Jeffrey Warren, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. In this scenario, Ubuntu not being able to override the BIOS to enable the WiFi is not a bug in Ubuntu unfortunately, but simply a fundamental fact of how Ubuntu/operating systems and the BIOS interoperate. There is no mechanism to safely augment the BIOS settings, and then have them take immediate effect live in an operating system.
However, the fact you had to struggle with this issue would indicate a wireless troubleshooting documentation opportunity. A great place to check for this would be https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessTroubleShootingGuide . As it's editable by Ubuntu Community members, feel free to update it as it would help others. Please feel free to report any future bugs you may find. ** Package changed: linux (Ubuntu) => network-manager (Ubuntu) ** Changed in: network-manager (Ubuntu) Status: Confirmed => Invalid -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Kernel Packages, which is subscribed to linux in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1264863 Title: WiFi disabled in BIOS upon installation of Ubuntu 13.10 Status in “network-manager” package in Ubuntu: Invalid Bug description: I successively upgraded from 12.04 LTS to 12.10 to 13.04 to 13.10 on my Asus EEE PC 1015PED, and upon booting, I saw "wifi disabled via hardware switch" in the network-manager toolbar menu. rfkill list returned 4: brcmwl-0: Wireless LAN Soft blocked: no Hard blocked: yes and I wasn't able to use the hardware switch (Fn-F2 or the custom button) or sudo rfkill unblock all to enable it. I struggled for a long time with drivers, but eventually found that it was simply disabled in BIOS, and by enabling it there at boot time, it worked again! I'm not sure if this is a bug in an installer, or if there should just be an advisory in network-manager or in the Network system prefs indicating ways to enable wifi, but I didn't want anyone else to have to struggle as much as I did. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10 Package: linux-image-3.11.0-14-generic 3.11.0-14.21 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-14.21-generic 3.11.7 Uname: Linux 3.11.0-14-generic i686 NonfreeKernelModules: wl ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.2 Architecture: i386 AudioDevicesInUse: USER PID ACCESS COMMAND /dev/snd/controlC0: warren 2306 F.... pulseaudio CurrentDmesg: [ 24.161461] init: anacron main process (1036) killed by TERM signal [ 51.494938] atl1c 0000:01:00.0: irq 46 for MSI/MSI-X [ 51.509895] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth1: link is not ready [ 51.515677] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth1: link is not ready [ 64.223104] perf samples too long (2525 > 2500), lowering kernel.perf_event_max_sample_rate to 50000 Date: Sun Dec 29 11:40:56 2013 HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=f83d49e0-b9d7-4bb9-8a7c-eca9b7eb48c5 InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-01-18 (711 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release i386 (20111012) MachineType: ASUSTeK Computer INC. 1015PE MarkForUpload: True ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb 1 VESA VGA ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.11.0-14-generic root=UUID=224d803b-2f44-4541-8acb-508041eb63f7 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7 RelatedPackageVersions: linux-restricted-modules-3.11.0-14-generic N/A linux-backports-modules-3.11.0-14-generic N/A linux-firmware 1.116 SourcePackage: linux UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to saucy on 2013-12-28 (1 days ago) dmi.bios.date: 06/12/2010 dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc. dmi.bios.version: 0502 dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M. dmi.board.name: 1015PE dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC. dmi.board.version: x.xx dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 0x00000000 dmi.chassis.type: 10 dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC. dmi.chassis.version: x.x dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0502:bd06/12/2010:svnASUSTeKComputerINC.:pn1015PE:pvrx.x:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rn1015PE:rvrx.xx:cvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:ct10:cvrx.x: dmi.product.name: 1015PE dmi.product.version: x.x dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/1264863/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages Post to : kernel-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kernel-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp