I'm having persistent trouble getting my Wifi to show up on Kubuntu 17.04, after I installed it fresh, from an earlier 16.10 installation.

I'm using a ThinkPenguin TPE-N150USB adapter, and as far as I know, it doesn't require any firmware for Ubuntu distos, though it does for Debian.

Basically, I can't get my Wifi device to show in my Networks pop-up window. I've tried configuring it in various ways but it doesn't seem to matter what I do... it won't show up.

I'm not really sure how I should properly configure it. Is there some trick to configuring it I'm missing here?

Your right you shouldn't need to install a driver. AFAIK Think Penguin usb dongles should work right out of the box.

Does lsusb see it?

Is Network MGR installed?

-::-You might have to blacklist your onboard wifi card, if you have one on that mobo.-::-

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi...

I own the adapter you mentioned, too, and it should work "out of the box" with the distribution (and version) you're using.

If you would, with your usb adapter plugged in, please connect the system to the internet using an ethernet cable and then open a terminal and run the following commands...

Then navigate to the location of the text file the script created and post the contents (or a link to them) in your next reply. This might give us more information concerning your issue.

However, I remember assisting someone else on another thread with an almost identical issue. The solution was to reinstall the previous of Ubuntu they were using, which was 16.04. That may be the best solution for you too, if this can't be easily resolved.

Thanks!

I'm with Ztcoracat...something is preventing the dongle from being seen. If it shows up under lsusb, then your on-board wifi may be conflicting with it, so blacklisting it may do the trick. But if that's the case...why can't you use your on-board wifi? What kind of hardware are you using (brand/model)? If it does NOT show up, are you positive that the USB port(s) are working? Tried them with another device, or tried moving the dongle to a different port?

Rather pointless isn't it? Especially when the OP posted that they cannot get the device to show up, so running the wireless-info script won't give us anything, since it is not visible, right??
Oh? Which thread?? Advising a user who has just done a fresh install to go back and reload an old OS to get one device working, is bad advice...especially when the device in question is fully supported by the device:
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-lin...ux-tpe-n150usb

See where it says "Kubuntu 17.04" on that page??? So why advise the user to go through the chore of re-installing their entire OS, without having ANY basis to say that? At this point, the OP hasn't provided any of the follow-up diagnostic information needed to let anyone try to help them, and you're advice is to reload the OS?

Hi TB0ne...

Do you also think it's helpful by making a point to chide me for everything you don't like or disagree with?

No, it's not. The OP said the adapter didn't show up in his network list, not lsusb or any of the other commands the script obtains information from.

Regards...

Helpful for the OP, to prevent them wasting their time and effort by pointing out bad advice...yes.
...because if it's not in the network list as an available adapter/NIC, it's being interfered with or isn't working period. Ztcoracat suggested lsusb, but running a wireless diagnostic script against something the OP already said wasn't showing up as a wireless adapter is again, pointless. Again, getting the OP to download something, chmod/run, and post a HUGE chunk of text when just using the built-in lsusb command is wasting time.

Proper troubleshooting starts with simple things first, then goes more complex...and also takes into account what the user reports as the original problem.

1 members found this post helpful.

There's been some misunderstandings here, and I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner -- I got a bit sidetracked.

I tried lsusb, and it does show up as 'Bus 008 Device 002: ID 0cf3:9271 Atheros Communications, Inc. AR9271 802.11n'. But that's not very useful since I can already find it in my Network Configuration. The problem is that once it's configured, it won't connect or show up on my list of active connections. I configure it and nothing happens. So I think it has to do with the configuration itself.

And I'm sure as hell not going to go back to Kubuntu 16.10 when ThinkPenguin, as you've pointed out, has 17.04 listed as a supported distro.

Here's a screenshot of my config -- http://orig15.deviantart.net/3154/f/...ss-dbbxzxp.jpg

and of the Network Config menu, which has no entry for it -- http://orig06.deviantart.net/5069/f/2017/158/3/e/nw_popup_by_highstrangeness-dbbxzxl.jpg

Also, I don't have an built-in wifi on this motherboard.

