SET failed on device wlan0

safetycopy · November 30, 2008, 9:28pm

Upon running the command ‘ifup wlan0’, I’m getting the following error:

deadbox:/home/safetycopy/Source/at76_usb-0.17 # ifup wlan0
    wlan0
command 'iwconfig wlan0 nick deadbox' returned
 Error for wireless request "Set Nickname" (8B1C) :
    SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.
DHCP client is already running on wlan0

What does this mean and how can I resolve it? I’ve spent nearly a week trying to get my wireless network connection working and am starting to lose faith

‘lsusb’ shows the device as:

Bus001 Device002: ID 077b:2219 Linksys WUSB11 V2.6 80211.b Adapter

lwfinger · November 30, 2008, 9:40pm

safetycopy wrote:
> Upon running the command ‘ifup wlan0’, I’m getting the following error:
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> deadbox:/home/safetycopy/Source/at76_usb-0.17 # ifup wlan0
> wlan0
> command ‘iwconfig wlan0 nick deadbox’ returned
> Error for wireless request “Set Nickname” (8B1C) :
> SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.
> DHCP client is already running on wlan0
> --------------------
>
>
> What does this mean and how can I resolve it? I’ve spent nearly a week
> trying to get my wireless network connection working and am starting to
> lose faith

Ignore it - it is NOT the problem. Setting a nickname is a totally irrelevant
operation.

After the ifup command, what do the following commands return?

iwconfig
sudo iwlist scan

Larry

safetycopy · November 30, 2008, 11:52pm

Hi. Here’s the output:

linux-r0vs:~ # ifup wlan0
Network interface is managed from NetworkManager
NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0 
but it cannot be assured from here.
linux-r0vs:~ # iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11b  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.457 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Bit Rate:11 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry limit:8   RTS thr=1536 B   Fragment thr=1536 B   
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

linux-r0vs:~ # iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0     Interface doesn't support scanning : Device or resource busy

linux-r0vs:~ # iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0     No scan results

linux-r0vs:~ #

lwfinger · December 1, 2008, 12:55am

safetycopy wrote:
> Hi. Here’s the output:
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> linux-r0vs:~ # ifup wlan0
> Network interface is managed from NetworkManager
> NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0
> but it cannot be assured from here.
> linux-r0vs:~ # iwconfig
> lo no wireless extensions.
>
> eth0 no wireless extensions.
>
> wlan0 IEEE 802.11b ESSID:off/any
> Mode:Managed Frequency:2.457 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
> Bit Rate:11 Mb/s Tx-Power=15 dBm
> Retry limit:8 RTS thr=1536 B Fragment thr=1536 B
> Encryption key:off
> Power Management:off
> Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
> Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
> Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
>
> linux-r0vs:~ # iwlist scan
> lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.
>
> eth0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.
>
> wlan0 Interface doesn’t support scanning : Device or resource busy
>
> linux-r0vs:~ # iwlist scan
> lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.
>
> eth0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.
>
> wlan0 No scan results
>

The driver is loading, but not yet working. Look at the output of the command
‘dmesg’ and look for entries that indicate a failure in firmware loading, etc.

Larry

safetycopy · December 1, 2008, 2:08pm

I can’t figure this out at all and after a week or so of working only on this I don’t seem to be getting anywhere at all.

This is all the output I can come up with:

