Yet another iwlwifi problem

Support Network
1

My Manjaro system (i3) has been running since 2014. I have not used wifi for a number of years, preferring Ethernet. I do reinstall, almost always Manjaro, from time to time, and previously wifi was presented as an option when connecting the live CD. My linux box was built perhaps a decade ago, an Intel i7q AsRock motherboard (Z270 Killer SLIac). So it’s all a few years old.

Our new Internet setup dictates I must now use Wifi. However, the widget on the toolbar only shows an Ethernet option, no wifi. I have tried live CDs from Endeavour and Ubuntu. I have tried installing random packages, such as an iwlwifi related package. I have removed/reinstalled the iwlwifi module, and tried updating linux-firmware, a bunch of step by step solutions suggested by Mr. Google.

The module is working. But no interface is created by any of the means I have attempted. Frankly, I am in over my head. My next step will probably be to purchase a cheap wifi card. I cannot string Ethernet cable across our entire apartment, although that would be the preferred method (50 feet, that I have, would not be enough.)

A plethora of manjaro users seem to have had trouble with iwlwifi. Interestingly, a Google search for “best wifi adapters for linux” mentions Intel’s hardware first.

My problem solving skills and limited comp skills have reached capacity.

Any ideas?

2

I failed to mention in my post that both Ubuntu and Endeavour, on running their live cds, threw messages like “iwlwifi failed to fun INIT ucode”; this message also was encountered when trying solutions onboard Manjaro, but I don’t recall which.

3

That sound strange to me.

Before anyone can reply with a meaningful comment - we need to know which version of the wifi card your system is using.

If it does have onboard wifi - then I suggest you check the system firmware (BIOS) - verify that it is enabled.

As I recall some old centrino cards could be tricky.

Please provide the output of (no screenshot - text - please - copy paste - then select and fence the text using </> button in the toolbar)

inxi -Fzay
4 
System:
  Kernel: 6.13.9-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.13-x86_64
    root=UUID=60b8c5f5-2e4e-4490-9b0e-6ada3d458713 rw quiet apparmor=1
    security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: i3 v: 4.24 with: i3bar,polybar tools: xautolock
    avail: i3lock,light-locker,xss-lock dm: 1: LightDM v: 1.32.0 note: stopped
    2: LXDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: Z270 Killer SLI/ac serial: <filter>
    uuid: 36c28570-9aaa-0000-0000-000000000000 UEFI: American Megatrends v: P2.30
    date: 02/26/2018
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-7700K bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Kaby Lake
    gen: core 7 level: v3 note: check built: 2018 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x9E (158) stepping: 9 microcode: 0xF8
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 4 cores: 4 threads: 8 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB
    desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/4500 base/boost: 4200/8300 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave volts: 1.2 V ext-clock: 100 MHz
    cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800
    bogomips: 67200
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling mitigation: Microcode
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
    vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS; IBPB: conditional; STIBP: conditional;
    RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP107 [GeForce GTX 1050] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia
    v: 570.133.07 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550/565.xx+
    status: current (as of 2025-01; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Pascal code: GP10x
    process: TSMC 16nm built: 2016-2021 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    ports: active: none off: DP-2,HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-1,DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1c81 class-ID: 0300
  Display: unspecified server: X.Org v: 21.1.16 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.6
    compositor: Picom v: 12.5 driver: X: loaded: nvidia
    unloaded: modesetting,nouveau alternate: fbdev,nv,vesa
    gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 4480x1440 s-dpi: 108 s-size: 1054x342mm (41.50x13.46")
    s-diag: 1108mm (43.63")
  Monitor-1: DP-2 mapped: DP-0.8 note: disabled pos: primary,right
    model: ViewSonic VP2468 Series serial: <filter> built: 2020 res:
    mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2
    size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65") diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-0 note: disabled pos: left
    model: ViewSonic VP2768 Series serial: <filter> built: 2019 res:
    mode: 2560x1440 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2
    size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23") diag: 685mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 2560x1440 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia nouveau drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
    drv: nvidia device: 1 drv: nouveau device: 2 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
    surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 570.133.07
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050/PCIe/SSE2
    memory: 1.95 GiB
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo de: kscreen-doctor,xfce4-display-settings
    gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 200 Series PCH HD Audio vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a2f0
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio vendor: eVga.com.
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fb9 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.13.9-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.1 status: n/a (root, process) with: wireplumber
    status: active tools: pw-cli,wpctl
  Server-3: PulseAudio v: 17.0-43-g3e2bb status: active (root, process)
    tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: ASRock driver: e1000e v: kernel
    port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15b8 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wireless 3160 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 05:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:08b3 class-ID: 0280
  Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-12:7 chip-ID: 8087:07dc
    class-ID: e001
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 4.0
    lmp-v: 6 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 4.11 TiB used: 1.06 TiB (25.7%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:1 vendor: Samsung
    model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 500GB size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 2B2QEXM7 temp: 33.9 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 123d 10h cycles: 1,449
    read-units: 34,000,644 [17.4 TB] written-units: 85,589,587 [43.8 TB]
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung
    model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 2B2QEXM7 temp: 44.9 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 49d 11h cycles: 615
    read-units: 18,433,597 [9.43 TB] written-units: 13,085,423 [6.69 TB]
  ID-3: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Hitachi model: HUA723020ALA641
    family: Ultrastar 7K3000 size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B sata: 2.6 speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 7200
    serial: <filter> fw-rev: A840 temp: 37 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED on: 6y 51d 15h cycles: 1976
  ID-4: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Lexar model: USB Flash Drive
    size: 14.62 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 2.0
    spd: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1100
    scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 69.73 GiB size: 68.08 GiB (97.64%) used: 37.59 GiB (55.2%)
    fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme1n1p2 maj-min: 259:9
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 5.5 MiB (1.8%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
    maj-min: 259:2
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 657.9 GiB size: 646.5 GiB (98.27%)
    used: 463.53 GiB (71.7%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme1n1p1
    maj-min: 259:8
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 34.45 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:4
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 33.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 35 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 35%
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.31 GiB used: 7.18 GiB (22.9%)
  Processes: 314 Power: uptime: 3m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 12.5 GiB services: upowerd,xfce4-power-manager
    Init: systemd v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1865 libs: 421 tools: yay Compilers:
    clang: 19.1.7 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Sudo (sudo) v: 1.9.16p2 default: Bash
    v: 5.2.37 running-in: kitty inxi: 3.3.37
5

The device on the ASRock motherboard is, I think, 3160.

According to Intel, this device is no longer supported. There is a link to firmware, the most recent, I believe, for this device… In fact there were two. I have now attempted to install iwlwifi-3160-17.ucode.

One potential issue was a conflict with bluetooth. I have disabled bluetooth, since I never use it, and rebooted. No change.

Still no interface.

6

I vaguely recall a couple of years back Centrino modules where removed from the repos.

The best thing you can do is to get yourself a wireless dongle, Alfa Networks has dongles that work great OOB - which is a huge plus in my book - not so long ago I bought the Alfa AWUS036ACS which is plug’n’play on kernel 6.12 and 6.14

→ [root tip] [How To] Kernel - Headers - DKMS

7

Thank you for the information about the Kali Linux compatible Alfa adapter. I have ordered this one from Amazon: AWUS036ACS.

Online searches indicate quite an involved process to get this running, including compiling a driver.

Is this your experience? Plug and play sounds perfect to me. One can only hope that this device works over long enough distance.

8

Bam - please forgive the old man :bowing_man: - I totally forgot - it is not complicated however.

The adapter expose rtl8812/8821 chipset - you can check by plugging the device and run lsusb

 $ lsusb
[...]
Bus 003 Device 005: ID 0bda:0811 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Realtek 8812AU/8821AU 802.11ac WLAN Adapter [USB Wireless Dual-Band Adapter 2.4/5Ghz]
[...]

And it is correct there it is not OOB :person_facepalming: there is a multitude instructions on AUR - and that alone may turn your hair grey.

The recipe to get a standard driver working

  1. identify your kernel e.g. linux612
  2. do a complete system sync and add linuxXY-headers e.g. linux612-headers
  3. use pamac to build the driver

→ [root tip] [How To] Kernel - Headers - DKMS

Example

 $ uname -r
6.14.1-1-MANJARO

 $ sudo pacman -Syu linux614-headers
[...]

 $ pamac build rtl8812au-dkms-git
[...]

 $ reboot

Plug the adapter and connect

There is quite a lot of recipes on AUR - for different purposes - like packet injection and running aircrack - I run a network with Ubiquiti gear - I have been working as security adviser so I test my network for vulnerabilities and for that one needs special gear and special software.

9

Indeed. I am in receipt of one of these Alfa AWUS036ACS dongles. I did install some software, prior to disconnecting the ethernet. Don’t really remember what. However, as soon as I plugged this device into a USB port, the connection was reported on my system. Outside of mistyping my own password, this took less than five minutes.

I am grateful for this advice; it saved time and money.

Alan

2 Likes
10

Indeed I had installed the rtl8821au-dkms-git package via yay.

11

I think it’s worth the bandwidth to express my gratitude, Linux-aarhus. You make Free Software good.

1 Like
12

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