Dell WiFi key Fn+F2 breaks Intel WiFi on Natty

[NoOp]

On 08/14/2011 07:17 PM, NoOp wrote:
> On 08/14/2011 03:28 PM, Jordon Bedwell wrote:
...
>> I believe you guys are on about an old bug in the Kernel that should
>> have been fixed by now, that bug is almost 9 months old now, but in case
>> it's not fixed in Ubuntu yet try:
>> 
>> sudo rfkill unblock wifi
>> 
>> Somebody else mentioned the wifi button and the bios, that was a fix
>> too, to disable the wifi button in the bios /should/ fix the problem.
>> If it's hardblocked you'll need to remove the driver, rfkill and then
>> add the driver again.
>> 
>> I would search for an Ubuntu bug but searching for something like this
>> is going to be so ambiguous and I don't have the time right now but when
>> I get done working I'll be more then glad to try and track down a bug
>> for you and post it back to the list.
>> 
> 
> Thanks Jordan. I'll check on my HP later this evening; I've the most
> recent Maverick & Natty kernals on the laptop.

The issue is still apparent in Maverick (2.6.35-30-generic). Just booted
to Win7, turned off wifi, booted to Maverick & wifi was off. Wifi button
on the laptop not working. Did 'sudo rfkill unblock wifi' and that
indeed turned wifi back on. Thanks!

Replicated in Natty: booted back to Win7 first to ensure the wifi button
was off in Win7 (it was), then booted to Natty (2.6.38.11-generic).
Exact same results as Maverick. Note: after issuing 'sudo rfkill unblock
wifi' the wifi on/off button does work on the laptop during the Ubuntu
session.

This thread:
<http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1677127>
suggests that blacklisting 'acer-wmi' may resolve the problem. If I get
a chance later today I'll give it a try.

Also found this:
<https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/771758>
[acer-wmi prevents wifi (bcmwl/brcm80211) from working]
Natty 	Fix Committed
Oneiric Fix Released