Atheros AR9565 Wi-Fi not working on Dell laptop (blocked by dell-rbtn) Linux Fix

fix-dell-wifi-hard-block-linux.md

Fix dell wi-fi hard block on linux (dell-rbtn)

check your wireless interface status

ip link show wlp6s0

check the block status

sudo rfkill list

check wireless interface status with iwconfig

iwconfig

Note

iwconfig is an older wireless tool and may not be pre-installed on all linux distros. you can install the wireless-tools package for your distribution if you want it.

alternatively, you can use the iw tool (which replaces iwconfig and is available on most linux distros):

iw dev wlp6s0 info

identify the problem

after all your efforts, if you see something like this blocking your wireless network:

0: dell-rbtn: wireless lan
    soft blocked: yes
    hard blocked: yes

the fix

the solution is to remove dell-rbtn and blacklist the module so it will not load on your next boot. the linux kernel module system (modprobe) will see "oh, dell-rbtn is blacklisted, i don't need to load this shit" and your wireless network will work again.

sudo modprobe -r dell_rbtn
echo "blacklist dell-rbtn" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-dell-rbtn.conf

then boom, you are done.

reboot or test without rebooting

reboot. or if you want to test if it works without rebooting, run:

sudo modprobe -r dell_rbtn
sudo rfkill unblock wifi
sudo ip link set wlp6s0 up

this removes dell_rbtn from the kernel module, unblocks your wi-fi, and brings the interface up.

what is dell-rbtn?

• dell-rbtn is a kernel module that handles dell's "radio button" (hardware wi-fi switch)
• for many/most dell laptops (especially with atheros cards), this module incorrectly reports the switch as always "off" (hard blocked) mainly on linux
• the dell-rbtn module never goes away unless you remove it yourself. this is not a linux kernel issue it's fucking dell doing shenanigans on linux.

enough yapping.

after reboot

sudo ip link set wlp6s0 up
sudo iw dev wlp6s0 scan | grep ssid

run this and you will see your wireless network up and available ssids.

that's it. thank you for your time. have a good day :)