How to stop constantly blinking Wifi LED?

wireless intel-wireless

53,531

Solution 1

Open the terminal:

Applications > Accessories > Terminal or Ctrl + Alt + t
Enter the following in the terminal:
```
gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/wlan.conf
```
Copy and paste the below line:
```
options iwlcore led_mode=1
```
Save the file.
Restart the laptop.

This is a known bug: Bug #250211

Solution 2

Turning LED blinking off for Intel Wireless Cards (and some Atheros)

Note: based on an extensive study of all in-kernel wireless drivers (i.e. compat-wireless, only Intel cards and one Atheros chipset support module options to control LED behavior. Note that the actual LED control code in most drivers is fairly simple, so if you have basic familiarity with C, building kernel modules and reading the occasional datasheet, it's pretty easy to disable LED blinking for almost any wifi card with an open-source driver.

Press Alt+F2, and type gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/iwled.conf (or open this file in your favorite editor)
Add the line options MODULE_NAME led_mode=1
- MODULE_NAME is listed below for your Ubuntu version and your card model
- Replace led_mode with the appropriate option if it is indicated, for the Intel 2200BG/2900ABG or Atheros cards
Save and exit the editor; reboot

1. Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail) - kernel series 3.8

iwlwifi for Intel Centrino Wireless-N series 1xx, 1xxx, 2xx, 2xxx, 5xxx, 6xxx
iwlegacy for Intel Wireless series 3945 (tested), 4965
ipw2200 with led=0 for Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG, 2915ABG
ath9k with blink=0 for Atheros wireless cards using the ath9k driver

2. Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise) - kernel series 3.2

iwlwifi for Intel Centrino Wireless-N series 1xx, 1xxx, 2xx, 2xxx, 5xxx, 6xxx
iwl-legacy for Intel Wireless series 3945, 4965
ipw2200 with led=0 for Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG, 2915ABG
ath9k with blink=0 for Atheros wireless cards using the ath9k driver

3. Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric) - kernel series 3.0

iwlagn for Intel Centrino Wireless-N series 1xx, 1xxx, 2xx, 2xxx, 5xxx, 6xxx
iwl-legacy for Intel Wireless series 3945, 4965
ipw2200 with led=0 for Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG, 2915ABG
ath9k with blink=0 for Atheros wireless cards using the ath9k driver

4. Ubuntu 11.04 (Lucid) - kernel series 2.6

iwlcore for Intel Centrino Wireless-N series 1xx, 1xxx, 2xx, 2xxx, 3945, 4965, 5xxx, 6xxx
ipw2200 with led=0 for Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG, 2915ABG
ath9k with blink=0 for Atheros wireless cards using the ath9k driver

5. Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid) - kernel series 2.6

The default for supported Intel Centrino cards in 10.04 is to simply keep the LED on if wireless is on (and off otherwise), so this "mod" should not be needed (thanks htorque!)
ipw2200 with led=0 for Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG, 2915ABG
ath9k with blink=0 for Atheros wireless cards using the ath9k driver

Solution 3

I believe that 'problem' is not solvable by Ubuntu itself. It is quite a standard for the activity LEDs to blink on traffic ( the HD LED should do the same ). They work directly at the hardware level, bypassing the operative system.

My advice is to use a tiny piece of tape to cover the LED :)

53,531

Author by

Swaraj

Consultant for HiQ in Linköping at the moment.

Updated on September 17, 2022

Comments

Swaraj almost 2 years
I have a Dell E6510 and after installing Ubuntu and connecting to a wireless network, my Wifi LED keeps blinking all the time, probably in response to traffic.

This is really annoying because it keeps drawing my attention away from the screen. Is there any way to turn this functionality off and just let the wifi light stay on all the time as long as it has a wifi connection?

Here is my lspci for the wifi:
```
Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6200 (rev 35)
```
- Josh Ripley over 13 years
  
  I had the same problem with 10.04 on a D630, but it went away when I upgraded to 10.10. Which version of Ubuntu are you using?
- Swaraj over 13 years
  
  Using Ubuntu 10.10, as you can see in the tag.
- htorque almost 12 years
  
  IIRC this changed twice now, so I'd like to see an answer that contains an overview which module name to use with this fix to make it work in the currently supported Ubuntu desktop versions: 12.04 with the 3.2 kernel, 11.10/3.0, 11.04/2.6.38, and - if needed - 10.04/2.6.32.
- ish almost 12 years
  
  @htorque: answer added, please let me know your thoughts and if it's missing anything.
Swaraj over 13 years

That is not true, since it does not do this for my Windows installation.
OpenNingia over 13 years

Interesting! But the link does not work for me.
OpenNingia over 13 years

My bad:) It is true on my laptop, I should've investigated more. iamsid solution seems interesting.
Jason Southwell over 13 years

that's actually how it's supposed to work on most systems though.
Sid over 13 years

Fixed the typo. Now it will. :)
RobotHumans over 13 years

this is the right answer. you may not see "wlan.conf" but you can edit a conf file that maps directly to the module name and add any switches that the card will accept - wondering about what switches? check driver source(i use this to disable hwcrypto for security tool/software ap purposes)
Swaraj over 13 years

I have now tried this and it works perfectly. My file was named "/etc/modprobe.d/intel-5300-iwlagn-disable11n.conf".
htorque over 13 years

@Stefan Thyberg: You shouldn't add it to this file because it deals with a different module/driver. If you use the above command, the file /etc/modprobe.d/wlan.conf is automatically created if it didn't exist. Maybe you should call it /etc/modprobe.d/intel-6200-iwlcore-disableblink.conf so you later know alone by the filename, what the change was all about.
user4124 over 13 years

Does not work. If you run modinfo iwlcore, there is no parameter in Ubuntu 10.04 (at least) called led_mode.
Swaraj over 13 years

See the comments on the accepted answer for why you shouldn't use that particular file. It does work though, it's just not quite the right place for it.
htorque over 13 years

Note that starting with kernel 2.6.39 it will be options iwlagn led_mode=1.
seriousdev about 13 years

Thanks, I have the same problem with my HP DV-3000, and the solution worked just fine. But not all PC has the same WLan's conf name.
diordna about 12 years

solution applied to my Dell E6500 with an Intel 5300 adapter
Atropo over 10 years

Works fine on Ubuntu 13.10
Nick Bolton almost 10 years

Using options iwlegacy led_mode=1 worked for me on Ubuntu 14.04 with a Compaq nx7300
Steve HHH over 9 years

+1 for the tape suggestion. Black electrical tape solved the issue for me on a Lenovo T61.
Sergey over 8 years

Using options iwlegacy led_mode=1 worked for me on Ubuntu 14.04 with a Dell Vostro 1710
w-sky almost 8 years

On a Lenovo Thinkpad with Intel WiFi and Ubuntu 16.04 neither "options iwlcore led_mode=1" nor "iwlagn led_mode=1" helped in any way. But options iwlwifi led_mode=1 written to the file /etc/modprobe.d/wlan.conf worked great.
mckenzm about 5 years

I would not like to thing this blinking is caused by constantly trying to connect to a nonexistent 'n' network. I get it from Xenial but not from Trusty, What's worse is that it persists across reboot, and only a Windows (!) boot fixes it.
mckenzm about 3 years

@RolndiXor - if the led goes out, the card has failed, that's how it works on most systems. Only on the original 3270 was this cool. Do this to a aircraft pilot when he expects a solid lamp and it becomes a declared emergency.