rusty linux user needs help getting wireless to work on Ubuntu 16
 

Don't know where to start. No wireless on my laptop after a fresh install along side Windows. Wired connection fine. Windows wireless fine. Thanks for any help.

Here's some info:

Hi:

I'm not the best with the wifi stuff but I know how frustrating getting wireless to work can be.

Reading the output I see that you have a Realtek Card.

This link should help you get the driver installed for your wireless card.

https://medium.com/@elmaxx/rtl8821ae...4-4c1286524afa

http://askubuntu.com/questions/79721...with-rtl8821ae

Hope that helps.

Start by using your favourite search engine.

Plenty of (recent) hits - most Ubuntu/Debian or derivatives. But they seem to blame upstream. Several solutions from disabling power management to pulling a new driver and compiling from source.
Personally I would try the easy ones first before going to the compile - each new kernel will require a rebuild of the module. But if you must, you must.
FWIW, due to past issues like this (appalling support from the manufacturers) I avoid both Realtek and Broadcom when buying new kit. The Intel support of wifi has been good for years.

it says clearly UNCLAIMED there for your realtek wifi.
usually requires some minor command-fu to
a) install the right driver
b) install the right firmware
c) sometimes both.

search for "ubuntu RTL8821AE" you should get answers.
let us know how it goes, more help is available.

Hi...

Just to be sure as to the nature of the problem, if you would, please open a terminal and run the command below...

Then post the results (or a link to them) in your next reply. This might give us some additional details. Thanks! :)

Regards...

Thanks for the response. Here:

Hi...

Thanks for posting the results. Here is at least one of the problems, if not the problem. Your wireless adapter is turned off at the computer (or hardware level.) It appears that your laptop brand and model (Lenovo-ideapad-Y700-15ACZ) doesn't have a physical switch to enable or disable the adapter, from what I see here and here. First, check the BIOS/UEFI to make sure it's enabled there and if so, see if the button combination mentioned in the articles linked to above enables the adapter, by any chance. I did find this patch, however, I don't think it's been included with Ubuntu 16.04's stock kernel. If the button combination doesn't work, you can contact Canonical to see if it's been added to any subsequent kernels or versions of Ubuntu or conduct some research to find out how the patch might be added to your current kernel.

If you're able to unblock the adapter, verify the status by running this command in the terminal...

All the entries should read "no." If so and your wireless still doesn't work after that, please run another diagnostic again and post the results. Thanks! :)

Regards...

Nope. No function keys or buttons found to turn on wireless. I used to see an options for check marking wireless in the dropdown list
in upper right corner (the two up and down arrows) - now that's not there.

Hi...

It looks like something happened, as these two entries have changed (compared to your previous results.)

Regards...

Dude I gave up and installed openSuse - not that it solved anything (Aardvark got me thinking I'd have better luck w/ openS). I'm struggling with Yast and Network Manager now to get that dang card recognized. We'll see. Thanks so far for the help. Will keep you posted on my progress w/ openSuse.

Birdman48,

Did you try using the method recommended in the link given by Ztcoracat in post #2?

https://medium.com/@elmaxx/rtl8821ae...afa#.49u94k65p

Hi Birdman48...

Yes, I would agree. Give Ztcoracat's suggestion a try, hopefully it will also have a positive result concerning rfkill. :)

Regards...

Did try that about five times.
Now I may have increased the difficulty as openSuse seems less popular and hence there will be less support.

Just so I know, this problem seems to be one of getting the correct drivers working right? Are the drivers written by the vendor? If so there's probably no incentive for them to produce one. Maybe they're written/programmed by the Linux community in which case it's either very hard to do or I just cannot find them. Am I warm?

The best that I can tell you is that the driver had to be built and compiled for a Linux system.

Do you mean that you tried to install the driver five times?

It's the wifi device it seems. Not well supported in some cases. Drops a lot for some folks. Then you have to mess with power settings.
A few months ago someone made a patched driver to help fix the dropout issue.

