[SOLVED] hard block on wireless with every distro i try

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Windowsfree2013

[SOLVED] hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by Windowsfree2013 »

I recently installed SolydX on a Lenovo S10 with a Broadcom wireless adaptor. (4312). I used an ethernet cable to connect to Internet and ran DDM which then advised of the correct driver for this. When installed, i get the error message that "wireless disabled by hardware switch". I have wireless switch turned on as I used a LIVE WINXP USB to ensure that it was working.
It appears that the correct driver is installed now but searching GOOGLE, I found that this issue is present on a lot of ACER and DELL netbooks. Any suggestions?

$ sudo rfkill list
0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: yes
Since this is dual booting I go back into Win XP and wireless is on as soon as i log onto desktop with Windows.
What is hardblocking it?

added:
just made live USB's with Fedora and LMDE and both those show the hardware lock also running in live mode.
added:

Attached screenshot of live usb running LMDE and issue. I removed the PCI card prior to this so only the broadcom internal card is there.

Any suggestions?

I want to set this Netbook up with LMDE as the only OS in conclusion.
Notebook specs:
1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom Processor
1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz
Windows XP Home Edition (SP3)
10.2″ WSVGA AntiGlare TFT with integrated camera 1024×600
160GB 5400rpm hard drive
Intel GMA 950 Integrated Graphics
​​Broadcom 11b/g Wi-Fi wireless and Bluetooth
4-in-1 Media card reader and ExpressCard slot

Thank you.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
pettijohne

Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by pettijohne »

have you tried "rfkill unblock all" and are the drivers installed?
Windowsfree2013

Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by Windowsfree2013 »

I will try that later today and advise here, I appreciate your input, thank you.
viking777

Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by viking777 »

Unfortunately rfkill is only capable of unlocking soft blocks the man page says:
unblock index|type
Enable the device corresponding to the given index. If the
device is hard-blocked, e.g. via a hardware switch, it will
remain unavailable though it is now soft-unblocked.
So hard block is a hard block - ie it is caused by hardware not software.

I appreciate you have tried with a windows device and I find it difficult to understand why that would work and Linux won't.

You could try this:

http://glonek.co.uk/linux-mint/wireless ... d-blocked/

Or otherwise check wireless settings in your bios.
Windowsfree2013

Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by Windowsfree2013 »

Thank you, I will try this later today and report my results here.
I appreciate your response.

(going to try the "static discharge" method also, since that has fixed a list of things on my other lenovo T430)
Last edited by Windowsfree2013 on Thu Mar 13, 2014 8:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Brahim Salem

Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by Brahim Salem »

To get back your wifi to start working, type in the following:

Code: Select all

sudo rfkill list
You will get back something like this:

Code: Select all

0: dell-wifi: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: yes
    Hard blocked: no
1: dell-bluetooth: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: yes
    Hard blocked: no
4: hci0: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no
As you could see (0,2) the Wireless Lan has been soft blocked. We need to unblock it to get it up and working properly:

Code: Select all

sudo rfkill unblock 0

Code: Select all

sudo rfkill unblock 2
Restart your networking:

Code: Select all

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
There you go. Wifi is working again :D
Windowsfree2013

Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by Windowsfree2013 »

I have tried that, as you can see I am hard blocked, but it works in Windows.

$ sudo rfkill list
0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: yes
Since this is dual booting I go back into Win XP and wireless is on as soon as i log onto desktop with Windows.
What is hardblocking it?
Brahim Salem

Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by Brahim Salem »

try the following solutions:

1_cklick on Fn + F8
2_ try this commands:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get remove bcmwl-kernel-source
sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer
sudo apt-get install b43-fwcutter
then:

Code: Select all

cat /etc/modprobe.d/* | egrep '8180|acx|at76|ath|b43|bcm|CX|eth|ipw|irmware|isl| lbtf|orinoco|ndiswrapper|NPE|p54|prism|rtl|rt2|rt3 |rt6|rt7|witch|wl'
Reboot and see if it fixes your problem :D
Windowsfree2013

Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by Windowsfree2013 »

Thanks, I will attempt that. My wireless on off key combo is FN+F5. Is that what your instruction was referring to ?

Thanks again for the quick reply.
Windowsfree2013

[SOLVED] Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by Windowsfree2013 »

UPDATE


The hardware switch issue has become such a great problem with this that I decided to use Windows 7 on this Netbook. All the hardware works and no issue with performance. Even Aero runs decent. I will upgrade the RAM from 1 to 2 gigabytes later. I do believe a linux version with an XFCE desktop would run somewhat better but the hardware issue that the Linux OS has with this is just too much of a problem. Thank you all for your assistance.
70363c1413

Re: [SOLVED] hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by 70363c1413 »

I too have been struggleing with the hardware switch on a Dell D610 laptop (Mint 17).
Was about to give up all hope with the last post until I tried Zorba's advice. Volla! all is good now.
JeremyB
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13771
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:17 am

Re: [SOLVED] hard block on wireless with every distro i try

Post by JeremyB »

To anyone using the b43 module and having this issue, you should in terminal do

Code: Select all

sudo rmmod b43
and

Code: Select all

sudo modprobe b43 hwpctl=1
and try your switch again. The b43 module ignores hardware switches by default, which is something other than a FN+ keypress combo
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