Hi there guys.

I was looking for a bit of help with a quirky issue that I've been
experiencing, please.

I am currently accessing the internet through my mobile phone via a hotspot/tethering.

I can tether / hotspot wirelessly if I use my laptop.
However ATM I have to use the charging/data cable if I want to tether via my main desktop PC

I'd much rather use my desktop PC to work from, as its much more ergonimicaly set up.


I have x2 wireless USB adabptors
1. Linksys WUSB54GC v1 802.11g Adapter
2. Sony /UWA-BR100 802.11abgn Wireless Adapter [Atheros AR7010+AR9280]

When I type lsusb I get the following response:

1. Output:
2.Output:
Troubleshooting:

1. I've dowloaded and intalled the correct drivers for both USB adaptors.

2. The OS recognises the USB adaptors (when they are plugged in)

3. I've tried various power cycyles, changing to different USB sockets / USB buses - (without success)

4. The ironic thing is, this was working (for a couple of days) before it stopped.

I believe that I (may) have inadvertently caused this.

I was going to (physically) swap USB adaptors. To do some quick speeds tests on each of the USB adaptors

Using KDE network manager, there were some icons / click boxes for Wireless adaptors and aeroplane mode.

I chose the de-select wireless adaptors (thinking that it would un-mount) the USB stick,
and allow me to insert the different wireless adaptor more easily.

Ever since then, I cannot use the USB adaptor to connect to my phone to access the internet.

In-fact, the actual icon/click box for wireless networks on KDE network manager has totally vanished.
However the icon/click box for Aeroplane mode is still there and available on network manager

5. I've also ran the rfkill command to clear any soft or hard blocks for
wireless adaptors, however this also has not resolved the issue, or brought back the icons
to let me use my USB wireless adaptors.

6. Another interesting point is:
Within the config file for The "network manager state" the value keeps flipping back to "False"

Looking in the following config file:
I opened up the file in gedit as sudo.
Changed the state to "true" and saved the file

Re-tried to connect to the phone via Wi-Fi = Not able to

Re-booted the PC, checked the file again, it has been re-set to false.

I've re-edited, and saved the file, and rebooted twice now with the same result
The state keeps flipping back to "false"



TIA for any help or advice.

Useful details:

OS: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
OS type: 64-bit

DE: KDE 5.12.9
Kernel: 4.15.0-99-generic

Let's concentrate on one device for now.

Please elaborate on that.
I suspect something went wrong there, and you have to undo it.

Looking at the history in Synaptic

7. Here are the relevant packages that have been installed recently


python-wicd (1.7.4+tb2-5)
wicd (1.7.4+tb2-5)
wicd-daemon (1.7.4+tb2-5)
wicd-gtk (1.7.4+tb2-5)

backport-iwlwifi-dkms (7906-0ubuntu4~18.04.2)
build-essential (12.4ubuntu1)
dkms (2.3-3ubuntu9.7)
dpkg-dev (1.19.0.5ubuntu2.3)
fakeroot (1.22-2ubuntu1)
libalgorithm-diff-perl (1.19.03-1)
libalgorithm-diff-xs-perl (0.04-5)
libalgorithm-merge-perl (0.08-3)
libfakeroot (1.22-2ubuntu1)
make (4.1-9.1ubuntu1)


However as I stated in my initial post.
Both of these Wi-Fi adaptors were working perfectly for 1-2 days before they stopped working.
(I suspect due to me toggling that click box to enable/ disable Wi-Fi (in network manager) )

Then try opening the network manager and enable (turn on) wifi with one of the adapters installed. If you turned wifi off or if you turned airplane mode on then you have to turn wifi back on before it will work.

As per my original post:

The icons are not even there, so I have nothing to turn on/off

Check the wifi state using rfkill. If necessary unblock wifi.

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/.../rfkill.8.html

This is ALL you installed and all you DID to get the wifi adapters to work?
I'm surprised that you need make, build-essential, fakeroot etc. to install already compiled packages.
Did you download a driver from a website somewhere and compile it?

Also, wicd is incompatible with networkmanager. Read the wiki.

This is good to know, but ultimately not helpful - we have to work with what we have NOW.