I have a Lenovo G550 laptop which I have been running 12.1, 12.2 and 12.3 x64 on successfully for a couple of years, including using the built-in BCM4312 wifi radio. After performing a clean, new install of 13.1 x64 and installing broadcom-wl with b43-firmware and b43-cutter, I was able to get both NM and ifup to find my router and configure the connection. With ifup, I get no connection and no error message when booting, despite trying connect on hotplug, connect at boot time or connect on cable connection. When I try to connect with NM, I receive an authentication error popup with a prompt to re-enter my WPA/PSK password. I have verified that the password is correct and that my router is indeed configured for WPA/PSK. (My desktop, also running 13.1 x64, connects to the same router without problems when using the identical configuration.) route -n finds no connections. What should I look at? Which error logs will help me?
On 12/19/2013 12:56 PM, wesenbergj wrote:
>
> I have a Lenovo G550 laptop which I have been running 12.1, 12.2 and
> 12.3 x64 on successfully for a couple of years, including using the
> built-in BCM4312 wifi radio. After performing a clean, new install of
> 13.1 x64 and installing broadcom-wl with b43-firmware and b43-cutter, I
> was able to get both NM and ifup to find my router and configure the
> connection. With ifup, I get no connection and no error message when
> booting, despite trying connect on hotplug, connect at boot time or
> connect on cable connection. When I try to connect with NM, I receive an
> authentication error popup with a prompt to re-enter my WPA/PSK
> password. I have verified that the password is correct and that my
> router is indeed configured for WPA/PSK. (My desktop, also running 13.1
> x64, connects to the same router without problems when using the
> identical configuration.) route -n finds no connections. What should I
> look at? Which error logs will help me?
Using the NM applet, delete the existing connection and recreate it. That
usually clears up this problem. The logs, at least for KDE, are found in
/var/log/NetworkManager and /var/log/wpa_supplicant.log.
BTW, b43-firmware and b43-cutter have absolutely nothing to do with wl. As wl is
proprietary closed source, there is little else we will be able to help you
with. If you are unable to get it to work, I suggest that you remove wl, and get
rid of the blacklist entries for b43 and ssb.
The /var/log/wpa_supplicant.log shows this error when I use the internal BCM4312 radio:
wlp4s0: Trying to associate with 20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff (SSID='SubGenius' freq=2442 MHz)
wlp4s0: Associated with 20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff
wlp4s0: Associated with 20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff
wlp4s0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff reason=0
wlp4s0: WPA: 4-Way Handshake failed - pre-shared key may be incorrect
wlp4s0: CTRL-EVENT-SSID-TEMP-DISABLED id=0 ssid="SubGenius" auth_failures=1 duration=10
When using a USB RTL8187 radio, I get similar results, but with a different error code:
lp0s29f7u5: SME: Trying to authenticate with 20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff (SSID='SubGenius' freq=2442 MHz)
wlp0s29f7u5: Trying to associate with 20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff (SSID='SubGenius' freq=2442 MHz)
wlp0s29f7u5: Associated with 20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff
wlp0s29f7u5: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff reason=15
wlp0s29f7u5: WPA: 4-Way Handshake failed - pre-shared key may be incorrect
wlp0s29f7u5: CTRL-EVENT-SSID-TEMP-DISABLED id=0 ssid="SubGenius" auth_failures=1 duration=10
This was in spite of verifying several times that I didn’t mistype the password. Since I couldn’t find anything in wpa_supplicant documentation to tell me what those reason codes are, I started experimenting with my settings and noticed that NM wasn’t automatically capturing a BSSID as expected. I logged into my router (actually a WiMax modem/gateway thingy), wrote the BSSID down and manually entered it in the wireless interface configuration in NM and VIOLA! (sic), it connected. So, I’m scratching my head, trying to figure out why the same OS allows me to connect to the same gateway automatically on my desktop PC but not my laptop. I did notice some similar problems with the latest kernel’s wpa_supplicant in some other distros. Could this be a bug?
On 12/19/2013 11:16 PM, wesenbergj wrote:
> This was in spite of verifying several times that I didn’t mistype the
> password. Since I couldn’t find anything in wpa_supplicant documentation
> to tell me what those reason codes are, I started experimenting with my
> settings and noticed that NM wasn’t automatically capturing a BSSID as
> expected. I logged into my router (actually a WiMax modem/gateway
> thingy), wrote the BSSID down and manually entered it in the wireless
> interface configuration in NM and VIOLA! (sic), it connected. So, I’m
> scratching my head, trying to figure out why the same OS allows me to
> connect to the same gateway automatically on my desktop PC but not my
> laptop. I did notice some similar problems with the latest kernel’s
> wpa_supplicant in some other distros. Could this be a bug?
