Linux wifi driver installed

Ubuntu Documentation

Wireless Troubleshooting Guide

This part of the guide is designed to help you troubleshoot your wireless adpater’s driver issues. This page is part of the WirelessTroubleShootingGuide. You should have correctly identified your device as detailed in the Devices page of this guide. See also the comprehensive explanations of commands for troubleshooting your wireless.

1. Check for Loaded Device Drivers

First you should check if a driver automatically loaded. (Your device may be supported in Ubuntu with a native driver.) Use the lshw command. As explained under lshw, if there is a line saying configuration: . driver=. in the description of the wireless card, this indicates the driver is installed.

If you are not running the most recent kernel, update your system (System > Administration > Update Manager). Drivers, especially wireless, are constantly being added and modified.

2. Choosing, Finding and Installing Drivers

2.1. Using Native Linux Drivers

Check in System > Administration > Hardware Drivers for a binary driver. For instance, many Broadcom cards will work with the Broadcom STA driver. Unfortunately, the driver is proprietary (the source code is not freely available), and so cannot be installed automatically as part of Ubuntu. If you are willing to accept this limitation, activate the driver.

Search your card manufacturer’s website for a Linux driver.

2.2. Using ndiswrapper for Cards Without a Linux Driver

If you find your card does not have a Linux driver you will have to look at an app called ndiswrapper.

full information on ndiswrapper kept on this page including troubleshooting help specific to ndiswrapper.

There may be a native driver that comes with Ubuntu which is conflicting with ndiswrapper. In such cases, if you want to use ndiswrapper, you can blacklist the native driver. See below for details.

3. Check Driver

If you ran lshw -C network and saw a driver bound to the device then let’s test to make sure it’s communicating with the kernel.

Run the command lsmod to see if driver is loaded. (look for the driver name that was listed in the output of lshw, «configuration» line).

If you did not see the driver module in the list then use the modprobe command to load it.

If you see two modules (usually ndiswrapper and a native Linux driver) blacklist one of them (see below).

run the command sudo iwconfig. If you see output like in the example in the command section then the driver is at least identifying the device as a wireless device to the kernel.

Opening networking in system>administration> and seeing the device in the list is how to identify through a gui if the driver is at least communicating with the kernel.

run the command sudo iwlist scan to scan for a router. If an access point is identified this shows that the card is probably working properly as it can complete a wireless interface task. (note not all cards support scanning)

3.1. Multiple drivers loaded

For some cards (e.g., SMC2632W v1.02), an additional set of drivers is incorrectly loaded, effectively disabling wireless networking by generating two apparent wifi cards where there should only be one. Typically, you’ll see entries for both eth1 and wlan0_rename after running the iwconfig command, with your communication speed divided evenly between them. One of those drivers should not be loaded, and should be blacklisted. To do so, edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist and add the following lines:

where is, for example, «hostap» (the «hostap» driver apparently causes problems for several cards). Then save, reboot, and check your connection with iwconfig.

3.2. Driver looks ok, device disabled

Newer laptops come with battery saving features to disable the wireless radio. Usually this is switched by a FN+Fx key combo or a specific button for the purpose. It is possible the driver and connection is ok but the wireless device is disabled and can’t be used. Using the designated key(s) in linux sometimes does not work.

Options for identifying this:

rfkill list will show if there is a hardware or software block.

lshw command you see *-network:1 DISABLED or wireless=radio off

If you run the iwconfig command you see eth1 NOT READY!.

So how do you rectify this? It varies so much the exact solution can’t be put here in this document for all the different models. So.

Look at the LaptopTestingTeam page on the team wiki to see if your laptop is listed with any information.
Do a google search using terms such as manufacture, model, linux, wireless, enable, button, radio. etc. When searching and finding similar pages that don’t help, use words that are used in those pages to help you search.

Go to the ubuntu forums and ask, maybe someone else has the same laptop and knows the work around.

Some laptops have a controller chip on the motherboard that is only accessible through a different OS. If you have turned off your wireless adapter in a different operating system, you may have to boot back into that OS and enable the card before it is accessible to Linux.

WifiDocs/WirelessTroubleShootingGuide/Drivers (последним исправлял пользователь knome 2013-12-13 18:55:41)

The material on this wiki is available under a free license, see Copyright / License for details
You can contribute to this wiki, see Wiki Guide for details

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How to Fix no Wireless Network Issue in Ubuntu Linux

Last updated February 3, 2021 By Abhishek Prakash 265 Comments

After dual booting MacBook Air with Ubuntu, when I logged in to Ubuntu, I found that Ubuntu did not detect any wireless network. Networking was on but it said ‘no network devices available‘.

Indeed it is a common issue not only with with Broadcom network adapters but other network adapters as well in Ubuntu Linux.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you a few methods to fix Wi-Fi issue in Ubuntu and other Ubuntu based distributions such as Linux Mint, elementary OS etc.

Fixing no Wi Fi issue in Ubuntu based Linux distributions

A relief is that Ubuntu provides additional drivers specifically for various wireless adapters.

But the issue is that to install additional drivers in Ubuntu you will need a working internet connection.

Here are a couple of ways to connect to the internet without WiFi:

• Check if you can connect to a wired network through Ethernet cable and install the additional drivers easily.
• Alternatively, you can connect a smartphone via USB and use the USB tethering to connect to the internet. Once connected, install the Wi-Fi drivers easily. Some smartphones also allow you to share internet connection with other devices over Bluetooth.

Things will be different and a bit difficult if you cannot manage to connect to the internet. In that case, you may try:

• Installing additional drivers from the ISO image of Ubuntu.
• Download the DEB files of the drivers on another internet connected system and transfer the files to Ubuntu via USB.

Now that you know a few approaches to handle this problem, let’s see how to use these methods.

Method 1: Connect to wired network either through Ethernet, USB tethering or Bluetooth and install additional drivers

If your system has Ethernet port and possibility to connect to the router via Ethernet, very good. Just connect it. I think you do not need to know the steps for putting in an Ethernet cable.

If you don’t have that, don’t worry. Most likely, you have a smartphone connected to wifi or has mobile data. You can use it to connect your Ubuntu system to the internet.

Step 1:

Your smartphone should be connected to the internet, either via WiFi or using mobile data.

Connect your smartphone to your Linux system via USB. If there is notification on the phone about accessing data by device, accept it.

While the two devices are connected, go to the USB tethering settings of your smartphone. Most modern phones allow you to search for specific part of the settings. Search it and go to USB tethering settings and enable it.

Connect phone to computer

You may use Bluetooth tethering as well if your smartphone has this feature.

You’ll see that your Linux system gets connected to the internet immediately and the wired network symbol is displayed.

Super! Open the Software & Updates application:

Go to Additional Drivers tab and see if it suggests installing wifi drivers. If that’s the case, select the driver and click Apply Changes button.

Wait for a couple of minutes for it to be installed. Go to system settings and see if it shows the wireless connections now.

That’s the easiest way. But if you cannot connect to the internet any other way, you may try using the Ubuntu ISO for installing proprietary wifi drivers.

Method 2: Use the ISO image to install additional wifi drivers in Ubuntu

Before you follow the steps, please make sure that your system shows an additional wifi driver available for your system. If it does not show any additional drivers, this method will be of no use.

Step 1:

Check your installed Ubuntu version. Download the ISO image of the same Ubuntu version from Ubuntu website.

If you just had a fresh install, you probably have this ISO image in some other system or same system in another OS in dual boot. Copy it to an external device such as USB or DVD. Just copy the ISO, don’t burn it as bootable USB.

Now boot into Ubuntu and copy this Ubuntu ISO image to your home directory.

Step 2:

Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and use the following commands one by one:

Basically, you just manually mounted the ISO image as if it was a CD.

Step 3:

Go to Software & Updates application. In the first tab Ubuntu Software, check the option of CD Rom with Ubuntu…

It will ask for your password and reload the software sources. Next is to go in the Additional Drivers tab and select the propriety driver and click on Apply Changes.

Once the drivers have been installed, you’ll see that Ubuntu now recognizes the wireless networks in range.

