WiFi Hard Blocked on HP laptop

[badger101]

Hello all, I'm having trouble with my Wi-Fi becoming hard blocked after shutting down. It's an HP Pavilion dv6. The only physical switch(F12) does nothing(all other Fn Keys work).

So This is a brand new install of Mint 20.3. I made a snapshot of the install promptly upon install completion. The wifi worked initially, but after power off the problem starts every time. However, if I timeshift back to that snapshot It works again. Moreover, I have been messing with Network Manager inside Applets and somehow got the Wi-Fi to work only once after shutdown base on a suggestion from this thread.

After that I disabled Network Manager and restarted the laptop. The Wi-Fi works! but Network Manager is disabled, and only during that one session because upon shutdown it's hard blocked again even with Network Manager disabled. However, It's seems that I can replicate this cycle and get the wifi to work but only during that session and no NM.

The Wi-Fi works on Windows 10. It's dual booting from a single SSD.

I've researched and tried as many similar fixes from different threads I can find dating as far back as 2014, none of them work.
-Reset BIOS back to Defaults viewtopic.php?t=185561
-sudo rfkill(etc)
-reinstall viewtopic.php?t=358917

Thanks for any help, ideas or suggestions!

[GELvdH]

Go to "Driver Manager" and see if there are any updated drivers for your system.

[badger101]

"Your computer does not need any additional drivers."

[SMG]

There are a lot of different HP Pavilion configurations. Please give us information about your install by entering this command in a terminal:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxxxrz

Click </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply and then place your cursor between the code tags and paste the results of the command between the code tags [code]Results[/code]. This will let us know how Mint sees your hardware.

[badger101]

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-113-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 wm: muffin 5.2.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC 
  v: 0790100000205710000620100 serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 182D v: 55.25 serial: <filter> 
  UEFI [Legacy]: Insyde v: F.23 date: 09/04/2013 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 0% condition: 62.0/62.0 Wh (100%) volts: 0.0/11.1 
  model: 13-42 MO06062 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Charging 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: AMD A10-4600M APU with Radeon HD Graphics 
  bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Piledriver rev: 1 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
  flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 18366 
  Speed: 1349 MHz min/max: 1400/2300 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 1372 2: 1385 3: 1311 4: 1367 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Trinity [Radeon HD 7660G] vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: radeon v: kernel bus ID: 00:01.0 chip ID: 1002:9900 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: ati,radeon 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD ARUBA (DRM 2.50.0 / 5.4.0-113-generic LLVM 12.0.0) 
  v: 4.3 Mesa 21.2.6 compat-v: 3.1 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Trinity HDMI Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:01.1 chip ID: 1002:9902 
  Device-2: AMD FCH Azalia vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 00:14.2 chip ID: 1022:780d 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-113-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard AR9485/HB125 802.11bgn 1×1 Wi-Fi driver: ath9k 
  v: kernel port: 3100 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 168c:0032 
  IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 04:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 
  IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 20.56 GiB (8.6%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda model: SATA SSD size: 238.47 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
  serial: <filter> rev: 61.5 temp: 33 C scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 165.90 GiB used: 20.56 GiB (12.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 30 C 
  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://packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:
  Processes: 193 Uptime: 1h 56m Memory: 5.28 GiB used: 1.73 GiB (32.8%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

[sleeper12]

Since you mentioned you dual boot, disable fast startup in Windows & see if that helps any:
https://www.isumsoft.com/windows-10/tur ... ws-10.html

[SMG]

Maybe sleeper12's tip will help.

Your wireless information is different than the info in the links you had in your initial post.
Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Hewlett-Packard AR9485/HB125 802.11bgn 1×1 Wi-Fi driver: ath9k
v: kernel port: 3100 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 168c:0032
IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>

I did a search on this forum on AR9485 and I'm not finding others running into this issue so something unusual might be happening.

[badger101]

Thanks you for the suggestions and responses. So I turned off the fast startup in Windows and while doing so hit the hard switch for wifi(F12) but it turned on/off Airplane mode instead. So this can't be just Mint then, right?

Upon returning to Linux Mint I can still replicate this cycle of disabling Network Manager and rebooting, then Wi-Fi works. The physical key F12 works and all. But any on/off sequence I need to repeat the cycle.

[sleeper12]

I'm not quite sure what to make of this then. What does this show:

Code: Select all

rfkill list && iwconfig && mokutil --sb-state

[badger101]

Code: Select all

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
eno1      no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlo1      IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"66V4B"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: F8:E4:FB:57:64:65   
          Bit Rate=39 Mb/s   Tx-Power=18 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=41/70  Signal level=-69 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:80   Missed beacon:0


Command 'mokutil' not found, but can be installed with:

sudo apt install mokutil

[sleeper12]

What about:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install mokutil && mokutil --sb-state

[SMG]

What about:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install mokutil && mokutil --sb-state

Secure Boot does not apply for BIOS and right now badger101 is running Legacy BIOS emulation mode.