Ahh...this makes more sense. A couple of things to check based on what you posted:

• Disconnect your wired connection before doing wifi config. Sometimes, it will default to wired, and even though the wifi is up, it won't use it.
• Go to the ipv4 section. Not sure if you're using DHCP or static, but make sure whichever you're using is selected. Most SOHO routers use DHCP, and that's typically a safe choice

1 members found this post helpful.

I can't select DHCP for ipv4, it doesn't even list it.. I also tried disconnecting my wired (cable) connection first. No difference -- I still get nothing. Nothing I've done, at all, gets my device to list. Also I'm not using a router, this is a USB adapter connected directly to my machine.

Awhile ago I also tried another adapter, an ASUS USB-N13. It didn't show up either. I just tried it again in fact, with various configurations (infrastructure, ad-hoc, access point), with no results.

I remember having some trouble configuring my Wifi in previous versions of Kubuntu, but unfortunately I don't remember exactly what I did to fix it.

Gotcha...always worth trying the easy things first. That said, I remember hearing about a bug in wifi configuration for Ubuntu 17.04, which in all likeliness is present in Kubuntu. It has to do with MAC address randomization, if I remember correctly, for security reasons. Try running:
...and at the bottom of the file add:
Save and reboot.

I did this...but I don't see any improvement. What's it supposed to do? Just from the code alone I can tell it probably stops the NM from scanning for random MAC addresses... but, I still don't have any Wifi.

I also tried deleting and re-adding my Wifi, and it did show up on my list of available connections. When I tried to activate it, it got stuck in a cycling "configuring interface" message. It doesn't do anything else though, and won't go through to being added to my active connections.

For that matter, I don't remember having to jump through these kinds of hoops to get Wifi working, on my last installation, and I didn't have to manually activate it either. Either way, it won't work.

It's pretty frustrating, and networking isn't my strongest skill, which is why I didn't know how to resolve it.

edit: I tried removing my Wifi entry in NM, and re-added it (I used the name USB Wifi). With the mode set to Infrastructure, it wouldn't show up at all in my list of available connections. With that option set to Ad-hoc, it does show up. However, when I clicked on 'Connect', it got stuck in the 'setting network address' phase, and eventually gave up. Now it just says the connection hasn't been used.

I'm starting to wonder if this issue also has something to do with the initial configuration of the Wifi setup.

Understand. As stated, this appears to be a bug in the 17.04 release of NetworkManager in the *Buntus. Your earlier version worked fine, because that bug wasn't present. The line above is there to keep your wifi adapter from randomizing your MAC address...making any ARP entries useless, and causing no end of network problems.
Ad-hoc is the way to go, and don't set channels or anything else manually. You might also want to consider trying to set an address manually (if it lets you at this point), and see if you can get it to work AT ALL on your home network first. Also, be sure you're using the right encryption...if you set things for WEP and you're using WPA, nothing will work.

Something I noticed in your config screen-shot...you have it set to be ACCESS POINT...you do realize that makes your LAPTOP a wifi access point, that other devices can connect to, rather than CONNECTING to an access point?

Yeah. What I'm trying to do, is to set up Wifi so I can connect my phone to my PC wirelessly -- so I don't have to use my cellphone's data connection, which is limited to 2GB/mo. I'm not on a laptop either, but on an AMD FX-8350-based desktop machine. I'm not actually trying to connect to anyone else's.

If it is a bug in 17.04, that's a bit weird, if ThinkPenguin cleared it... which I assume they did, if they listed it as compatible?

Also, I'm not sure how to actually set the manual addresses, as you suggest -- meaning, I have no idea what I'd set them to. I don't have any information about those kinds of settings.

Sorry, but you're shifting gears here. If you currently have a wifi access point in your house, THAT is what your laptop (and phone and whatever else) connects to. Is that what you're trying to do?? Because setting up a wifi access point is FAR different than connecting to an existing wifi access point.

What are you actually trying to do here? https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubunt...ess-adhoc.html