T410s wifi doesn't work under AlmaLinux 9.3

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1

Hi everyone

I’we replaced CentOS with almaLinux on my old T410 and… the experience has not been good.

Instead of migrating, I decided to delete the old partitions and start from scratch.

I created a USB with AlmaLinux-9.3-x86_64-boot.iso and after selecting my wireless network I installed it as a Workstation without problems.

However, after the first restart I was surprised that my device is not able to connect to my wireless network, although it works perfectly with cable.

It’s possible that some firmware file is missing in this versión of AlmaLinux?

These are the evidences I can provide…

[JFP@JFPySRM-T410 ~]$ lspci -nn | grep -i netw
00:19.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection [8086:10ea] (rev 06)
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6200 [8086:4239] (rev 35)
[JFP@JFPySRM-T410 ~]$ modprobe -c | grep -i 8086.4239
alias pci:v00008086d00004239svsd00001311bcsci* iwlwifi
alias pci:v00008086d00004239svsd00001316bcsci iwlwifi
[JFP@JFPySRM-T410 ~]$ rpm -qa | grep -i wifi
NetworkManager-wifi-1.44.0-5.el9_3.x86_64
[JFP@JFPySRM-T410 ~]$ ls -al /lib/firmware/iw6
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 196948 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-105-6.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 205632 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-135-6.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 199376 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-2000-6.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 207776 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-2030-6.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 218056 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-3160-17.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 262648 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-3168-29.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 182732 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6000g2a-6.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 184324 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6000g2b-6.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 139012 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-6050-5.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 243044 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7260-17.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 258968 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7265-17.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 269936 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-7265D-29.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 380916 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-8000C-36.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 378928 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-8265-34.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 383440 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-8265-36.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 434436 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-9000-pu-b0-jf-b0-46.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 415680 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-9260-th-b0-jf-b0-34.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 412040 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-9260-th-b0-jf-b0-38.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 430444 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-9260-th-b0-jf-b0-46.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 453432 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-cc-a0-66.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 458804 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-Qu-b0-hr-b0-66.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 429656 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-Qu-b0-jf-b0-66.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 458748 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-Qu-c0-hr-b0-66.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 429624 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-Qu-c0-jf-b0-66.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 458672 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-QuZ-a0-hr-b0-66.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 429660 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-QuZ-a0-jf-b0-66.ucode.xz
-rw-r–r–. 1 root root 496024 oct 5 15:57 /lib/firmware/iwlwifi-ty-a0-gf-a0-66.ucode.xz
[JFP@JFPySRM-T410 ~]$

Thanks a lot in advance

2

Hi, @Josema ,

Hmm… that’s a strange one! So, if I understand correctly, the Intel WiFi 6200 adapter definitely worked when booting off the AL 9.3 boot installation USB you created, as you were able to specify your wireless network…

According to this official Intel support page, it looks like your Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200 should work with firmware files iwlwifi-6000-ucode-9.176.4.1.tgz, iwlwifi-6000-ucode-9.193.4.1.tgz, and/or iwlwifi-6000-ucode-9.221.4.1.tgz . Those three files are from January 2015, though, and reference kernel “2.6.30+”, so that’s pretty old…

Checking the AL 9.3 packages, I see these three (3) for the 6200-series:

  • iwl6000g2a-firmware.noarch - Firmware for Intel()R Wireless WiFi Link 6005 Series Adapters
  • iwl6000g2b-firmware.noarch - Firmware for Intel()R Wireless WiFi Link 6030 Series Adapters
  • iwl6050-firmware.noarch - Firmware for Intel()R Wireless WiFi Link 6050 Series Adapters

… but nothing specific to your 6200… curious.
I realize it’s a rather old card at this point, but the fact it worked during the install but not afterwards is really odd.

I actually managed to find this nearly-exact issue (RHEL 9.1) on this RedHat support post–strangely, it does not appear to require a login to view the fix/workaround listed by the author?–and it sounds exactly as you had guessed: missing firmware.

I’ve no idea why that particular firmware would be included in the installer yet missing in an installed system… nevertheless, following his steps (manually downloading the iwlwifi-6000-ucode-9.221.4.1.tgz gzipped tarball from kernel.org, extracting it, copying it to /lib/firmware/ etc.) should do it, I would think.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

3

Hey,

If cable connection worked and wireless didn’t and this is a minimal installation NetworkManager isn’t installed along with the packages in the ‘Common NetworkManager submodules’ group, hence NetworkManager-wifi is not installed and you need to install it manually using a wired connection.

Use the following command to install:

sudo dnf install NetworkManager-wifi

And then restart the network-manager using:

sudo systemctl restart network-manager

Hope I could help.

4

Many thanks @LinuxGuy1997 & @noam-alum

I think the problem is in v9 (both AlmaLinux and CentOS Stream); Maybe the kernel?

I tried to install CentOS Stream from the iso and the result was the same as when I did it with the AlmaLinux one… The configurator detects my Wi-Fi card but after the reboot it doesn’t appear.

However, I installed CentOS 8 and subsequently migrated to AlmaLinux 8 and now the WiFi works fine

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