Network down incorrect........

[Charlie]

From my keyboard:

Hello all,

Since Bullseye went stable, updated on my 12 month old HP
laptop. When attempting to bring up the wireless interface with
ifup.

The message on the screen tells me the "network is down", which is
incorrect. Because on another Bullseye machine it works perfectly. as
it did on this one before it went stable.

It gives the message:

RTNETLINK answers: Operation not possible due to RF-kill

Then tries to connect for about 12 or so tries.

I have not installed rfkill, and can't find it to uninstall it.

On the web there is a reference to this "RTNETLINK answers: Operation
not possible due to RF-kill" on Archlinux where it was solved by
bringing the BIOS back to default. I tried that, but temporarily locked
myself out of the system. Then asking me to install an operating system
on the hard drive. I brought that back buy returning the BIOS to when
it booted the system.

I can use the Ethernet port and cable to connect to the internet with
that machine, however, did connect wirelessly when Bullseye was testing.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

TIA,
Charlie

East Gippsland Wildlife Rehabilitators Inc..
http://www.egwildlife.com.au/

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Registered Linux User:- 329524

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The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself
to be a fool. --William Shakespeare

***********************************************
Debian GNU/Linux - Magic indeed.

-----------------------------------------------------

[Jude DaShiell]

As part of your reinstall process did you delete all partitions then run
wipefs -af on the disk? Failure to do so may have left old artifacts of
the previous system on the drive which may be messing up your current
installation.

[Eike Lantzsch ZP6CGE]

rfkill is a Linux device
the program rfkill is not necessarily installed but it might help you to identify the underlying problem.

A shot into the dark: This smells like a firmware problem.

 

--

Eike Lantzsch ZP6CGE

[Marco Möller]

Temporary workaround:
When I have had such problem in the past and also no rfkill installed, I
simply installed rfkill (and for my use case created an alias for the
CLI and shortcut for the GUI for reactivating WiFi and Bluetooth easily,
if they would be blocked again).
This does not explain where the problem comes from, but installing and
using rfkill is not a big thing and quickly gets you out of trouble and
up and working again.
In my case, if I remember at least a little bit the case, it was the
graphical desktop environment which deactivated the wireless devices
upon shutdown, but then was not able to reactivate them at system start,
letting the devices stay blocked, obviously having used some rfkill
alike implementation in the GUI code itself. Since I installed the
rfkill package and reactivated the devices manually at the CLI the
problem disappeared somehow. I do not remember anymore if the problem
disappeared instantely or after some few rounds of shutdown and reboot
with manual rfkill intervention, or simply because maybe around that
time also a GUI update arrived. I still assume that it was a bug in the
GUI code, using maybe some internal rfkill alike code, but being buggy,
having the feature to deactivate those devices working correctly but
failing to reactivate them. As I quickly couldn't reproduce the problem
no more, I could not provide a bug report. I did not even test what
would happen if I now would remove the rfkill package again.
Installation and usage of that package solved my problem first hand as a
workaround, and then the problem anyway disappeared shortly after, and
eventually I decided to simply keep rfkill installed.

---
Good Luck!
Marco.

[David Wright]

On Sat 28 Aug 2021 at 23:38:44 (+1000), Charlie wrote:
> Since Bullseye went stable, updated on my 12 month old HP
> laptop. When attempting to bring up the wireless interface with
> ifup.
>
> The message on the screen tells me the "network is down", which is
> incorrect. Because on another Bullseye machine it works perfectly. as
> it did on this one before it went stable.

It's a matter of perspective: it means the network is down on this
machine. That being so, it can't venture an opinion on the state of
the external network.

> It gives the message:
>
> RTNETLINK answers: Operation not possible due to RF-kill
>
> Then tries to connect for about 12 or so tries.
>
> I have not installed rfkill, and can't find it to uninstall it.

The name of the command is somewhat deceptive. Just as the "kill"
command doesn't just kill processes but sends them signals, so
"rfkill" both disables and enables wireless networks. You want it
(from the package of the same name).

> On the web there is a reference to this "RTNETLINK answers: Operation
> not possible due to RF-kill" on Archlinux where it was solved by
> bringing the BIOS back to default. I tried that, but temporarily locked
> myself out of the system. Then asking me to install an operating system
> on the hard drive. I brought that back buy returning the BIOS to when
> it booted the system.
>
> I can use the Ethernet port and cable to connect to the internet with
> that machine, however, did connect wirelessly when Bullseye was testing.
>
> Any pointers would be appreciated.

I think the days of providing a separate button for killing wireless
have passed. (My old Acer has a badly placed button that's easy to
accidently press with your trouser belt.)

Nowadays, it's usual to provide instead a function key to toggle
wireless instead. By "function" key, I mean the locally modified
functions, often call "hotkeys", usually selected by pressing some
coloured Fn modifier. You might have a picture of an aeroplane¹
engraved on the key, and typically there are other functions like
screen-blank, sleep, volume, brightness, etc in close proximity.

Running rfkill with no arguments should show you the status of
the WiFi, Bluetooth etc as Hard/Soft (un)blocked as appropriate.

An alternative to all this is that you have firmware installed on
buster that you haven't yet installed for bullseye. One would hope
that an upgrade would carry it over, but you need to check.

¹ which tells you why this is easy to turn on/off: who wants to
be fiddling with the BIOS while sitting waiting for takeoff.

Cheers,
David.

[Charlie]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2021 10:43:07 -0400 Eike Informed me about Re:
Network down incorrect........

Thank you. I tried to install the firmware package and it said it was
the latest version and wouldn't. I may have to purge it, then install
the firmware again.

Thank you,
Charlie

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Registered Linux User:- 329524

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Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it
is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.
....W J Bryan

[Charlie]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2021 11:39:13 -0500 David Informed me about Re:
Network down incorrect........

Thanks David,

This is a bullseye system that went from testing to stable, so will
give the things you suggest a larrup and see how I go.

But later today. I have a kangaroo to transport to another wildlife
carer.

Thank you,
Charlie

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Registered Linux User:- 329524

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Life is an adventure in forgiveness. --- Norman Cousins

[Charlie]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2021 17:14:29 +0200 Marco Informed me about Re:
Network down incorrect........

Thank you Marko.

That sounds like something I read, but seemed to be a strange thing to
do. However, I will take your advice since you have had experience with
it and found it works, by magic or any other way. Working is what would
be good, so whatever is required.

Thank you,
Charlie

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Registered Linux User:- 329524

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A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they
know they shall never sit in. Old Greek Proverb

[Charlie]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2021 10:19:23 -0400 Jude Informed me about Re:
Network down incorrect........

No I didn't reinstall. I just let Bullseye move from testing to stable.

Thank you,
Charlie

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Registered Linux User:- 329524

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What do you want to get enlightened for? You may not like it.
-- Shunryu Suzuki