Cfrgtkky

1. Some basic informatiom

a. Dell Studio 1555

b. Linux kernel version



   dave@dell:~$ uname -r

   4.15.0-43-generic

c. Ubuntu

   dave@dell:~$ lsb_release -a

   No LSB modules are available.

    Distributor ID: Ubuntu

    Description:    Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS

    Release:        18.04

    Codename:       bionic

2. 
   

   I ran this and found out that the wifi controller is an Intel WiFi Link 5100.

   
   
   

   dave@dell:~$ lspci -nnk | grep "Network controller"
   04:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation WiFi Link 5100 [8086:4232]

   
   



3. I believe my driver is driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.15.0-43-generic firmware=8.83.5.1 build 33692

from the partial output of running sudo lshw

*-network

                description: Wireless interface

                product: WiFi Link 5100

                vendor: Intel Corporation

                physical id: 0

                bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0

                logical name: wlp4s0

                version: 00

                serial: *********************************

                width: 64 bits

                clock: 33MHz

                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless

                configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlwifi driverversion=4.15.0-43-generic firmware=8.83.5.1 build 33692 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11

                resources: irq:26 memory:f8000000-f8001fff



lspci -nnk | grep 0280 -A2

04:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation WiFi Link 5100 [8086:4232]

    Subsystem: Intel Corporation WiFi Link 5100 AGN [8086:1321]

    Kernel driver in use: iwlwifi

I looked at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HardwareSupportComponentsWirelessNetworkCardsIntel but didn't see my exact wifi card listed so maybe that means it doesn't work with Ubuntu.(The page list Intel PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] and iwlagn driver but my card is not designated "AGN [SHILOH].

3. My issue is different than what others have posted. My WiFi can be turned off and on. I can see many broadcast SSID including my own. Whenever I try and connect to it I get popup box error saying "activation of network connection failed

Just to show that the hardware is on at least to receive I did:

dave@dell:~$ nmcli d wifi list

IN-USE  SSID                           MODE   CHAN  RATE        SIGNAL  BARS  SECURITY         

        --                             Infra  36    405 Mbit/s  84      ▂▄▆█  WPA1 WPA2        

        xxxxxxxxxxx                    Infra  36    405 Mbit/s  82      ▂▄▆█  --               

        yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy         Infra  9     195 Mbit/s  77      ▂▄▆_  WPA2             

        mynetwork                      Infra  1     195 Mbit/s  70      ▂▄▆_  WPA1 WPA2        

        zzzzzzzzzzzz                   Infra  1     195 Mbit/s  65      ▂▄▆_  --         

My wireless network is shown.

I also have a Dell D560 running Mint (latest version as of (12/28/2019 and updated) and can connect to my wireless network. Of course it has a different network card/driver/firmware (driver=iwl3945 driverversion=4.15.0-43-generic firmware=15.32.2.9 ).

I looked at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HardwareSupportComponentsWirelessNetworkCardsIntel but didn't see my exact wifi card listed so maybe that means it doesn't work with Ubuntu.(The page list Intel PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] and iwlagn driver but my card is not designated "AGN [SHILOH].

So I am at a loss right now. I seem to know what is in the laptop and the wireless driver but don't know what to change in terms of setup and/or software. I don't think it is broken hardware.

I guess I could install Mint on the Studio laptop and see if that works as it does on another laptop.

Any ideas?

Dave

Got it to work with USB module.

I removed the wireless card as it was useless. I wasn't able to locate any indication it could be made to work. Thanks to all the provided information and kept me from going down a rabbit hole with no way out.

I was able to use an external USB adapter and get WiFi working I bought an OURLiNK Nano USB Wireless Adapter 600Mbps from Amazon (~$10). I then did this:

sudo apt purge rtl8812au-dkms
sudo apt install git
git clone https://github.com/gnab/rtl8812au.git
sudo cp -r rtl8812au /usr/src/rtl8812au-4.2.2
sudo dkms add -m rtl8812au -v 4.2.2
sudo dkms build -m rtl8812au -v 4.2.2
sudo dkms install -m rtl8812au -v 4.2.2

I found this at:
https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2375603&p=13705226#post13705226

After a reboot the WiFi connection was made. I did have to add DMKS to the system as it was not loaded.