I’ve been having this super frustrating issue with my Lenovo IdeaPad running Ubuntu 20.04, and I could really use some help. So, here’s the deal: I woke up one day, decided to connect to Wi-Fi like usual, but my laptop just wouldn’t recognize any Wi-Fi adapter. I mean, it’s like it’s just vanished into thin air!
I started off with the usual stuff: checked if the Wi-Fi was enabled (it was), toggled airplane mode on and off, and even rebooted the laptop a couple of times. Still nothing. It’s like my laptop is in this odd denial phase about having wireless capabilities. I’ve tried running the default troubleshooting tool in Ubuntu, but all that gave me was a bunch of “could not detect” messages, which is super unhelpful.
I also thought maybe it was a driver issue, so I checked for updates. I mean, I’ve seen posts where people say this can happen after an update, but everything seems to be up-to-date on my end. I looked around online and found some commands to try via the terminal, like `lshw -C network` and `iwconfig`, but they didn’t really give me any indication of what’s going wrong. It just seems like my laptop is playing hard to get.
I even went into my BIOS settings to see if something was disabled there, but everything looks fine. I’ve spent so much time Googling and trying different things: reinstalling NetworkManager, pulling out the battery to reset it, you name it. But I’d really appreciate it if someone could share any ideas or steps I might have missed. Maybe there’s some magic command or configuration I haven’t stumbled upon yet?
Anyone else run into this issue or have tips that actually worked for them? It’s really starting to get on my nerves, and I just want to get back to browsing without having to deal with a wired connection!
It sounds like you’ve gone through a thorough troubleshooting process for your Lenovo IdeaPad running Ubuntu 20.04. Given the steps you’ve already taken, it might be worthwhile to check if your Wi-Fi adapter is actually recognized by the system. You can use the command
lspci | grep -i network
in the terminal to look for your wireless adapter. If it shows up here, the hardware is likely functioning, but you might still have a driver issue. If you see your adapter but it’s not working, consider trying to install additional drivers using theAdditional Drivers
utility available in Ubuntu. Sometimes proprietary drivers can provide better support for specific Wi-Fi hardware.If your adapter isn’t appearing in the
lspci
output, there may be a deeper hardware issue or a BIOS setting enabling/disabling Wi-Fi functionality could still be affecting it. It’s also worthwhile to checkdmesg | grep -i wlan
ordmesg | grep -i firmware
for any error messages related to the Wi-Fi adapter. Additionally, ensure that your kernel is updated since kernel updates may fix driver bugs or compatibility issues that can affect Wi-Fi connectivity. If all else fails, consider checking the community forums specific to your laptop model or Ubuntu’s support forums — users often share solutions for similar problems that could be applicable.Help with Wi-Fi Issue on Lenovo IdeaPad Running Ubuntu 20.04
It sounds super frustrating, and I totally get that. Here are a few things you can try that might get your Wi-Fi up and running again.
1. Check for Blocked Devices
Sometimes, Wi-Fi might be blocked by rfkill. Open your terminal and run:
rfkill list
If you see that Wi-Fi is blocked, you can unblock it by running:
sudo rfkill unblock wifi
2. Reinstall NetworkManager
Since you mentioned trying this, make sure you run the commands below:
sudo apt-get remove --purge network-manager
sudo apt-get install network-manager
Then reboot with:
sudo reboot
3. Check Kernel Modules
Sometimes the driver can go haywire. Check if your Wi-Fi driver is loaded properly. You can try:
lsmod | grep -i
If you don’t know your driver name, you might find it with:
lspci -k | grep -A 3 -i network
4. Look for Logs
Check system logs for any clues. You can check dmesg or syslog:
dmesg | grep -i wifi
cat /var/log/syslog | grep NetworkManager
5. Check BIOS Again
Double-check the BIOS settings one more time. Sometimes there’s an option for wireless that might be hiding!
If none of this works, try to find support from the Ubuntu forums or Lenovo’s customer support. Don’t lose hope; many people have managed to fix similar issues!