acer_wmi module loaded in memory -> 1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN Soft blocked: yes -> Wireless Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) [168c:001c] (rev 01) not working on Acer Aspire One - Model 531h in Ubuntu 11.10

Asked by vincewebb

I am using an Acer Aspire One - Model 531h

In the past it has run various versions of Ubuntu without difficulty, until a few days ago it was running 10.10.

I tried 11.10 running off a USB and I was unable to enable the Wireless network. I tried again the next day and it worked OK so I took the bold step of running the upgrade from 10.10 to 11.04. The wireless continued working OK with 11.04. I then ran the upgrade from 11.04 to 11.10.

At this point the wireless stopped working. On a couple of occasions I have managed to enable it successfully and it has worked OK however for the most part it refuses to become enabled.

Googling found me two different URLs that suggested the solution described at:
http://sage.bt/tips/get-atheros-ar242x-ar542x-wireless-card-to-work-on-ubuntu.html

Namely add:
blacklist acer_wmi
to the file:
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

I tried this but the result was, not only could I not enable wireless but the option for enabling wireless became grayed out. Thus I commented out the additional entry.

Hence I am now following Mark Rijckenberg's procedure as described at:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WirelessTroubleshootingProcedure

====================

vince@vw-acer:~$ sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install hwinfo grep; sudo lshw -C network; rfkill list; sudo iwlist scanning; cat /etc/network/interfaces; cat /etc/lsb-release; lspci -nn; lsusb; sudo lshw -short; uname -a; dmesg | egrep 'acx|at76|ath|b43|bcm|brcm|CX|eth|ipw|ireless|irmware|isl|lbtf|orinoco|ndiswrapper|NPE|ound|p54|prism|rtl|rt2|rt3|rt5|rt6|rt7|usb|witch|wl';sudo dmidecode|egrep 'anufact|roduct|erial|elease'; iwconfig; cat /etc/modprobe.d/* | egrep 'acx|at76|ath|b43|bcm|brcm|CX|eth|ipw|irmware|isl|lbtf|orinoco|ndiswrapper|NPE|p54|prism|rtl|rt2|rt3|rt6|rt7|wmi|witch|wl'; cat /var/lib/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.state; sudo hwinfo --netcard ; ps -aux|egrep 'icd|etwork'; sudo lsmod
[sudo] password for vince:
Ign http://archive.canonical.com oneiric InRelease
Ign http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security InRelease
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com oneiric InRelease
Hit http://archive.canonical.com oneiric Release.gpg
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security Release.gpg
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com oneiric Release.gpg
Hit http://archive.canonical.com oneiric Release
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com oneiric Release
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security Release
Ign http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric InRelease
Ign http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates InRelease
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric Release.gpg
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates Release.gpg
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric Release
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates Release
Hit http://archive.canonical.com oneiric/partner i386 Packages
Hit http://extras.ubuntu.com oneiric/main i386 Packages
Ign http://archive.canonical.com oneiric/partner TranslationIndex
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com oneiric/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/main Sources
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/main Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/restricted Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/universe Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/multiverse Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/main i386 Packages
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/restricted Sources
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/universe Sources
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/multiverse Sources
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/main i386 Packages
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/restricted i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/restricted i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/universe i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/multiverse i386 Packages
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/multiverse TranslationIndex
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/restricted TranslationIndex
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/universe i386 Packages
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/multiverse i386 Packages
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/multiverse TranslationIndex
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/restricted TranslationIndex
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/universe TranslationIndex
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/main Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/universe TranslationIndex
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/restricted Sources
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/universe Sources
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/multiverse Sources
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/main Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/main i386 Packages
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/restricted i386 Packages
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/universe i386 Packages
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/multiverse i386 Packages
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/main TranslationIndex
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/multiverse TranslationIndex
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/restricted TranslationIndex
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/universe TranslationIndex
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/multiverse Translation-en
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/restricted Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/main Translation-en_GB
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/main Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/multiverse Translation-en_GB
