Fix "WiFi Disabled by hardware switch" in Kubuntu 14.04

Question

Any ideas on how to fix this? My Toshiba Satellite Click doesn't have a hardware switch to disable wireless. Help!!

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 28 '15 at 04:11

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I got the same problem.I did

Restart -> F2 -> Bios settings -> Reset bios to default -> save

This worked for me.

answered Oct 28 '15 at 04:11

Sachith Muhandiram

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score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

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First try to unblock in Ubuntu with:

rfkill unblock all

If this doesn't work read on.

If you are dual-booting with Windows.

Boot Windows, enable wifi and reboot. In my system, if I disable wifi in Windows, I'm not able to unblock it in Ubuntu. Ubuntu is able to remove the soft block but not the hard block on my system.

edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

Community

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answered Nov 22 '14 at 18:07

To Do

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The sad part is I'm not dual booting and rfkill doesn't work.. – mhendrickson Nov 22 '14 at 18:08
Try going in Bios settings. There is a wi-fi communications setting. Check if it is on. – To Do Nov 22 '14 at 18:10
The only thing that has an enable or disable switch is the web camera. Nothing about networking at all – mhendrickson Nov 22 '14 at 18:16
Does your Toshiba have a physical Wifi switch? – To Do Nov 22 '14 at 18:22
Nope, everything is internal. Its their satellite 'Click' series. The 2 -in1 's – mhendrickson Nov 22 '14 at 18:23
The extreme solution is to find a Windows disc (or download one) and unblock the wifi. You could then burn a DVD, launch the installer and maybe before it starts copying files, you will hav the opportunity to unblock the wifi. – To Do Nov 22 '14 at 18:34
How do i boot a windows install disc if i have GRUB installed over Windows Boot Manager?? – mhendrickson Nov 22 '14 at 18:36
I figured it out! Reinstalled windows and the wireless driver, then proceeded to reinstall ubuntu. Eureka! Wireless is back online!! – mhendrickson Nov 24 '14 at 02:23
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It's sad that Ubuntu cannot unblock hard blocked Wi-fi while Windows can. – To Do Nov 24 '14 at 07:58
I know! I wouldn't have gotten myself into this big of a problem if it could. Whatever though, everything got resolved! – mhendrickson Nov 24 '14 at 16:48

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 22 '14 at 23:40

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I searched for some images, and all of them had a little button in the top row containing a networking image (see here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yeeh7qry8ypzbi4/toshiba_satellite_l850150.jpg?dl=0). I am pretty sure that that button is your hardware switch.

answered Nov 22 '14 at 23:40

Ivo

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Thats not the right one. I have the toshiba satellite w35dt-a3300 click series – mhendrickson Nov 22 '14 at 23:47

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 14 '15 at 14:24

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Is it toshiba-laptop or toshiba-wmi that's loaded? Find out with:

$ lsmod | grep toshiba

Remove whichever is loaded, like this: For Example:

$ sudo rmmod -f toshiba-laptop
$ sudo rfkill unblock all
$ rfkill list all

This solution works for mine.

answered Apr 14 '15 at 14:24

Akshay Pratap Singh

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Fix "WiFi Disabled by hardware switch" in Kubuntu 14.04

4 Answers4

If you are dual-booting with Windows.