Important: You should uncheck the ‘install from CD ROM’ option in the Software & Updates after this step.

It may happen that Ubuntu doesn’t show additional drivers for your system or you may not be able to install the additional driver. It could also be the case that despite the additional drivers installed, the wifi still doesn’t work.

In that case, you may refer to the next method but keep in mind that it is exclusively for systems with Broadcom wireless adapters.

Method 3: Fix no WiFi in Ubuntu with broadcom wireless adapters

First, find out the network adapter in your system. You can refer to this article to find out the make of wireless network adapter in Linux. This method is exclusively for Broadcom 43 series of wireless adapters. So make sure that you have these adapters by using this command:

If you see a wireless network adapter starting with BCM43, then only you should go ahead with this part of the tutorial.

*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: BCM4360 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: [email protected]:03:00.0
logical name: wlan0

Step 1:

The first step is to remove any broadcom drivers already installed on your system. Open a terminal and use the following command:

Step 2: If you are connected to internet via ethernet

If you are connected to internet via LAN/Ethernet cable, you can install different broadcom drivers using this command:

Once the install is finished doing its work, you’ll need to reboot. After you log back in, you’ll be able to see and access your wifi connections.

Step 2: If you don’t have any internet connections

If you don’t have ethernet, you may still be able to pull this off. But you’ll need another system (Linux, Windows or macOS) with active internet connection.

What you are going to do here is to download the driver manually and then transfer it to your problematic Linux system and install it there.

First check which Ubuntu version you are using: Now go to this link to download the WiFi driver for your Ubuntu version.

You should see a screen like this. Click on the link that corresponds to your Ubuntu version:

Click on the link that corresponds to your Ubuntu version

Now on the next page, click on the ‘all’ link:

On the next screen, you’ll see a huge number of links. These are various server mirrors and you can click on any of them to download the DEB file of broadcom driver for Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

Once you have downloaded the DEB file for the broadcom driver, transfer it to your Ubuntu system that doesn’t have the WiFi. You can use a USB drive to transfer the file.

Once you have copied this DEB file to Linux system with no WiFi, install the drivers from DEB file by double clicking on it.

Alternatively, you can use the dpkg command to install the package from deb file.

Follow the rest of the instructions to install the drivers. Once installed, reboot your system. You should have the WiFi now.

Did it work for you?

Troubleshooting wifi issue could be tricky in Linux. I have encountered an issue where Ubuntu could see the wireless networks but couldn’t connect to it.

I hope this post helped you to fix no wireless network issue in Ubuntu. If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to drop a comment.

Like what you read? Please share it with others.

About Abhishek Prakash

Creator of It’s FOSS. An ardent Linux user & open source promoter. Huge fan of classic detective mysteries ranging from Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes to Detective Columbo & Ellery Queen. Also a movie buff with a soft corner for film noir.

Abhishek,
$ sudo dmesg | grep iw
[ 18.799819] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: can’t disable ASPM; OS doesn’t have ASPM control
[ 18.951698] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: firmware: direct-loading firmware iwlwifi-2030-6.ucode
[ 18.951868] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: loaded firmware version 18.168.6.1 2030-6.ucode op_mode iwldvm
[ 19.145966] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUG disabled
[ 19.145969] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUGFS disabled
[ 19.145970] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEVICE_TRACING disabled
[ 19.145972] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: Detected Intel(R) Centrino(R) Wireless-N 2230 BGN, REV=0xC8
[ 19.158831] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: reporting RF_KILL (radio disabled)
[ 19.158849] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to disable radio.
[ 19.198536] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm ‘iwl-agn-rs’
[ 19.314875] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0 wlp2s0: renamed from wlan0

For 3 weeks, I was convinced my problem was a regression error in the firmware-iwlwifi (nonfree) pkg, or a switch in the linux kernel build. Then I discovered that I was an IDIOT, did not notice the wifi icon was on F2, and when I pressed Fn-F2, wifi and bt were instantly restored. This is not mentioned in most Dell support documents either.

I will further improve this tutorial with primary check on whether the wifi is enabled or not.

This could be checked with rfkill command and it shows whether the wireless interfaces are soft or hard blocked.

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