Linux Lite Forums

I am sorry, this is probably silly, but I am completely new to Linux. I am running Lite 2.8, and I accidentally disabled my WiFi connection. After rebooting, it still doesn't show up in the networks panel (lower right on the screen). How can I re-enable it?

You need to re-add your indicator plugin.

Open up the Panel tool (Menu->Settings->Panel), and click on the Items tab.  Then you click on the + symbol on the right.  Another window will open up, and from there you can select the Indicator Plugin option.  Click on the +Add button, and it will be added to your Panel.

Sorry - it seems my Indicator Plugin is still on the panel, but only has the wired connection (which I am using now) included in it. The WiFi connetion, though, is missing (I disabled it because I though it would remain visible - so Icould easily re-enable it). I hope I will be able to post a link to my screenshots here...

Wifi and wired don't stay visible at the same time. 

Click on the networking indicator and select Enable Wi-fi.  You'll need to unplug your wired connection to see the wifi supplicant.

Still no luck - I took the screenshot below after I unplugged the cable and restarted the computer. No "Enable WiFi" option listed there. I was thinking of disabling and then enabling networking - but I am afraid this line in the networking indicator may disappear, too...

In my experience, disabling wifi from the networking icon disables the wifi adapter in BIOS too. Maybe depends on hardware but go into BIOS on startup and check the wifi adapter, enable it if it is disabled. On my PC, the wifi icon then reappears on the panel.

You can try via Terminal to see if wi-fi is turned off /blocked by using rfkill

Try:

List will list all items showing whether blocked or not...
Unblock all will, as assumed unblock all items.. Or Unblock # to unblock that specific...

Think of a soft block as turned off, hard block as disabled..

Plugged a WiFi stick - and the "Enable WIFi" option magically popped up in the indicator. So problem solved -much more easily than I expected. Thanks for looking into this, everyone. I do love Linux Lite!

If you were using a laptop, perhaps you needed to enable the wifi radio using a keyboard combination or a slider button.

I am not sure - all I did was plug in a WiFi stick, and that solved the problem. I did not touch anything else, and the blue WiFi light was on all the time on my Asus eee 9-1...