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/multiverse Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/restricted Translation-en_GB
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/restricted Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/universe Translation-en_GB
Hit http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security/universe Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric/universe Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/main Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/multiverse Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/restricted Translation-en
Hit http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com oneiric-updates/universe Translation-en
Ign http://archive.canonical.com oneiric/partner Translation-en_GB
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com oneiric/main Translation-en_GB
Ign http://archive.canonical.com oneiric/partner Translation-en
Ign http://extras.ubuntu.com oneiric/main Translation-en
Reading package lists... Done
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
grep is already the newest version.
The following package was automatically installed and is no longer required:
  libgladeui-1-11
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following extra packages will be installed:
  libhal1 libhd16
The following NEW packages will be installed
  hwinfo libhal1 libhd16
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 776 kB of archives.
After this operation, 2,314 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/universe libhal1 i386 0.5.14-6 [77.1 kB]
Get:2 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/universe libhd16 i386 16.0-2ubuntu1 [681 kB]
Get:3 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ oneiric/universe hwinfo i386 16.0-2ubuntu1 [18.2 kB]
Fetched 776 kB in 2s (332 kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package libhal1.
(Reading database ... 165810 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libhal1 (from .../libhal1_0.5.14-6_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package libhd16.
Unpacking libhd16 (from .../libhd16_16.0-2ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously deselected package hwinfo.
Unpacking hwinfo (from .../hwinfo_16.0-2ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up libhal1 (0.5.14-6) ...
Setting up libhd16 (16.0-2ubuntu1) ...
Setting up hwinfo (16.0-2ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 Gigabit or Fast Ethernet
       vendor: Atheros Communications
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: b0
       serial: 00:23:8b:9e:22:02
       size: 100Mbit/s
       capacity: 100Mbit/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=ATL1E driverversion=1.0.0.7-NAPI duplex=full firmware=L1e ip=192.168.1.20 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
       resources: irq:45 memory:55200000-5523ffff ioport:3000(size=128)
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Wireless interface
       product: AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
       vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 01
       serial: 00:25:56:7b:8c:d0
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath5k driverversion=3.0.0-12-generic firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
       resources: irq:18 memory:54100000-5410ffff
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
 Soft blocked: no
 Hard blocked: no
1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
 Soft blocked: yes
 Hard blocked: no
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=11.10
DISTRIB_CODENAME=oneiric
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 11.10"
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub [8086:27ac] (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27ae] (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a6] (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:27d8] (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1 [8086:27d0] (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 3 [8086:27d4] (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 4 [8086:27d6] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:27c8] (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:27c9] (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:27ca] (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:27cb] (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:27cc] (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:27b9] (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller [8086:27df] (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA AHCI Controller [8086:27c5] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller [8086:27da] (rev 02)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 Gigabit or Fast Ethernet [1969:1026] (rev b0)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) [168c:001c] (rev 01)
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 04f2:b175 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 046d:c016 Logitech, Inc. Optical Wheel Mouse
H/W path Device Class Description
=========================================================
                                  system Computer
/0 bus Motherboard
/0/0 memory 1MiB BIOS
/0/14 memory 1GiB System Memory
/0/14/0 memory DIMM DDR2 [empty]
/0/14/1 memory 1GiB DIMM DDR2 Synchronous 533 MHz (1.9 ns)
/0/1b processor Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz
/0/1b/1c memory 512KiB L2 cache
/0/1b/1d memory 32KiB L1 cache
/0/1b/0.1 processor Logical CPU
/0/1b/0.2 processor Logical CPU
/0/100 bridge Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub
/0/100/2 display Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller
/0/100/2.1 display Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Contro
/0/100/1b multimedia N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller
/0/100/1c bridge N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1
/0/100/1c/0 eth0 network AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 Gigabit or Fast Ethernet
/0/100/1c.2 bridge N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 3
/0/100/1c.2/0 wlan0 network AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
/0/100/1c.3 bridge N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 4
/0/100/1d bus N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1
/0/100/1d.1 bus N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2
