no network devices available

CptCharis

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2018
Messages
563
Reaction score
465
Credits
982
Hello guys, hope you r fine.

Suddenly, today my Mint laptop appear an error regarding wifi connection. For some unknown reason no more wireless interface. By the way is the only interface available in my laptop since no cable port availability.
I google it a lot but I can't find a solution. Interesting is that system can "see" the interface but for some reason refuse to co-operate.
Below output of some relevant commants:
Code:
rfkill

0: hci0: Bluetooth
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: no

Code:
inxi -Fz
Network:
  Device-1: Intel driver: iwlwifi
  IF-ID-1: docker0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-2: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-3: virbr0-nic state: down mac: <filter>

Code:
iwconfig

lo        no wireless extensions.

virbr0    no wireless extensions.

docker0   no wireless extensions.

virbr0-nic  no wireless extensions.

Code:
lspci


00:14.3 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:9df0] (rev30)

I tried also a live Mint & CentOS usb with same results.

Any help would be more than appreciated
 
Last edited:


Was this after a kernel update? Since when did you start getting this problem? Are you able to boot into a previous kernel if so boot into a previous kernel(s), do you see your wlan0(or whatever the name of your wireless device is) then?
 
Was this after a kernel update? Since when did you start getting this problem? Are you able to boot into a previous kernel if so boot into a previous kernel(s), do you see your wlan0(or whatever the name of your wireless device is) then?
I am on board 4 months no WiFi internet Available . No any updates carried out all this time. No, I can’t see wlan0 or any other name
I don’t have other kernels available. I tried live usb but no changes
 
I am on board 4 months no WiFi internet Available . No any updates carried out all this time. No, I can’t see wlan0 or any other name
I don’t have other kernels available. I tried live usb but no changes
Sorry you are having computer troubles, glad to know you are still around though :) Since you didn't make any changes it sounds more like your wifi card failed/broke, also because you had the same with live booting from the Mint usb drive since I looked up your network device and it seems to be supported by the most recent Ubuntu which also goes for Mint.
 
Sorry you are having computer troubles, glad to know you are still around though :) Since you didn't make any changes it sounds more like your wifi card failed/broke, also because you had the same with live booting from the Mint usb drive since I looked up your network device and it seems to be supported by the most recent Ubuntu which also goes for Mint.
I have these some thoughts, I also boot up on previous kernels but nothing change .
But can I ask you something ? How is possible NIc fail and lspci command return Network adapter listed ?
 
A wild guess: Laptops often have either a hard switch somewhere on the case to disable wifi, or they may disable wifi with the Fn key plus one of the F-keys along the top row. Many times the proper F-key will have an antenna icon, but sometimes it might have an airplane. Sometimes the F-key will work by itself, sometimes you need the Fn key plus the proper F-key.

If you happen to dual-boot with Windows 10 on this laptop, clicking on the network icon on the Windows taskbar will probably show you "airplane mode" and you may can toggle it from there. If wifi is disabled in Windows with "airplane mode" it may also keep it disabled in Linux.

These Windows videos below show these solutions, and a few others. One of the Fn plus F-key methods may also cure the problem with Linux too, even if you do not dual-boot.

Video 1
Video 2
 
I have these some thoughts, I also boot up on previous kernels but nothing change .
But can I ask you something ? How is possible NIc fail and lspci command return Network adapter listed ?
Because when a hard disk fails it also still shows up in the system yet it can't be accessed because of it having a failure status.

@stan has some good points as well, forgot about F keys to turn off/on the wifi controller.
 
Last edited:
A wild guess: Laptops often have either a hard switch somewhere on the case to disable wifi, or they may disable wifi with the Fn key plus one of the F-keys along the top row. Many times the proper F-key will have an antenna icon, but sometimes it might have an airplane. Sometimes the F-key will work by itself, sometimes you need the Fn key plus the proper F-key.

If you happen to dual-boot with Windows 10 on this laptop, clicking on the network icon on the Windows taskbar will probably show you "airplane mode" and you may can toggle it from there. If wifi is disabled in Windows with "airplane mode" it may also keep it disabled in Linux.

These Windows videos below show these solutions, and a few others. One of the Fn plus F-key methods may also cure the problem with Linux too, even if you do not dual-boot.

Video 1
Video 2
Thanks Stan but nope, this is not the case, (unfortunately).
I tried button and also rfkill command returns everything ON.
Also this is not a dual boot machine.
 
Bummer... accidentally pressing a F-key would have been the easiest answer. You could check BIOS to see if it might be enabled and disabled from there, but that would be much harder to change by accident, and not too likely to change by itself (low battery, maybe).

It definitely sounds like a hardware problem since it still doesn't work on a live USB. In my mad scientist world, I might would try to open the case, find the wifi card and remove it, then put it back in. It may have an antenna cable attached, and I would remove and re-attach that also. Re-seating electrical and signal connections can be helpful, though it is more often a memory chip than a wifi card.

If nothing works, a wifi USB dongle will probably be the best (cheap) way to restore wireless. Or actually replace the internal wifi card, which might be more expensive.
 
Bummer... accidentally pressing a F-key would have been the easiest answer. You could check BIOS to see if it might be enabled and disabled from there, but that would be much harder to change by accident, and not too likely to change by itself (low battery, maybe).

It definitely sounds like a hardware problem since it still doesn't work on a live USB. In my mad scientist world, I might would try to open the case, find the wifi card and remove it, then put it back in. It may have an antenna cable attached, and I would remove and re-attach that also. Re-seating electrical and signal connections can be helpful, though it is more often a memory chip than a wifi card.

If nothing works, a wifi USB dongle will probably be the best (cheap) way to restore wireless. Or actually replace the internal wifi card, which might be more expensive.
My last chance, I will buy a Ethernet to usb which is the cheapest solution and I will try to update the kernel. If also this fail I will buy an external WiFi adaptor and finish the story.
 
Will be following your updates and safe travels @CptCharis!
 

Members online


Top