Might be easier to get a small usb wifi adapter to make it work. Many are supported out of the box.

Agreed-:)

http://www.wirelesshack.org/top-linu...-adapters.html

You read my mind. I'm looking at the cheap usb adapters at Walmart and Amazon. Do you know which ones are supported? This one lists Linux in the title: https://www.amazon.com/Importer520-W.../dp/B00333F2YU

TP-Link and Netgear.

https://www.walmart.com/browse/elect..._126297_232899

Yes. I'm looking at external usb network cards now that say for Linux. Any known working chipsets?

Birdman48,

I do not use openSUSE, so I cannot advise you there.

As I see it, you have two main choices:

1. Use a Linux distro which recognises and enables your Broadcom wifi card automatically. This is cheaper but involves a fresh installation.

2. Buy a USB wifi adapter that works out of the box. This costs a little, but there is no reinstallation.
However you do have to wait for delivery and also hope that you are sent precisely the featured item below and not something similar which probably does not work in Linux.

Option 1:

antiX automatically recognises and enables most Broadcom wifi cards:
http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

http://download.tuxfamily.org/antix/...FAQ/index.html

To enable wifi in antiX 16.1 after installation:

Menu > Control Centre > Network > Network Interfaces (ceni) > wlan0 > follow wizard and give SSID/network name and wifi password.


Option 2:

D-Link N150 USB wifi adapter:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...og.php?b=37274


Personally, I would go for Option 1 but I will leave it for you to decide.

NB You may need to go into the BIOS and disable the Broadcom wifi if you decide to use Option 2.

Hi...

The American (USA) Amazon page for this adapter can be found here. :)

Regards...

ardvark71,

Thanks.

I have updated my LQ blog accordingly.

You're welcome :)

Regards...

Before you spend money, that adapter/chipset should work under openSUSE...which version did you install? In anything after 13.1, the driver *SHOULD* be present, and work, but the firmware may not be there.

First thing: run "sudo zypper install kernel-firmware". If it's not already present, it'll load...reboot, and see what happens, if it wasn't loaded.
Second thing: run "lsmod | grep -i rt" and see what you get. You may see something like 'rt8169' in there. While that driver *SHOULD* work for the 8168 cards, sometimes it whines about the firmware. Run "dmesg | grep -i real" to see what happens, and if you can get any hints from the dmesg logs.

You also say there's not a hard switch or 'soft' switch (FN Key) to enable/disable wireless...which would be EXTRAORDINARILY odd. Those systems before 2010 do have a physical switch, either on the side or front. The 'nice' part of that system is that, regardless of the physical switch position, the wifi may not turn on AT ALL, unless you hit FN+F5 to enable it. Note that the physical switch must be on FIRST, at boot time, before the FN+F5 key has ANY effect, even in Windows.

Thanks, but it doesn't find it.

Sorry, but what is this in response to?? What did you do to generate this error, and what were you trying to install?? Is this related to the kernel-firmware or some other package? Not really clear what you're responding to here.

Going to http://software.opensuse.org and searching for kernel-firmware leads here:
https://software.opensuse.org/package/kernel-firmware

..under "Unsupported Distributions", 13.1 is listed. None of them have the repo listed above, but if that's giving you problems, then disable it in yast, and follow the one-click install from NicoK (dated this month).

In response to the command you suggested:

Ok, I have no idea where that repository came from. It's failing because that link isn't valid any longer...you can put that link into a browser, and if it doesn't come up, the repo is invalid. That's not a standard repo, so go into the graphical YAST utility->Software Repositories and find that link, and un-check the "Enabled" box and try again.

ok I disabled that weird repo and ran the commands you suggested.
I don't know what to glean from the result:

Ok, you stated initially you're using 13.1...so why do you have a 13.2 repository enabled??? Mixing/matching like this between versions won't get good results. Your realtek driver is loaded (apparently), from the resulting lsmod and dmesg look.