/0/100/1d.2 bus N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3
/0/100/1d.3 bus N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4
/0/100/1d.7 bus N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller
/0/100/1e bridge 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge
/0/100/1f bridge 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge
/0/100/1f.1 storage 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller
/0/100/1f.2 scsi2 storage 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA AHCI Controller
/0/100/1f.2/0.0.0 /dev/sda disk 160GB Hitachi HTS54321
/0/100/1f.2/0.0.0/1 /dev/sda1 volume 146GiB EXT4 volume
/0/100/1f.2/0.0.0/2 /dev/sda2 volume 2997MiB Extended partition
/0/100/1f.2/0.0.0/2/5 /dev/sda5 volume 2997MiB Linux swap / Solaris partition
/0/100/1f.3 bus N10/ICH 7 Family SMBus Controller
Linux vw-acer 3.0.0-12-generic #20-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 7 14:50:42 UTC 2011 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
[ 0.186404] [Firmware Bug]: ACPI: BIOS _OSI(Linux) query ignored
[ 0.186536] [Firmware Bug]: ACPI: BIOS _OSI(Linux) query ignored
[ 0.357641] ACPI: No dock devices found.
[ 0.357650] HEST: Table not found.
[ 0.359122] ACPI Error: Method parse/execution failed [\_SB_.PCI0._OSC] (Node f5426d08), AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20110413/psparse-536)
[ 0.359150] ACPI: Marking method _OSC as Serialized because of AE_ALREADY_EXISTS error
[ 0.367695] ACPI Error: Method parse/execution failed [\_SB_.PCI0._OSC] (Node f5426d08), AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20110413/psparse-536)
[ 0.367962] ACPI Error: Method parse/execution failed [\_SB_.PCI0._OSC] (Node f5426d08), AE_ALREADY_EXISTS (20110413/psparse-536)
[ 0.383717] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
[ 0.383765] usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
[ 0.383879] usbcore: registered new device driver usb
[ 0.400326] Switching to clocksource hpet
[ 0.402827] Switched to NOHz mode on CPU #0
[ 0.402915] Switched to NOHz mode on CPU #1
[ 0.426390] pnp: PnP ACPI: found 9 devices
[ 0.554931] input: Lid Switch as /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0C0D:00/input/input1
[ 0.555243] ACPI: Lid Switch [LID0]
[ 0.560166] ERST: Table is not found!
[ 0.916697] isapnp: No Plug & Play device found
[ 0.957782] ehci_hcd 0000:00:1d.7: using broken periodic workaround
[ 0.976325] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 0.977110] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 0.977753] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 0.978393] hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 0.979027] hub 5-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 1.017090] BIOS EDD facility v0.16 2004-Jun-25, 0 devices found
[ 1.288098] usb 1-1: new high speed USB device number 2 using ehci_hcd
[ 1.880155] usb 4-1: new low speed USB device number 2 using uhci_hcd
[ 2.145246] input: Logitech Optical USB Mouse as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.2/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.0/input/input5
[ 2.145670] generic-usb 0003:046D:C016.0001: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Mouse [Logitech Optical USB Mouse] on usb-0000:00:1d.2-1/input0
[ 2.145736] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[ 2.145744] usbhid: USB HID core driver
[ 16.550015] lp: driver loaded but no devices found
[ 17.122174] ath5k 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
[ 17.122203] ath5k 0000:02:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 17.122334] ath5k 0000:02:00.0: registered as 'phy0'
[ 17.634824] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x65
[ 17.634834] ath: EEPROM indicates we should expect a direct regpair map
[ 17.634846] ath: Country alpha2 being used: 00
[ 17.634852] ath: Regpair used: 0x65
[ 17.697675] leds_ss4200: no LED devices found
[ 17.773513] Registered led device: ath5k-phy0::rx
[ 17.780344] Registered led device: ath5k-phy0::tx
[ 17.780389] ath5k phy0: Atheros AR2425 chip found (MAC: 0xe2, PHY: 0x70)
[ 18.169228] uvcvideo: Found UVC 1.00 device CNF9011 (04f2:b175)
[ 18.200712] input: CNF9011 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-1/1-1:1.0/input/input7
[ 18.203275] usbcore: registered new interface driver uvcvideo
[ 18.378139] Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 128x37
[ 18.975416] input: HDA Intel Mic as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input9
[ 18.981418] input: HDA Intel Headphone as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1b.0/sound/card0/input10
[ 19.953227] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 19.987509] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 106.544870] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 124.948558] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 135.352558] ATL1E 0000:01:00.0: eth0: NIC Link is Up <100 Mbps Full Duplex>
[ 135.353433] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth0: link becomes ready
[ 146.192062] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
[ 219.569045] ATL1E 0000:01:00.0: eth0: NIC Link is Down
[ 233.308956] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 255.872829] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 274.556140] ATL1E 0000:01:00.0: eth0: NIC Link is Up <100 Mbps Full Duplex>
 Release Date: 10/06/2008
 Manufacturer: Acer
 Product Name: AO531h
 Serial Number: LUS750B1329252C3912505
 Manufacturer: Acer
 Product Name:
 Serial Number: Base Board Serial Number
 Manufacturer: Chassis Manufacturer
 Serial Number: Chassis Serial Number
 String 1: String1 for Original Equipment Manufacturer
 String 2: String2 for Original Equipment Manufacturer
 String 3: String3 for Original Equipment Manufacturer
 String 4: String4 for Original Equipment Manufacturer
 String 5: String5 for Original Equipment Manufacturer
 Option 1: String1 for Type12 Equipment Manufacturer
 Option 2: String2 for Type12 Equipment Manufacturer
 Option 3: String3 for Type12 Equipment Manufacturer
 Option 4: String4 for Type12 Equipment Manufacturer
 Manufacturer: NO DIMM
 Serial Number: NO DIMM
 Manufacturer: 0xCE00000000000000
 Serial Number: 0x78A22EEC
 Manufacturer: Intel(R) Corporation
 Serial Number: Not Specified
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:off/any
          Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=20 dBm
          Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off

