hardware switch cut off wifi

wiliamvw · 10-28-2020, 03:42 PM

running kernel Linux 4.2.0-19-generic [x86_64]
using ubuntu derived Uberstudent 4.3 xfce Heraclitus 64-bit
no wifi and get notice that 'hardware switch' is the cause
checked Fn + F3 as well as BIOS [all OK with all enabled as should be]
did: sudo service network-manager restart
did: rfkill unblock all [then reboot]
no improvement
did: rfkill list all got: 1: phy0: wireless LAN
Soft block: yes
Hard block: yes
did: rfkill unblock 1
no change; NOTHING made any improvement anywhere!
All suggestions appreciated.

TB0ne · 10-28-2020, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wiliamvw

running kernel Linux 4.2.0-19-generic [x86_64]
using ubuntu derived Uberstudent 4.3 xfce Heraclitus 64-bit
no wifi and get notice that 'hardware switch' is the cause
checked Fn + F3 as well as BIOS [all OK with all enabled as should be]
did: sudo service network-manager restart
did: rfkill unblock all [then reboot]
no improvement
did: rfkill list all got: 1: phy0: wireless LAN
Soft block: yes
Hard block: yes
did: rfkill unblock 1
no change; NOTHING made any improvement anywhere!
All suggestions appreciated.

Bolded a line above for emphasis only. Since the actual, physical hardware switch is off. So a good suggestion would be to turn it back ON.

frankbell · 10-28-2020, 08:17 PM

What is the make/model of the computer?

(If it's a laptop, I've had laptops that had an Fn-key combo to turn wireless on and off. The first time I accidentally turned it off, it took me three weeks to figure out what I'd done. The Fn key in question had a little picture that was supposed to be an antenna on it.)

obobskivich · 10-28-2020, 08:40 PM

Something else to ponder is there may be a BIOS setting that's disabling an onboard device (the WiFi) - might look at that as well.

wiliamvw · 11-02-2020, 10:02 AM

Should have thought of this earlier, but my laptop has removeable drive and so I substituted a harddrive running a different OS [scientifis linux] and -- using the exact same BIOS and F keyes as with Uberstudent -- had no problem getting on the internet [using it right now]; so clearly the problem involves the OS software which suddenly cut out my wifi [the so-called "hardware switch"]. Not a solution, but at least cuts down the possible sources for the problem. Thanks again for everyone's inputs.

wiliamvw · 11-09-2020, 04:00 PM

No idea why but suddenly have wifi again; would like to know why before formally saying 'solved'; thanks for everyone's input; maybe there's a gremlin nearby.

obobskivich · 11-09-2020, 04:23 PM

Just a random thought, and note that I've never seen this behavior with WiFi cards but have with audio devices, is that the wifi card went to 'sleep' (as in thinks the machine is in standby/hibernate) and after a power cycle/the right power cycle it comes back up. Again I've never seen a network adapter do this, but I've seen soundcards get 'trapped' in this where they're still 'sleep' but the computer is up, and it requires cycling the machine in/out of hibernate and/or rebooting to get them to reset.