I'm finally completely free.

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ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

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.

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

Oh, and it came with Trisquel 8 installed.

qmastery
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Iscritto: 03/01/2019

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.

GNUbahn
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Iscritto: 02/18/2016

Congratulations! I remember how good it felt to get liberated (softwarewise).

jxself
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Iscritto: 09/13/2010

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.

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

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?

chaosmonk

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Iscritto: 07/07/2017

> 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

jxself
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Iscritto: 09/13/2010

There are also videos.

chaosmonk

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Iscritto: 07/07/2017

> 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.

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

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.

jxself
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Iscritto: 09/13/2010

What is the make and model of the WiFi card? Is it shown in lspci? If it is, what does that say?

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01

jxself
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Iscritto: 09/13/2010

That is supported by the ath9k kernel module.

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

I know, but it doesn't work. I assume it must be some hardware problem with the computer.

jxself
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Iscritto: 09/13/2010

Or with the card itself.

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

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.

aloniv

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Iscritto: 01/11/2011

Is the hardware wireless switch in the "on" state? The green light needs to appear like in the image.

switchout.jpg
ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

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!!

aloniv

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Iscritto: 01/11/2011

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.

https://trisquel.info/en/forum/wifi-disabled-permanently-fresh-install-trisquel-mini-librebooted-thinkpad-x60

Perhaps we should add this to Trisquel's wiki to avoid future questions?

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

That sounds like a good idea. It's not specifically Trisquel related but it is related to the free bios, libreboot.

chaosmonk

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Iscritto: 07/07/2017

> 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.

[1] https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/setup-wireless-card

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

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.

chaosmonk

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Iscritto: 07/07/2017

> 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.

https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/setup-wireless-card

Vikings_thum
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Iscritto: 04/04/2017

Where are you based? I have a number of compatible cards here.

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

Massachusetts in the U.S.

ewlabonte

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Iscritto: 08/29/2009

I just ordered an atheros wifi card that works with x200 with libreboot from ebay. $2.39.

Cyberhawk

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Iscritto: 07/27/2010

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.

Jodiendo
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Iscritto: 01/09/2013

ewlabonte

I have dealt with the company think penguin before, specially in purchasing and everything works fine, I'm happy with them.
good choice

rcl
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Iscritto: 11/20/2016

Do you have a phone?
Do you use web services like Gmail, youtube, google etc?
Do you have a Amazon Kindle?

SuperTramp83

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Iscritto: 10/31/2014

>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