So...have you actually gone in and tried to CONFIGURE wireless yet??? The adapter will just sit there until you do. Going back to your very first post, it appears as if everything was recognized, but I've not see the post where you went into your network manager and configured the connection....

ok it's 13.2 and I have tried to configure wireless but I'm not sure I
have it right. I tried:
NetworkSetupMethod: Wicked
managed (as opposed to ad-hoc)
dynamic ip
Authentication mode : WEP sharedr

and a combination of those but to no avail

So you're using 13.2, fine....so what desktop environment are you using? First thing I'd do is to use NetworkManager instead of wicked, to make things easier for yourself. And unless your access point is managed...it won't work. Most are ad-hoc, and most don't use WEP either, but WPA.

Go to yast, change to network manager, and go through the nework manager icon in your system tray to configure a connection. I can almost GUARANTEE you're using WPA Personal and ad-hoc, if your access point is fairly new.

I go to Yast -> network services and get this warning:
Network is currently handled by NetworkManager or completely disabled
Yast is unable to configure some options
I click OK and when I get the dialog interface, I am unable to
edit (no Add, Edit, or Delete - it's greyed out)

edit: check this out.
After I closed Yast, I fiddled with Fn+F2 and Fn+F5 and hovered over the ethernet icon in the
taskbar to see several available connections and that the wifi was enabled!
However I still cannot connect using wireless.
Think I need to configure card properly.

Well, after closing Yast, I tried a few Fn+F# combos and then when I hovered over the ethernet icon in taskbar I saw a wonderful site - several connection options and that wifi was enabled. However, I still cannot connect wireless. Guess my card needs configured. How? HTF do you USE NetworkManager???

Use of profanity is highly frowned upon here. You need to refrain from using it.

Generally with Network MGR you click on it and a drop down menu or a window opens and shows you all the networks in your area.

Click on your network and than it should prompt you to type in your passphrase that you.r ISP provided you with:-

where is it?
Must be an unsupported card. When I unplug the ethernet cord, it tries to connect, but can't. I've configured it to the best of my knowledge.

I'm not running Open Suse so I don't know.
Depending on what DE you are using Network Mgr should be in the panel.

ASAIK Realtek is supported.

IF you went to Yast and tried to change to Network Mgr and that didn't work maybe TB0ne will know why. IF Network MGR is disabled and greyed out wait for TB0ne as I'm not sure how to enable it:- Sorry--

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+...utf-8&oe=utf-8

***OpenSUSE 13.2 - reached it's end of life on Jan 17th 2017***
https://en.opensuse.org/Lifetime

The current version of Open Suse is LEAP 42.3--
https://software.opensuse.org/develo...ease=developer

-::::-Running an unsupported version is most likely I'd think; as to the issue's your having.-::::-

Network manager is working - I think that's how I enabled wireless. I was just expecting a dialog box like Yast.
When I try to use Yast (choosing "wicked" setup), all connection is lost - Ethernet too.
I think this is a firmware issue - I think I have drivers. but have no idea how to get the card working.
BTW - sorry about the profanity.

Glad to hear that you were able to get the Network Mgr working.

Thanks:-

I wonder if this has anything to do with which kernel is being used?
http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/RTL8821AE.html

http://www.realtek.com.tw/Downloads/...4&DownTypeID=3

I'll be. The problem is solved! I just booted up then opened NetworkManager and then clicked on a wireless connection I had set up previously. That on didn't wok so I tried another one and low and behold it worked. I like that it works, but I'm a little disappointed that I don't know why.
Thanks Ztcoracat and everyone else who chimed in.
Now I will see if I have same luck with Ubuntu (on another partition).
I will monitor this thread in case anyone wants to clarify what happened.

You're Welcome:-

Glad to hear it's working:-

Bet you are relieved:-

Don't forget to mark your thread SOLVED.