Re: [gentoo-user] No wifi

[Michael]

On Tuesday, 14 July 2020 05:59:37 BST Ashley Dixon wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 14, 2020 at 12:19:51AM -0400, Walter Dnes wrote:
> > [thimk][root][~] lspci -k | grep -i -B 1 5100
> >
> >         Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
> >
> > 03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN
> > [Shiloh] Network Connection>
> >         Subsystem: Intel Corporation WiFi Link 5100 AGN
> >
> >   Note that that it's not being "loaded" as a module.  I'm building into
> >
> > the kernel itself.  Here's a snippet from .config
>
> It doesn't look like it's loading the firmware.  Are there any obvious
> firmware- loading errors in dmesg ?  If not, it might be worth installing
> `sys-apps/lshw` and running `lshw -C network` to see kernel resource
> information  regarding  the device.
>
> > #
> > # Firmware loader
> > #
> > CONFIG_FW_LOADER=y
> > CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE="iwlwifi-5000-ucode-5.4.A.11/iwlwifi-5000-1.ucode"
> > CONFIG_EXTRA_FIRMWARE_DIR="/lib/firmware"
>
> That looks fine, although why are you using such an outdated version of the
> microcode ? For kernels 2.6.38+, you can use 8.83.5.1-1.

Is there a subdirectory 'iwlwifi-5000-ucode-5.4.A.11' in /lib/firmware/ ?

I'm asking because the vanilla sys-kernel/linux-firmware does not create such 
a subdirectory.  This is what is listed here:

$ ls -la /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 345008 Jun 27 08:58 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-1.ucode
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 353240 Jun 27 08:58 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-2.ucode
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 340696 Jun 27 08:58 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-5.ucode


Does dmesg reveal anything untoward in the kernel failing to find or load this 
firmware?

Also, make sure the wireless NIC is enabled in the BIOS and powered up by 
toggling the appropriate Fn key combo, e.g. Fn+F5 or whatever it is on your 
laptop.