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wifi

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by rubberman

Dani AI

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The original post ("wifi") is too brief to diagnose. As noted, distribution and chipset info are essential; as and pointed out, seeing an SSID in scans is a very different symptom than seeing no networks at all. The short checklist below helps determine whether the problem is driver/firmware, a hardware block, or an authentication/NetworkManager issue, and which exact lines to paste when asking for help.

Useful diagnostic commands (paste outputs in code blocks; redact any passwords or keys):

cat /etc/os-release
uname -r
lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 net
lsusb
sudo lshw -C network
ip link show
rfkill list
dmesg | grep -i -e firmware -e wlan -e wifi
nmcli device status
journalctl -b --no-pager | grep -i -E "NetworkManager|wpa|firmware|wlan|wifi"

How to read the key lines: "Kernel driver in use" (from lspci -nnk) shows the module handling the card; missing that line usually means no driver. dmesg entries like "firmware: failed to load" indicate missing firmware blobs (install via the distro package manager). rfkill shows soft/hard blocks (physical switch or Fn keys). If the scan shows SSIDs but connections fail, check NetworkManager or wpa_supplicant logs (journalctl lines) for authentication errors or regulatory/channel rejections.

Common next steps (distribution-dependent): install the distro's firmware bundle or vendor-specific firmware package, load the correct module with modprobe, unblock rfkill, or try a newer kernel/live USB to rule out an old-driver bug. When requesting help, include the command outputs above (with identifying secrets removed) and note whether the SSID appears in scans and whether the radio/hardware switch is on.

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Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

Well, at least it's concise.

Member Avatar for Dani

I'm going to take a guess here that the thread title is his wifi's SSID.

Member Avatar for rubberman

Dear Aleš_1, you are a new member of these forums, so we will give you a bit of slack. I have over 15 years Linux experience, but just saying "WiFi" in a post is not particularly useful to help you. Many Linux distributions (you don't mention which yours is) don't directly support proprietary WiFi drivers and firmware. They are available, and I have NEVER been unable to get my Linux WiFi working (I only use Linux on my systems). So, please post this information:

  1. Distribution and version of Linux you are trying to use.
  2. Output from lspci and lsusb so we can find out which chip set your system is using.

After that, we can make appropriate recommendations. Thanks.

Member Avatar for rubberman

- if her network tools show an SSID, then the driver and firmware are working. I don't think that is her problem, at least in my experience. It probably doesn't show any connection at all, but obviously we need more information.

P.S. I also post help on the LinuxForums.org web site, under the same pseudonym of Rubberman.

Edited by rubberman
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