I recently loaded Leap 42.1 on an HP 6510b laptop. Mostly working fine except that the wireless will not turn on. At first I thought the wireless had indeed failed but I reloaded a copy of Windows and the wireless works fine. Did another fresh install of Leap and no wireless.
I have been following threads and trying things for a week and nothing that is suggested seems to work, I still have no wireless. The kernel-firmware is up to date and NetworkManager shows it installed as wlan0. When I do “systemctl status” I see the PRO/Wireless 3945ABG is loaded and active. My hardwired connection works fine. But no amount of pushing the button to turn on the wireless produces anything.
wlan0 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID: off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=off
Retry short limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
lo no wireless extensions.
running rfkill list produces:
/usr/sbin/rfkill list
0: hp-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
1: hp-bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
2: hp-gps: GPS
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
3: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
The radio switch is hardware (it sits on the tactile strip), which is pretty convenient. Just touch it and the radio gets enabled. The switch could also be pretty ****** at times, as it will disable radio if you scrape away some dust from the tactile strip.
I have had past experience with some HP laptops where Windows could shutdown the wireless device(s) and leave them disabled, and I recall the solution lay with making sure that the Windows driver left them enabled, before I could then access the devices via Linux.
Thanks for the suggestions. I have gone back to Windows on the laptop and the wireless is working just fine. Pressing the switch turns it off and on. Hate that, all of the other 9 machines here are running Suse just fine (mixture of virtuals, towers and a Dell laptop, all upgraded to Leap 42.1.)
Interestingly I tried the same thing with this particular laptop some time ago (version 12.1) and had the same issues. Finally gave up and went back to windows back then also. Have run Suse on a number of other laptops, this is the only one where I cannot get the wireless to work. Has to be something really odd with this model.
I want to share this google-translated page.
It describes a user with a HP ProBook 6555B, but I wonder if a similar approach might work for you?
The solution lies in a change in the bios. Here are the steps to follow:
1 / Press Esc and then F10
2 / Click on Options and then SystemIntegrated Devices
3 / Uncheck Switching LAN / WLAN
4 / Exit without forgetting to record After reboot, the wifi works. http://forum.ubuntu-fr.org/img/smilies/big_smile.png
A +
Hi, my test box is an HP 6510b.
I can confirm that WiFi may be a nightmare if wireless in Windows is not set up properly. The problem is a sort of HW killswitch in common with the Bluetooth adapter and only accessible via the custom HP applet pre-installed in Windows. The keyboard “killswitch” then is only sort of a “SW killswitch” acting only on the radio(s) enabled via the applet.
I can confirm also that WiFi can work in Leap as it did with older versions (back to 10.x IIRC) with the following:
ensure that BOTH WiFi and Bluetooth are enabled in BIOS (post #8 should be OK);
fire up Windows, check the HP applet (which should be called “HP Wireless Assistant” or similar IIRC);
check that BOTH WiFi and BT are switched ON (there should be a button labeled “Switch on all radios” or similar);
shutdown Windows, boot Leap: at this point WiFi should work, or at least the “rfkill” command should be able to control it, switch it on and then manage it with your NetworkManager controls.
Your “rfkill list” results confirm that both BT and WiFi are currently “Hard blocked” and there is nothing you can do in Linux starting from there on that laptop.
If following the above steps you still have no luck, I can fire up my 6510 and help with detailed diagnostics.
Yes, thanks for chiming in OrsoBruno. It’s been a long time, but that is the sort of behaviour and resolution I recall with a similar HP model several years ago. Your detailed steps are sure to be of help here.
Thanks to all for the suggestions. The wireless is working. The suggestions were most of what I needed. I did fix the bios issue and then was able to remove the softblocks, but not the hardblocks. While puzzling over that I actually unplugged the hardwire connection as I needed to use it for something else. When I got back to working on the laptop I forgot it was unplugged. I tried the rfkill unblock again and was surprised to see that it actually worked. It was about then that I discovered the laptop was not plugged in, so I plugged in the wire. I still could not get the light to come on so checked the rfkill again. Everything was hardblocked again and would not unblock. So now the light came on in my head, not on the laptop.
I unplugged the hardwire connection again and I was able to perform the unblock. First problem solved. Everytime I plug in a hardwire connection the wireless gets blocked! Not sure what the issue is because in Windows I can use them both at the same time. I got everything unblocked again and still no light when I push the button. However I did notice that after a few seconds a wifi icon came up in the system tray. I was able to complete the wireless configuration and the wireless works just fine.
So here is where I am. Wireless works if I do not have a hardwired connection plugged in. The wireless light never turns on, but the wireless itself does come up. I can live with this.
It’s good to read of the progress made. This is not really an openSUSE issue, as much a quirk of the HP hardware it would seem. It’s almost trying to be too clever with the NIC management. The underlying network drivers and HP (Windows) utilities are designed to configure/manage in a way that complicates the behaviour for Linux users IMHO. I’ve witnessed strange behaviour (with wireless network hardware) when the HP utilities are removed from Windows as well. Your account may well be useful to others who come searching.
Nice to know it’s working, at least in a way.
I notice in your OP that a hp-gps is listed as a result of “/usr/sbin/rfkill list” when there is no such thing in the 6510b.
Maybe the hp_wmi kernel module got in the way, scrambling something in the keyboard killswitch, radio LED and the like.
I had blacklisted hp_wmi IIRC, but now it’s too late here for such testing.
I will post tomorrow, just for the records, if I find something useful in the configuration I use.
Writing this from my HP 6510b with Leap 42.1 Gnome.
BIOS configuration (F10 at boot):
> Embedded Devices
>> Embedded WLAN Device Radio ENABLE
>> Embedded Bluetooth Device Radio ENABLE
>> Network Interface Controller (LAN) ENABLE >> LAN/WLAN Switching DISABLE
Reboot
Windows had been shutdown according to post #9
During POST radio LED is LIGHTED (Win + BIOS left both radios enabled)
During GRUB radio LED is OFF (see later, BT had been soft blocked)
After boot to LEAP radio LED is OFF, LAN cable connected (working with local printer), WiFi working, BT (soft) disabled.
> Switch ON Bluetooth by the Gnome Settings desktop applet: radio LED now ON, BT working.
The keyboard RF killswitch sets/unsets “Airplane Mode” disabling/enabling both WiFi and BT radios.
WiFi and/or BT can be individually controlled via the NetworkManager desktop tray applet.
RFkill shows:
linux-hfux:~ # rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: hp-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: hp-bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
3: hp-gps: GPS
Soft blocked: yes
Hard blocked: yes
6: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
linux-hfux:~ #
With OS 13.1 and 13.2 I had to blacklist the hp_wmi module, but apparently this is no more needed with Leap.
Didn’t try with KDE (not running well on this box), but I don’t think that makes a difference here.
Hope this helps others with similar HP / Compaq laptops / ProBooks.
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