Can't connect to Wi-fi

Ada

Hi,
I kind of struggle with the wifi of my old laptop (hp 635)
In the dashboard I can't tick the case "Enabled wi-fi" in the connection shortcut
In the network settings, the wireless connection is in "roaming mode enabled"
I'm on Kernel: 5.2.13-126.current x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: MATE 1.22.1 Distro: Solus 4.0
My network controller is a Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter
Following this my wireless chip is suppose to work

I tried :
sudo depmod -a => nothing change (after a reboot)
systemctl status NetworkManager.service => active (I'm connected via ethernet cable)
nmcli dev status => wlo1 wifi unavailable
lspci => I can see my network chip
sudo rfkill list => "hp-wifi : wireless LAN" + "phy0: Wireless LAN" are hard blocked

What do I have to do to be able to use wifi ?

Thanks in advance 😀

kyrios

Ada Wireless LAN" are hard blocked

Unblock your wifi either via a hardware switch of via Fn+<key with the wireless symbol>

Ada

kyrios Fn+<key with the wireless symbol> or just <key with the wireless symbol> don't do anything, I tried it. There is a light on it, but the color of this don't change anymore
Is there an other way to do it ?

kyrios

Might sound stupid but if you dualboot with windows, try to enable it from windows and make sure it's working from there.

Otherwise, I think your chipset needs the ath9k driver which is pretty common.

Ada

kyrios Ok, so dualboot seems a bit too much
So I tried with the ath9k driver, to do it I found that I need Ndiswrapper to install it but I can't find a way to install Ndiswrapper ...
I tried :

to install with sudo eopkg install ndisgtk and ndiswrapper I didn't find anything so I search with sudo eopkg search ndiswrapper but nothing came so I think it's not on the repos.
I downloaded the software online, I extract it and on the install file they say to make but this command didn't work so I run sudo eopkg it -c system.devel(find this on this page) to be able to run that command. So I tried to run makeand make install again but there is an error in "[Makefile:27: install] Error 2" and "[Makefile:29: install] Error 2". I tried with an older version of Ndiswrapper too (1.62 and 1.57) but nothing change.

What can I do ?

DataDrake

Ada Sorry, but where did you get that impression? ndiswrapper isn't even remotely required for Atheros 9k chipsets. The problem you are describing is most-likely a firmware or kernel bug.

Ada

DataDrake Mhh, I saw it in some articles, they use Ndiswrapper to install the (windows) driver for the chipset, so how can we install drivers from an .exe file ?
Ok and how do I repair the firmware or kernel ? I'm on Solus Mate and before I was on Budgie, I change because my computer was slow. And on Budgie I had the same problem with the wi-fi

DataDrake

Ada ndiswrapper is for XP era drivers, not new ones. As for this particular chipset, you may just have been unlucky. Not every piece of hardware is 100% supported by Linux.

Ada

DataDrake Ok thanks for the info 👍️
I thought I could install windows driver to use wifi