OpenEuler 25.09: After Installing WiFi Driver, GUI Won't Open – Fix Method

O&M Operations
1

Local WiFi Adapter Cannot Be Enabled in GUI — Diagnosis and Repair Report

  • Report Date: 2026-09-02
  • System: openEuler 25.09 (Kernel 6.6.0-102.0.0.8.oe2509.x86_64)
  • Desktop Environment: UKUI
  • Wireless Adapter: Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 (PCI 04:00.0, Device ID 8086:2725 rev 1a)
  • Conclusion: Hardware and drivers are functioning normally; root cause is the missing NetworkManager WiFi component, preventing GUI network management of the wireless adapter.

1. Issue Description

  • Unable to enable or use the wireless adapter in the desktop (UKUI) network settings; no WiFi scanning available.
  • nmcli device status shows wlp4s0 status as “unmanaged”.
  • nmcli radio shows WIFI-HW = missing.

2. Diagnostic Process and Evidence

2.1 Hardware and Driver (All Normal)

Check Item Result
lspci Intel Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) AX210 [8086:2725]
Driver Modules iwlwifi / iwlmvm / mac80211 / cfg80211 all loaded
Firmware 83.e8f84e98.0 ty-a0-gf-a0-83.ucode loaded successfully; PNVM loaded
rfkill phy0 Wireless LAN soft/hard blocked: no
Interface wlp4s0 created by kernel (renamed from wlan0)

2.2 Critical Logs (Root Cause)

NetworkManager: manager: (wlp4s0): 'wifi' plugin not available; creating generic device
NetworkManager: manager: (wlp4s0): new Generic device (/org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Devices/3)
  • Installed NM plugin directory contains only adsl / ifcfg-rh / ovs — no wifi plugin.
  • which wpa_supplicant returns nothing; wpa_supplicant.service does not exist.

2.3 Excluded Causes

  • No unmanaged configuration in /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf or conf.d directories.
  • No matching rule in udev file 85-nm-unmanaged.rules for wlp4s0.
  • rfkill is not blocking the interface.

3. Root Cause

openEuler splits NetworkManager into multiple subpackages. This system only has the core packages installed:
(NetworkManager, NetworkManager-libnm, NetworkManager-config-server),
missing NetworkManager-wifi (WiFi device plugin) and wpa_supplicant (WiFi backend).

Chain of consequences:
No WiFi plugin → NM treats wlp4s0 as a Generic device and marks it “unmanaged” →
WIFI-HW shows missing → GUI (which relies on NetworkManager for network management) cannot use the wireless adapter.

4. Repair Steps (Already Executed)

dnf install -y NetworkManager-wifi wpa_supplicant
systemctl enable --now wpa_supplicant
systemctl restart NetworkManager

Installed packages:

  • NetworkManager-wifi 1:1.44.2-4.oe2509
  • wpa_supplicant 1:2.11-5.oe2509
  • Dependencies: iw 5.19, wireless-regdb 2025.02.20

5. Verification Results (Before → After Repair)

Item Before Repair After Repair
nmcli radio WIFI-HW missing enabled
wlp4s0 status unmanaged disconnected (connectable)
Device Type Generic wifi (p2p-dev-wlp4s0 appears)
Wireless Scan Unable to scan Successfully detected YuPan (WPA2, -57dBm)

6. Conclusion and Recommendations

  • The wireless adapter hardware, drivers, firmware, and RF switch are all functioning normally; no need to replace or reinstall drivers.
  • Issue resolved: GUI now correctly enables and manages the wireless adapter, allowing WiFi scanning and connection.
  • For future network connections, use the GUI or run: nmcli device wifi connect <SSID> password <password>.
  • If the issue reoccurs after reboot, check:
    systemctl status wpa_supplicant NetworkManager
    and
    journalctl -u NetworkManager | grep -i wifi
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