How to disable internal wifi card and install/activate usb wifi dongle [Solved]

[williepabon]

Huckleberry Finn:
Thanks for the info in the article you sent. I shut down eth0 in my pc as shown below, but the situation didn't change.

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$ inxi -nxxxz
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
           vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 01:00.0 
           chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 [Kilmer Peak] driver: iwlwifi 
           v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 8086:0089 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-3: Realtek type: USB driver: rtl88x2bu bus ID: 2-1.1:3 chip ID: 0bda:b812 
           serial: <filter> 
           IF: wlan1 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-4: Intel type: USB driver: i2400m_usb bus ID: 2-1.3:4 chip ID: 8086:0187 
           IF: wmx0 state: down mac: <filter> 

I think, the could be somewhat different because my device doesn't say diabled but unassociated, as shown below when I run lshw -C network.

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$ sudo lshw -C network
[sudo] password for williepabon: 
  *-network                 
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 03
       serial: 64:31:50:69:0e:68
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 firmware=rtl_nic/rtl8168d-2.fw latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=MII
       resources: irq:16 ioport:2000(size=256) memory:b0404000-b0404fff memory:b0400000-b0403fff
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 [Kilmer Peak]
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 57
       serial: 00:23:15:5c:8b:e8
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.19.0-16-amd64 firmware=41.28.5.1 build 33926 ip=192.168.1.115 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:29 memory:b2400000-b2401fff
  *-network:0 DISABLED
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 2
       bus info: usb@2:1.3
       logical name: wmx0
       serial: 64:d4:da:10:42:1e
       capabilities: ethernet physical
       configuration: driver=i2400m_usb firmware=i6050-fw-usb-1.5.sbcf link=no
  *-network:1
       description: Wireless interface
       physical id: 3
       bus info: usb@2:1.1
       logical name: wlan1
       serial: a0:9f:10:bf:43:d0
       capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtl88x2bu multicast=yes wireless=unassociated

For your other suggestions, I might need some additional help.

[j2mcgreg]

You could just physically remove the internal wifi card. It can't interfere if it isn't there. See here for instructions on how to access the cars:

https://www.insidemylaptop.com/disassem ... m4-laptop/

[JayM]

You could just physically remove the internal wifi card. It can't interfere if it isn't there. See here for instructions on how to access the cars:

https://www.insidemylaptop.com/disassem ... m4-laptop/

After removing the access panel over the wireless card, unscrew the two screws that attach the antenna wires to the card, disconnect the wires, then you should be able to remove the card from its slot and socket. There may be clips holding it in place that you have to gently pry open slightly so you can get the card out.

[Huckleberry Finn]

@williepabon Have you blacklisted the iwlwifi as above?

The weird thing is: I first thought that it was just a suggestion to disable the built-in device but it seems to be a necessity for that device (same issue & question everywhere: wireless=unassociated ). So, you can try these for the last time before taking the screwdriver :)

(All when rebooted with wifi off : not in use )

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sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi ; sudo update-initramfs -uk all

Or if you like, also blacklist it permanently :

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sudo modprobe -rb iwlwifi ; sudo update-initramfs -uk all

..Or, while you're at it , unload & reload the rtl88x2bu also , to make it a "clean job" , all at once:

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sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi rtl88x2bu ; sudo modprobe -b iwlwifi ; sudo modprobe rtl88x2bu ; sudo update-initramfs -uk all

Or even some more, a blacklist file in addition:

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echo 'blacklist iwlwifi' | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi-blacklist.conf

Reboot.

( You can also blacklist the rtl8xxxu , in case it's interfering , simply on MX Network Assistant, or with such a command )
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P.S. Alternatively you can just disable network from Bios (F10) and try. Probably that will work, too.
Just, again, on some machines like this HP, that causes usb wireless devices to stop, too.. So, if that doesn't work, re-enable it, then take the screwdriver. :)

[williepabon]

Huckleberry Finn:
Wow! So many alternatives to deal with my problem! I'm going to need some help even to determine the one most appropriate to my situation. OK. These are facts/limitations on this project:
1. The BIOS(2011) of the laptop does not have the capability to disable the wifi card.
2. I don't intend to physically remove the internal card because I want to have the option to easily revert back if I need to use the usb dongle on a different machine.
3. This is the first time I use the modprobe command. So, it my first experience playing with kernel modules.

So, which one you recommend to produce the most desirable effect, considering the limitations above? Additionally, I would need the instructions to revert back the whole procedure if the situation arises.Thanks again for all your help.

[Huckleberry Finn]

First do the #4 : echo .. (you know, you can just copy-paste-hit Enter).. this one will just create a blacklist file.

Then #1 .. (actually, no harm, you can do #1 and 4 together. modprobe -r removes that module from the kernel to make it sure.. and later it's possible to load it back again with that command (without the -r ) )

Reboot.

(But again: if you do modprobe -r when device is on, it won't do that and tell you with an error)
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All are revert-able.
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In fact, that you don't have such an option in Bios is not due to its age. Cause this HP at the moment is even older: Single core, 32bit, DDR2 ram 2GB (was even 512MB originally) .. from the end of 2005 :) (and flying with MX in the meantime.. Actually never had any issues even with heaviest DEs or distros, also Win 7).. Whatever ... I have such an option, I can enable / disable Network & Bluetooth separately ...

Ooth , I wish you purchased a Ralink chipset dongle, most of them are plug & play as their drivers are already in the kernel.. With this one, you need to do same things on another machine.. (though it sounds a bit disappointing ... )

[williepabon]

Huckleberry Finn:
Thank you. The usb wifi adapter is working perfectly. Now I'm getting the speed I couldn't get with the internal wifi card. One last favor. Would you send me the command sequence to revert back (I'm sure I'm not going to do it any time soon) to the original setup with the internal card? I want to have this well documented. Thanks again.

[Huckleberry Finn]

Really so glad to hear that . ( Pew, What a device ! :D )
________________________

To revert:

If you created that blacklist file ( using the echo ...) , you can simply delete it ( /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi-blacklist.conf ) (open root Thunar) (Alternatively you can just rename it to ..conf.old )

Or via terminal :

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sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi-blacklist.conf

If you also applied modprobe , reload the module iwlwifi :

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sudo modprobe iwlwifi ; sudo update-initramfs -uk all

:)
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You can mark the thread as solved by clicking any check-mark icon (on a post that was the solution according to you, as the starter of the thread)
________________________

P.S. I hope I didn't confuse you too much :) . Normally just one of them is enough, say just creating such a backlist file (then delete it , or rename the extension, or edit it and comment out the line(s) , when not needed). I just wrote them as alternatives as "if still not" :)

P.P.S. When trying these on another machine: Remember that we did all these (blacklisting) according to this PC's built-in wi-fi device: Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 [Kilmer Peak] driver: iwlwifi

Therefore you'll need to replace the iwlwifi with that machine's device (driver) when applying commands...