**daniel@deadbox:~>** su
Password: 
**deadbox:/home/daniel #** uname -r
2.6.25.5-1.1-pae
**deadbox:/home/daniel #** lsusb
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 0781:5406 SanDisk Corp. Cruzer Micro 1/4GB Flash Drive
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 045e:0039 Microsoft Corp. IntelliMouse Optical
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 077b:2219 Linksys WUSB11 V2.6 802.11b Adapter
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
**deadbox:/home/daniel #** lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
joydev                 28224  0 
nls_iso8859_1          20480  1 
nls_cp437              22144  1 
vfat                   28800  1 
fat                    66720  1 vfat
xt_tcpudp              19584  1 
xt_pkttype             18304  3 
ipt_LOG                22788  8 
xt_limit               19076  8 
binfmt_misc            28040  1 
snd_pcm_oss            64256  0 
snd_mixer_oss          33408  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq                73664  0 
snd_seq_device         25100  1 snd_seq
af_packet              38656  2 
ipt_REJECT             20352  3 
xt_state               18944  4 
iptable_mangle         19712  0 
iptable_nat            23688  0 
nf_nat                 35736  1 iptable_nat
iptable_filter         19840  1 
nf_conntrack_netbios_ns    19200  0 
nf_conntrack_ipv4      27652  7 iptable_nat,nf_nat
nf_conntrack           79188  5 xt_state,iptable_nat,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_netbios_ns,nf_conntrack_ipv4
ip_tables              30224  3 iptable_mangle,iptable_nat,iptable_filter
ip6_tables             31376  0 
x_tables               33668  9 xt_tcpudp,xt_pkttype,ipt_LOG,xt_limit,ipt_REJECT,xt_state,iptable_nat,ip_tables,ip6_tables
microcode              30608  0 
fuse                   66332  7 
loop                   35332  0 
dm_mod                 78676  0 
ppdev                  25348  0 
snd_intel8x0           50460  3 
snd_ac97_codec        120868  1 snd_intel8x0
8139too                43008  0 
8139cp                 39808  0 
ac97_bus               18304  1 snd_ac97_codec
mii                    21888  2 8139too,8139cp
rtc_cmos               27168  0 
parport_pc             55100  0 
rtc_core               37148  1 rtc_cmos
snd_pcm               100100  3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec
iTCO_wdt               28580  0 
parport                52948  2 ppdev,parport_pc
rtc_lib                19328  1 rtc_core
snd_timer              40712  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
intel_agp              43460  1 
iTCO_vendor_support    20228  1 iTCO_wdt
container              21504  0 
shpchp                 50196  0 
snd                    79544  14 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer
i2c_i810               21252  0 
sr_mod                 33320  0 
soundcore              24264  1 snd
agpgart                50868  1 intel_agp
i2c_i801               26128  0 
i2c_algo_bit           22788  1 i2c_i810
pci_hotplug            46116  1 shpchp
button                 25360  0 
cdrom                  50588  1 sr_mod
snd_page_alloc         27400  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
usb_storage           100744  1 
at76_usb               91540  0 
sg                     52020  0 
i2c_core               41108  3 i2c_i810,i2c_i801,i2c_algo_bit
firmware_class         25984  2 microcode,at76_usb
usbhid                 60260  0 
hid                    53708  1 usbhid
ff_memless             21896  1 usbhid
sd_mod                 45208  7 
ehci_hcd               52492  0 
uhci_hcd               40848  0 
usbcore               164684  6 usb_storage,at76_usb,usbhid,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
edd                    26440  0 
ext3                  155784  1 
mbcache                25348  1 ext3
jbd                    73376  1 ext3
fan                    22660  0 
ata_piix               38404  3 
libata                176220  1 ata_piix
scsi_mod              168308  5 sr_mod,usb_storage,sg,sd_mod,libata
dock                   27536  1 libata
thermal                39452  0 
processor              67504  1 thermal
**deadbox:/home/daniel #** ifup wlan0
Network interface is managed from NetworkManager
NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0 
but it cannot be assured from here.
**deadbox:/home/daniel #** iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11b  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Bit Rate:11 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry limit:8   RTS thr=1536 B   Fragment thr=1536 B   
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

eth0      no wireless extensions.

**deadbox:/home/daniel #** iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0     No scan results

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

**deadbox:/home/daniel #** dmesg
ACPI: Transitioning device [FAN1] to D3
ACPI: Unable to turn cooling device [df0207ac] 'off'
**deadbox:/home/daniel #**

The dmesg output repeats enough times that if there’s any other messages I can’t see them.

