I'm finally completely free.
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I bought an X200 Thinkpad with Libreboot installed on ebay. Unfortunately it came without a working wifi card. I bitched and complained and asked for a refund and got no response. So I just decided to buy a Think Penguin usb wifi adapter for a few extra bucks so now everything is working. I have to get used to the trackpoint. But everything else is working fine.
What is the model of your old not-working card that came with your X200? If Intel, you need CONFIG_DRIVERS_INTEL_WIFI enabled in your BIOS configuration before building. But the Intel cards require the not-free firmware anyway, so it's nice that you got Atheros. Now you could try making a partial refund at eBay (if that's possible) for the cost of WiFi card, also test this "not-working card" with some other laptop to see if it's hardware working, and if working just sell it to someone else.
Congratulations! I remember how good it felt to get liberated (softwarewise).
Hooray! Also, the internal WiFi card is not hard to replace and can be obtained cheaply (like US$5.) You remove from screws and then can take the keyboard off. Plus some other steps. There is information and instructions online.
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I did that on my T400 but it ended up being the wrong card. I didn't enjoy the experience. Is it easier than the T400?
> I did that on my T400 but it ended up being the wrong card.
Next time look up the model here
https://h-node.org/wifi/catalogue/en
to make sure that it is known to work with free software.
> Is it easier than the T400?
I don't know how hard it is with the T400, but the X200 doesn't look
bad. You just need to remove keyboard and palmrest for access.
https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/43y6632_03.pdf
There are also videos.
> There are also videos.
True. I think this should do it. The X200 and X201 use the same HMM, so
instructions for one should work for the other.
https://invidio.us/watch?v=mgbBq0QnftA
@ewlabonte I highly recommend doing this. The performance of those
dongles varies from just okay to unusable. If you have the ability to
install a new WiFi card (and one of the practical advantages of
librebooting the X200 is that the proprietary BIOS isn't there to stop
you) it's totally worth it.
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Yeah, I ordered a wifi card from ebay, it finally got here. I installed it, not too bad... and it doesn't work. There must be something wrong with the hardware connection from the wifi card. I actually did finally get a response from ebay about returning the computer, but that was while I was waiting for the card to come and it expired. So I'm stuck with the wifi dongle. Caveat emptor.
What is the make and model of the WiFi card? Is it shown in lspci? If it is, what does that say?
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02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01
That is supported by the ath9k kernel module.
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I know, but it doesn't work. I assume it must be some hardware problem with the computer.
Or with the card itself.
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This was a replacement for the card that came with the computer. I had exactly the same experience with that one. It also showed up in lspci, but I couldn't get it to work with any distro that I tried, free or nonfree.
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Is the hardware wireless switch in the "on" state? The green light needs to appear like in the image.
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Holy shit! That was it!! That also means that the wifi card that came with the computer probably works too. I am so clueless. Thank you very much!!
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Wireless not working due to the hardware switch being turned off was discussed recently so you're not the only one who missed turning on the hardware switch.
Perhaps we should add this to Trisquel's wiki to avoid future questions?
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That sounds like a good idea. It's not specifically Trisquel related but it is related to the free bios, libreboot.
> it is related to the free bios, libreboot.
How? The hardware switch works whether or not the computer is
librebooted.
That said, I guess it couldn't hurt to add a line to this page[1]
advising the user to check for a hardware WiFi switch.
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It's related in the sense that libreboot only works with a small number of computers and a large proportion of librebooted computers happen to be x200's.
> libreboot only works with a small number
> of computers and a large proportion of librebooted computers happen to be
> x200's.
Good point. I've updated the wiki.
Where are you based? I have a number of compatible cards here.
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I just ordered an atheros wifi card that works with x200 with libreboot from ebay. $2.39.
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Congratulations! I've also just recently got myself a liberated X200 notebook. Besides being fully libre, it's just a really convenient machine when used with a docking station.
ewlabonte
I have dealt with the company think penguin before, specially in purchasing and everything works fine, I'm happy with them.
good choice
Do you have a phone?
Do you use web services like Gmail, youtube, google etc?
Do you have a Amazon Kindle?
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>Do you have a phone?
Yes, and old old and very dumb nokia (I am aware about the triangulation of my nice ass since the 1997..)
>Do you use web services like Gmail, youtube, google etc?
I'd rather eat at the McDonald while sipping a Coca Cola (that's my idea of disgusting..)
>Do you have a Amazon Kindle?
Hell no! If I want to burn a book I do that the old fashioned way: I get my matchbox