Problem with wireless network.

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 22:35:41

Okay so I just got arch installed on my laptop.
Had some problems with the sound but that was resolved fair fast.

Now however I can't seem to get my wireless network to work.
anytime I try to do anything like

wifi-menu

it responds with

interface unavailable

I have tried a lot of stuff but there doesn't seem to be any silver bullet.
Well

WonderWoofy · 2012-10-21 22:46:26

You have tried a lot of stuff? Pretty descriptive there... have you tried putting you wireless card up?

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 22:50:52

Well that is also a bit of a problem ifconfig wlan0 up
dont really work

it says
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Operation not possible due to RF-kill

WonderWoofy · 2012-10-21 22:54:40

ip link set wlan0 up

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 22:56:45

Okay that gives

RTNETLINK answers: Operation not possible due to RF-kill

WonderWoofy · 2012-10-21 23:06:31

Your card is either soft blocked though software, or it is being hard blocked, which would probably be controlled by a physical switch of some kind. Are you sure your wireless card is on?

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 23:08:28

Just for good measure I tried the command with the hard switch on and off.
I think it must be a soft switch.
What could the soft switch do ?

WonderWoofy · 2012-10-21 23:10:03

You need to install rfkill. For which you will need a network. Or I guess you could just download it from the site here since you obviously have some kind of internet, slap it on a usb stick and then install with pacman -U

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 23:14:38

Well I have wired network on the laptop, I just want to have a wireless network so I can take it with around the house.
Okay I will install rfkill

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 23:19:24

Okay so what do I need to do after I have rfkill ?

WonderWoofy · 2012-10-21 23:22:48

rfkill --help

You should not expect your hand to be held though the entirety of the process. You need to be able to solve problems on your own, else you will never learn anything, and worse, you will not be able to maintain your system.

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 23:26:01

That is correct.

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 23:31:14

However even after I installed rfkill my computer still complains about a the same problem with rfkill.

Trilby · 2012-10-21 23:33:12

mrbytes, just installing it wouldn't be expected to do anything. You need to USE rfkill.

You'll need to see "rfkill --help" or "man rfkill" to learn how to use it. If you have tried to use it and it didn't work, you should tell us what invocations of the command you used and what error messages you get - just like the initial post, saying it just doesn't work won't help.

WonderWoofy · 2012-10-21 23:33:27

Did you use rfkill, or did you simply install it? Does rfkill report blocking of either kind on the relevent hardware?

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 23:42:36

well from my understanding I should use rfkill to unblock the relevant device.
Which I tried, then tried to up the device through the other commands, which didn't work.

Trilby · 2012-10-21 23:43:46

Trilby wrote:

If you have tried to use it and it didn't work, you should tell us what invocations of the command you used and what error messages you get - just like the initial post, saying it just doesn't work won't help.

Lets try again.

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 23:49:25

rfkill list
output:
0: asus-wlan: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: asus-bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
3: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: yes
4: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

rfkill unblock 0
no output.

then I ran ifconfig wlan0 up
which returned the same error as earlier

sorry about the lack of commands earlier I am really bad at this.

Trilby · 2012-10-21 23:52:32

No need to appologize, just learn, which you now have.*

asus-wlan is unblocked, but now how about "rfkill unblock 3" as that is the one blocked.

*note: for further learning: please include output of commands in code blocks using [ code ] .... [ /code ]

like this

EDIT: that listing is for a hardblock, which means rfkill may not be able to remove it - I'd still suggest trying. But this is likely a hardware swtich. Harware switches come in 3 varieties that I know of: 1) a physical switch, often on the side of the laptop, 2) a key-combination (something like Fn-F3 on some laptops), and 3) A bios setting. Check all three.

Last edited by Trilby (2012-10-21 23:55:33)

mrbytes · 2012-10-21 23:54:55

I have tried stuff like

rfkill unblock all

to unblock that also more specific, but it really don't want to change to unblocked.

Trilby · 2012-10-21 23:56:51

Alright, so rfkill won't be able to help. See my edit above. You said you tried with the hard switch on and off, but which type of switch was it? Look for / try the other two types.

Edit: also, to get information that may become useful if depending on the results from toggling all switches, do you dual boot with windows, or is this a single boot archlinux? If you single boot linux, do you still have a bootable windows media? I see it's an ASUS, which model?

Last edited by Trilby (2012-10-21 23:59:04)

mrbytes · 2012-10-22 00:20:08

Well I am having trouble figuring out the model of this laptop.
I haven't got the marker on it any more.
However I know the following
17.3 inch screen
500GB harddisk
12 GB ram
nvidia gt540m
i7 processor
and usb3.0
also it has the B&O ICEpower sound system.

But I do not know the exact model.
It is getting late here so I will be off.
Goodnight all.

mrbytes · 2012-10-22 11:03:12

Well after doing some more research I discovered that my laptop have the

Atheros AR9285

wireless card.
Could this be a root for my sorrows with wireless configuration (ps I had fine wireless network in the live-cd from which I did the installation.)

mrbytes · 2012-10-22 14:16:02

I also tested all the locks you mentioned and they all seem to be off, the 2 that are physically on the device (well the one on the keyboard and the other) but is off.
The bios was never turned on.
However this does not solve my problem, and rfkill do not do anything to the hard block on phy0.
Could I need some driver thing ?

Arch Linux

#1 2012-10-21 22:35:41

Problem with wireless network.

#2 2012-10-21 22:46:26

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#3 2012-10-21 22:50:52

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#4 2012-10-21 22:54:40

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#5 2012-10-21 22:56:45

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#6 2012-10-21 23:06:31

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#7 2012-10-21 23:08:28

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#8 2012-10-21 23:10:03

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#9 2012-10-21 23:14:38

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#10 2012-10-21 23:19:24

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#11 2012-10-21 23:22:48

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#12 2012-10-21 23:26:01

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#13 2012-10-21 23:31:14

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#14 2012-10-21 23:33:12

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#15 2012-10-21 23:33:27

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#16 2012-10-21 23:42:36

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#17 2012-10-21 23:43:46

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#18 2012-10-21 23:49:25

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#19 2012-10-21 23:52:32

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#20 2012-10-21 23:54:55

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#21 2012-10-21 23:56:51

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#22 2012-10-22 00:20:08

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#23 2012-10-22 11:03:12

Re: Problem with wireless network.

#24 2012-10-22 14:16:02

Re: Problem with wireless network.

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