Newly installed Wi-Fi card always in DOWN state

linktohack · 2014-07-13 12:56:13

Hello,

I own an `Acer V5-471` laptop. Recently I got problem with the Wi-Fi card so I replaced it with an Atheros AR9285; however, I was unable to power it on. `rfkill` reports seem that there is no hard or soft block on all interfaces. The weird things is that it was able to list all the networks (even in DOWN state) but unable to connect to them: It got disconnected right after associated with them.

On Windows, the adapter show as disconected (red X) and the switch to turn it on is blur so I couldn't turn it on. And the hard switch (Fn+F3 on my laptop) wouldn't response.

I heard somewhere that some notebook manufacture have some kinds of whitelist that allows only some certain types of Wi-Fi card to be installed but I'm not sure how to check it.

So my question is is it really the case, how can I verify that and what can I do in this situation?

Thank you,

-L

➜  ~  lspci |grep -i net
02:00.2 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 0a)
03:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)

➜  ~  lsmod|grep -E 'acer|ath9k' 
acer_wmi               32522  0 
sparse_keymap          13948  1 acer_wmi
ath9k                 164164  0 
ath9k_common           13551  1 ath9k
ath9k_hw              453856  2 ath9k_common,ath9k
ath                    28698  3 ath9k_common,ath9k,ath9k_hw
mac80211              626557  4 ath9k,rtl_usb,rtlwifi,rtl8192cu
cfg80211              484040  4 ath,ath9k,mac80211,rtlwifi
wmi                    19177  1 acer_wmi
video                  19476  2 i915,acer_wmi

➜  ~  sudo ip link set dev wlan1 up
➜  ~  ip link    
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT group default 
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: eth0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN mode DEFAULT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 20:6a:8a:d7:34:84 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan1: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 1c:4b:d6:a8:b2:60 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan2: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP mode DORMANT group default qlen 1000
    link/ether 80:1f:02:da:2f:f5 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

➜  ~  rfkill list all
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
2: phy1: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

➜  ~  sudo wpa_supplicant -iwlan1 -cwpa
[sudo] password for link: 
Successfully initialized wpa_supplicant
wlan1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-STARTED 
wlan1: SME: Trying to authenticate with 7a:04:32:69:25:0c (SSID='freebox_OTZBOR' freq=2462 MHz)
wlan1: Trying to associate with 7a:04:32:69:25:0c (SSID='freebox_OTZBOR' freq=2462 MHz)
wlan1: Associated with 7a:04:32:69:25:0c
wlan1: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=7a:04:32:69:25:0c reason=3 locally_generated=1
wlan1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-STARTED 
wlan1: SME: Trying to authenticate with 7a:04:32:69:25:0c (SSID='freebox_OTZBOR' freq=2462 MHz)
wlan1: Trying to associate with 7a:04:32:69:25:0c (SSID='freebox_OTZBOR' freq=2462 MHz)
wlan1: Associated with 7a:04:32:69:25:0c
wlan1: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=7a:04:32:69:25:0c reason=3 locally_generated=1
wlan1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-STARTED

Last edited by linktohack (2014-07-13 12:58:19)

ugjka · 2014-07-13 13:16:49

Maybe search these forums for your laptop http://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Forum-Wi … st-Removal
If it is indeed whitelisted, you'll need to mod you bios

linktohack · 2014-07-15 10:58:57

Thank you, @ugjka. I searched through the website but still don't know where to go. I really appreciate a better hint though.

nomorewindows · 2014-11-11 16:10:20

I keep getting an oops with atk upon systemd bootup. Even when I connect it to a N router, it only does G speed.

WonderWoofy · 2014-11-11 19:31:03

If you were hitting a bios whitelist, it would likely result in the machine not booting up. So I don't think that is the case here. Typically it is Lenovo and HP that do this, but there may be others as well.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-07-13 12:56:13

Newly installed Wi-Fi card always in DOWN state

#2 2014-07-13 13:16:49

Re: Newly installed Wi-Fi card always in DOWN state

#3 2014-07-15 10:58:57

Re: Newly installed Wi-Fi card always in DOWN state

#4 2014-11-11 16:10:20

Re: Newly installed Wi-Fi card always in DOWN state

#5 2014-11-11 19:31:03

Re: Newly installed Wi-Fi card always in DOWN state

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