<div dir="ltr"><div><div>I finally got around to properly struggling with the wifi issue with my new-ish laptop, and it's looking likely that there's a tough-to-surmount problem there.<br><br></div>Initially, there was some question as to whether the apropos drivers were in place; I'm reasonably satisfied that I have all that I ought to need in the form of Debian + Linux 3.8 kernel + firmware-ralink package.<br>
<br></div>The following thread on OpenSuSE describes the issues kind of relevant to it, from an OpenSuSE perspective; what's notable is that it appears to describe precisely my model, down to the exact model numbers and such in lspci output.<br>
<div><div><br><a href="http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/wireless/480447-ralink-wirless-driver-help.html">http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/wireless/480447-ralink-wirless-driver-help.html</a><br>
<br></div><div>My kernel knows about the network adapter, and indicates it has a driver prepped:<br><br>root@hpaq:~# lspci -v | grep -10 01:00.0 | tail -11<br>01:00.0 Network controller: Ralink corp. Device 539b<br> Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 18ed<br>
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16<br> Memory at c2500000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]<br> Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3<br> Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/32 Maskable- 64bit+<br>
Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 00<br> Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting<br> Capabilities: [140] Device Serial Number 00-00-7b-66-63-31-17-a4<br> Kernel driver in use: rt2800pci<br>
<br></div><div>In that discussion thread, it was observed that earlier versions of the rt2800pci driver did not recognize this model of network adapter ("539b"); since the kernel driver is indicated to be in place, it sure seems like I'm on an apropos version of kernel such that it is recognized.<br>
</div><div><br>Unfortunately, there's one more step, and I'm not seeing a resolution to it. <br clear="all"></div><div><div><br></div><div>I have added config to /etc/network/interfaces, but iwlist has a complaint:<br>
<br>root@hpaq:~# iwlist wlan0 scan<br>wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down<br><br></div><div>The most relevant link found in spelunking was this one:<br><a href="http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ubuntu-63/wireless-became-disabled-how-do-i-enable-858357/">http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/ubuntu-63/wireless-became-disabled-how-do-i-enable-858357/</a><br>
<br></div><div>Indications are that there is a "hardware lock" in place, deactivating the adapter. On many systems, such a "lock" exists as a visible, togglable hardware switch. I used to see similar on the Thinkpad X60s that I use at work.<br>
<br>Sadly, on my machine, the lock is handled via a "soft-key", essentially via running Windows, and pressing "Fn-F12", which would cause a little LED that is presently orange to switch to blue, and allow a different output than rfkill is showing:<br>
<br>root@hpaq:~# rfkill list 1<br>1: hp-wifi: Wireless LAN<br> Soft blocked: no<br> Hard blocked: yes<br>root@hpaq:~# rfkill unblock 1 <br>root@hpaq:~# rfkill list 1<br>1: hp-wifi: Wireless LAN<br> Soft blocked: no<br>
Hard blocked: yes<br><br></div><div>I don't have any Windows install around, so can't reboot there to do a switcheroo. I see some suggestions that one might muss around in BIOS and find an option that would force wifi to stay on; that does not appear to be the case with this particular system.<br>
<br></div><div>It is looking pretty likely, as consequence, that I'll need to grab a USB wireless adapter for those times I want wireless, which is unfortunate, but not too totally disastrous.<br><br></div><div>If there is some mechanism other than rfkill (in the rfkill package) to switch that "hardware switch" (that isn't truly a hardware switch), 'twould be nice.<br>
</div><div>-- <br>When confronted by a difficult problem, solve it by reducing it to the<br>question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?"<br>
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