So I turned off the fast startup in Windows and while doing so hit the hard switch for wifi(F12) but it turned on/off Airplane mode instead. So this can't be just Mint then, right?

What version of Windows are you using?

I thought Windows 8 and 10 needed to be run in UEFI mode, but your inxi output indicates you are running Legacy BIOS mode.

Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC
v: 0790100000205710000620100 serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10
serial: <filter>
Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 182D v: 55.25 serial: <filter>
UEFI [Legacy]: Insyde v: F.23 date: 09/04/2013

It's really better to be running UEFI mode if it is available on one's computer (and it is on yours).

[badger101]

It's crazy, without fail(so far) going through this cycle I can get online and everything works normal.

Code: Select all

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: yes

Command 'mokutil' not found, but can be installed with:

sudo apt install mokutil

When I don't go through the works..

[badger101]

Windows version is 10.0.19044 Build 19044
BIOS Version/Date --- Insyde F.23, 9/4/2013
SMBIOS Version --- 2.7
BIOS Mode --- Legacy

[SMG]

It's crazy, without fail(so far) going through this cycle I can get online and everything works normal.

Are you saying we scared it into working?

Windows version is 10.0.19044 Build 19044
BIOS Version/Date --- Insyde F.23, 9/4/2013
SMBIOS Version --- 2.7
BIOS Mode --- Legacy

Did the laptop originally come with Windows 10? If so, the BIOS mode was probably originally UEFI and not Legacy.

No need to change anything if it is now working.

[badger101]

Are you saying we scared it into working?

Haha seems like it!

Did the laptop originally come with Windows 10? If so, the BIOS mode was probably originally UEFI and not Legacy.

No need to change anything if it is now working.

No, it was Windows 7 I believe. But yesterday I went ahead and reformatted the drive. Reinstalled Windows 10, then reinstalled Linux Mint in UEFI mode. Not sure if I needed to do that, but here I am. Now I'm having trouble getting it to auto boot into the grub menu. Ubuntu is only in the F9 boot menu, it boots up fine. It just isn't in the BIOS to select a UEFI boot order. But I'll be honest I haven't had much time to troubleshoot it yet, though. Wi-Fi works on Windows, but does not work at all in Linux after the reinstall

I'm considering ditching Windows all together or maybe eventually using it in a virtual machine. Gonna try to see if different setups will allow the Wi-Fi to work. The Wi-Fi really is a make-or-break kind of deal with this. It felt like I was this close to getting it to work. If all else fails I'll just(reluctantly) go back to Win10. I'd be lying if I said this wasn't frustrating, but that's part of the package right haha. I'm trying to learn coding so I should get used to trial and error.

I digress, I'll keep this thread posted if I ever find a fix for the wifi in Linux mint. Thanks for all the helps! This forum/community is awesome

[SMG]

Wi-Fi works on Windows, but does not work at all in Linux after the reinstall

UEFI mode and Secure Boot being enabled or disabled are two different settings. It is possible when you switched to UEFI mode that it automatically enabled Secure Boot. Secure Boot has been known to cause issues with some network drivers.

You can check to see if Secure Boot is enabled by running mokutil --sb-state in a terminal. If Secure Boot (a setting in the BIOS/UEFI) is enabled, disable it and see if that works.

[sleeper12]

Based on what showed before, you might need to do:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install mokutil && mokutil --sb-state

[LittleScriptMan]

Hello,
Also experiencing troubles with a similar Wi-fi adapter (see below) which isn't able to keep connection with LMDE5 :

Code: Select all

Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter 
  vendor: AzureWave driver: ath9k v: kernel port: e000 bus ID: 03:00.0 
  chip ID: 168c:0032 
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 

However those problems :
- occur with native LMDE5 kernel (5.10)
- don't occur with native LMDE4 kernel (4.19)
- occur with LMDE4 if I upgrade the kernel to last Debian 10 - 5.10 version

Would seem as a kernel issue, not a LMDE or LM issue.

[SMG]

Hello,
Also experiencing troubles with a similar Wi-fi adapter (see below) which isn't able to keep connection with LMDE5 :
Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: AzureWave driver: ath9k v: kernel port: e000 bus ID: 03:00.0
chip ID: 168c:0032
IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>

Would seem as a kernel issue, not a LMDE or LM issue.

If you look at the data you posted, the driver version being used is the one from the kernel. LMDE is using mainline kernels. LM uses Canonical-maintained kernels. I do not know what differences there might be between the two versions (if any) with regards to that driver. There may also be linux-firmware packages as a factor as well.