How to change the Network controller's Kernel modules?

rookieup · 03-28-2022, 02:55 AM

I'm using:
ubuntu 18.04
kernel 5.4.0-105-generic

i have Intel wifi 6 ax201, but the system cannot find it, installed the driver but didnot solve it.

when i run the code "lspci -nnk", i have that:

00:14.3 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:7af0] (rev 11)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:4070]
Kernel modules: wl

the Network controller isnot using the iwlwifi as kernel module but wl, how can i change it to use iwlwifi?

Ser Olmy · 03-28-2022, 03:10 AM

If you read the Fedora bug report here and the ArchLinux discussion thread here, you'll find that this is a common issue with the kernel driver in older kernels. It seems it won't load the firmware, and as a result the card fails to initialize.

Compare the output of dmesg on your system to the bug reports and see if you're having the same issue.

You say you "installed the driver." Does that mean you downloaded the source code from Intel and compiled and installed an out-of-tree driver?

rookieup · 03-28-2022, 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ser Olmy

If you read the Fedora bug report here and the ArchLinux discussion thread here, you'll find that this is a common issue with the kernel driver in older kernels. It seems it won't load the firmware, and as a result the card fails to initialize.

Compare the output of dmesg on your system to the bug reports and see if you're having the same issue.

You say you "installed the driver." Does that mean you downloaded the source code from Intel and compiled and installed an out-of-tree driver?

i installed the .tar.gz file form Intel, unzip them and copy all .ucode file in /lib/firmware

Ser Olmy · 03-28-2022, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rookieup

i installed the .tar.gz file form Intel, unzip them and copy all .ucode file in /lib/firmware

So you didn't install a driver, you installed the firmware files. That's fine, but you're still relying on the driver (module) in the Linux kernel.

I suggest you unload and reload (rmmod/modprobe) the module while having dmesg -w running in another window, and see what the kernel reports. Chances are it'll look a lot like the dmesg output from the bug report I linked to earlier.