Ubuntu – Wireless not working with an Atheros AR9285

12.04atheroswireless

I recently installed Ubuntu 12.04 and found my wireless card is not detected by OS. I tired to detect it by network manager but still it is not get

output of the required command:

toor@Linux:~$ sudo lshw -class network
  *-network               
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: AR8131 Gigabit Ethernet
       vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: c0
       serial: f0:de:f1:9e:22:4d
       size: 100Mbit/s
       capacity: 1Gbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=atl1c driverversion=1.0.1.0-NAPI duplex=full firmware=N/A ip=124.123.227.84 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
       resources: irq:44 memory:f2400000-f243ffff ioport:2000(size=128)
  *-network UNCLAIMED
       description: Network controller
       product: AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
       vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0
       version: 01
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
       resources: memory:f2500000-f250ffff

and 
toor@Linux:~$ rfkill list all
0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: yes
    Hard blocked: no
1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: yes
    Hard blocked: no

Please let me know what more info is required to resolve it.

Best Answer

Your problem is two-fold and you'll have to handle both errors.

  • *-network UNCLAIMED means no kernel module (driver) is taking care of this piece of hardware.

    For your device, I'd recommend first to see if there are drivers available using the regular method: How do I install additional drivers?

    In case that doesn't list any drivers for your device, try installing backported drivers from newer Linux kernels. Ubuntu has packages available for these so-called compat-wireless set of drivers. See my answer in another related question on how to do this.

  • ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN, Soft blocked: yes means that your radio kill switch is activated. This prevents all communication and is useful in case you intend to do so (e.g. when requested in an airplane). To enable your radio, disable this killswitch by issuing

    sudo rfkill unblock all

    to enable both WiFi and Bluetooth in your case.

See My WiFi adapter is not working at all, how to troubleshoot? for a more general, complete how-to.

Related Question