0

I'm using Debian 8 with Gnome 3.14. The laptop came with the PCI BCM43124 module. Right after the OS installation I was not able to see any WiFi devices. I followed these instructions and got it where now I can actually see the network applet in the top-right menu of my desktop.

enter image description here

Now, when I click on the "Select Network" option I get an empty list (instead of a list with potential SSIDs):

enter image description here

This is what sudo /sbin/iwconfigreturns:

enter image description here

What am I missing? Any hints or advice would be much appreciated.

Nactus
  • 101
  • 4
  • Configuring the hardware is only half way of the battle, then you have to configure wpa_supplicant. I leave here the note, as I wont be able to keep up with this post. – Rui F Ribeiro Dec 28 '15 at 08:31
  • @RuiFRibeiro, thanks for you comment. According to [this](https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse) article, "NetworkManager is also a front-end for wpa_supplicant." In my understanding NetworkManager should set up the wpa_supplicant. Right? – Nactus Dec 28 '15 at 15:51

1 Answers1

0

I think I found the problem and also the solution. The driver had nothing to do with it. The debian wiki article is correct. This is a Toshiba hardware issue. I used

sudo rfkill list

and there I noticed that the wifi device was "hard blocked". The

rfkill

can only unblock "soft blocks", so I turned off the computer, removed the battery and pressed the power button for 30 seconds. On reboot the device worked as expected.

So, to summarize (for anybody else who runs into this problem): 1. Follow this wiki article (from step 1 to step 4) 2. Then, turn off the computer, remove the battery, press the power button for 30 seconds 3. Reboot 4. Use the WiFi menu to choose an SSID & connect to it

Rui F Ribeiro
  • 55,929
  • 26
  • 146
  • 227
Nactus
  • 101
  • 4