You can tell me if this is down to my WUSB - at this point I don’t have much hope of getting this working…

safetycopy · December 1, 2008, 2:30pm

I just discovered this command, so here’s a little more output…

**deadbox:/home/daniel #** cat /var/log/messages | grep wlan
Nov 30 17:14:59 linux kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Nov 30 17:15:37 linux SuSEfirewall2: using default zone 'ext' for interface wlan0
Nov 30 17:15:40 linux SuSEfirewall2: using default zone 'ext' for interface wlan0
Nov 30 17:18:31 linux ifdown:     wlan0     
Nov 30 17:18:31 linux ifdown:               No configuration found for wlan0 
Nov 30 17:18:41 linux-r0vs ifup:     wlan0     
Nov 30 17:18:41 linux-r0vs ifup:               No configuration found for wlan0
Nov 30 17:18:48 linux-r0vs SuSEfirewall2: using default zone 'ext' for interface wlan0
Nov 30 17:22:08 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Nov 30 17:26:24 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Nov 30 17:26:29 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Nov 30 17:26:34 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Nov 30 17:28:16 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Nov 30 17:30:19 linux-r0vs ifup: NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0 
Nov 30 17:31:19 linux-r0vs ifup: NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0 
Nov 30 17:33:05 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Nov 30 17:33:09 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Nov 30 17:33:14 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Nov 30 17:40:03 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Nov 30 17:40:07 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Nov 30 17:40:12 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Nov 30 17:42:34 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Dec  1 06:48:58 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Dec  1 06:54:04 linux-r0vs ifup: NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0 
Dec  1 07:18:19 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Dec  1 07:23:46 linux-r0vs ifup: NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0 
Dec  1 07:25:12 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Dec  1 07:25:16 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Dec  1 07:25:21 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Dec  1 07:33:38 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Dec  1 07:33:44 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Dec  1 07:33:49 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Dec  1 07:33:54 linux-r0vs kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Dec  1 07:38:24 linux-r0vs kernel: wlan0: using BSSID 02:00:91:ca:cf:47
Dec  1 07:38:39 linux-r0vs kernel: wlan0: using BSSID 02:00:c2:b6:b4:48
Dec  1 07:38:52 linux-r0vs kernel: wlan0: using BSSID 02:00:bb:15:4d:49
Dec  1 07:39:46 linux-r0vs kernel: wlan0: using BSSID 02:00:8a:33:e6:4b
Dec  1 07:39:49 linux-r0vs kernel: wlan0: using BSSID 02:00:26:37:7b:4c
Dec  1 07:40:23 linux-r0vs kernel: wlan0: using BSSID 02:00:ad:19:78:4e
Dec  1 07:40:38 linux-r0vs kernel: wlan0: using BSSID 02:00:cc:23:d1:4f
Dec  1 07:45:29 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Dec  1 07:45:38 linux-r0vs ifdown:     wlan0     
Dec  1 07:46:44 linux-r0vs ifup: NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0 
Dec  1 07:50:49 linux-r0vs ifup: NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0 
Dec  1 07:53:48 linux-r0vs ifup: NetworkManager will be advised to set up wlan0 
**deadbox:/home/daniel # **

deltaflyer44 · December 1, 2008, 4:59pm

quick coupla questions :

1 ) what driver are you using ?
2 ) did you set it up via YaST - network devices - network settings ?

the reason i ask,is, i have a pcmcia card that has the same details & that worked after installing the firmware

Andy

lwfinger · December 1, 2008, 5:01pm

Your device is driven by the driver at76_usb. Unfortunately, your dmesg log is
being spammed by the “ACPI: Transitioning device [FAN1] to D3 ACPI: Unable to
turn cooling device [df0207ac] ‘off’” messages.

Have you installed the “atmel-firmware” package using YaST? It is absolutely
needed. Does installing firmware help?

