Tumbleweed not hooking up to one certain WiFi

111MilesToGo · February 13, 2018, 4:19pm

After a system update yesterday (coincidental or cause? I don‘t know), Tumbleweed does no longer like to connect to one out my several WiFi‘s. Out of the blue, it started telling me „Key not provided“. Only one certain WiFi is affected. All had been working fine before; the others continue as before. I checked settings, and finally deleted this connection and then recreated it from scratch. It‘s for myself only, key stored in kwallet (which has an empty password), tried both automatic at boot and manual connection. Doesn‘t hook up, says „Key not provided“. Connecting manually works maybe one out of five tries.

I also tried this WiFi device with other operating systems (Linux and Windows) - no problems. It‘s a NetGear AirCard 810.

Any ideas gratefully welcome!

knurpht · February 13, 2018, 5:43pm

How did you update ? The only way supported on Tumbleweed is

zypper dup

111MilesToGo · February 13, 2018, 6:13pm

Exactly:
zypper ref
zypper dup —no-allow-vendor-change

knurpht · February 13, 2018, 9:59pm

What happens if you boot the previous kernel. ( Advanced Options in the boot-menu)

111MilesToGo · February 14, 2018, 9:11am

Same story for both 4.15.2 (came in yesterday, Feb 13) and 4.15.1 (came in on Feb 12). Tumbleweed continues to not hook up (automatically or at most of the manual attempts) to this one WiFi access point with either kernel. Nothing normal! It’s tough to remember whether Tumbleweed had hooked up normally under 4.15.1 or not - i.e. I can’t remember whether I had tried to use this NetGear AirCard on Feb 12. For sure, it had acted normal under 4.14.x last week. Unfortunately, my system seems to have purged the 4.14 kernels; at least, there is nothing left under /boot (UEFI-booted laptop, GPT-partitioned).

For the sake of completeness, pls find a couple of system information here:

inxi -Fxzd
System:    Host: susytmblwdke Kernel: 4.15.2-1-default x86_64 bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0
           Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.12.0 (Qt 5.10.0) Distro: openSUSE Tumbleweed 20180210
Machine:   Device: laptop System: Hewlett-Packard product: HP EliteBook 8560w v: A0001C02 serial: N/A
           Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 1631 v: KBC Version 01.3F serial: N/A
           UEFI: Hewlett-Packard v: 68SVD Ver. F.63 date: 10/27/2016
Battery    BAT0: charge: 53.5 Wh 96.3% condition: 55.6/55.6 Wh (100%)
           model: Hewlett-Packard Primary status: N/A
           hidpp__0: charge: 95% condition: NA/NA Wh model: Logitech M705 status: Discharging
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i5-2540M (-HT-MCP-) arch: Sandy Bridge rev.7 cache: 3072 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 10375
           clock speeds: max: 3300 MHz 1: 901 MHz 2: 845 MHz 3: 1227 MHz 4: 826 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GF108GLM [Quadro 1000M] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
           drivers: nouveau (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1600x900@59.98hz
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 5.0, 256 bits)
           version: 3.3 Mesa 18.0.0-rc3 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Def. Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2 NVIDIA GF108 High Def. Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.2-1-default
Network:   Card-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (Lewisville)
           driver: e1000e v: 3.2.6-k port: 5020 bus-ID: 00:19.0
           IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 driver: iwlwifi bus-ID: 25:00.0
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 2048.4GB (48.8% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: Samsung_SSD_850 size: 2048.4GB
           Optical-1: /dev/sr0 model: PIOR BD-RW BDR-TD05AS
           rev: 1.01 dev-links: cdrom,cdrw,dvd,dvdrw
           Features: speed: 62x multisession: yes
           audio: yes dvd: yes rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition: ID-1: / size: 94G used: 9.3G (10%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda4
           ID-2: /home size: 47G used: 4.0G (9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 20.15GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda9
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0C mobo: 44.0C gpu: 39.0
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 184 Uptime: 0:17 Memory: 1379.7/15987.8MB                                 
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: N/A Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.40

The iwconfig when connected to the “malfunctioning” NetGear AirCard after some 5 to 10 manual attempts to connect:

