I put a new Ubuntu install on a laptop. During the install I was able to indicate which network connection to use, which it did. Hooked up wirelessly to my router, and even the WiFi on indicator led on the laptop was positive.

But after install it never works. The LED indicates no network, and the most I could find with my limited Linux experience is that the adapter never goes from virbr0 to eth0 and I catch a glimpse that on bootup "Failed to start Raise network interfaces".

One thing that hits me is that in the install I have to select it and type in the wifi password. Is what I'm missing is "a way to enter the password on each reboot?"

If anyone can help me through this I sure would appreciate it. Thanks.

System info

So below is the info from my system. I should add one note: I did a reinstall with the laptop connected via a wired port, and am at least online. I would like to be able to activate the wireless though for obvious reasons.

########## wireless info START ##########

Report from: 13 Jul 2016 14:24 EDT -0400

Booted last: 13 Jul 2016 00:00 EDT -0400

Script from: 08 Jul 2016 02:16 UTC +0000

##### release ###########################

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description:    Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
Release:    16.04
Codename:   xenial

##### kernel ############################

Linux 4.4.0-28-generic #47-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jun 24 10:09:13 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Parameters: ro

##### desktop ###########################

sed: can't read /home/sergicle/.dmrc: No such file or directory

Could not be determined.

##### lspci #############################

01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8136] (rev 02)
    Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller [103c:360b]
    Kernel driver in use: r8169

02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) [168c:002b] (rev 01)
    Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company U98Z062.12 802.11bgn Wireless Half-size Mini PCIe Card [103c:3040]
    Kernel driver in use: ath9k

##### lsusb #############################

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

##### PCMCIA card info ##################

'pccardctl' is not installed (package "pcmciautils").

##### rfkill ############################

0: phy0: Wireless LAN
    Soft blocked: no
    Hard blocked: yes

##### lsmod #############################

ath9k                 143360  0
ath9k_common           36864  1 ath9k
ath9k_hw              466944  2 ath9k_common,ath9k
ath                    32768  3 ath9k_common,ath9k,ath9k_hw
mac80211              737280  1 ath9k
hp_wmi                 16384  0
sparse_keymap          16384  1 hp_wmi
cfg80211              565248  4 ath,ath9k_common,ath9k,mac80211
wmi                    20480  1 hp_wmi

##### interfaces ########################

source /etc/network/interfaces.d/*

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto enp1s0
iface enp1s0 inet dhcp

auto wls1 
iface wls1 inet static
address 192.168.1.11
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
wpa-ssid <345 Home Danny>
wpa-psk <WPA key removed>

##### ifconfig ##########################

docker0   Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr <MAC 'docker0' [IF1]>  
          inet addr:172.17.0.1  Bcast:0.0.0.0  Mask:255.255.0.0
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

enp1s0    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr <MAC 'enp1s0' [IF2]>  
          inet addr:192.168.1.10  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::<IP6 'enp1s0' [IF2]>/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:180 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:258 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:42071 (42.0 KB)  TX bytes:43140 (43.1 KB)

wls1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr <MAC 'wls1' [IF3]>  
          inet addr:192.168.1.11  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

##### iwconfig ##########################

lo        no wireless extensions.

enp1s0    no wireless extensions.

docker0   no wireless extensions.

wls1      IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=off   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off


##### route #############################

Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
0.0.0.0         192.168.1.1     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 enp1s0
172.17.0.0      0.0.0.0         255.255.0.0     U     0      0        0 docker0
192.168.1.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 enp1s0

##### resolv.conf #######################

nameserver 192.168.1.1

##### network managers ##################

Installed:

    NetworkManager

Running:

root       913     1  0 14:22 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/NetworkManager --no-daemon

