Last chance: getting out of airtplane mode

[Chris Hogg]

For some reason my laptop has gone into airplane mode, and won't come out of it (I'm writing this from my PC). It means I can't access the internet or anything external and is a bloody nuisance!

The usual way to put it back would be to go via settings > network and internet > airplane mode and simply switch it off via the little slider, but it's greyed out and won't respond, whether I am in 'user' or 'administrator' mode.

I've searched the internet for advice, and obviously I'm not alone in having the problem. A range of solutions are suggested, most or all of which I've tried, from simply holding down a couple of keys together, to system restore (which I couldn't do - no recent restore points, apparently), to system reset. As expected, the last deleted most of the applications on the computer (but no matter, they could be set up again), but it was still stuck in bloody airplane mode!

It's a Dell Latitude E6230 laptop running Win10. Bought as 'reconditioned' about five years ago to serve a particular purpose for which it doesn't get used much now.It's probably getting on for ten years old and the contrast on the screen is now poor.

Before I start stripping it down to remove the SSD that I put in when I first got it, and then ditching the carcass, can anyone suggest how I might try one more time to get it unlocked from airplane mode?

[Andy Burns]

Some Dells have a tiny physical switch controlling the radios, usually on the right hand edge of the laptop ...

[Mike Humphrey]

Dell laptops often have a control on the keyboard which is independent of the OS one. Try looking for a wifi or plane symbol on the keyboard, then hold FN and press that key. If that doesn't work, it's worth checking in the BIOS settings as there may be an option to disable wifi in there that's somehow got turned on.

Mike

[Chris Hogg]

BRILLIANT! THANK YOU! Never new about that switch. It must have got moved without my realising, at some time recently when I picked up the computer.

All I have to do now is set up all the apps that got wiped when I did a reset. Tedious but do-able.

Thanks again.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Or a keyboard button that disables the wifi DAMHIKT

[alan_m]

Is there a little switch next to the power cable socket?

[John Rumm]

A former neighbour phoned me once with a similar problem on a Dell laptop. I was trying to fix while on the phone, so said "look carefully

- it possibly has a physical switch that turns wifi on and off".

They looked, and were adamant that their one did not have a switch. So in the end I drove over there, walked in, slid the switch to "on", and it all sprang back into life! :-)

[Andy Burns]

Another "anti-feature" of older Dell laptops (C series perhaps) was that if the ethernet port was unplugged at the time you booted, the machine disabled ethernet to save power, plugging the ethernet in at that point didn't re-enable it ...

[John Rumm]

Handy to know - have not seen that... (probably because I don't encounter many Dells)

[Cursitor Doom]

Just get Linux. Sorted.

[Fredxx]

I'd be impressed if Linux could overcome a hardware switch turning off the Wi-Fi.

[Jeff Layman]

What has the OS to do with anything?

I have a new laptop (Clevo) on which I installed Linux Mint (it's *not* a dual install with Windows). If I press the Fn+F11 keys it switches the laptop to airplane mode, disabling both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Another press and both are enabled again. This must be a sort of physical operation, probably by disconnecting power to the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth circuitry, perhaps by means of a FET switch or a bus control signal.

[Chris Hogg]

I've now stuck a small strip of black insulating tape over the switch, so that it doesn't happen by accident again.

[The Natural Philosopher]

On 28/04/2024 17:35, Cursitor Doom wrote: might try one more time to get it unlocked from airplane mode?

*Unfortunately not...have disabled several laptop wifis in linux using F keys or the switch...

[Sam Plusnet]

I _think_ it's meant to be a parody.