I believe I have a defective wifi on my t61 type 7661. I boot to an Ubuntu 11.10 install disk -- something I've done many times with my other T61s -- and get no wifi. The little dashboard light on the computer doesn't show, the Ubuntu wifi symbol is dead. Ethernet works, though. I went into the Bios and can see that it is enabled. Is there any way to know for sure that it's a hardware issue? Again, I'm running two other t61s (and a few others in the past) that immediately show wifi activity, but this new machine (Ebay purchase) is not giving me anything. If it is hardware, is it replaceable?

I suppose you could lift the keyboard and make sure there is a wifi card in the pci-e slot, and check that the wifi hardware switch on the front of the T61 is in the right position. If there is a card and the switch is on, you could have a defective wifi card or a motherboard issue.

I recently found out something about Ubuntu 11.10. When doing the install with ethernet installed, it doesn't install the WiFi drivers. However, when installing 11.10 with no ethernet attached, then everything installs OK (both ethernet and WiFi).

This happened to me on an Acer and my TP T21. I notified Ubuntu about it about 4 weeks ago.

Have you tried installing without the ethernet attached?

Let us know.

I assume you are aware of the WiFi On/Off switch at the front of the laptop?

I would like to self-nominate myself for "Noob of the Year." Yes, Virginia, there is a Wifi switch on the front of the computer, and yes, it was TURNED OFF! AAAAGH! And yes, turning it on makes all the difference in the world. Sorry for the troubles.