wifi problem on Lenovo

[john_coach]

Hi Debian,

I've used Linux for many years (CentOS, Manjaro), but this is my first time with Debian.

I just installed: debian-10.0.0-amd64-DVD-1.iso, XFCE

on an old laptop: Lenovo IdeaPad Z370

There was a problem with the wifi, so it had no internet while installing.

Q1) I could connect on an ethernet cable and re-install - would that be better ?


Now in the running Debian system, the wifi is not working.

I know of the 'ideapad' module problem from other distro installs, so I have done:

# cat /etc/modprobe.d/jdw_fix_wifi.conf
blacklist ideapad_laptop


But, still no wifi connection / link shows up at all (the above did fix the problem with Manjaro).

# ip link show

only lo and eth0 - sorry, I did not take a copy of the exact text, but no wifi adapters.

Here is some system info:

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# cat /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security/ buster/updates contrib main 
deb-src http://security.debian.org/debian-security/ buster/updates contrib main 
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster-updates contrib main   
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian/ buster-updates contrib main  

Code: Select all

# lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b5)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b5)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev b5)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM65 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 05)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 05)
06:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1000 [Condor Peak]

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# discover --vendor-id --model-id pci | uniq
8086 1c14 Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 
8086 0116 Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller 
8086 1c26 Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 
10ec 8136 Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller 
8086 1c2d Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 
8086 0084 Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1000 [Condor Peak] 
8086 0084 Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 1000 
8086 1c12 Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 
8086 0104 Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller 
8086 1c22 Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family SMBus Controller 
8086 1c20 Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller 
8086 1c3a Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 
8086 1c49 Intel Corporation HM65 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller 
8086 1c10 Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 
8086 1c03 Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port SATA AHCI Controller 

hwinfo, lshw - not present

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# lsmod | sort
ac                     16384  0
aesni_intel           200704  0
aes_x86_64             20480  1 aesni_intel
ahci                   40960  1
ansi_cprng             16384  0
autofs4                49152  2
battery                20480  0
bluetooth             647168  22 btrtl,btintel,btbcm,bnep,btusb
bnep                   24576  2
btbcm                  16384  1 btusb
btintel                24576  1 btusb
btrtl                  16384  1 btusb
btusb                  53248  0
button                 16384  0
cdrom                  65536  1 sr_mod
cfg80211              761856  1 iwlwifi
coretemp               16384  0
crc16                  16384  2 bluetooth,ext4
crc32c_generic         16384  0
crc32c_intel           24576  2
crc32_pclmul           16384  0
crct10dif_pclmul       16384  0
cryptd                 28672  3 crypto_simd,ghash_clmulni_intel,aesni_intel
crypto_simd            16384  1 aesni_intel
drbg                   28672  1
drm                   483328  5 drm_kms_helper,i915
drm_kms_helper        200704  1 i915
ecb                    16384  0
ecdh_generic           24576  1 bluetooth
ehci_hcd               94208  1 ehci_pci
ehci_pci               16384  0
evdev                  28672  13
ext4                  733184  1
fscrypto               32768  1 ext4
ghash_clmulni_intel    16384  0
glue_helper            16384  1 aesni_intel
i2c_algo_bit           16384  1 i915
i2c_i801               28672  0
i915                 1728512  4
intel_cstate           16384  0
intel_powerclamp       16384  0
intel_rapl             24576  0
intel_rapl_perf        16384  0
intel_uncore          135168  0
ip_tables              28672  0
irqbypass              16384  1 kvm
iTCO_vendor_support    16384  1 iTCO_wdt
iTCO_wdt               16384  0
iwlwifi               241664  0
jbd2                  122880  1 ext4
jitterentropy_rng      16384  0
joydev                 24576  0
kvm                   724992  0
libahci                40960  1 ahci
libata                270336  2 libahci,ahci
libphy                 77824  3 r8169,realtek
lp                     20480  0
lpc_ich                28672  0
mbcache                16384  1 ext4
media                  45056  2 videodev,uvcvideo
mei                   118784  1 mei_me
mei_me                 45056  0
memstick               16384  1 rtsx_usb_ms
mmc_core              172032  1 rtsx_usb_sdmmc
Module                  Size  Used by
parport                57344  3 parport_pc,lp,ppdev
parport_pc             32768  0
pcc_cpufreq            16384  0
pcspkr                 16384  0
ppdev                  20480  0
psmouse               172032  0
r8169                  86016  0
realtek                20480  0
rfkill                 28672  4 bluetooth,cfg80211
rtsx_usb               20480  2 rtsx_usb_sdmmc,rtsx_usb_ms
rtsx_usb_ms            20480  0
rtsx_usb_sdmmc         28672  0
scsi_mod              245760  4 sd_mod,libata,sg,sr_mod
sd_mod                 61440  2
serio_raw              16384  0
sg                     36864  0
snd                    94208  10 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_timer,snd_pcm
snd_hda_codec         151552  4 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_codec_generic    86016  1 snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     57344  1
snd_hda_codec_realtek   122880  1
snd_hda_core           94208  5 snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_realtek
snd_hda_intel          45056  1
snd_hwdep              16384  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm               114688  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
snd_timer              36864  1 snd_pcm
soundcore              16384  1 snd
sr_mod                 28672  0
thermal                20480  0
usb_common             16384  1 usbcore
usbcore               290816  5 ehci_pci,rtsx_usb,uvcvideo,ehci_hcd,btusb
uvcvideo              118784  0
video                  45056  1 i915
videobuf2_common       53248  2 videobuf2_v4l2,uvcvideo
videobuf2_memops       16384  1 videobuf2_vmalloc
videobuf2_v4l2         28672  1 uvcvideo
videobuf2_vmalloc      16384  1 uvcvideo
videodev              212992  3 videobuf2_v4l2,uvcvideo,videobuf2_common
wmi                    28672  1 wmi_bmof
wmi_bmof               16384  0
x86_pkg_temp_thermal    16384  0
x_tables               45056  1 ip_tables

