[SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

bill.p · 2023-07-01 13:52:34

I've just installed Chimeara on my new(ish) Acer Aspire 3.

It hasn't set up wifi - when I ran the install it would only recognise the wired connection, so I completed the install with that.
I want to get WiFi working for use around the house and elsewhere, but it hasn't set anything up for it.

I tried putting an entry in /etc/network/interfaces, just:
allow-hotplug wlan0
wlan0 inet dhcp

and rebooted, but still ip address just shows the loopback and eth0 connections.

Any suggestions?

The machine came with Win 11 on it, and when I did the Windoze setup it didn't see wifi either, but when I had completed setup I was able to turn on
Wifi and connect without any problem.

aitor · 2023-07-01 14:30:27

bill.p wrote:

I've just installed Chimeara on my new(ish) Acer Aspire 3.
It hasn't set up wifi - when I ran the install it would only recognise the wired connection, so I completed the install with that.
I want to get WiFi working for use around the house and elsewhere, but it hasn't set anything up for it.
I tried putting an entry in /etc/network/interfaces, just:
allow-hotplug wlan0
wlan0 inet dhcp
and rebooted, but still ip address just shows the loopback and eth0 connections.
Any suggestions?
The machine came with Win 11 on it, and when I did the Windoze setup it didn't see wifi either, but when I had completed setup I was able to turn on
Wifi and connect without any problem.

Short answer from my mobile:

iface wlan0 inet dhcp

Your line is incomplete.

Last edited by aitor (2023-07-01 14:32:53)

bill.p · 2023-07-01 14:42:11

Sorry, switching between machines.
Line is as you suggest:

iface wlan0 inet dhcp

rolfie · 2023-07-01 16:05:02

First thing to check is if the wlan adapter requires firmware.

delgado · 2023-07-01 17:21:49

Would like to add: lspci may give a hint to the needed firmware.
And for new'ish hardware, daedalus might be an option. It will become the new stable in the near future anyway.

bill.p · 2023-07-01 18:18:53

Extract from lspci -v
-----------------------------------------------------------
0000:02:00.0 Network controller: MEDIATEK Corp. Device 7663
Subsystem: Lite-On Communications Inc Device 3801
Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 255, IOMMU group 13
Memory at 6003000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [disabled] [size=1M]
Memory at 6003100000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [disabled] [size=16K]
Memory at 6003104000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [disabled] [size=4K]
Capabilities: [80] Express Endpoint, MSI 1f
Capabilities: [e0] MSI: Enable- Count=1/32 Maskable+ 64bit+
Capabilities: [f8] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [100] Vendor Specific Information: ID=1556 Rev=1 Len=008 <
?>
Capabilities: [108] Latency Tolerance Reporting
Capabilities: [110] L1 PM Substates
Capabilities: [200] Advanced Error Reporting
------------------------------------------------------------------
how do I know if additional firmware is required?

rolfie · 2023-07-01 19:58:00

Look at the boot messages or check the syslog for the phrase "missing firmware".

BTW, here is a tutorial: https://tutorialforlinux.com/2021/06/15 … tallation/

That talks about firmware. You will need to enable non-free in Chimaera's sources.list.

ralph.ronnquist · 2023-07-01 22:57:40

I guess for an mt7663 you'll need to install firmware-misc-nonfree, possibly from chimaera-backports/non-free, unless version 20210315-3 in chimaera/non-free is enough.

Typically kernel modules that need firmware will say so into dmesg and/or syslog.

bill.p · 2023-07-02 12:27:00

OK, installed firmware-linux-nonfree and firmware-misc-nonfree, still no wifi entry in 'ip address'. What next?

soren · 2023-07-02 12:42:15

bill.p wrote:

OK, installed firmware-linux-nonfree and firmware-misc-nonfree, still no wifi entry in 'ip address'. What next?