##### NetworkManager info ###############

GENERAL.DEVICE:                         docker0
GENERAL.TYPE:                           bridge
GENERAL.NM-TYPE:                        NMDeviceBridge
GENERAL.VENDOR:                         
GENERAL.PRODUCT:                        
GENERAL.DRIVER:                         bridge
GENERAL.DRIVER-VERSION:                 2.3
GENERAL.FIRMWARE-VERSION:               N/A
GENERAL.HWADDR:                         <MAC address>
GENERAL.MTU:                            1500
GENERAL.STATE:                          100 (connected)
GENERAL.REASON:                         0 (No reason given)
GENERAL.UDI:                            /sys/devices/virtual/net/docker0
GENERAL.IP-IFACE:                       docker0
GENERAL.IS-SOFTWARE:                    yes
GENERAL.NM-MANAGED:                     yes
GENERAL.AUTOCONNECT:                    yes
GENERAL.FIRMWARE-MISSING:               no
GENERAL.NM-PLUGIN-MISSING:              no
GENERAL.PHYS-PORT-ID:                   --
GENERAL.CONNECTION:                     docker0
GENERAL.CON-UUID:                       16753b8b-6213-4719-ada5-dc1f71eac831
GENERAL.CON-PATH:                       /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/0
GENERAL.METERED:                        no (guessed)
CAPABILITIES.CARRIER-DETECT:            yes
CAPABILITIES.SPEED:                     unknown
CAPABILITIES.IS-SOFTWARE:               yes
BRIDGE.SLAVES:                          
CONNECTIONS.AVAILABLE-CONNECTION-PATHS: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/Settings/{0}
CONNECTIONS.AVAILABLE-CONNECTIONS[1]:   16753b8b-6213-4719-ada5-dc1f71eac831 | docker0
IP4.ADDRESS[1]:                         172.17.0.1/16
IP4.GATEWAY:                            
IP6.GATEWAY:                            

GENERAL.DEVICE:                         enp1s0
GENERAL.TYPE:                           ethernet
GENERAL.NM-TYPE:                        NMDeviceEthernet
GENERAL.VENDOR:                         Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
GENERAL.PRODUCT:                        RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
GENERAL.DRIVER:                         r8169
GENERAL.DRIVER-VERSION:                 2.3LK-NAPI
GENERAL.FIRMWARE-VERSION:               
GENERAL.HWADDR:                         <MAC 'enp1s0' [IF2]>
GENERAL.MTU:                            1500
GENERAL.STATE:                          10 (unmanaged)
GENERAL.REASON:                         0 (No reason given)
GENERAL.UDI:                            /virtual/device/placeholder/1
GENERAL.IP-IFACE:                       enp1s0
GENERAL.IS-SOFTWARE:                    no
GENERAL.NM-MANAGED:                     no
GENERAL.AUTOCONNECT:                    yes
GENERAL.FIRMWARE-MISSING:               no
GENERAL.NM-PLUGIN-MISSING:              no
GENERAL.PHYS-PORT-ID:                   --
GENERAL.CONNECTION:                     --
GENERAL.CON-UUID:                       --
GENERAL.CON-PATH:                       --
GENERAL.METERED:                        unknown
CAPABILITIES.CARRIER-DETECT:            yes
CAPABILITIES.SPEED:                     100 Mb/s
CAPABILITIES.IS-SOFTWARE:               no
WIRED-PROPERTIES.CARRIER:               on
CONNECTIONS.AVAILABLE-CONNECTION-PATHS: 
IP4.ADDRESS[1]:                         192.168.1.10/24
IP4.GATEWAY:                            192.168.1.1
IP6.ADDRESS[1]:                         fe80::<IP6 'enp1s0' [IF2]>/64
IP6.GATEWAY:                            

GENERAL.DEVICE:                         wls1
GENERAL.TYPE:                           wifi
GENERAL.NM-TYPE:                        NMDeviceWifi
GENERAL.VENDOR:                         Qualcomm Atheros
GENERAL.PRODUCT:                        AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (U98Z062.12 802.11bgn Wireless Half-size Mini PCIe Card)
GENERAL.DRIVER:                         ath9k
GENERAL.DRIVER-VERSION:                 4.4.0-28-generic
GENERAL.FIRMWARE-VERSION:               N/A
GENERAL.HWADDR:                         <MAC 'wls1' [IF3]>
GENERAL.MTU:                            1500
GENERAL.STATE:                          10 (unmanaged)
GENERAL.REASON:                         0 (No reason given)
GENERAL.UDI:                            /virtual/device/placeholder/0
GENERAL.IP-IFACE:                       wls1
GENERAL.IS-SOFTWARE:                    no
GENERAL.NM-MANAGED:                     no
GENERAL.AUTOCONNECT:                    yes
GENERAL.FIRMWARE-MISSING:               no
GENERAL.NM-PLUGIN-MISSING:              no
GENERAL.PHYS-PORT-ID:                   --
GENERAL.CONNECTION:                     --
GENERAL.CON-UUID:                       --
GENERAL.CON-PATH:                       --
GENERAL.METERED:                        unknown
CAPABILITIES.CARRIER-DETECT:            no
CAPABILITIES.SPEED:                     unknown
CAPABILITIES.IS-SOFTWARE:               no
WIFI-PROPERTIES.WEP:                    yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.WPA:                    yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.WPA2:                   yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.TKIP:                   yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.CCMP:                   yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.AP:                     yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.ADHOC:                  yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.2GHZ:                   yes
WIFI-PROPERTIES.5GHZ:                   no
CONNECTIONS.AVAILABLE-CONNECTION-PATHS: 
IP4.ADDRESS[1]:                         192.168.1.11/24
IP4.GATEWAY:                            
IP6.GATEWAY:                            

