[SOLVED] Hard blocked wireless device

romainp · 2020-05-21 13:02:07

Hi,

I have an issue with my WiFi for a few days now. I've tried a few things and couldn't find a workaround.
The WiFi wireless device shows as hard blocked with rfkill:

$ rfkill list all
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: yes
2: hci0: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

This started to happen when I tapped on my FN+F3 key (which is the WiFi key). Tapping on it again doesn't bring the WiFi back.
A web search told me this could be related to a switched off WiFi button somewhere on the laptop but I can't find anything (I have an Entroware Apollo).
I also tried to find something in my BIOS but couldn't see any thing related to a WiFi hardware switch.

A few related command and outputs:

$ ip addr
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: wlp1s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether c2:58:bb:09:de:30 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: enp0s20f0u6: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether b8:8d:12:53:e1:7c brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet 192.168.1.8/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global dynamic noprefixroute enp0s20f0u6
       valid_lft 40799sec preferred_lft 40799sec
    inet6 2a01:e0a:34a:9f70:ed4c:fef6:ff6:be9c/64 scope global dynamic mngtmpaddr noprefixroute 
       valid_lft 85692sec preferred_lft 85692sec
    inet6 2a01:e0a:34a:9f70:614c:6ca2:4541:8686/64 scope global dynamic noprefixroute 
       valid_lft 86152sec preferred_lft 86152sec
    inet6 fe80::c12b:911c:9d34:55dd/64 scope link noprefixroute 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
    inet6 fe80::9c51:d596:3d48:a913/64 scope link noprefixroute 
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

$ lspci -k
...
01:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 3160 (rev 83)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Dual Band Wireless AC 3160
	Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi
	Kernel modules: iwlwifi

$ dmesg | grep iwlwifi
[    4.365910] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: loaded firmware version 17.3216344376.0 op_mode iwlmvm
[    4.817510] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: Detected Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless AC 3160, REV=0x164
[    4.823453] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: reporting RF_KILL (radio disabled)
[    4.836359] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0: base HW address: a0:d3:7a:37:1f:68
[    4.872455] iwlwifi 0000:01:00.0 wlp1s0: renamed from wlan0

I also tried to blacklist iwlwifi in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf but that didn't do anything but stopping the driver from loading.

Eventually I decided to reinstall completely Arch Linux on my machine but unfortunately that also didn't change anything.

Any idea how to solve that?

Last edited by romainp (2020-05-21 13:37:36)

Trilby · 2020-05-21 13:14:20

Open it up, remove the CMOS battery for a bit (some say 15 seconds, but I'm not sure where that number comes from) then reconnect the CMOS battery and you should be good.

romainp · 2020-05-21 13:23:06

Thanks for the quick reply. I just opened it but I'm not sure where the CMOS battery is in there: https://photos.app.goo.gl/UP2PDpJfqXaTBnWU6

Trilby · 2020-05-21 13:29:48

On the left (as you'd be looking at it) or the upper middle in the photo orientation there is an orange/yellow disk about the size of a small coin (e.g., US dime) mostly covered by a black tape square. That appears to be the CMOS battery. There are a red and black wire pair coming out of it going to a white plastic socket. You should be able to unplug the wire pair from the socket for a little while then plug it back in. (edit: all other normal batteries or AC power supplies should be disconnected if not already).

Note, if this is an UEFI machine, this will likely clear any nvram data (any EFI variables). But given that you've already reinstalled your OS, I'm not sure this would be much concern. At worst - if it is a UEFI system - you'd need to "reinstall" the evi variables (e.g. with bootctl). If it's a BIOS system, this is not a concern at all.

In either case, it will also reset the hardware clock so your time will be off when you restart, but this is much easier to adjust (if you're using an ntp service it will be automatically fixed).

Last edited by Trilby (2020-05-21 13:31:02)

romainp · 2020-05-21 13:37:03

That solved it! Thanks a lot!

Trilby · 2020-05-21 14:44:50

I'm glad it worked - and sorry that it was such a hassle. I've had a couple machines with this problem in the past - as I understand it, it's indicative of a buggy firmware / bios. There are usually updates available but they are often windows-only.

Just be aware that this could very likely happen again if the toggle switch is hit again. In one of my machines it was a physical switch on the side of the laptop, so I just glued it in place so I never bumped it again. But with a Fn key combo that's not an option, so just be cautious.

romainp · 2020-05-22 18:51:06

Noted. yeah it's not the best experience but it's just one of those things to remember. Thanks anyway!

Arch Linux

#1 2020-05-21 13:02:07

[SOLVED] Hard blocked wireless device

#2 2020-05-21 13:14:20

Re: [SOLVED] Hard blocked wireless device

#3 2020-05-21 13:23:06

Re: [SOLVED] Hard blocked wireless device

#4 2020-05-21 13:29:48

Re: [SOLVED] Hard blocked wireless device

#5 2020-05-21 13:37:03

Re: [SOLVED] Hard blocked wireless device

#6 2020-05-21 14:44:50

Re: [SOLVED] Hard blocked wireless device

#7 2020-05-22 18:51:06

Re: [SOLVED] Hard blocked wireless device

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