[Solved] Can't enable and connect to Wifi - Lenovo G460 Atheros AR9285

[maikotrindade]

Hi guys, how are you doing?
Long time I don't use Linux so bear with me.
I just installed Mint 20 and can't enable and connect to Wifi using my Lenovo G460 with Qualcomm Atheros AR9285.
I already tried a couple of things that I found on internet but to be honest I'm not sure what I'm doing.
I really appreciate your comment/suggestion/help.

I ran this code

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inxi -Fxxxz; dmesg | grep -i elan

Results:

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System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-72-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 wm: muffin 4.6.3 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20041 v: Lenovo G460 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: LENOVO model: N/A serial: <filter> BIOS: LENOVO v: 29CN40WW(V2.17) 
  date: 04/13/2011 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 23.4 Wh condition: 23.4/47.5 Wh (49%) volts: 12.3/11.1 
  model: SANYO PABAS024 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> status: Unknown 
CPU:
  Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i5 M 460 bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Nehalem rev: 5 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 20217 
  Speed: 1292 MHz min/max: 1199/2534 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 1322 2: 1289 3: 1314 4: 1303 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Core Processor Integrated Graphics vendor: Lenovo 
  driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:0046 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
  resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics (ILK) v: 2.1 Mesa 20.2.6 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 5 Series/3400 Series High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:3b56 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-72-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lenovo 
  driver: ath9k v: kernel port: 5000 bus ID: 05:00.0 chip ID: 168c:002b 
  IF: wlp5s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: Lenovo 
  driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 06:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8136 
  IF: enp6s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 8.09 GiB (1.7%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST9500325AS size: 465.76 GiB 
  speed: 3.0 Gb/s rotation: 5400 rpm serial: <filter> rev: LVM1 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 14.46 GiB used: 8.09 GiB (56.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda4 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0 C mobo: N/A 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Info:
  Processes: 207 Uptime: 15m Memory: 3.65 GiB used: 1.08 GiB (29.5%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

[hglee]

Hi guys, how are you doing?
Long time I don't use Linux so bear with me.
I just installed Mint 20 and can't enable and connect to Wifi using my Lenovo G460 with Qualcomm Atheros AR9285.
I already tried a couple of things that I found on internet but to be honest I'm not sure what I'm doing.

Post the text output of the following Terminal command-line:

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iwconfig; rfkill list; lshw -C network 2>/dev/null; mokutil --sb-state

[maikotrindade]

Thanks for reaching out.

Here are the results:

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lo        no wireless extensions.

wlp5s0    IEEE 802.11  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=off   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          
enp6s0    no wireless extensions.

0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: yes
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Wireless interface
       product: AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
       vendor: Qualcomm Atheros
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:05:00.0
       logical name: wlp5s0
       version: 01
       serial: e0:06:e6:de:f0:db
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath9k driverversion=5.4.0-72-generic firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:17 memory:d6400000-d640ffff
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:06:00.0
       logical name: enp6s0
       version: 02
       serial: dc:0e:a1:d6:87:6e
       size: 100Mbit/s
       capacity: 100Mbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 duplex=full ip=192.168.0.112 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=MII speed=100Mbit/s
       resources: irq:18 ioport:2000(size=256) memory:d2410000-d2410fff memory:d2400000-d240ffff memory:d5400000-d541ffff
EFI variables are not supported on this system

[hglee]

Thanks for reaching out.

Here are the results:

0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: yes

Your wifi is hard-blocked, like airplane mode.


Look for a hardware switch, button, Fn key, or BIOS setting that may enable wireless.

You might need to reset your BIOS to its default settings.

[maikotrindade]

The switch button and keyboard shortcut dont work.
It is being instantaneously disabled when I try to enable wifi.
I just tried BIOS option but nothing happened. After reset, I checked the Wireless LAN option in BIOS and it is enabled but the issue is still happening.

[sleeper12]

Can you remove & reinsert the wifi card? That sometimes removes a hard block, but more difficult to do on some machines than others.

[hglee]

The switch button and keyboard shortcut dont work.
It is being instantaneously disabled when I try to enable wifi.
I just tried BIOS option but nothing happened. After reset, I checked the Wireless LAN option in BIOS and it is enabled but the issue is still happening.

Also try this:


Open a Terminal window (Ctrl-Alt-T), then copy-and-paste the following 2 command-lines, one by one...

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sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/ath9k_hws.conf<<<"options ath9k nohwcrypt=1 no_hw_rfkill_switch=Y"
sudo rfkill unblock all && sudo ifconfig wlp5s0 up

Reboot.


Any change?


If you later wish to undo the above action, copy-and-paste the following Terminal command:

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sudo rm /etc/modprobe.d/ath9k_hws.conf

[maikotrindade]

Hey guys, I removed my Wifi card and put it back and everything started working like a charm.

Thank you for your help!!

[sleeper12]

Good, glad we could help.