SSID  BSSID  MODE  CHAN  FREQ  RATE  SIGNAL  BARS  SECURITY  ACTIVE  * 

##### NetworkManager.state ##############

[main]
NetworkingEnabled=true
WirelessEnabled=true
WWANEnabled=true

##### NetworkManager.conf ###############

[main]
plugins=ifupdown,keyfile,ofono
dns=dnsmasq

[ifupdown]
managed=false

##### NetworkManager profiles ###########

##### iw reg get ########################

Region: America/New_York (based on set time zone)

country 00: DFS-UNSET
    (2402 - 2472 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A)
    (2457 - 2482 @ 40), (N/A, 20), (N/A), NO-IR
    (2474 - 2494 @ 20), (N/A, 20), (N/A), NO-OFDM, NO-IR
    (5170 - 5250 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), NO-IR
    (5250 - 5330 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, NO-IR
    (5490 - 5730 @ 160), (N/A, 20), (0 ms), DFS, NO-IR
    (5735 - 5835 @ 80), (N/A, 20), (N/A), NO-IR
    (57240 - 63720 @ 2160), (N/A, 0), (N/A)

##### iwlist channels ###################

lo        no frequency information.

enp1s0    no frequency information.

docker0   no frequency information.

wls1      14 channels in total; available frequencies :
          Channel 01 : 2.412 GHz
          Channel 02 : 2.417 GHz
          Channel 03 : 2.422 GHz
          Channel 04 : 2.427 GHz
          Channel 05 : 2.432 GHz
          Channel 06 : 2.437 GHz
          Channel 07 : 2.442 GHz
          Channel 08 : 2.447 GHz
          Channel 09 : 2.452 GHz
          Channel 10 : 2.457 GHz
          Channel 11 : 2.462 GHz
          Channel 12 : 2.467 GHz
          Channel 13 : 2.472 GHz
          Channel 14 : 2.484 GHz

##### iwlist scan #######################

lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

enp1s0    Interface doesn't support scanning.

wls1      Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down

docker0   Interface doesn't support scanning.

##### module infos ######################

[ath9k]
filename:       /lib/modules/4.4.0-28-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/ath9k.ko
license:        Dual BSD/GPL
description:    Support for Atheros 802.11n wireless LAN cards.
author:         Atheros Communications
srcversion:     323EDC06388A3D0920FD7FC
depends:        mac80211,ath9k_hw,ath9k_common,cfg80211,ath
intree:         Y
vermagic:       4.4.0-28-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           debug:Debugging mask (uint)
parm:           nohwcrypt:Disable hardware encryption (int)
parm:           blink:Enable LED blink on activity (int)
parm:           led_active_high:Invert LED polarity (int)
parm:           btcoex_enable:Enable wifi-BT coexistence (int)
parm:           bt_ant_diversity:Enable WLAN/BT RX antenna diversity (int)
parm:           ps_enable:Enable WLAN PowerSave (int)
parm:           use_chanctx:Enable channel context for concurrency (int)

[ath9k_common]
filename:       /lib/modules/4.4.0-28-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/ath9k_common.ko
license:        Dual BSD/GPL
description:    Shared library for Atheros wireless 802.11n LAN cards.
author:         Atheros Communications
srcversion:     6FBD9F8A613FDFA282AB4FE
depends:        ath9k_hw,cfg80211,ath
intree:         Y
vermagic:       4.4.0-28-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 

[ath9k_hw]
filename:       /lib/modules/4.4.0-28-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/ath9k_hw.ko
license:        Dual BSD/GPL
description:    Support for Atheros 802.11n wireless LAN cards.
author:         Atheros Communications
srcversion:     BF9F4930086BABAAF3CD9BA
depends:        ath
intree:         Y
vermagic:       4.4.0-28-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 