If the firmware package has already been installed, then immediately after
booting and before the kernel buffer wraps around, open a terminal and issue the
following commands:

dmesg > saved_dmesg
egrep “at76|atmel” saved_dmesg
sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan

Please post the output.

Larry

safetycopy · December 1, 2008, 5:36pm

Hi guys, and thanks both for the replies.

To the best of my knowledge the atmel driver and firmware were installed from the DVD when I installed the OS - they both show as installed in YaST.

At one point, I had a message in the Network Card setup that firmware was missing, but I don’t get this any more.

@lwfinger: I don’t really understand what you mean with regard to executing those commands ‘before the kernel buffer wraps around’. I’m completely new to Linux, so it’s taken a lot of effort just to get the less-than-basic understanding of things that I have now.

lwfinger · December 1, 2008, 6:05pm

safetycopy wrote:
> @lwfinger: I don’t really understand what you mean with regard to
> executing those commands ‘before the kernel buffer wraps around’. I’m
> completely new to Linux, so it’s taken a lot of effort just to get the
> less-than-basic understanding of things that I have now.

The kernel allocates a circular buffer for the dmesg output when booted. On
those occasions when the data being output exceeds the size of that buffer, it
wraps around, and the beginning stuff is lost. You can see this when the
beginning output of ‘dmesg | less’ does not start with something like

BIOS EBDA/lowmem at: 0009e000/0009e000
Linux version 2.6.28-rc6-wl (finger@larrylap) (gcc version 4.3.1 20080507

This wraparound mostly happens when some subsystem is spamming the logs, as
happens in your case, or when the system has been up for a very long time. That
is why you only see those fan messages.

Larry

safetycopy · December 1, 2008, 6:25pm

OK, thanks for the clarification. Here’s the output you requested:

**daniel@deadbox:~>** dmesg > saved_dmesg
**daniel@deadbox:~>** egrep "at76|atmel" saved_dmesg
Atmel at76x USB Wireless LAN Driver 0.17 loading
usb 1-1: using firmware atmel_at76c503-rfmd.bin (version 1.101.0-84)
at76_usb 1-1:1.0: downloading internal firmware
at76_usb 1-1:1.0: downloading external firmware
usbcore: registered new interface driver at76_usb
**daniel@deadbox:~>** sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan
**root's password:**
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0     No scan results

**daniel@deadbox:~> **

lwfinger · December 1, 2008, 6:37pm

safetycopy wrote:
> OK, thanks for the clarification. Here’s the output you requested:
>
>
> Code:
> --------------------
> DANIEL@DEADBOX:~> DMESG > SAVED_DMESG
> DANIEL@DEADBOX:~> EGREP “AT76|ATMEL” SAVED_DMESG
> ATMEL AT76X USB WIRELESS LAN DRIVER 0.17 LOADING
> USB 1-1: USING FIRMWARE ATMEL_AT76C503-RFMD.BIN (VERSION 1.101.0-84)
> AT76_USB 1-1:1.0: DOWNLOADING INTERNAL FIRMWARE
> AT76_USB 1-1:1.0: DOWNLOADING EXTERNAL FIRMWARE
> USBCORE: REGISTERED NEW INTERFACE DRIVER AT76_USB
> DANIEL@DEADBOX:~> SUDO /USR/SBIN/IWLIST SCAN
> **ROOT’S PASSWORD:
> lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.
>
> eth0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.
>
> wlan0 No scan results
>
> DANIEL@DEADBOX:~>

Thanks. Everything looks fine, but without scan results you will never be able
to connect.

I just checked the web site for at76 development
(http://developer.berlios.de/projects/at76c503a/), and version 0.17 is the latest.

I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you any further.