It is not normal that you need to specify the BSSID when entering a network
connection. My best guess is that when you did the edit to add the BSSID, you
cleared the condition that was actually causing the problem. What happens if you
re-edit and remove the BSSID? If the problem returns, then it could be a bug. I
don’t have a WiMax thingy - perhaps there is some unusual interaction with it.
First of all, I’ll give you a more complete description of my WiMax “thingy”. I’m using the former Clearwire, now fully owned by Sprint, as my ISP. My device is called the Clear Hub Express, made by Advance Data Technology Corporation (Hwa Ya). Specs, manuals, etc. are at Support Download | CLEAR
I rebooted my laptop again today to see if I could repeat the problem and, again, it wouldn’t pick up the BSSID. I also tested it with the Samsung V100T Samsung LTE Mobile HotSpot PRO | T-Mobile I just bought today and I had the same problem after setting it up and testing it in Win 7 on the same laptop. I will have an opportunity to test these radios on other wifi networks in a few days.
Since my desktop has worked flawlessly with 13.1 x64 for a couple of weeks, I borrowed its ASUS USB-N13 RT2800-based radio and tried it on my laptop. One press of the button on its side got it to connect to the Clear Hub Express. It also connects to the V100T - again, only after pressing the button on its side. The other radios don’t have a hardware connect button. I’ve never had to use the button with that radio connected to my desktop.
I moved the RTL8187 radio, which didn’t work on the laptop, back to my desktop and it connected immediately to the Clear Hub. I can post fully expanded hardware lists for both PCs if you like. The one big difference between the two is the laptop has an Intel T4400 dual-core CPU and the desktop contains an AMD Phenom II 955 quad core CPU. Could differences in the wpa_supplicant modules for those processors be the cause?
I can also supply more detailed information on the Clear Hub Express and VT100T settings if they’ll be useful to you.
One more question: Is it possible to disable the only the internal laptop radio via software? Every local network shows up twice in NM when I plug a USB radio in. This is a mere convenience. It’s just annoying to have to remember which network instance to disable after every boot-up or wake-up.
On 12/20/2013 10:56 PM, wesenbergj wrote:
>
> First of all, I’ll give you a more complete description of my WiMax
> “thingy”. I’m using the former Clearwire, now fully owned by Sprint, as
> my ISP. My device is called the Clear Hub Express, made by Advance Data
> Technology Corporation (Hwa Ya). Specs, manuals, etc. are at ‘Support
> Download | CLEAR’
> (http://www.clear.com/support/download/modems/clear-hub-express)
>
> I rebooted my laptop again today to see if I could repeat the problem
> and, again, it wouldn’t pick up the BSSID. I also tested it with the
> Samsung V100T ‘Samsung LTE Mobile HotSpot PRO | T-Mobile’
> (http://tinyurl.com/nfcqwau) I just bought today and I had the same
> problem after setting it up and testing it in Win 7 on the same laptop.
> I will have an opportunity to test these radios on other wifi networks
> in a few days.
>
> Since my desktop has worked flawlessly with 13.1 x64 for a couple of
> weeks, I borrowed its ASUS USB-N13 RT2800-based radio and tried it on my
> laptop. One press of the button on its side got it to connect to the
> Clear Hub Express. It also connects to the V100T - again, only after
> pressing the button on its side. The other radios don’t have a hardware
> connect button. I’ve never had to use the button with that radio
> connected to my desktop.
>
> I moved the RTL8187 radio, which didn’t work on the laptop, back to my
> desktop and it connected immediately to the Clear Hub. I can post fully
> expanded hardware lists for both PCs if you like. The one big difference
> between the two is the laptop has an Intel T4400 dual-core CPU and the
> desktop contains an AMD Phenom II 955 quad core CPU. Could differences
> in the wpa_supplicant modules for those processors be the cause?
If both of them are running 64-bit versions, the code is the same. Any
difference in the instruction sets of the two machines is handles automatically.
In fact, usere code such as wpa_supplicant is compiled using a general
instruction set.
> I can also supply more detailed information on the Clear Hub Express and
> VT100T settings if they’ll be useful to you.
The button on the side activates WPS. Most Linux drivers do not implement that
mode used by Windows. It is always safer to know and use the real passphrase,
not that PIN or the button.
On 12/20/2013 11:06 PM, wesenbergj wrote:
>
> One more question: Is it possible to disable the only the internal
> laptop radio via software? Every local network shows up twice in NM when
> I plug a USB radio in. This is a mere convenience. It’s just annoying to
> have to remember which network instance to disable after every boot-up
> or wake-up.
I do not find any difficulty in sorting out which entry belongs to which
interface. Launch the applet and click on the interface entry. That will show
only the SSIDs seen by that device and the driver it is using.
If you really want to keep a driver from loading, ‘man 5 modprobe.conf’. In
particular, look at the section on blacklist.
