Ubuntu – I can’t enable an Intel 5100AGN wireless card

intel-wirelesswireless

I previously installed Ubuntu 10.04 on my laptop. That version installed wireless driver automatically and it worked well.
But now I have installed Ubuntu 11.10 and cann't enable it's wireless.
My laptop has a physical "wireless device switch" that for enabling its wireless, it has to switched on.

When I run "System Settings" >> "Additional Drivers" it announces "No proprietary drivers are in use on this system"

My laptop is Lenovo Ideapad U330 and below is some information about my laptop network specs:

>> sudo lshw -class network

*-network               
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: NetLink BCM5906M Fast Ethernet PCI Express
       vendor: Broadcom Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 02
       serial: 00:1f:16:20:ef:14
       size: 100Mbit/s
       capacity: 100Mbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm vpd msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=tg3 driverversion=3.119 duplex=full firmware=sb v3.04 ip=192.168.1.100 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
       resources: irq:47 memory:95600000-9560ffff

*-network DISABLED

   description: Wireless interface
   product: PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection
   vendor: Intel Corporation
   physical id: 0
   bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
   logical name: wlan0
   version: 00
   serial: 00:1e:65:f7:51:0a
   width: 64 bits
   clock: 33MHz
   capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
   configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlagn driverversion=3.0.0-15-generic firmware=8.83.5.1 build 33692 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abgn
   resources: irq:45 memory:94600000-94601fff

>> rfkill list all

0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN

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

3: hci0: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no

After applying iwlagn changes, although my laptop's "physical wireless switch" is on and I press Fn+F5 key combination, network manager cannot detect it and announces that wireless is disabled by hardware switch.

I use Ubuntu 11.10 as sole OS on my laptop.

Best Answer

Your rfkill-list results indicate both a hard-block issue and soft-block issue.

Lets deal with the acer-wmi soft-block:

Try blacklisting the acer-wmi kernel module:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

add blacklist acer_wmi as a new line at the bottom of this file.

then reboot.

After reboot rerun rfkill list all - hopefully your soft-block value is changed from "Yes" to "No".

As to the hard-block value of "Yes". This is a physical problem not a software problem.

There should be either a bios setting, Fn-key wireless toggle or a physical switch you need to use.

Sometimes these hardware block issues require the use of MS Windows - you boot into Windows, re-enable the wifi and then reboot into Ubuntu.

iwlagn

Sometimes the iwlagn kernel module can cause an issue. Try the following:

sudo rmmod -f iwlagn
sudo modprobe iwlagn 
sudo service network-manager restart

Another variation is:

sudo rmmod -f iwlagn
sudo modprobe iwlagn 11n_disable=1
sudo service network-manager restart

Wireless Switch

Since you mentioned that you see the error "wireless is disabled by hardware switch"...

On the Lenovo U330 laptop according to its manual:

An isotropic antenna system is built into the display for optimal reception, enabling wireless communication wherever you are. To enable wireless communications, do the following;

1 Slide the Wireless device switch latch to the right.

2 Press Fn + F5.

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