Larry
**

safetycopy · December 1, 2008, 6:53pm

I was afraid you were going to say that Thanks for your time.

user · January 24, 2009, 8:58am

Hello,
I had the same problem: my wireless LAN does not start at boot showing the error:
“SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.”
Unfortunately, even if the NICKNAME command is not important, the script that starts wireless LAN does not complete after this error.
I have fixed it by modifying the startup script:
/etc/sysconfig/network/scripts/ifup-wireless
look at the code

#################
while read OPT ARG; do
run_iw_tool config $OPT “$ARG”
done <<-EOL
nick $WIRELESS_NICK
nwid $WIRELESS_NWID
freq $WIRELESS_FREQ
channel $WIRELESS_CHANNEL
sens $WIRELESS_SENS
rate $WIRELESS_RATE
rts $WIRELESS_RTS
frag $WIRELESS_FRAG
$WIRELESS_IWCONFIG_OPTIONS
EOL
#################

remove (commenting is not sufficient, you have to remove it) the line “nick $WIRELESS_NICK”, save the file and try.
It worked for me.
Ciao

pdc_2 · January 24, 2009, 6:59pm

well done pandorino if this all works well for you; can you tell us why you think that was the important line to remove?

user · January 30, 2009, 12:17pm

Simply because I discovered that the wireless startup script is
/etc/sysconfig/network/scripts/ifup-wireless

(I do not use the NetworkManager, but the traditional method with ifconfig/ifup/iwconfig and so on).

Then I analyzed it and found into a WHILE loop, the command

run_iw_tool config $OPT “$ARG”

which runs the iwconfig script.
At the first WHILE iteration, the $OPT and $ARG variables are set to:

$OPT=nick
$ARG=$WIRELESS_NICK

thus resulting into the real execution of the command

“iwconfig wlan0 nick <nick>”

If you run that command on the shell, you see the error “SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported”.

At boot, that error causes, as consequence, the termination of the ifup-wireless script, that’s why wlan0 was not started at boot.

Removing the line
“nick $WIRELESS_NICK”
from the WHILE loop, fixed the issue and wlan0 starts at boot…

Ciao

lwfinger · January 30, 2009, 6:34pm

pandorino wrote:
> Simply because I discovered that the wireless startup script is
> /etc/sysconfig/network/scripts/ifup-wireless
>
> (I do not use the NetworkManager, but the traditional method with
> ifconfig/ifup/iwconfig and so on).
>
> Then I analyzed it and found into a WHILE loop, the command
>
> run_iw_tool config $OPT “$ARG”
>
> which runs the iwconfig script.
> At the first WHILE iteration, the $OPT and $ARG variables are set to:
>
> $OPT=nick
> $ARG=$WIRELESS_NICK
>
> thus resulting into the real execution of the command
>
> “iwconfig wlan0 nick <nick>”
>
> If you run that command on the shell, you see the error “SET failed on
> device wlan0 ; Operation not supported”.
>
> At boot, that error causes, as consequence, the termination of the
> ifup-wireless script, that’s why wlan0 was not started at boot.
>
> Removing the line
> “nick $WIRELESS_NICK”
> from the WHILE loop, fixed the issue and wlan0 starts at boot…

That “error” should be harmless. What distro uses that?

user · February 2, 2009, 2:22pm

I’m using OpenSuse 11.1, no NetworkManager, the traditional method.
Apparently it is not really “harmless”: probably the “nick” configuration is not necessary to the wlan setup, but the side-effect is that at boot, the script fails and the wlan is not started…

lwfinger · February 2, 2009, 4:31pm

pandorino wrote:
> I’m using OpenSuse 11.1, no NetworkManager, the traditional method.
> Apparently it is not really “harmless”: probably the “nick”
> configuration is not necessary to the wlan setup, but the side-effect is
> that at boot, the script fails and the wlan is not started…

Have you filed a Bugzilla report at openSUSE? If not, please do so.

These “missing” wireless extensions calls are quite unlikely to ever
be implemented, so the scripts should remove them.

Larry

user · February 2, 2009, 5:39pm

Ok, I’ll do it.