Intel 4965 won't *reconnect* to wireless

English Network/Internet
1

Hey people.

I’ve just upgraded from OpenSUSE 11 to 11.1 on my HP 2510p and I’ve found that (amongst other things) my wireless network won’t reconnect after losing a connection.
It will work after a reboot, and it will even work after bringing the laptop out of hibernation it will be fine. The only time i get a problem is when a reconnect is triggered by moving the machine or pulling the power out. Then it will take time to try and find the network and present me with the dialog to enter in my WPA key, which it used originally. It won’t matter what is put in there, it will almost never reconnect.

I thought I had some success if i changed the IPv4 Method settings to ‘Automatic (DHCP) addresses only’ but it was inconclusive an not a reliable fix.

This wasn’t a problem with openSUSE 11.0 and it is driving me bananas.

Below is the output of the NetworkManager log in /var/log when it isn’t connecting. This doesn’t give much info tho. Just that there is a timeout. Can anyone help?

Manager: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) starting…
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 4 → 5
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0/wireless): connection ‘Auto BC’ has security, and secrets exist. No new secrets needed.
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Config: added ‘ssid’ value ‘BC’
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Config: added ‘scan_ssid’ value ‘1’
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Config: added ‘key_mgmt’ value ‘NONE’
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Config: added ‘auth_alg’ value ‘OPEN’
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Config: added ‘wep_key0’ value ‘<omitted>’
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Config: added ‘wep_tx_keyidx’ value ‘0’
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) complete.
Apr 28 18:52:13 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Config: set interface ap_scan to 1
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: disconnected → scanning
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: scanning → associating
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: associating → disconnected
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: disconnected → associating
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: associating → disconnected
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: disconnected → associated
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: associated → completed
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0/wireless) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) successful. Connected to wireless network ‘BC’.
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) scheduled.
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) started…
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 5 → 7
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0) Beginning DHCP transaction.
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> dhclient started with pid 6985
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) complete.
Apr 28 18:52:15 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> DHCP: device wlan0 state changed normal exit → preinit
Apr 28 18:53:00 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Device ‘wlan0’ DHCP transaction took too long (>45s), stopping it.
Apr 28 18:53:00 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> wlan0: canceled DHCP transaction, dhcp client pid 6985
Apr 28 18:53:00 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IP Configure Timeout) scheduled…
Apr 28 18:53:00 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IP Configure Timeout) started…
Apr 28 18:53:00 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0/wireless): could not get IP configuration for connection ‘Auto BC’.
Apr 28 18:53:00 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 7 → 6
Apr 28 18:53:00 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0/wireless): asking for new secrets
Apr 28 18:53:00 bchplaptop NetworkManager: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IP Configure Timeout) complete.

2

It looks like a problem with your wireless router serving the DHCP address to your computer. The log shows that it has already associated with the router but it is not receiving an IP address.

3

More info:

I’ve been watching /var/log/messages for the dhclient messages and it is very consistent. When the power is pulled out, dhclient will do the same process as when the power is in, but it won’t accept a DHCP offer. The only difference when the power is in is an extra line headed ‘DHCPACK from 192.168.0.1’

Apr 29 19:28:10 bchplaptop dhclient: For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/
Apr 29 19:28:10 bchplaptop dhclient:
Apr 29 19:28:10 bchplaptop dhclient: wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
Apr 29 19:28:10 bchplaptop dhclient: wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
Apr 29 19:28:10 bchplaptop dhclient: Listening on LPF/wlan0/00:13:e8:a9:9c:15
Apr 29 19:28:10 bchplaptop dhclient: Sending on LPF/wlan0/00:13:e8:a9:9c:15
Apr 29 19:28:10 bchplaptop dhclient: Sending on Socket/fallback
Apr 29 19:28:11 bchplaptop dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 5
Apr 29 19:28:12 bchplaptop dhclient: DHCPOFFER from 192.168.0.1
Apr 29 19:28:12 bchplaptop dhclient: DHCPREQUEST on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
Apr 29 19:28:16 bchplaptop dhclient: DHCPREQUEST on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
Apr 29 19:28:20 bchplaptop dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3
Apr 29 19:28:21 bchplaptop dhclient: DHCPOFFER from 192.168.0.1
Apr 29 19:28:21 bchplaptop dhclient: DHCPREQUEST on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
Apr 29 19:28:24 bchplaptop dhclient: DHCPREQUEST on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67

4

Your DHCP client looks different than mine. I am not using networkmanager.
A sample conversation is shown below (with IP addresses replaced with x.x.x.x and y.y.y.y)

Apr 29 15:03:17 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: dhcpcd 3.2.3 starting
Apr 29 15:03:17 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: hardware address = 00:11:22:2d:44:f0
Apr 29 15:03:17 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: broadcasting for a lease
Apr 29 15:03:29 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: offered x.x.x.x from y.y.y.y
Apr 29 15:03:29 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: checking x.x.x.x is available on attached networks
Apr 29 15:03:30 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: leased x.x.x.x for 86400 seconds
Apr 29 15:03:30 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: no renewal time supplied, assuming 43200 seconds
Apr 29 15:03:30 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: no rebind time supplied, assuming 75600 seconds
Apr 29 15:03:30 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: adding IP address 87.200.18.218/29
Apr 29 15:03:30 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: adding default route via 87.200.18.217 metric 0
Apr 29 15:03:31 macbook dhcpcd[8096]: eth0: exiting

It is starting a demon process - dhcpcd - instead of dhclient in your case. Can you check with no networkmanager too?

5

syampillai:
It is unlikely to be the router if I plug in the power cord into the laptop and it will get an address first go. Also, as mentioned, it has only occurred since installing 11.1.

Also, I’ve got a copy of the log when plugging it in. It just has an extra step where a DHCPACK message is acknowledged. I don’t know how to go deeper into it. With 11.0 it just worked.

6

It may not be the router. Anyway, it gave the IP address in the first go.
The request goes from the DHCP client and you have dhclient program as the DHCP client. In my case, it is dhcpcd. I am not sure whether dhclient has a different way of sending the request during the second attempt.