With a completely updated installation of 16.04.0 LTS, using b43 wifi, the wifi indicator light remains solid, and does not flash to indicate activity. This mirrors the Microsoft Windows behavior for wifi indicator lights.
On the same hardware, with an updated installation of 16.04.3 LTS or 16.04.0 with the HWE kernel, the wifi indicator light remains off and flashes to indicate activity. This can lead the user to believe that wifi is not functioning at all.
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS
Release: 16.04
linux-generic-hwe-16.04:
Installed: 4.10.0.33.35
Candidate: 4.10.0.33.35
Version table:
*** 4.10.0.33.35 500
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages
500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
Expected behavior: With the wifi hardware switch in the 'On' position, the wifi indicator light should remain lit and not flash. The indicator should only be off with the hardware switch in the 'Off' position, or in the event there is a malfunction. This is the behavior with 16.04.0 LTS.
What happened: With the wifi hardware switch in the 'On' position, the wifi indicator light remains off, and flashes only during wifi activity. This regression is seen both with an installation of the HWE stack as described at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack or with a fresh installation of the current 16.04.3 LTS.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: linux-image-4.10.0-33-generic 4.10.0-33.37~16.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.10.0-33.37~16.04.1-generic 4.10.17
Uname: Linux 4.10.0-33-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.10
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Mon Sep 4 17:20:26 2017
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-09-04 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20170801)
SourcePackage: linux-hwe
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
---
ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.10
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: scott 1284 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=a816bb7e-ab3e-49ea-9bbe-0f1d0e016b0e
InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-09-04 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160420.1)
MachineType: LENOVO 0769AK8
Package: linux-generic 4.4.0.93.98
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-93-generic root=UUID=f8fed21f-6501-4c65-81ab-bd288662922c ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-93.116-generic 4.4.79
RelatedPackageVersions:
linux-restricted-modules-4.4.0-93-generic N/A
linux-backports-modules-4.4.0-93-generic N/A
linux-firmware 1.157.11
RfKill:
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
Tags: xenial
Uname: Linux 4.4.0-93-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 07/29/2008
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 68ET37WW
dmi.board.name: IEL10
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: REFERENCE
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: No Enclosure
dmi.chassis.version: N/A
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr68ET37WW:bd07/29/2008:svnLENOVO:pn0769AK8:pvr3000N200:rvnLENOVO:rnIEL10:rvrREFERENCE:cvnNoEnclosure:ct10:cvrN/A:
dmi.product.name: 0769AK8
dmi.product.version: 3000 N200
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
apport information