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WiFi interface not working

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Dragonsen
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Joined: 2018-01-20 16:03

WiFi interface not working

#1 Post by Dragonsen »

Hello,

I recently switched my laptop from Windows 10 to Debian. This is a Acer Aspire V5 561G.
I chose to install Debian via Internet. At the beginning of the installation it gave me an error concerning the detection of a non-free firmware. I noted the beginning of the file required : firmwareb43/ucode30_mimo.fw
But since it seemed to be an issue with the WiFi, I simply decided to continue with a wire and the installation completed without other issue. :)

However, once I removed the wire I saw that the wireless interface was still not detected. I first looked on Acer's website for drivers but it gaves only drivers for Windows 8.1 and 10 :roll:
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/s ... re+V5-561G
I'm pretty novice with Linux so I don't really know where I could find a solution... I hope you can help me with that, because being connected with a wire is pretty annoying...

I saw that there is only those lines in /etc/network/interfaces :

Code: Select all

#The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
iwconfig gives me :

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lo        no wireless extensions.

enp1s0f0       no wireless extensions.
According to this link, there is no issue with WiFi on this laptop model : https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebia ... 1G/Stretch :|

Thank you in advance for your help, don't hesitate to ask me other details of needed

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Head_on_a_Stick
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Re: WiFi interface not working

#2 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

deadbang

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stevepusser
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Re: WiFi interface not working

#3 Post by stevepusser »

MX Linux packager and developer

Dragonsen
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Re: WiFi interface not working

#4 Post by Dragonsen »

Thanks for your answers. I just found that I had a BCM43228 card and, as you said, I installed "firmware-b43-installer".

It was unable to locate the package, so I was helped by the following link in case it could help other linux beginners :D
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/co ... installer/

Dragonsen
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Re: WiFi interface not working

#5 Post by Dragonsen »

Hi, that's me again.

I still have a problem to get an internet access now that my WiFi card is enabled. That's a DNS issue, because I can reach an IP address but not a hostname. Here is what I tried:
- Simply adding a DNS resolver in the settings > Network > *Name of my WiFi* > IPv4. That was not successful.
- Changing /etc/resolv.conf content with a DNS resolver. It worked, but as I read, the content of this file can be changed by other applications, so after rebooting it was overwritten...
- Checking with "ls /sys/class/net". I get three interfaces : enp1s0f0, lo, wlp2s0b1. wlp2s0b1 seems to be the wifi interface. So, according to https://wiki.debian.org/NetworkConfiguration I inserted those lines in /etc/interfaces :

Code: Select all

auto wlp2s0b1
allow-hotplug wwlp2s0b1
iface wlp2s0b1 inet dhcp
iface wlp2s0b1 inet6 auto
With this solution, I got internet after executing "ifdown -a" and "ifup -a". However, after restarting my computer I saw that it was configuring interfaces and now I can't even select a wifi network.

Note that this issue only appears when connected via WiFi, I don't have any trouble when connected via Ethernet...

Again, thanks in advance for your help!

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Re: WiFi interface not working

#6 Post by Wheelerof4te »

Proper answer is on the wiki page stevepusser linked. You have to enable non-free repositories and install the firmware:

Code: Select all

apt install firmware-b43-installer
After that, just reboot.
Avoid installing single .deb files that are already in the repos.

Dragonsen
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Re: WiFi interface not working

#7 Post by Dragonsen »

Sorry, but I don't get it. That was done yesterday, I have the newest version of this repo.

What's the link with this DNS issue? :|

Wheelerof4te
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Re: WiFi interface not working

#8 Post by Wheelerof4te »

Try this:
https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse#Command_Line

Code: Select all

# ip a
# iwconfig
# ip link set wlan0 up
Also try the other options. Maybe there is some kernel module that needs to be blacklisted. User error at the installation is my best guess, though.

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Re: WiFi interface not working

#9 Post by debiman »

Dragonsen wrote:- Changing /etc/resolv.conf content with a DNS resolver. It worked, but as I read, the content of this file can be changed by other applications, so after rebooting it was overwritten...
i think you should concentrate on this.
afaik, there's a program filling resolv.conf. maybe it's not active for wifi, or misconfigured.
https://wiki.debian.org/resolv.conf

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Re: WiFi interface not working

#10 Post by Dragonsen »

Thanks, I finally decided to set the file immutable. Probably a bit drastic... But at least I it works :roll:

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Re: WiFi interface not working

#11 Post by sunrat »

A better way is to set DNS servers with supersede in /etc/dhcp/dhclient.conf . This won't get overwritten like happens with resolv.conf .
Mine is set for OpenDNS:

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supersede domain-name-servers 208.67.222.222,208.67.220.220;
“ computer users can be divided into 2 categories:
Those who have lost data
...and those who have not lost data YET ”
Remember to BACKUP!

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debiman
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Re: WiFi interface not working

#12 Post by debiman »

food for thought:
is stretch using systemd's resolved?
maybe that would work better?
some investigation into why this happens is still required i guess.

fwiw, i once also opted for the drastic version of setting /etc/resolv.conf immutable, but later realised that it's the equivalent of using a sledgehammer just because one cannot find the right screwdriver.

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