[SOLVED] Wireless hardware switch is off

[lachelp]

Hello,

I am trying to use AntiX on a Gateway LT22 with 2GB RAM and an Atheros RS9285 wifi chipset.

I love the AntiX since it boots FAST and uses only <200MB RAM. Perfect for this machine!

However, with both AntiX 19 & 19.1 during boot, the wifi switch is turned off and Network Assistant shows this. The wifi cannot be turned back on with the keyboard combination and there is no other hardware switch to do so.

This problem does not occur in either of the dual-boot installed Win7 SP1 or LinuxMint XFCE v19.3. It also does not occur on Puppy Linux distros I have tried.

Can someone point me to the right place to look for the why on this one?

TIA!!

[seaken64]

Might try a different kernel. Do you have another machine you can remaster the USB on?

Please share your System Information.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxzr

Seaken64

[lachelp]

Yes I could try another kernel (with help) but as mentioned above, I have tried both v19 & v19.1 -- I am assuming but wouldn't they have different kernels?

This is the same system running the installed LinuxMint v19.3...
System:
Host: lilgate Kernel: 5.3.0-28-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
v: 7.4.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.14.1 Distro: Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia
base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Gateway product: LT22 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Gateway model: JV01-NL serial: <filter> BIOS: Phoenix v: 1.11
date: 04/25/2011
Battery:
ID-1: BAT1 charge: 20.8 Wh condition: 31.8/47.5 Wh (67%)
model: SANYO UM09E31 status: Charging
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: AMD Athlon II Neo K125 bits: 64 type: UP
arch: K10 rev: 3 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm bogomips: 3391
Speed: 1700 MHz min/max: 800/1700 MHz Core speed (MHz): 1: 1700
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD RS880M [Mobility Radeon HD 4225/4250]
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: ati,radeon
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1024x600~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: AMD RS880 (DRM 2.50.0 / 5.3.0-28-generic LLVM 9.0.0)
v: 3.3 Mesa 19.2.8 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:14.2
Device-2: AMD RS880 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4200 Series]
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.1
Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.3.0-28-generic
Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR8152 v1.1 Fast Ethernet
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: atl1c v: 1.0.1.1-NAPI port: a000
bus ID: 02:00.0
IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Foxconn
driver: ath9k v: kernel port: a000 bus ID: 03:00.0
IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Device-3: Atheros AR3011 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb bus ID: 4-1:27
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 232.89 GiB used: 110.73 GiB (47.5%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD2500BEVT-35A23T0
size: 232.89 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 24.39 GiB used: 11.33 GiB (46.4%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda5
ID-2: /home size: 168.17 GiB used: 99.39 GiB (59.1%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/sda6
ID-3: swap-1 size: 4.01 GiB used: 8.0 MiB (0.2%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda4
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 58.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
1: deb http://mirror.rise.ph/linuxmint tricia main upstream import backport
2: deb http://mirror.pregi.net/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
3: deb http://mirror.pregi.net/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
4: deb http://mirror.pregi.net/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list
1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main
Info:
Processes: 187 Uptime: 20h 40m Memory: 1.69 GiB used: 646.6 MiB (37.3%)
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.4.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.20
inxi: 3.0.32

[anticapitalista]

How did you try to turn on wifi?

[lachelp]

Thank you for your attention!

On this lappy the 'hardware switch' is Fn+F3.

Here are the results from the same command you gave me above but run on the same system booting AntiX v19.1 on USB:
=========
System:
Host: antix1 Kernel: 4.9.200-antix.1-amd64-smp x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
v: 8.3.0 Desktop: IceWM 1.6.3+git20191202
Distro: antiX-19.1_x64-full Marielle Franco 23 December 2019
base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Gateway product: LT22 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Gateway model: JV01-NL serial: <filter> BIOS: Phoenix v: 1.11 date: 04/25/2011
Battery:
ID-1: BAT1 charge: 31.8 Wh condition: 31.8/47.5 Wh (67%) model: SANYO UM09E31
status: Full
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: AMD Athlon II Neo K125 bits: 64 type: UP arch: K10
rev: 3 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm bogomips: 3391
Speed: 1300 MHz min/max: 800/1700 MHz Core speed (MHz): 1: 1300
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD RS880M [Mobility Radeon HD 4225/4250] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: ati,radeon
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1024x600~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: AMD RS880 (DRM 2.49.0 / 4.9.200-antix.1-amd64-smp LLVM 7.0.1)
v: 3.3 Mesa 18.3.6 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel bus ID: 00:14.2
Device-2: AMD RS880 HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 4200 Series] driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel bus ID: 01:05.1
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.9.200-antix.1-amd64-smp
Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR8152 v1.1 Fast Ethernet vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
driver: atl1c v: 1.0.1.1-NAPI port: a000 bus ID: 02:00.0
IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Foxconn
driver: ath9k v: kernel port: a000 bus ID: 03:00.0
IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 236.64 GiB used: 99.39 GiB (42.0%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD2500BEVT-35A23T0 size: 232.89 GiB
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB vendor: Generic model: Flash Disk size: 3.75 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 1.34 GiB used: 2.6 MiB (0.2%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102
ID-2: swap-1 size: 4.01 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda4
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 55.5 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/antix.list
1: deb http://la.mxrepo.com/antix/buster buster main nonfree
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
1: deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ buster-updates main contrib non-free
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
1: deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free
2: deb http://security.debian.org/ buster/updates main contrib non-free
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/onion.list
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list
Info:
Processes: 121 Uptime: 5m Memory: 1.71 GiB used: 240.2 MiB (13.7%) Init: SysVinit
runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3 inxi: 3.0.36

[seaken64]

If it works in Mint then maybe the 5.3 kernel used there is better for your machine. We may need some help to choose another kernel for antiX-19. Not sure antiX has 5.3. But maybe 4.19 will work. But I'm not an expert on choosing the right kernel. But if it were me I would experiment with the kernel until I learned which one was best. There is little risk, just some extra time.

That machine is not that new, so a 5 series kernel may not be the way to go. But someone else here is going to have to guide you on which kernel to choose.

Seaken64

[turtlebay777]

In the spirit of love and well-being, if someone reports that their system's WiFi cannot be switched on, what is the good of telling them to download a new kernel or anything else? How on earth could they do that if the WiFi can't be switched on? They may have messaged the forum from their phone but they can't download to the computer!

[seaken64]

In the spirit of love and well-being, if someone reports that their system's WiFi cannot be switched on, what is the good of telling them to download a new kernel or anything else? How on earth could they do that if the WiFi can't be switched on? They may have messaged the forum from their phone but they can't download to the computer!

That is why we asked if he/she had another computer to use. He/she can use that other computer to create a LiveUSB with alternate kernel, etc.

There also appears to be Ethernet available on that machine.

[anticapitalista]

How did you try to turn on wifi?

Repeat.

On antiX--19, did you try to turn on wifi via the Control Centre - Network - Wifi Connect - connman

[lachelp]

Hello all and thanks for the comebacks!

After funbling around the menu a bit I saw the "Update live USB kernel" item so I just tried to boot another machine, also an Acer (owns Gateway I believe) and a Qualcomm 9565 chipset with the exact same issue -- wifi reporting "hardware switch turned off".

I tried anticapitalista's suggestion of running connman and the software shows a green light for the wifi but the hardware light does not light, nor are the buttons on the Wireless tab of connman active (Connect, Rescan, etc.).