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Question

Wifi adapter switches off when trying to connect

Sep 4, 2016 10:34AM PDT

Hi !

I've moved house recently , and since then, my desktop computer's wi-fi adapter won't connect to any wi-fi network, either from Linux Manjaro or Windows. Many other devices are connected to the router, and it works just fine.
What happens is that whenever I try to connect to a wireless network on Windows, the wi-fi icon becomes the Windows computer icon ( the one that's displayed when you're plugged in to an ethernet cable ) with a warning icon on top of it ; then, after a couple of seconds, the icon becomes the wi-fi icon with a red cross and it takes a while for my wi-fi adapter to be able to detect wireless networks again.
I get the following error message : "windows was unable to connect to that network".
On Linux, there's no feedback on what's going on when I try to connect to a network through the GUI ; I tried from command line. The wpa_command worked, but when I tried to run dhcpd to get an IP address, the command timed out.

What I've tried so far ;
-opening my PC case, dismounnting and re-mounting the wi-fi adapter
-installing the latest Atheros drivers
-I checked for BIOS updates, there wasn't any
-I tried to rollback my BIOS to the previous version by following the HP instructions, but apparently that is not implemented in my computer.
-plugging my PC to an other plug
-disabling the "allow the PC to turn off this device to save power" Windows feature
-disabling the "disable USB ports to save power" Windows feature

My specifications :
-computer : HP 500-225EFM ( there's no page dedicated to this model on the HP website unfortunately )
-motherboard : hp 2AF7
-BIOS version : from 1/15/2014 ( I don't remember the version name )
-wi-fi adapter : Atheros AR9485
-adapter's driver version : I tried 10, then rolled back to 3 because the issue was still there.

Worth mentioning ;
-I hadn't used my computer for 4 days before moving. There might've been an update
-I think the HP support application tried to update my BIOS recently, but that was, I believe, many days before I stopped using my computer and everything was still working fine.
-I'm using the network I wanna connect to with my laptop as I try to fix my desktop computer, so the network is working.

Yesterday, Manjaro wouldn't detect any wireless network whatsoever, so I think what I did somehow improved the situation as it now detects networks but can't connect to them.
Windows would also barely detect any network yesterday, and it seems better today, even if it seems quite random ( it doesn't always detect the network I wanna connect to ).


I ordered a wi-fi usb adapter to be able to use my desktop computer while the embedded wi-fi adapter is not working, but if you have any clue how I could make it work again, that'd be awesome !
Thanks for reading !

Discussion is locked

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Answer
The thing is.
Sep 4, 2016 10:51AM PDT

Just because a desktop or what you wrote works does not mean the network is working. Otherwise...

OK, once in a while I see this and I take the laptop out to another spot or use my phone as a wifi spot or pull out another router. I don't see where you did that.

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The network should be fine
Sep 4, 2016 11:02AM PDT

My laptop is able to connect to the network from any room. The "other devices connected to the router" are 3 laptops including mine, 2 smartphones and an Xbox One that are able to connect to that network flawlessly and from different parts of the flat, so I think the network's fine ; I have no other router to try, but I can't connect to open wifi networks that are available with my desktop computer ( same error as with my own network, the adapter shuts down during the connection attempt ).

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So it's not fine in that spot.
Sep 4, 2016 11:10AM PDT

You can try moving the router to see if you can alleviate the issue.

I don't want to belabor if it's fine or not. The fact it's not working there would be my view it's not fine enough.

These WiFi setups can have null spots that exist and I solve that by a number of means. Moving the router has been the easiest fix I've used to date.

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Not a null spot
Sep 4, 2016 2:13PM PDT

I just tried moving my desktop computer ( I'm not able to move the router ) around the apartment ; the signal is better detected, but the network adapter keeps on switching off whenever I try to connect, after "checking network requirements".

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I misundstood that it worked in other spots.
Sep 4, 2016 2:28PM PDT

If the adapter is gone, it's gone. The Linux test is one I use to test with and then I pull out some USB WiFi to try again.

There are clients that want me to fix a card and that is rarely done as these things rarely have spare parts. I did fix a few (rare!) but it was the usual antenna unplugged issue.

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OK :(
Sep 4, 2016 3:59PM PDT

Thanks for your diagnostics !

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Answer
just for clarification
Sep 4, 2016 4:13PM PDT

the adaptor was working before the move? did you try a power cycle on the router? what router do you have, also are you able to see the computer in the router settings using another computer.

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Yes Yes and No
Sep 5, 2016 5:06AM PDT

The adaptor was working before the move ; I tried a power cycle twice, and I left the router off for 15 minutes the second time, but it didn't help ; I cannot see my desktop computer from my router, as it is not attributed an IP address ; my router is a "Freebox ADSL" provided by the french ISP Free. What I could find about its specs : the Wi-fi access is protected by a WPA/TPIK key, and the network interface is an RT2880 ( http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20070620006323/en/Ralink-Announces-RT2880-Industrys-WLAN-Intelligent-Network ).