[SOLVED] hard block on wireless with every distro i try
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[SOLVED] hard block on wireless with every distro i try
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.
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.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try
have you tried "rfkill unblock all" and are the drivers installed?
Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try
I will try that later today and advise here, I appreciate your input, thank you.
Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try
Unfortunately rfkill is only capable of unlocking soft blocks the man page says:
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.
So hard block is a hard block - ie it is caused by hardware not software.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.
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.
Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try
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)
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.
Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try
To get back your wifi to start working, type in the following:
You will get back something like this:
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:
Restart your networking:
There you go. Wifi is working again
Code: Select all
sudo rfkill list
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
Code: Select all
sudo rfkill unblock 0
Code: Select all
sudo rfkill unblock 2
Code: Select all
sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try
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?
$ 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?
Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try
try the following solutions:
1_cklick on Fn + F8
2_ try this commands:
then:
Reboot and see if it fixes your problem
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
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'
Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try
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.
Thanks again for the quick reply.
[SOLVED] Re: hard block on wireless with every distro i try
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.
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.
Re: [SOLVED] hard block on wireless with every distro i try
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.
Was about to give up all hope with the last post until I tried Zorba's advice. Volla! all is good now.
Re: [SOLVED] hard block on wireless with every distro i try
To anyone using the b43 module and having this issue, you should in terminal do and and try your switch again. The b43 module ignores hardware switches by default, which is something other than a FN+ keypress combo
Code: Select all
sudo rmmod b43
Code: Select all
sudo modprobe b43 hwpctl=1