You may need to reboot.

bill.p · 2023-07-02 12:46:15

Yes, I did. Now no 'missing firmware' entries on syslog, apart from ones before the reboot.

ralph.ronnquist · 2023-07-02 13:36:42

what's the output of

# rfkill

(install it if you don't have it)

rolfie · 2023-07-02 13:40:04

Have you got a network manager running?

bill.p · 2023-07-02 14:28:45

$ sudo rfkill
[sudo] password for bill:
ID TYPE DEVICE SOFT HARD
0 wlan acer-wireless unblocked unblocked
1 bluetooth acer-bluetooth unblocked unblocked
2 bluetooth hci0 unblocked unblocked

and
yes, NetworkManager claims to be running - the network icon on the panel just shows the wired connection.

bill.p · 2023-07-02 14:46:35

The NetworkManager appears to have the details for my wifi, not sure how, /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/Wi-Fi\ connection\ 1.nmconnection contains:
-------------------------------------------------------------
[connection]
id=Wi-Fi connection 1
uuid=779db10d-3968-4372-aa75-fa2753fee9f9
type=wifi
permissions=

[wifi]
mac-address-blacklist=
mode=infrastructure
ssid=ChateauPenketh

[wifi-security]
key-mgmt=wpa-psk
psk=?????????? (psk obscured for security, but correct)

[ipv4]
dns-search=
method=auto

[ipv6]
addr-gen-mode=stable-privacy
dns-search=
method=auto

[proxy]

bill.p · 2023-07-02 15:03:18

Further digging:
# nmcli connection show
NAME UUID TYPE DEVICE
Wired connection 1 ce8605fe-de1f-4ce6-97d9-3f6e4c51fbfc ethernet eth0
Wi-Fi connection 1 779db10d-3968-4372-aa75-fa2753fee9f9 wifi --

and

# nmcli radio wifi
enabled

I've got used to Ubuntu which never required any of this digging around, so I'm not familiar with the various commands.

ralph.ronnquist · 2023-07-02 21:07:22

Sorry, I only use traditional ifupdown for my networking, and since you mentioned editing /etc/network/interfaces I thought you did the same.

By the looks of it the kernel recognizes the hardware. I would have thought the boot-up log would mention that hardware and which firmware gets loaded. At least there should be some mt7663* module loaded. You may check that with lsmod.

Surely someone that uses NetworkManager may have further ideas.

bill.p · 2023-07-03 07:31:24

Ahhh, modprobe mt7663 says module not found!

bill.p · 2023-07-03 07:46:52

synaptic search for mt7663 only pulls up firmware-misc-nonfree which I've installed, but that only provides firmware in /lib/firmware/mediatek.

Which package might contain the module?

bill.p · 2023-07-03 08:43:22

Progress: found references to mediatek chips needing 5.12 kernel, with suggestion to install the xanmod kernel. Managed to do that:

# uname -r
6.1.37-x64v4-xanmod1

I now find wlan0 exists in 'ip address' but NetworkManager, show it with 'not managed'

Deleted the references to wlan0 in /etc/netwprk/interfaces and restarted NetworkManager and wifi has connected!

Thanks for all the help!!

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#1 2023-07-01 13:52:34

[SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#2 2023-07-01 14:30:27

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#3 2023-07-01 14:42:11

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#4 2023-07-01 16:05:02

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#5 2023-07-01 17:21:49

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#6 2023-07-01 18:18:53

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#7 2023-07-01 19:58:00

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#8 2023-07-01 22:57:40

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#9 2023-07-02 12:27:00

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#10 2023-07-02 12:42:15

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#11 2023-07-02 12:46:15

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#12 2023-07-02 13:36:42

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#13 2023-07-02 13:40:04

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#14 2023-07-02 14:28:45

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#15 2023-07-02 14:46:35

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#16 2023-07-02 15:03:18

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#17 2023-07-02 21:07:22

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#18 2023-07-03 07:31:24

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#19 2023-07-03 07:46:52

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

#20 2023-07-03 08:43:22

Re: [SOLVED] No wifi on Acer Aspire 3

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