2

I googled the problem and found this link:

http://sage.bt/tips/get-atheros-ar242x-ar542x-wireless-card-to-work-on-ubuntu.html

Unfortunately when I input the command into the terminal I get this message:

bash: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf: Permission denied

I don't know of any alternative solutions, but advice is appreciated.

BuZZ-dEE
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runsmooth
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  • Update the Kernel. – Uri Herrera Feb 26 '12 at 18:27
  • What is not working ? We see a "wlan0", please update your question to describe your problem. – Panther Feb 26 '12 at 20:17
  • sorry if i wasn't clear. my network control panel says that wireless is not available. i can't set the toggle to "on" for wireless (it just flips back immediately to off). there are wifi networks in my house, but since i can't turn wireless on, i can't log on to them. – well i'll be Feb 26 '12 at 21:57
  • it does show a hardware address for the wireless, but says unavailable. when i grep the driver (ath5k) it seems to be there:ath5k 145100 0 ath 19387 1 ath5k mac80211 393421 1 ath5k cfg80211 172427 3 ath5k,ath,mac80211 – well i'll be Feb 26 '12 at 22:00
  • Kernel is updated. – well i'll be Feb 27 '12 at 01:11
  • UPDATE: I found that under networks (upper right of desktop) when I pull it down that it says "wireless is disabled by hardware switch". So it looks like this is a hardware issue. I thought this was not broken, but it may be. If anyone knows of how Ubuntu could affect a hardware switch, let me know! – well i'll be Feb 27 '12 at 01:24
  • Took out the wireless card and reseated card and two connections to it. After several reboots, I was able to suddenly enable wireless. Don't know why it took reboots, but I am now good to go. The switch still seems to flick to orange, but then goes blue again. All without me touching it. So probably hardware, Sorry to bother the hivemind. – well i'll be Feb 27 '12 at 02:46

3 Answers3

1

If you are in Unity or Gnome from a terminal write: sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf. Then go to the bottom and add: blacklist acer_wmi. I hope the solution works for you because adding it did nothing for me but it is still worth a try. Roman

BuZZ-dEE
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Roman
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0

my network control panel says that wireless is not available. i can't set the toggle to "on" for wireless (it just flips back immediately to off).

After installing the same Atheros card (PCI Express version on Acer Aspire One) I saw the exact same behaviour. Switching the two antenna cables connected to the card (one black, one white) solved the issue for me. White cable goes on the connector marked MAIN, black on AUX. No need to blacklist anything nor install any (mad) drivers ;)

user17254
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Refer to How do I install a driver for an Atheros AR9285? for more info. I had a Compaq with the same problem and followed the directions at the bottom and the problem was solved. You have to add the blacklist acer_wmi to the bottom of the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.confthe reboot. As I had the CQ60, I don't know if it will work perfectly, but I think it should.

Quoted from the above site - "I have just solved the wireless problem on Lenovo B560. However, I'm a beginner into Linux, and didn't immediately figure that blacklist acer_wmi can only be added by running the command:

gksu gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

Hope this helps.

Community
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Gozzy
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  • Please don't link to existing answers on this site, but flag the question as a duplicate. – Fabby Oct 06 '15 at 10:03