Unable to connect to wifi on ASUS K401UB laptop

Question

I bought a new laptop (ASUS K401UB). Now, I am encountering a problem with the wifi.

1. During installation, I was able to detect wifi networks but when I select my wifi, Ubuntu replaces the contents with a text "qualcom atheros..." or so.

2. Ignoring the selection of wifi, I decided to proceed with the installation but after successfully booting to Ubuntu, Enable Wireless menu is disabled.

3. So, I went to System Settings > Network to enable the Wireless but it just wont.

4. Then, I've tried to google the issue and found these links:

   1. How do I fix a "Wireless is disabled by hardware switch" error?
   2. Kittinan: How to install Ubuntu 14.04 on Asus K401UB

5. I found a way to enable the wifi and that is to press fn + f1. I don't why.

6. I find it annoying to do (5.) every time I restart; so I decided to follow the instruction in 4.1 How do I fix a "Wireless is disabled by hardware switch" error?

7. Doing rfkill list all will show me:

   Wifi: Wireless LAN: Soft blocked: no Hard blocked: yes

   and rfkill unblock all results will still be the same.

My question is, is there any way to fix this issue? (Please see my LAN driver details below).

I have tried using both Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, and right now I am using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. But both of them have the same problem with the laptop. I contacted ASUS for this issue but they wont give support on Linux. The WIFI is the only problem I have right now. Please help.

P.S. What USB Wireless Adapters can you recommend for Linux users?

Answer 1

Is the module asus_nb_wmi loaded? Check:

lsmod | grep asus

If so, please try a driver parameter:

sudo -i
echo "options asus_nb_wmi wapf=0" > /etc/modprobe.d/asus.conf
exit

Reboot and see if the Fn+F2 behavior is changed.

If the above does not work, redo it again but replace asus_nb_wmi wapf=0 with asus_nb_wmi wapf=1, and if that does not work, replace it with asus_nb_wmi wapf=4 instead.