For reasons totally unrelated to this thread, I installed a new HD in my laptop and performed a clean installation of 13.1 x64. Now, none of my three wifi radios (internal BCM4312, RT2800USB, or RTL8187USB) will authenticate when trying to connect with either NM or ifup. I’m running kernel 3.11.10-7.1 with no pending updates. As before, wpa_supplicant.log shows this recurring error regardless of which radio I use:
wlp4s0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff reason=0
wlp4s0: WPA: 4-Way Handshake failed - pre-shared key may be incorrect
wlp4s0: CTRL-EVENT-SSID-TEMP-DISABLED id=0 ssid="SubGenius" auth_failures=1 duration=10
As before, both USB radios connect immediately and automatically on my desktop, which is running the same kernel (minus the Packman b43 module).
Does anybody care to take a whack at this? Or can somebody refer me to a different forum?
On Sun 23 Feb 2014 01:36:01 AM CST, wesenbergj wrote:
For reasons totally unrelated to this thread, I installed a new HD in my
laptop and performed a clean installation of 13.1 x64. Now, none of my
three wifi radios (internal BCM4312, RT2800USB, or RTL8187USB) will
authenticate when trying to connect with either NM or ifup. I’m running
kernel 3.11.10-7.1 with no pending updates. As before,
wpa_supplicant.log shows this recurring error regardless of which radio
I use:
Code:
wlp4s0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=20:10:7a:5c:ce:ff reason=0
wlp4s0: WPA: 4-Way Handshake failed - pre-shared key may be incorrect
wlp4s0: CTRL-EVENT-SSID-TEMP-DISABLED id=0 ssid=“SubGenius”
auth_failures=1 duration=10 --------------------
As before, both USB radios connect immediately and automatically on my
desktop, which is running the same kernel (minus the Packman b43
module).
Does anybody care to take a whack at this? Or can somebody refer me to a
different forum?
Hi
I would say either the password your using is incorrect or the
authentication method, eg AES TKIP etc. Check they match on the
wireless router.
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.2 Kernel 3.11.10-7-desktop
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please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!
Password is correct, authentication method is properly set. If you read my posts from a few weeks ago, you will see that one of my radios did work, the RT2800USB, but not the others. I was only able to get that one to work by manually typing the BSSID in, although it did connect when I pushed its WPS button. As I understand it, that shouldn’t affect connection under WPA/WPA2, yet it worked every time I used it. Maybe that button effects a reset?
Could something have affected my wpa_supplicant.conf file?
Hi
So your trying to use wps? Never tried or used, I always define a paraphrase and use that…
Hi
If you have to enter the SSID, then I would imagine it’s been set to hidden in the router (a pointless exercise if it is), can you login and check. Also disable wps.
Executive high-five (palm to face) - I forgot to capitalize one of the characters in my password. The RT8200 connects automatically with NM, no button-pressing required, runs perfectly. Now, I’m back to where I was when I first migrated from 12.3 to 13.1, which is that I only experience the authentication error when using the built-in BCM-4312 radio. The 4312 has no problems when I run (wince) Windows.
On Sun 23 Feb 2014 04:26:01 AM CST, wesenbergj wrote:
Executive high-five (palm to face) - I forgot to capitalize one of the
characters in my password. The RT8200 connects automatically with NM, no
button-pressing required, runs perfectly. Now, I’m back to where I was
when I first migrated from 12.3 to 13.1, which is that I only experience
the authentication error when using the built-in BCM-4312 radio. The
4312 has no problems when I run (wince) Windows.
Hi
That happens 
So as user lwfinger indicated, remove the broadcom-wl
and the respective kmp package and let it use the default driver and
firmware. You might have to check that it is not blacklisted…
–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.2 Kernel 3.11.10-7-desktop
If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!
I finally got it to work after re-re-reinstalling the firmware and removing wl. Thanks much for you patience.
BTW, I test-drove Linux Mint 16 on a bootable DVD and it does the same thing. I’m staying with the green reptile.
Best,
Jon
On 02/22/2014 11:46 PM, wesenbergj wrote:
>
> malcolmlewis;2626651 Wrote:
>> Hi
>> That happens So as user lwfinger indicated, remove the broadcom-wl
>> and the respective kmp package and let it use the default driver and
>> firmware. You might have to check that it is not blacklisted…
>>
>> –
>> Cheers Malcolm °¿° SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
>> openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.2 Kernel 3.11.10-7-desktop
>> If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
>> please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!
>
> I finally got it to work after re-re-reinstalling the firmware and
> removing wl. Thanks much for you patience.
>
> BTW, I test-drove Linux Mint 16 on a bootable DVD and it does the same
> thing. I’m staying with the green reptile.
If “and it does the same thing” refers to not having b43 firmware available,
then that is the correct behavior. At least it is according to the Broadcom
lawyers that do not permit redistribution of their firmware. In fact, anyone
that does redistribute Broadcom firmware for b43 could face legal proceedings.