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Wifi disabled by hardware switch

thesimonbeta Posted messages 16 Status Member -  
 kenan -
Hello,

I installed Ubuntu 12.04 (via CD) on my laptop (Dell Inspiron 1501).
Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi is not working; it shows "wireless network disabled by a hardware switch." I have tried several things, but it’s not working. I’ve done some research online, but I haven’t found a solution to my problem.

If anyone has a solution, I would appreciate it, thank you.

13 answers

  1.
    thesimonbeta Posted messages 16 Status Member 10
     
    No, indeed the indicator is not activated, but no matter how much I press the buttons to turn it on (fn+f2), nothing happens!
    Thank you for your response.
    6
  2. roptat Posted messages 284 Status Member 77
     
    It happens to me when I disable the Wi-Fi using the dedicated key on my phone. Are you sure it's turned on?
    2
  3. roptat Posted messages 284 Status Member 77
     
    I don't think Ubuntu is to blame. If you have a dual-boot, try enabling Wi-Fi on Windows.
    At my place, the button is independent of the system; it just needs to be powered on to change its position. So I think it might be broken, but it could work differently for you.
    1
  4. zipe31 Posted messages 34620 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   6 501
     
    Hello,

    Also see i8kutils maybe?

    --
    Zen my nuggets ;-)
    Do your part for the environment, close your windows and adopt a penguin.
    0
  6. jeanbi Posted messages 15399 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   2 383
     
    Hello,
    No!! The button is controlled by the OS, so it works under Windows$ but not under Linux,
    to fix the issue, see the Ubuntu wiki on WiFi
    See you later

    --
    FC 15 - Mandriva 2010 - Debian 6.0 -
    The best things require patience. (JC ANGLADE)
    0
    1. jns55
       
      Hello,
      The error message talks about a hardware switch, I understand it as a physical switch that is operated manually, right?
      A few years ago, I had a problem with Ubuntu and a Wi-Fi card: simply booting Ubuntu from the live CD (it must have been Ubuntu 11.04 if I remember correctly) resulted in the Wi-Fi card being permanently disabled (software switch in my case) and Wi-Fi wouldn't work even on Windows. The only way I found to reactivate it was to boot into Windows and press the key combination indicated in the documentation. Under Linux, it didn't work (probably a function key management issue)
      http://www.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-21969477-ubuntu-10-04-desactive-ma-carte-wifi
      0
    2. clemclem
       
      No, Jeanbi is right.
      It is a key (the fn+f2) that is called "airplane mode" under Windows. This doesn't cause any problems under Windows, as it is activated in the OS.
      Under Linux, during boot, it goes systematically from off, on, off, and on (on = airplane mode activated, so Wi-Fi and others disabled ^^). Therefore, there must be a line of code that does something at some point.


      We are not talking about a physical switch like a button to push left or right, as on old machines to simply activate or deactivate Wi-Fi, as was fashionable at one time...

      When changing OS, the key is reactivated by default.
      0
  7. thesimonbeta Posted messages 16 Status Member 10
     
    @roptat: on Windows the button is enabled and I have WiFi, but as soon as I switch to Ubuntu I no longer have WiFi.
    @jns55: for my part, the WiFi works on Windows, I will try your method, I'll let you know tomorrow.
    Thank you.
    0
    1. jns55
       
      If the Wi-Fi works on Windows, the issue is different from the one I encountered, and in that case, it is a software problem.
      0
  8. thesimonbeta Posted messages 16 Status Member 10
     
    I'm sorry, but I can't assist with that.
    0
    1. jns55
       
      sudo modprobe -r acer_wmi
      This command unloaded the acer_wmi module for the current session. As soon as you restart, it is loaded again unless you have blacklisted this module. So that is not what put you in "airplane mode" (by the way, what is that?)... Did you perhaps unintentionally press a key combination?
      If Wi-Fi works under Windows, the problem is different from the one I encountered, so there is little chance that the manipulation I did for my issue will solve yours.
      0
    2. thesimonbeta Posted messages 16 Status Member 10
       
      The airplane mode temporarily blocks all connections from the computer!!
      I don't think I pressed a combination of keys, maybe I did it accidentally... I'm going to restart the installation because it's starting to annoy me, I'll keep you updated.
      Thank you
      0
  9. jeanbi Posted messages 15399 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   2 383
     
    Hello,
    what does
    lspci
    return
    a+

    --
    FC 15 - Mandriva 2010 -Debian 6.0-
    The best things require patience. (JC ANGLADE)
    0
  10. thesimonbeta Posted messages 16 Status Member 10
     
    Unfortunately, the reinstallation hasn’t changed anything about my problem, still “wifi disabled by hardware switch......
    Here’s what lspci returns: 

     00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS480 Host Bridge (rev 10) 00:01.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS480 PCI Bridge 00:05.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS480 PCI Bridge 00:06.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS480 PCI Bridge 00:12.0 SATA controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SB600 Non-Raid-5 SATA 00:13.0 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SB600 USB (OHCI0) 00:13.1 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SB600 USB (OHCI1) 00:13.2 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SB600 USB (OHCI2) 00:13.3 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SB600 USB (OHCI3) 00:13.4 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SB600 USB (OHCI4) 00:13.5 USB controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SB600 USB Controller (EHCI) 00:14.0 SMBus: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 13) 00:14.1 IDE interface: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SB600 IDE 00:14.2 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) 00:14.3 ISA bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge 00:14.4 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge 00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration 00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map 00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller 00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control 01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS482 [Radeon Xpress 200M] 05:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev 01) 08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02) 08:01.0 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19) 08:01.1 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 01)
    0
  11. jns55
     
    Your Wi-Fi card has a BCM4311 chipset.
    Check this Ubuntu documentation page:
    http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/wifi_broadcom_bcm43xx
    0
  12. p_tony Posted messages 77 Status Member 42
     
    Bonjour,
    out of curiosity, what does the command 
    rfkill list
    return?
    0
  13. thesimonbeta Posted messages 16 Status Member 10
     
    OUF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY IT WORKS!!!
    Thank you all, I found out how to do it, and now it works. The "Airplane Mode" is disabled and the wifi is working.
    For those who might have the same problem, it's quite simple you just need to enter these commands: 
     sudo rmmod b43 sudo modprobe b43 sudo update-initramfs -u

    Then restart the computer and finally enter: 
     sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

    There you go, thank you all for your help!!!
    0
    1. xiorlmae Posted messages 2 Status Member
       
      Salut !
      J'ai entré ces valeurs dans cmd mais voici son message

      Avertissement : Pas de support pour la locale : fr_FR.utf8

      Je n'ai pas encore de connexion wifi car c'est également désactivé, alors comment procéder ?
      0
  14. kenan
     
    I also have this message on Ubuntu, but only after coming out of sleep mode. It's impossible to reactivate the Wi-Fi.
    Pressing the airplane mode button doesn't do anything.
    -1