[ath]
filename:       /lib/modules/4.4.0-28-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath.ko
license:        Dual BSD/GPL
description:    Shared library for Atheros wireless LAN cards.
author:         Atheros Communications
srcversion:     3FCDBF7CE71CB8FB980D59D
depends:        cfg80211
intree:         Y
vermagic:       4.4.0-28-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 

[mac80211]
filename:       /lib/modules/4.4.0-28-generic/kernel/net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
license:        GPL
description:    IEEE 802.11 subsystem
srcversion:     2FFAEED0245CA1D97FE1E44
depends:        cfg80211
intree:         Y
vermagic:       4.4.0-28-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           minstrel_vht_only:Use only VHT rates when VHT is supported by sta. (bool)
parm:           max_nullfunc_tries:Maximum nullfunc tx tries before disconnecting (reason 4). (int)
parm:           max_probe_tries:Maximum probe tries before disconnecting (reason 4). (int)
parm:           beacon_loss_count:Number of beacon intervals before we decide beacon was lost. (int)
parm:           probe_wait_ms:Maximum time(ms) to wait for probe response before disconnecting (reason 4). (int)
parm:           ieee80211_default_rc_algo:Default rate control algorithm for mac80211 to use (charp)

[cfg80211]
filename:       /lib/modules/4.4.0-28-generic/kernel/net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
description:    wireless configuration support
license:        GPL
author:         Johannes Berg
srcversion:     25A45701AAA64DAC1E47D9D
depends:        
intree:         Y
vermagic:       4.4.0-28-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
parm:           ieee80211_regdom:IEEE 802.11 regulatory domain code (charp)
parm:           cfg80211_disable_40mhz_24ghz:Disable 40MHz support in the 2.4GHz band (bool)

##### module parameters #################

[ath9k]
blink: 0
bt_ant_diversity: 0
btcoex_enable: 0
led_active_high: -1
nohwcrypt: 1
ps_enable: 0
use_chanctx: 0

[mac80211]
beacon_loss_count: 7
ieee80211_default_rc_algo: minstrel_ht
max_nullfunc_tries: 2
max_probe_tries: 5
minstrel_vht_only: Y
probe_wait_ms: 500

[cfg80211]
cfg80211_disable_40mhz_24ghz: N
ieee80211_regdom: 00

##### /etc/modules ######################

##### modprobe options ##################

[/etc/modprobe.d/ath9k.conf]
options ath9k nohwcrypt=1

[/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ath_pci.conf]
blacklist ath_pci

[/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf]
blacklist evbug
blacklist usbmouse
blacklist usbkbd
blacklist eepro100
blacklist de4x5
blacklist eth1394
blacklist snd_intel8x0m
blacklist snd_aw2
blacklist i2c_i801
blacklist prism54
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist garmin_gps
blacklist asus_acpi
blacklist snd_pcsp
blacklist pcspkr
blacklist amd76x_edac

[/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rare-network.conf]
alias net-pf-3 off
alias net-pf-6 off
alias net-pf-9 off
alias net-pf-11 off
alias net-pf-12 off
alias net-pf-19 off
alias net-pf-21 off
alias net-pf-36 off

[/etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf]
remove iwlwifi \
(/sbin/lsmod | grep -o -e ^iwlmvm -e ^iwldvm -e ^iwlwifi | xargs /sbin/rmmod) \
&& /sbin/modprobe -r mac80211

[/etc/modprobe.d/mlx4.conf]
softdep mlx4_core post: mlx4_en

##### rc.local ##########################

exit 0

##### pm-utils ##########################

##### udev rules ########################

##### dmesg #############################

[   15.919242] ath: phy0: Enable LNA combining
[   15.922699] ath: phy0: ASPM enabled: 0x43
[   15.922704] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x60
[   15.922707] ath: EEPROM indicates we should expect a direct regpair map
[   15.922709] ath: Country alpha2 being used: 00
[   15.922711] ath: Regpair used: 0x60
[   16.198049] ath9k 0000:02:00.0 wls1: renamed from wlan0
[   19.393276] r8169 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0: link down (repeated 2 times)
[   19.393330] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp1s0: link is not ready
[   21.131103] r8169 0000:01:00.0 enp1s0: link up
[   21.131113] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): enp1s0: link becomes ready
[   28.990927] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): docker0: link is not ready

########## wireless info END ############