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I've been using Wi-Fi on my Dell Latittude6420 until yesterday when it suddenly stopped. It says Wi-Fi is disabled. I've tried to turn it on from system settings but it keeps turning back off. Please help.

lspci -knn | grep Net -A3; rfkill list
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection [8086:1502] (rev 04)
    DeviceName:  Onboard LAN
    Subsystem: Dell 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection [1028:0493]
    Kernel driver in use: e1000e
    Kernel modules: e1000e
00:1a.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 [8086:1c2d] (rev 04)
--
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6205 [Taylor Peak] [8086:0082] (rev 34)
    Subsystem: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN [8086:1321]
    Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi
    Kernel modules: iwlwifi
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: yes
1: dell-wifi: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: yes
2: dell-bluetooth: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: yes

I ran this command: sudo modprobe -r dell_wmi and got this: sudo: unable to resolve host vanz

Even after running; sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-dell.conf <<< "blacklist dell_wmi" it still says: unable to resolve host vanz blacklist dell_wmi

WinEunuuchs2Unix
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Eko Vanz
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  • Please [edit] your question and add output of lspci -knn | grep Net -A3; rfkill list terminal command. – Pilot6 Jul 19 '17 at 09:55
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    You broke your hosts file https://askubuntu.com/questions/59458/error-message-when-i-run-sudo-unable-to-resolve-host-none – Pilot6 Jul 19 '17 at 10:54

2 Answers2

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Firstly check if there is a hardware switch on your laptop. Dell laptops usually have it. You could accidentally press it.

If that does not help, reset your BIOS to defaults. On Dells sometimes wireless is blocked by BIOS.

If nothing helps, run in a terminal

sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-dell.conf <<< "blacklist dell_wmi"

and reboot.

Pilot6
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  • Thank you Pilot6. Although I tried all those options none of them worked. – Eko Vanz Jul 19 '17 at 10:15
  • What does rfkill list show now? – Pilot6 Jul 19 '17 at 10:16
  • And try to run sudo modprobe -r dell_wmi. – Pilot6 Jul 19 '17 at 10:18
  • rfkill list 0: phy0: Wireless LAN Soft blocked: no Hard blocked: yes 1: dell-wifi: Wireless LAN Soft blocked: no Hard blocked: yes 2: dell-bluetooth: Bluetooth Soft blocked: no Hard blocked: yes – Eko Vanz Jul 19 '17 at 10:21
  • It looks like you did not run my command correctly. Please post output of cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-dell.conf TO YOUR QUESTION. – Pilot6 Jul 19 '17 at 10:22
  • cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-dell.conf cat: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-dell.conf: No such file or directory – Eko Vanz Jul 19 '17 at 10:23
  • This means that you did not run that command. PLEASE POST ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO YOUR QUESTION, NOT TO THE COMMENTS BOX!!! – Pilot6 Jul 19 '17 at 10:24
  • Run the sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-dell.conf <<< "blacklist dell_wmi" and reboot. Copy it and paste, don't retype it. You made some mistake and the conf file is not there. – Pilot6 Jul 19 '17 at 10:35
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The WLAN interface is hard blocked. That means that the hardware (hence HARD block) is denying access to it. Look for a switch or a key combinatiom that disables/enables the wireless lan and bluetooth. If you don't find it, try WLAN from a livecd/dvd or a different OS. If it doesn't work, ask for a repair of the computer.

Kryštof Píštěk
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