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  • Debian 13 WiFi dongle recognised but no longer operational

    From Roger Price@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 15:10:01
    Suddenly, my WiFi dongle is no longer operational. I tried swapping the dongle but no change.
    Command inxi -SN reports\ufffd:
    System:
    Host: carros Kernel: 6.12.69+deb13-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64
    Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.1 Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
    Network:
    Device-1: Intel 82579V Gigabit Network driver: e1000e
    Device-2: Senao RTL8188S WLAN Adapter driver: N/A type: USB
    The hardware of my WiFi USB adapter is detected, but the operating system ignores it. For example, command rfkill reports (d\ufffdbloqu\ufffd = not blocked)\ufffd:
    ID TYPE DEVICE SOFT HARD
    0 bluetooth hci0 d\ufffdbloqu\ufffd d\ufffdbloqu\ufffd
    Command journalctl --system | grep -i Activation used to show\ufffd:
    mars 14 17:23:35 carros NetworkManager[539904]: <info> [1773505415.8869]
    device (wlx00026f7e912a): Activation: successful, device activated.
    but now I get
    mars 15 14:54:31 carros NetworkManager[539904]: <info> [1773582871.1099]
    dhcp4 (wlx00026f7e912a): activation: beginning transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
    mars 15 14:54:31 carros dbus-daemon[675]: [system] Activation via systemd
    failed for unit 'dbus-org.freedesktop.nm-dispatcher.service': Refusing activation,
    D-Bus is shutting down.
    mars 15 14:54:31 carros systemd[1]: Closed avahi-daemon.socket - Avahi
    mDNS/DNS-SD Stack Activation Socket.
    Command nmcli device reports
    DEVICE TYPE STATE CONNECTION
    eno1 ethernet connect\ufffd Wired connection 1
    lo loopback connect\ufffd (en externe) lo
    Device wlx... has disappeared. Any suggestion for restoring it would be very welcome.
    Roger
    PS\ufffd: In case you wondered\ufffd:
    rprice@carros ~ cat /etc/apt/sources.list | grep -v "#"
    deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ trixie main non-free-firmware
    deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian/ trixie main non-free-firmware
    deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security trixie-security main non-free-firmware
    deb-src http://security.debian.org/debian-security trixie-security main non-free-firmware
    deb http://deb.debian.org/debian/ trixie-updates main non-free-firmware
    deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian/ trixie-updates main non-free-firmware


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From nwe@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 16:50:01
    On 3/18/26 8:45 AM, Roger Price wrote:

    Suddenly, my WiFi dongle is no longer operational.
    FWIW, I recently had a dongle die to where it still showed up but did
    not work, same thing on Bookworm and Trixie. After some diagnostics I determined the dongle's USB hardware was still functional but its radio
    was dead.
    I tried swapping the
    dongle but no change.

    tried swapping... as in tried a known-working dongle? or as in plugged
    this one into another pc?

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Dan Purgert@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 16:50:01
    On Mar 18, 2026, Roger Price wrote:
    Suddenly, my WiFi dongle is no longer operational. I tried swapping the dongle but no change.

    Command inxi -SN reports˙:
    System:
    Host: carros Kernel: 6.12.69+deb13-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64
    Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.1 Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 13 (trixie)
    Network:
    Device-1: Intel 82579V Gigabit Network driver: e1000e
    Device-2: Senao RTL8188S WLAN Adapter driver: N/A type: USB

    Seems you lost the driver. Did you update the kernel by chance?


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Roger Price@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 17:20:01
    On Wed, 18 Mar 2026, nwe wrote:

    FWIW, I recently had a dongle die to where it still showed up but did not work, same thing on Bookworm and Trixie. After some diagnostics I determined the dongle's USB hardware was still functional but its radio was dead.

    tried swapping... as in tried a known-working dongle? or as in plugged this one into another pc?

    I tried two other known working dongles, but I'll go back and try some more swapping. Roger

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Roger Price@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 17:40:01
    On Wed, 18 Mar 2026, Dan Purgert wrote:
    Seems you lost the driver. Did you update the kernel by chance?
    I have no recollection of doing a system update on March 14/15, but my memory plays tricks on me. Can I trust the date of the kernel file?
    rprice@carros ~ ls /boot/config-6.12.69+deb13-amd64
    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 283277 8 f\ufffdvr. 08:58 /boot/config-6.12.69+deb13-amd64
    In the apt log the only update activity for March is
    rprice@carros ~ cat /var/log/apt/history.log
    Start-Date: 2026-03-18 11:38:08
    Commandline: /usr/sbin/synaptic
    Install: rfkill:amd64 (2.41-5)
    End-Date: 2026-03-18 11:38:11
    Roger


    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Greg Wooledge@3:633/10 to All on Wednesday, March 18, 2026 19:00:02
    On Wed, Mar 18, 2026 at 17:13:29 +0100, Roger Price wrote:
    On Wed, 18 Mar 2026, Dan Purgert wrote:

    Seems you lost the driver. Did you update the kernel by chance?

    I have no recollection of doing a system update on March 14/15, but my memory
    plays tricks on me. Can I trust the date of the kernel file?

    rprice@carros ~ ls /boot/config-6.12.69+deb13-amd64
    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 283277 8 f?vr. 08:58 /boot/config-6.12.69+deb13-amd64

    No. That date is basically when the package was created, not when
    you installed it. P.S. you're a few security patches behind stable.

    hobbit:~$ ls /boot/vm*
    /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.73+deb13-amd64 /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64

    In the apt log the only update activity for March is
    rprice@carros ~ cat /var/log/apt/history.log
    Start-Date: 2026-03-18 11:38:08
    Commandline: /usr/sbin/synaptic
    Install: rfkill:amd64 (2.41-5)
    End-Date: 2026-03-18 11:38:11

    Sounds like you haven't updated it.

    hobbit:~$ ls -l /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64
    -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 12113856 Mar 8 15:54 /boot/vmlinuz-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64

    hobbit:~$ grep -F linux-image-6.12.74 /var/log/dpkg.log
    2026-03-12 20:34:30 install linux-image-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64:amd64 <none> 6.12.74-2
    2026-03-12 20:34:30 status half-installed linux-image-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64:amd64 6.12.74-2
    2026-03-12 20:34:33 status unpacked linux-image-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64:amd64 6.12.74-2
    2026-03-12 20:34:36 configure linux-image-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64:amd64 6.12.74-2 <none>
    2026-03-12 20:34:36 status unpacked linux-image-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64:amd64 6.12.74-2
    2026-03-12 20:34:36 status half-configured linux-image-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64:amd64 6.12.74-2
    2026-03-12 20:34:51 status installed linux-image-6.12.74+deb13+1-amd64:amd64 6.12.74-2

    Package's internal date is Mar 8, installed locally on Mar 12.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.13
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)