NB. I note the absence of: iwlmvm or iwldvm

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxquestions ... is_iwlmvm/

Without either iwlmvm or iwldvm, your card won't work...

Plugging in on the wired ethernet, doing the first system update:

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Setting up linux-image-4.19.0-5-amd64 (4.19.37-5+deb10u2) ...
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.19.0-5-amd64
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8107e-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8107e-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168h-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168h-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168g-3.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168g-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8106e-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8106e-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8411-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8411-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8402-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168f-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168f-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8105e-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-3.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168e-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168d-2.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/rtl_nic/rtl8168d-1.fw for module r8169
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/bxt_dmc_ver1_07.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/skl_dmc_ver1_27.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_dmc_ver1_04.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/cnl_dmc_ver1_07.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/glk_dmc_ver1_04.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_guc_ver9_39.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/bxt_guc_ver9_29.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/skl_guc_ver9_33.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/kbl_huc_ver02_00_1810.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/bxt_huc_ver01_07_1398.bin for module i915
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/i915/skl_huc_ver01_07_1398.bin for module i915
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/zz-update-grub:
Generating grub configuration file ...
Found background image: /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-grub.png
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.19.0-5-amd64
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.19.0-5-amd64
done

Also:

rfkill command is missing and can't install it:

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# apt install rfkill
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package rfkill

So - any help/tips are welcome.

I don't know Debian, so am I missing a repo, etc...?

Should I install the missing firmware/ modules - and how (what packages would I find them in)?

When I search in the synaptic package manager gui:

search = no results

for rfkill, rtl8107e, etc...

Thanks,
John.

[Bloom]

1. You should ALWAYS install with an ethernet cable, especially with a notebook.
2. Notebooks usually require closed-source firmware to work properly for their Wifi adapters, and sometimes their cable network adapters as well. The latter usually works even if the system complains that certain firmware is not installed.
3. For a notebook, always use the non-free contrib images with firmware of Debian. That is your best chance to get it working.

[john_coach]

Thanks Bloom.

Yes, it installed better, and all working now.

Some details for anyone else that needs help:

https://wiki.debian.org/Firmware

You can find firmware downloads for your Debian version at
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/unoff ... /firmware/

USB SD card: dos partition, FAT32 format,
un-ziped 'firmware.zip' files (from above) into the root directory,
connected while doing the install (expert GUI mode).

[stevepusser]

Since you had a wired connection, you could have saved a reinstall by following the firmware installation procedure in the Debian wiki. The specific packages you need would be firmware-iwlwifi, firmware-realtek, and firmware-misc-nonfree.

Even without a connection, those packages can be downloaded from packages.debian.org on a connected machine and taken to the Debian machine via skeakernet, and then manually installed with "dpkg -i".