k_hw
snd 67573 14 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_i ntel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,s nd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
videodev 81906 1 uvcvideo
v4l2_compat_ioctl32 17116 1 videodev
cfg80211 182202 3 ath9k,mac80211,ath
i2c_algo_bit 13368 1 i915
psmouse 73514 0
serio_raw 13208 0
soundcore 12680 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 18484 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
ideapad_laptop 13583 0
sparse_keymap 13890 1 ideapad_laptop
video 19280 1 i915
lp 17789 0
parport 46360 2 ppdev,lp
ahci 26002 2
libahci 30664 1 ahci
r8169 47734 0
user@user-laptop:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=off
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on

pan0 no wireless extensions.
user@user-laptop:~$ rfkill list
0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: no
1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
3: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

[praseodym]

Any button/switch/key/key combination (Fn+F2 or sth)? Check the BIOS settings and you may reset the BIOS to default settings

[gopaleen]

I reset the BIOS to default and it works! Thanks Praseodym, this is the 2nd time you've solved my networking problems. Legend!

[taffyviking]

Thank you Praesodym, I've been struggling with a disabled wireless on a Compaq nc6220 for 4 days now, and your tip to reset the BIOS to default did the trick. Legend indeed!