On device: HP Split 13-g110dx x2, unneeded kernel module "acer-wmi" is loaded by default and breaks Wifi

[Daniel]

On a default install of Cinnamon 64 bit 17.1:

By default, the wifi appeared to the user as disabled in the networks menu. Attempting to click the slider ON to enable wireless networking caused the slider to immediately slide back to the OFF position. Running 'rfkill list all' showed that in addition to the real wireless card, 'phy0' another wireless card named 'acer-wireless' was displayed.

Blacklisting the module 'acer-wmi' in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf and rebooting caused the Wifi radio to be enabled correctly on reboot, and now functions normally.

On live installations, I encountered the same wireless issues on both XFCE 64-bit 17.1 and an earlier version of MATE. I am currently not able to test if the same module was the culprit; but on the XFCE live disk, I did notice 'acer-wireless' being mentioned in the output of 'rfkill list all'.

Notes about this device:
It has an Intel Wireless 7260 for the Wifi radio.
It is a tablet/laptop hybrid (detatchable). Probably not helpful, but better safe than sorry.
Touch/Touchpad/Keyboard/Sound are all supported properly; this was the only major issue.

[Daniel (badfontkeming)]

Extra info: loading the module with 'modprobe acer-wmi' instantly breaks wifi, until 'modprobe -r acer-wmi' is run.