WiFi chipset Centrino Advanced-N 6205 not working (Manjaro 22.0.2)

[Un_gnou]

Hi there,
I face the same problem as testingcont (2 years ago: /t/wifi-available-but-not-working/42720).
I mean my chipset is the same. Except that:

• my PC is an HP ProBook 6460b ;
• solution suggested in comment 21 (/t/wifi-available-but-not-working/42720/21) - that had solved testingcont’s issue - didn’t work in my case.
  (so at the moment, I still have file /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf present, with the same suggested contents)

Here are a few indications from journalctl around driver iwlwifi:

23:26:28 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: can't disable ASPM; OS doesn't have ASPM control
23:26:28 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: loaded firmware version 18.168.6.1 6000g2a-6.ucode op_mode iwldvm
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUG enabled
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUGFS enabled
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEVICE_TRACING enabled
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: Detected Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6205 AGN, REV=0xB0
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: reporting RF_KILL (radio disabled)
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to disable radio.
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0 wlo1: renamed from wlan0
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to enable radio.
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: reporting RF_KILL (radio enabled)
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0
23:26:29 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0
23:26:30 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0
23:26:30 HP-ProBook-6460b NetworkManager[332]: <info>  [1675895190.3566] rfkill1: found Wi-Fi radio killswitch (at /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.3/0000:24:00.0/ieee80211/phy0/rfkill1) (driver iwlwifi)
23:26:34 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to disable radio.
23:26:34 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: reporting RF_KILL (radio disabled)
23:26:34 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: Not sending command - RF KILL
23:26:34 HP-ProBook-6460b kernel: iwlwifi 0000:24:00.0: Not sending command - RF KILL

Just as for testingcont, there was no problem using the WiFi on this PC with a previous Linux Mint 20 installation. So I don’t get what’s going wrong with Manjaro…
I have a physical WiFi toggle which is lighted (switched ON) by default at boot. However, KDE’s software WiFi toggle is greyed out.

rfkill command shows WLAN is hard blocked.

$ rfkill
ID TYPE      DEVICE     SOFT     **HARD**
 1 **wlan**      phy0   débloqué   **bloqué**
 7 bluetooth hci0   débloqué débloqué

What may be causing this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated (as you can imagine ^^). Thanks!

[Un_gnou]

Solved rather quickly
I visited the BIOS again (since I had made quite a lot of changes between the Linux Mint installation and the Manjaro one) and modified at least 4 parameters which could have an impact on the WiFi (including disabling Bluetooth - which I never use - since I’ve read having Wi-Fi and Bluetooth running at the same time could be a challenge with mod iwldvm). Not sure which one of these modifications solved my issue, but WiFi is back again \o/
I also removed file /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf I had created, then rebooted my PC. WiFi still works normally, so this file is not needed in my case.
I’m not sure anyone will be facing the very same issue in the future (same laptop model - 11 years old! / same WiFi chipset), so I won’t dig further to identify the culprit BIOS parameter. However you may get in touch with me if needed.

[omano]

@Un_gnou

I have a physical WiFi toggle which is lighted (switched ON) by default at boot. However, KDE’s software WiFi toggle is greyed out.

The light on your computer is for the “physical” switch for the WIFI (probably a keyboard combo of keys, or a dedicated button somewhere near the keyboard), you can turn it ON or OFF on demand, physically.

You can also do that, when it is “physically ON” (which means the system can see the WIFI card), inside of KDE, and enable or disable it in the system by clicking the appropriate box.

Both things are different.