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Wireless connection on Lenovo 440s with Fedora 20

Hi

I have a Lenovo 440s and installed Fedora 20. It worked fine, but I don't see a wireless connection.

"lspci -nnk" finds a card (I think that's the card):

03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device [10ec:818b]
Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device [10ec:001b]

but fedora doesn't install a driver.
Can anybody help me with that problem?
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John
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I do not see a 440s. I see a 4400 and it uses Intel cards.

http://support.lenovo.com/en_CA/downloads/detail.page?LegacyDocID=DRVR-MATRIX

Look in the Driver matrix above and let us know the actual model number (including a letter if there is one).

If there is a Linux driver, they will have it in the driver matrix.

Otherwise you need to see if Realtek has the driver.
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ASKER

It is a ThinkPad T440s.

Lenovo has only Windows drivers. Windows 8 is working without a problem.
That T model has Intel Wireless or ThinkPad Wireless (which is likely Atheros). The Realtek device in there is Bluetooth.

The Intel in there could be (from the Lenovo site):

•Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000 (*)
•Intel(R) Centrino(R)Wireless-N 2200
•Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6205
•Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6235
•Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 (*)
•IIntel Centrino Ultimate-N 6200 (*)
•Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (*)
•Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
•Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-N 7260
•Intel(R) Wireless-N 7260

I have an Intel N 6205 in my ThinkPad X230 and I got the advanced (most recent) driver from Intel. Try the Intel site to see if they have a Linux driver.

If it is the Atheros card, they might have a driver. Or consider switching the card to a manufacturer that supplies Linux drivers.
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What output does
$ lspci -k | grep -A 3 -i "network"
return?
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ASKER

Darr247
That would be:
40:03:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 818b
41-      Subsystem: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device 001b

John Hurst
Lenovo only says the T440s has "ThinkPad Wireless 2x2 BGN with Bluetooth" This is why I think the Realtek is Wireless + Bluetooth.
Where do you find a statement about those cards?
For some wireless devices there aren't any OpenSource drivers as the manufacturers don't care about providing the OpenSource community with enough info. But usually you can use the Windoze drivers together with ndiswrapper. Most distro's configure this more or less automatically via a special tool that is called differently on many of those distro's. Look for a tool like additional drivers, or 3rd party drivers, and when you have started it, it may be able to install the windows drivers and activate your wireless NIC.

Also don't forget to turn the NIC on before trying this, as most notebooks have switches or buttons or key combinations for that. If it is turned off, you will of course also not be able to see the interface or create a connection.
> If it is turned off, you will of course also not be able to see
the interface or create a connection.
That would also keep Anaconda (fedora's installer program) from detecting it and providing the proper driver during the install, too.
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John
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rindi

The ndiswrapper might be the only solution for this chip. Could you tell me how to use it under fedora? My old Mandriva 2010 was easier in that area.
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Thanks rindi!
I tried Jockey on Fedora but that doesn't work at all.
Korora 20 doesn't use Jockey anymore, but since I'm looking for a new rpm based Linux, I'll give Korora a shot.
I let you know how that works out.

I found the wireless cards that are supported at Kernel.org and the Thinkpad cars is NOT in that list (I should have know when I configured the T440s). For now I ordered a cheakp USB card that has a Linux driver. That keep all my options open.
ThinkPad cards need to be registered in the BIOS to install.

So then if all attempts fail, a USB network adapter may be your best choice.
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ASKER

Thanks everybody for your help, it is very much appreciated. rindi certainly stirred me in the right direction, therefore I will award him the majority of the points.

Here are a few thoughts and links to solve these issues in the future:

- The Thinkpad wireless card is currently not supported in the kernel; the Windows drivers are not supported by ndiswrappers.
To find supported chips sets check out  http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Devices and the other directories of that site.
A very complete guide to ndiswarpper for different Linux can be found at http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/wiki/index.php/Quick_HOWTO_:_Ch13_:_Linux_Wireless_Networking

- If you are planning to buy a Lenova laptop, select the Intel chipset for wireless, that chipset is supported by the kernel.

- Fedora sucks when it comes to configuration tools.

- I will use a Netgear G54/N150 WiFi USB Micro Adapter for now.
_ I wil replace my Thinkpad card with an Intel card for a long term solution.
With my newer Thinkpads and those of my clients, the Intel cards work a treat, so that is probably a good approach for you.