install snd-rawmidi /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-rawmidi $CMDLINE_OPTS && { /sbin/modprobe --quiet --use-blacklist snd-seq-midi ; : ; }
# which ath5k cannot recover. To prevent this condition, stop
blacklist ath_pci
blacklist eth1394
# replaced by p54pci
blacklist prism54
# replaced by b43 and ssb.
blacklist bcm43xx
# Cant switch on WiFi - found this tip at:
# http://sage.bt/tips/get-atheros-ar242x-ar542x-wireless-card-to-work-on-ubuntu.html
#blacklist acer_wmi
blacklist eth1394
# replaced by p54pci
blacklist prism54
# replaced by b43 and ssb.
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist uart6850
blacklist twl4030_wdt

[main]
NetworkingEnabled=true
WirelessEnabled=true
WWANEnabled=true
> hal.1: read hal dataprocess 2542: arguments to dbus_move_error() were incorrect, assertion "(dest) == NULL || !dbus_error_is_set ((dest))" failed in file ../../dbus/dbus-errors.c line 280.
This is normally a bug in some application using the D-Bus library.
libhal.c 3483 : Error unsubscribing to signals, error=The name org.freedesktop.Hal was not provided by any .service files
25: PCI 100.0: 0200 Ethernet controller
  [Created at pci.318]
  Unique ID: rBUF.fO1rpH23QA5
  Parent ID: z8Q3.OyaC5jftEj9
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.0/0000:01:00.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:01:00.0
  Hardware Class: network
  Model: "Attansic L1 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter"
  Vendor: pci 0x1969 "Attansic Technology Corp."
  Device: pci 0x1026 "L1 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter"
  SubVendor: pci 0x1025 "Acer Incorporated [ALI]"
  SubDevice: pci 0x022c
  Revision: 0xb0
  Driver: "ATL1E"
  Driver Modules: "atl1e"
  Device File: eth0
  Memory Range: 0x55200000-0x5523ffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  I/O Ports: 0x3000-0x4fff (rw)
  IRQ: 45 (2844 events)
  HW Address: 00:23:8b:9e:22:02
  Link detected: yes
  Module Alias: "pci:v00001969d00001026sv00001025sd0000022Cbc02sc00i00"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: atl1e is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe atl1e"
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #12 (PCI bridge)

26: PCI 200.0: 0282 WLAN controller
  [Created at pci.318]
  Unique ID: y9sn.FMtgsI7RFND
  Parent ID: hoOk.ScMC0+7iLFB
  SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.2/0000:02:00.0
  SysFS BusID: 0000:02:00.0
  Hardware Class: network
  Model: "Atheros AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter"
  Vendor: pci 0x168c "Atheros Communications Inc."
  Device: pci 0x001c "AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter"
  SubVendor: pci 0x105b "Foxconn International, Inc."
  SubDevice: pci 0xe00d
  Revision: 0x01
  Driver: "ath5k"
  Driver Modules: "ath5k"
  Device File: wlan0
  Features: WLAN
  Memory Range: 0x54100000-0x5410ffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
  IRQ: 18 (14262 events)
  HW Address: 00:25:56:7b:8c:d0
  Link detected: no
  WLAN channels: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
  WLAN frequencies: 2.412 2.417 2.422 2.427 2.432 2.437 2.442 2.447 2.452 2.457 2.462 2.467 2.472
  WLAN encryption modes: WEP40 WEP104 TKIP CCMP
  WLAN authentication modes: open sharedkey wpa-psk wpa-eap
  Module Alias: "pci:v0000168Cd0000001Csv0000105Bsd0000E00Dbc02sc00i00"
  Driver Info #0:
    Driver Status: ath5k is active
    Driver Activation Cmd: "modprobe ath5k"
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #13 (PCI bridge)
Warning: bad ps syntax, perhaps a bogus '-'? See http://procps.sf.net/faq.html
root 541 0.0 0.4 27700 4560 ? Ssl 00:09 0:00 NetworkManager
root 1896 0.0 0.0 2736 944 ? S 00:14 0:00 /sbin/dhclient -d -4 -sf /usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-client.action -pf /var/run/dhclient-eth0.pid -lf /var/lib/dhcp/dhclient-7e8d2648-078f-47e1-805b-8546753c2632-eth0.lease -cf /var/run/nm-dhclient-eth0.conf eth0
vince 2556 0.0 0.0 4192 784 pts/0 S+ 00:20 0:00 egrep --color=auto icd|etwork
Module Size Used by
bnep 17923 2
rfcomm 38408 0
bluetooth 148839 10 bnep,rfcomm
parport_pc 32114 0
ppdev 12849 0
joydev 17393 0
acer_wmi 23302 0
sparse_keymap 13658 1 acer_wmi
snd_hda_codec_realtek 254125 1
snd_hda_intel 24262 2
snd_hda_codec 91754 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13276 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 80468 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi 13132 0
uvcvideo 67271 0
videodev 85626 1 uvcvideo
snd_rawmidi 25241 1 snd_seq_midi
psmouse 73673 0
snd_seq_midi_event 14475 1 snd_seq_midi
serio_raw 12990 0
arc4 12473 2
binfmt_misc 17292 1
snd_seq 51567 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 28932 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14172 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
ath5k 145100 0
ath 19387 1 ath5k
mac80211 272785 1 ath5k
snd 55902 13 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
i915 505108 3
cfg80211 172392 3 ath5k,ath,mac80211
wmi 18744 1 acer_wmi
soundcore 12600 1 snd
drm_kms_helper 32889 1 i915
snd_page_alloc 14115 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
drm 192226 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit 13199 1 i915
video 18908 1 i915
lp 17455 0
parport 40930 3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
usbhid 41905 0
hid 77367 1 usbhid
ahci 21634 2
libahci 25727 1 ahci
atl1e 32809 0
vince@vw-acer:~$

