WIFI works on Linux, not on Windows (Aspire ES15)

Hey folks!

A couple of months ago my wifi stopped working on Windows 10 for some reason. Since I mostly use wired connections I didn't mind it. However, I'm passing this laptop to my mom and carrying a 10 feet LAN cable wherever she goes isn't an option.

Interestingly, WIFI works on Linux (any distro), but not on Windows.

What I've tried so far:

* Uninstalling the drivers (from Device Manager) and restarting;
* Installing the Atheros driver from the correct driver webpage;
* Disabling and enabling the device from Device Manager;
* Enabling/disabling the WLAN Autoconfig service;
* Pressing Fn+F3 which is supposed to be the combo for enabling/disabling WIFI via the keyboard;
* Disabled the "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" on the adapter properties;
* Restarts and more restarts, and any combination with the above options;

I even re-installed Windows from a fresh USB copy, but the problem persists.

Any idea of what could be happening?

Thanks!

Accepted answers

Amanda_S

So this is super weird.

I'm not sure what I did was the fix, but I dd'd the flash drive on Linux, created a GPT partition table, and a single fat32 partition.

Then I copied the contents from the W10 ISO into that partition.

It's funny because people said it wouldn't work since FAT32 only supports files up to 4 GB, but the "install.wim" file is bigger than that, it seems.

Then I installed Windows with the LAN cable disconnected, and voila: https://imgur.com/a/TTvMUyW

(I had installed Windows with the cable disconnected before and it didn't help).

(I was using rufus to setup my USB drives for install, then I used Linux and a simple copy/paste of the ISO contents and it worked).

All comments

JackE

Does DeviceManager have any red or yellow warnings in any of its folders? If none, right click the wifi driver in the Network adapter folder. Click properties. Click Advanced tab. Click preferred band. If no preference, try 2.4GHz first. If no joy, try 5GHz. If still no joy, download, install and run iobit's DriverBooster freeware while cable-connected to see if it'll pick up anything. Jack E/NJ

Amanda_S

Device Manager shows no red icons.
Also, no preferred band to select on the adcanced tab.

Is there any other hardware way of disabling wifi that I missed? I see no buttons on the outside chassi.

I'll take a look at that iobit program.

JackE

FN+F3 should toggle wifi on and off. Jack E/NJ

Amanda_S

Thank you, but it doesn't work, as mentioned in the OP.

The fn key works, and f3 works, but pressing them both does nothing.

I'll try searching something in the bios.

JackE

>>>A couple of months ago my wifi stopped working on Windows 10 for some reason>>>

If you're absolutely sure the wifi was working, then an errant Win10 update is likely responsible. Unfortunately, its restore point has likely already been deleted by now since they auto-delete after about a month.

So I suggest downloading, installing and running iobit's DriverBooster freeware while cable-connected to see if it'll pick up anything on the web to fix the wifi driver.

If it doesn't, then the only way to rule in or rule out a hardware issue, is to do an ALT+F10 cold boot reset, preferrably a remove everything reset.

Jack E/NJ

Amanda_S

I downloaded ioibit's driver booster and my wireless card was already up-to-date with the latest driver.

What do you mean by a "remove everything reset"?

Thanks

Amanda_S

It's just weird that I can't turn on WIFI via software. It's like I've done something on a hardware level and Windows isn't recognizing it.
Which also doesn't make sense. All settings should be reverted back to default after a clean install of Windows, but still the WIFI was off from the first boot.
Not only that, the WIFI working under Linux but not on Windows rules out a hardware failure.

JackE

>>>I'm passing this laptop to my mom and carrying a 10 feet LAN cable wherever she goes isn't an option.>>>

>>>What do you mean by a "remove everything reset"?>>>

An ALT+F10 remove everything cold boot reset should return the machine to a factory fresh state on the WIN system partition. But ****ONLY IF**** the LIN dual boot installations haven't touched access to or altered the hidden ACER-flavored Windows recovery partition. Unpredictable depending on the distro. If you want to try it, make sure the D2D recovery option is enabled in the BIOS Main tab. Then press & hold the ALT+F10 keys, Then while still holding the ALT+F10 keys, press the power button to turn the machine on. A recovery screen should appear as in the video below.

But in my opinion, your Mom would be better off if you set the thing up using the 19.3 Mint Cinnamon GUI interface. It uses the Linpus installation method often used on ACER machines. Cinnamon can be configured to have nearly the same look, feel, function & most important stability of Microsoft's last halfway decent OS Win7. With its WINE overlays, FireFox browser, OS Office suites like Libre, and its superior networking, I see little reason for a default WIN boot. Your Mom will do just fine with something like Cinnamon. And won't be pestering you when a dreaded auto Win10 update seems to mess her machine up.

Jack E/NJ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpzLJRAZldA

Amanda_S

So this is super weird.

I'm not sure what I did was the fix, but I dd'd the flash drive on Linux, created a GPT partition table, and a single fat32 partition.

Then I copied the contents from the W10 ISO into that partition.

It's funny because people said it wouldn't work since FAT32 only supports files up to 4 GB, but the "install.wim" file is bigger than that, it seems.

Then I installed Windows with the LAN cable disconnected, and voila: https://imgur.com/a/TTvMUyW

(I had installed Windows with the cable disconnected before and it didn't help).

(I was using rufus to setup my USB drives for install, then I used Linux and a simple copy/paste of the ISO contents and it worked).

JackE

Congrats on sorting it out. Jack E/NJ

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