Wifi not working

[ambein]

Gnome network manager is installed and running. 

No auto detect of networks. Manual entry of SSID and psk doesn't help: wlan0 is down. 

Based on other fora topics regarding wifi config of network/interfaces.d and wpa_supplicant.conf have been entered.

ifconfig shows only an lo device

dmesg|tail shows dhd_ioctl_entry: Interface is down

Most documentation stops at the configuration files and network manager, but says nothing beyond.

Maybe I wrote over the proper interfaces.d and wpa_supplicant.conf settings??? Can some one send me the defaults?

Any other suggestions?

[zaius]

Both the stock Debian and the Bionic-Mate builds suffer from weak WiFi.  My MBP can pick up my ISP's hotspot with full bars.  My PBP can't find it at all.  My MBP, crappy smartphone, smart TV, all get full bars from my own router, while the PBP shows around 50%.

Besides iwconfig, you could try installing wavemon.

[ambein]

Problem is I have no internet connection so it is impossible to install new utilities or libraries. Gotta get the net in this netbook, otherwise it's not even a book.

---

So the possibly related thread (below) is helpful but not a full solution.

Running

ip link set wlan0 up

Turns on the wifi device. But no internet connection is established despite have a profile SSID and PSK for my local wifi network set to the wlan0 device in the gnome network connections utility.

Any other ideas to get the wifi to connection?

---

P.s. I should never have said impossible, inconvenient, and I'd prefer a solution using the base install of Debian.

[chzbacon]

Just a shot in the dark here. Did you disable your wifi via the killswitch? Cause I did that recently and it had me back and forth for a bit. After disabling it I had a bit of a problem after enabling it. To fix this I rebooted the machine, and ran ifconfig to check which interfaces were available. Once I saw the wlan0 interface was down I hit meta+F11 and then rebooted again. Once the machine came back up I ran ifconfig again and my wlan0 was back. The cool thing about the killswitch is that it indeed kills the circuit which is just like removing a wireless usb dongle. If that still doesn't work I would suggest trying a usb wifi adapter if you have one.

PINE64 logo key+F11 WiFi Privacy switch NUM lock LED blinks. 2 blinks = enabled, 3 blinks = disabled. Re-enabling requires reboot.

[ambein]

Hi to clarify wlan0 works but it cannot connect to a network.

That's useful information as I hadn't seen any documentation on how to use the killswitches etc.

I don't think just using another mode of internet connection is an adequate solution to getting the built in wifi card/antenna to work properly. Are you suggesting the hardware may be defective?

---

Ok so I reenabled the privacy switches for both F10 (what device is that?) and F11 (wifi?), rebooted, restarted wlan0 (ip link set wlan0 up), confirmed network connection profile etc, still no connection.

Wifi is sending out packets, network manager applet says "device not managed", and there is no internet connection.

---

Solution:

In addition to the forgoing, I changed the line:

Code:

managed=false

to

Code:

manager=true

in /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

Since the restart command seems to not be installed, I then rebooted, and upon log-in wifi was both sending and receiving packets and I was able to make www connections via chromium.

It is likely wifi would have worked with just this modification and the creation of the wifi profiles in network manager. 

Others will have to confirm that the kill switch, creation of wp_supplicant.conf etc. were generally unnecessary.

Hope this helps!

[ricardo1934]

I have the same issue:
wlan0 is there, I can see the networks but I cannot connect to them. I did the update with tethering.

I hope that someone can help us.

Best
Ricardo

[bcnaz]

My WiFi worked great from the start,
   I used wifi to do my upates minutes after turning on my new PBPro.
  It works perfectly anywhere in the house.

Only problem I had was sound,
  but after searching through some posts here, I was able to get the sound going.
  Now the sound works great even turned up loud...
      (Would have prefered speakers pointing up, but these work)

 One of the above posts suggested trying a usb dongle,
He was trying to offer a suggestion for trouble shooting,
  > I dont think he meant to use instead of.

  Not every suggestion is going to work or help,
      but they are trying to help you.

[Eggmonkey]

I have exactly the same issue with the wifi constantly dropping.
Wifi tends to last max 10 minutes before dropping and device disappears.
I've tried many different fixes so far but not helping.

We need an update/different driver or to change OS I guess.

[bcnaz]

Strange,  Some of us are not having any problems.

 I have not experienced any problem with my wifi,  "at least not yet"

But I do have a premium Net Gear router, and I have only tested inside my house.

I will try going outside towards the street and see how far I have to go to drop the signal.

But so far I have run the PBPro from a full charge until it was almost dead watching YouTube with no problems at all.

   " I am sorry to hear some are having problems."    while my PBP seems almost flawless.

 I did have a problem with my sound early on, and that was kind of frustrating,

    but after a few minor tweaks that appears to be very good now.

The Mate/Debian did seem a little bit minimalistic at first,  I was more used to the full Gnome/Debian (Stretch),   but I think I kinda like it now.

I Think MrFixIt did a superb job of adapting this operating system to the Pine book Pro.

[Arwen]

...
Solution:

In addition to the forgoing, I changed the line:

Code:

managed=false

to

Code:

manager=true

in /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

Since the restart command seems to not be installed, I then rebooted, and upon log-in wifi was both sending and receiving packets and I was able to make www connections via chromium.
...

I've added a section to the Pinebook Pro Wiki for troubleshooting WiFi issues, then added your issue, (plus of course, a link to the privacy switches);

Wiki - Pinebook Pro - WiFi issues

As usual, feel free to correct, improve or comment, (good or politely bad).