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
Ubuntu gnome-nettool Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
Mark Rijckenberg
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said :
#1

1: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
 Soft blocked: yes
 Hard blocked: no

Massive clue there, do you have a switch or shortcut to enable and disable the wireless? If so, press it and retry the connection. If it is no good then you can run:

sudo rfkill unblock all

Which may activate the device

Revision history for this message
vincewebb (vincewebb) said :
#2

I bought this computer in March 2010 and installed Ubuntu on it immediately I got home.

It has a non latching spring loaded slide and return switch that I assume would toggle WiFi on and off if the operating system took note of it. Having never run the original Windows XP I am not 100% sure. What I am sure of is, that I have pushed the switch many times and it has never had any effect.

Running Ubuntu this switch has never enabled/disabled WiFi. It was never of any use or significance, I could always enable/disable WiFi via the GUI.

I tried your suggestion:
sudo rfkill unblock all
but sadly have seen no effect, I am still unable to enable WiFi.

Thank you for your thoughts
Regards, Vince

Revision history for this message
Best Mark Rijckenberg (markrijckenberg) said :
#3

Please copy-paste the following command into the Terminal and then press
<ENTER>:

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

Using the gedit editor, please ADD the following configuration line into
the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf:

blacklist acer_wmi

Using the gedit editor, SAVE the change to the

/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf file.

Then REBOOT and retest wireless. This blacklist operation should make
the change permanent, even after rebooting.

This should force the Linux kernel to stop loading the acer_wmi module,
which is probably causing the kernel to soft block your wireless adapter.

Revision history for this message
Mark Rijckenberg (markrijckenberg) said :
#4

I know you already tried this blacklist workaround, but please also take a look here:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-nettool/+question/174414

The blacklist worked in that other thread.... The issues seem very similar.

Maybe the blacklist is not working in your case, because you upgraded to 11.10 and did not perform a fresh install of Ubuntu 11.10. So you could try doing a clean install of 11.10 (wiping out the old install) and then do the blacklist acer_wmi again.

Revision history for this message
Mark Rijckenberg (markrijckenberg) said :
#5

Linked to bug #578909: acer_wmi blocks wlan rfkill status to disabled on Acer Aspire 4820TG

Revision history for this message
vincewebb (vincewebb) said :
#6

The first time around when I added
blacklist acer_wmi
It powered up with wifi disabled and the Enable Wireless option was grayed out, this is why I gave up with it and commented it out. This brought back the Enable Wireless option to but as already stated it would not enable.

I tried again today simply by removing the # and thereby un-commenting out my first attempt, it is now powering up with wifi enabled. Three times out of three so far.

Between my unsuccessful attempt a few days ago and my successful attempt today it has been through the regular update process whilst connected on a LAN cable. I have no idea if this is relevant or not.

My wife is happily using it at the moment attending to her email via WiFi , she likes the look of Unity so it is smiles all round.

Thank you

Revision history for this message
vincewebb (vincewebb) said :
#7

Thanks Mark Rijckenberg, that solved my question.