linux mint 20 not seeing qualcomm Atheros AR9287 WIFI (Solved) (2024)

I am attempting (for the most part Successful) to revive an older laptop... i have completely taken windows off and installed Linux Mint 20.
there are only two problems at the moment (btw I am new to doing Linux.. nub.. im sure it shows)

1- the AR9287 wireless adapter card is not working
I have read the other posts concerning this and it seems that after (wicd) discontinued, this a problem for this card.

2- upon shut down or reboot the system does not completely shut down, (2a) is a what i get on the exit reading... (esc key)
2a- sd-unmound [2156] : Failed to unmount /oldroot: device or resource busy
sd-unmound [2157] : Failed to unmount /oldroot/dev/pts: device or resource busy
sd-unmound [2158] : Failed to unmount /oldroot/dev: device or resource busy
shutdown[1] : failed to finalize file systems, ignoring

System info:
ENNS45HR:~$ inxi -Fxpmzr
System:
Kernel: 5.4.0-107-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una
base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: Packard Bell product: ENNS45HR v: V2.01
serial: <filter>
Mobo: Packard Bell model: ENNS45HR v: V2.01 serial: <filter> UEFI: Phoenix
v: 2.01 date: 05/24/2011
Memory:
RAM: total: 3.69 GiB used: 780.4 MiB (20.6%)
RAM Report:
permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
Topology: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-2310M bits: 64 type: MT MCP
arch: Sandy Bridge rev: 7 L2 cache: 3072 KiB
flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 16761
Speed: 798 MHz min/max: 800/2100 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 798 2: 798
3: 798 4: 798
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
Device-2: NVIDIA GF119M [GeForce GT 520M] vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI
driver: nvidia v: 390.144 bus ID: 01:00.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting,nvidia
unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1366x768~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GT 520M/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 390.144
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-107-generic
Network:
Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Foxconn T77H167.00 driver: ath9k v: kernel port: 2000
bus ID: 03:00.0
IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Broadcom and subsidiaries NetLink BCM57785 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
vendor: Acer Incorporated ALI driver: tg3 v: 3.137 port: 2000
bus ID: 04:00.0
IF: enp4s0f0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Device-3: Qualcomm Atheros AR3011 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb
bus ID: 2-1.4:4
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 596.17 GiB used: 10.18 GiB (1.7%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD6400BPVT-22HXZT1
size: 596.17 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 585.32 GiB used: 10.18 GiB (1.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511.0 MiB used: 5.2 MiB (1.0%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/sda1
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 56.0 C mobo: 40.0 C gpu: nvidia temp: 54 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:
Processes: 196 Uptime: 1h 17m Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers:
gcc: 9.4.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38

Found this.. does this work with Mint 20.3?

https://linux-hardware.org/?id=pci%3A16 ... -105b-e034
VerSourceConfigBy IDBy Class
2.6.32 - 5.17drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/pci.cCONFIG_ATH9K CONFIG_ATH_COMMON CONFIG_PCI168c:002e*

Post what this shows:

rfkill list && iwconfig && mokutil --sb-state

nelly@nelly-ENNS45HR:~$ rfkill list
0: acer-wireless: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
1: acer-bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: yes
3: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

nelly@nelly-ENNS45HR:~$ iwconfig
wlp3s0 IEEE 802.11 ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=off
Retry short limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off

lo no wireless extensions.

enp4s0f0 no wireless extensions.

nelly@nelly-ENNS45HR:~$ mokutil --sb-state
This system doesn't support Secure Boot

The wifi is hard blocked:

2: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: yes

Is there an Fn & F key to turn it on, perhaps F3 or F12?

echo "blacklist acer-wmi" |sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/acer-wmi.conf

Reboot

Wireless Script

Came across this on internet search:
https://unix.stackexchange.com/question ... -hp-laptop

Basically pin 20 is the problem.
covered it, rebooted and the WIFI is working

Hope this helps others with the same problem.
Thank You for the reply's