[SOLVED] Alienware AW17R3 Computer Installation Help

lhb1142 · 05-17-2016, 01:48 PM

Vendor: Alienware (Dell)
Model: AW17R3-7092SLV 17.3" FHD Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD) NVIDIA GeForce GTX980M
Received: May 12, 2016
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 (Home)
Desired Operating System: Ubuntu Studio 16.04 'Xenial Xerus'

I received an Alienware AW17R3-7092SLV 17.3" FHD Laptop (6th Generation Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD) NVIDIA GeForce GTX980M free of charge (don't ask!) several days ago. This computer is manufactured by Dell. It has Microsoft Windows 10 (Home) installed.

I would like to completely replace Windows with Ubuntu Studio 16.04.

However, when I run the 64-bit Live CD [DVD] disk (which is perfect, not corrupted in any way), everything seems to work - except the Wi-Fi.

I am even able, using an Ethernet cable, to access the Internet and install the proprietary NVidia drivers which are on this machine.

But I cannot, no matter what I do, get that computer to connect via Wi-Fi. (The Fn + F2 control doesn't work; the message in the Network information shows that Wi-Fi is disabled but, sometimes after pressing the Fx + F2 keys, the message shows that the Wi-Fi is disabled via a hardware switch and once it shows that message, the message cannot be changed.) Even though I configure the Wi-Fi connection properly (using the proper SSID and WPA2 password) in the Network setting, it does not function.

I should also mention that I tried using the new Xubuntu 16.04 64-bit Live CD (also a DVD) with exactly the same results.

Here are the Wi-Fi Network Adapter particulars:

Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1535 Wireless Network Adapter

8/23/2015 Driver Version 12.0.0.337

Qualcomm Atheros Communications, Inc.

PCI bus 60 device 0 functon 0

I would like to know if, if I were to 'wipe' Windows and install Ubuntu Studio (or Xubuntu or even Ubuntu) whether this device will work with one or all of these operating systems. It certainly doesn't with the Live CD.

I suppose the logical thing to do would be to contact Dell's Linux unit but, as many people have pointed out over the years, this is generally fruitless.

Obviously, if the Live CD doesn't work properly, I do not want to install Ubuntu Studio to this computer - UNLESS there is someone here who can help me do so. I would wish to know exactly what the Wi-Fi connection problem is and how it can be rectified.

I sincerely thank anyone who can give me help with this problem.

ardvark71 · 05-19-2016, 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lhb1142

I sincerely thank anyone who can give me help with this problem.

Hi...

Well, we can give it a shot. Welcome to the forum

The first thing we need to do is find out the exact model number (or Device ID) of your wireless adapter. Fair warning though, you may need to actually install the distribution of your choice to get it to work properly. Please open a terminal, and post the entire results of these commands...

Code:

lspci -nnk | grep -i net -A2

Code:

lsmod

Code:

iwconfig

Code:

rfkill list

To make it easier, just copy and paste the commands into your terminal and press "Enter" and then copy and paste the results into your next post using the code tags (The "#" symbol right above the text window.)

Regards...

onebuck · 05-19-2016, 09:30 AM

Hi,

You must be root to use the commands suggested by advark71, I use 'su -' to get root privileges in a terminal. You should look at the 'dmesg' output to see what you have for wireless at boot;

Code:

# dmesg |grep -iA3 wireless
[    5.969712] Intel(R) Wireless WiFi driver for Linux, in-tree:
[    5.969713] Copyright(c) 2003- 2014 Intel Corporation
[    5.969889] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: can't disable ASPM; OS doesn't have ASPM control
[    5.970177] iwlwifi 0000:03:00.0: irq 44 for MSI/MSI-X

You can check the firmware via;

Code:

# ls /lib/firmware/iwl*
/lib/firmware/iwlwifi-100-5.ucode   /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-3160-7.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-5.ucode     /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6050-4.ucode
/lib/firmware/iwlwifi-1000-3.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-3160-8.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5150-2.ucode     /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6050-5.ucode
/lib/firmware/iwlwifi-1000-5.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-3160-9.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6000-4.ucode     /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-7.ucode
/lib/firmware/iwlwifi-105-6.ucode   /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-3945-2.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6000g2a-5.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-8.ucode
/lib/firmware/iwlwifi-135-6.ucode   /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-4965-2.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6000g2a-6.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-9.ucode
/lib/firmware/iwlwifi-2000-6.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-1.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6000g2b-5.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7265-8.ucode
/lib/firmware/iwlwifi-2030-6.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-2.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6000g2b-6.ucode  /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7265-9.ucode

Be sure your firmware is up to date for your chipset.
You can open a terminal and use 'su -' to get root privileges.
My outputs are for a Intel wireless and shown for examples. To understand any bash commands, you can use 'man command' at cli such as 'man su' to get explanation for that command.
Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!

lhb1142 · 05-19-2016, 09:55 AM

Thanks to you both. At this point I am not going to try to work with Ubuntu Studio installation on this computer until the first point release is made available in July. I have been given to understand, via a different forum, that the Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1535 Wireless Network Adapter driver will be made available in later versions of the kernel; I assume it is there now.

If it is not, I can download and install it following the instructions on the page.

Thanks for replying to me.

ardvark71 · 05-19-2016, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lhb1142

If it is not, I can download and install it following the instructions on the page.

Hi...

Does this mean that you no longer seeking assistance on this? If so, please mark this thread as "SOLVED" by clicking on "Thread Tools" directly above your initial post. Thanks!

Regards...