Ttgjyuk

Just installed Ubuntu 11.10 in my compaq nx6120 laptop. I turn on the wifi but it says "wireless disabled by hardware switch."

Is this a driver problem or is there any switch in laptop for enabling it? Please help

output of some commands are given below

$ sudo lshw -C network**

*-network:0 DISABLED 
 description: Wireless interface
 product: PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network Connection
 vendor: Intel Corporation
 physical id: 4
 bus info: pci@0000:02:04.0
 logical name: eth1
 version: 05
 serial: 00:12:f0:99:dd:dc
 width: 32 bits
 clock: 33MHz
 capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
 configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ipw2200 driverversion=1.2.2kmprq firmware=ABG:9.0.5.27 (Dec 12 2007) latency=64 link=no maxlatency=24 mingnt=3 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
 resources: irq:21 memory:d0000000-d0000fff
 *-network:1
 description: Ethernet interface
 product: NetXtreme BCM5705M_2 Gigabit Ethernet
 vendor: Broadcom Corporation
 physical id: e
 bus info: pci@0000:02:0e.0
 logical name: eth0
 version: 03
 serial: 00:14:38:00:ea:cb
 size: 100Mbit/s
 capacity: 1Gbit/s
 width: 64 bits
 clock: 66MHz
 capabilities: pm vpd msi bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
 configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=tg3 driverversion=3.119 duplex=full firmware=5705-v3.24 ip=192.168.1.3 latency=64 link=yes mingnt=64 multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
 resources: irq:16 memory:d0020000-d002ffff

I am a beginner please help.

The model of laptop you have has a hardware switch that can be toggled to turn the wireless function on and off - it also has a LED on it to indicate status.

It is located on the top edge above the keyboard - third button along from the left hand side.

Here is an image that should help you locate it.

Try shutting down(if not already off), disconnecting the power, remove battery(if it is a laptop), press power a few times to release stored energy, reinsert battery(if it is a laptop), reconnect AC power. Turn on computer. Worked for me. After trying multiple fixes I found on the internet I remembered reading this somewhere. My hardware was blocked via a hardware switch(fn+f8) which doesn't work in ubuntu(works with windows, but uninstalled windows). rfkill showed 0: phy0: Wireless Lan as Hard Blocked.