/usr/sbin/iwconfig
wlo1      IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"blabla2"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.22 GHz  Access Point: 50:6A:03:8F:0F:A1   
          Bit Rate=108 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=58/70  Signal level=-52 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:42   Missed beacon:0

enp0s25   no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

The iwconfig when connected to my other WiFi, which works smoothly as always:

/usr/sbin/iwconfig
wlo1      IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"blabla1"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.5 GHz  Access Point: C8:0E:14:64:90:3F   
          Bit Rate=243 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=64/70  Signal level=-46 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:41   Missed beacon:0

enp0s25   no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

Next thing to try now is to go away from the 5 GHz mode on the NetGear AirCard, although everything works fine with other operating systems (Windows, Manjaro). I will report back.

111MilesToGo · February 14, 2018, 9:35am

No, no success either with 2.4 GHz mode on the NetGear AirCard. iwconfig for this one when finally hooked up after 5 attempts:

/usr/sbin/iwconfig
wlo1      IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"blabla3"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.472 GHz  Access Point: 50:6A:03:8F:0F:A1   
          Bit Rate=58.5 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=70/70  Signal level=-33 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:35   Missed beacon:0

enp0s25   no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

Please, any further ideas why Tumbleweed just doesn’t like to hook up to this one out of several WiFi access points, neither automatically nor at the first manual attempt? Thanks for all input provided up to now, and thanks in advance for - hopefully - some clue towards a solution.

deano_ferrari · February 14, 2018, 10:08am

The iwconfig doesn’t tell us anything about the connection process. Instead, observe the NetworkManager logging when attempting to connect to the AP concerned perhaps. So, open a terminal and do

sudo journalctl -fu NetworkManager

then try connecting via NM and observe/capture the output for a failed connection.

111MilesToGo · February 14, 2018, 12:21pm

deano_ferrari:

The iwconfig doesn’t tell us anything about the connection process. Instead, observe the NetworkManager logging when attempting to connect to the AP concerned perhaps. So, open a terminal and do
sudo journalctl -fu NetworkManager
then try connecting via NM and observe/capture the output for a failed connection.

Thanks for coming in. Here’s the log. I have inserted some empty lines to make it more readable. After the logging starts, it shows a failed attempt to manually hook up to the WiFi access point around 12:02. Luckily, a second manual attempt around 12:04 turned out to be successful. Usually it takes like 5-10 attempts.

sudo journalctl -fu NetworkManager
[sudo] Passwort für root: 

-- Logs begin at Tue 2017-07-18 10:39:08 CEST. --


Feb 14 11:59:19 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605959.9949] device (wlo1): state change: unmanaged -> unavailable (reason 'managed', sys-iface-state: 'external')
Feb 14 11:59:20 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605960.3719] device (wlo1): set-hw-addr: set MAC address to 7E:8E:C1:E6:DD:D7 (scanning)
Feb 14 11:59:20 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605960.7383] ovsdb: Could not connect: No such file or directory
Feb 14 11:59:20 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605960.7430] modem-manager: ModemManager available
Feb 14 11:59:20 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605960.7853] supplicant: wpa_supplicant running
Feb 14 11:59:20 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605960.7854] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: init -> starting
Feb 14 11:59:20 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605960.8510] sup-iface[0x5610d74b1800,wlo1]: supports 5 scan SSIDs
Feb 14 11:59:20 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605960.8520] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: starting -> ready
Feb 14 11:59:20 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605960.8521] device (wlo1): state change: unavailable -> disconnected (reason 'supplicant-available', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 11:59:27 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518605967.2275] manager: startup complete


Feb 14 12:02:02 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606122.6679] device (wlo1): Activation: starting connection 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G' (47fb7b91-e5b1-43ed-a8c7-a2b55b5fb9d8)
Feb 14 12:02:02 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606122.6681] audit: op="connection-activate" uuid="47fb7b91-e5b1-43ed-a8c7-a2b55b5fb9d8" name="BlackBear-a8c10-5G" pid=2168 uid=1000 result="success"
Feb 14 12:02:02 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606122.6683] device (wlo1): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:02:02 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606122.6685] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTING
Feb 14 12:02:02 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606122.6822] device (wlo1): set-hw-addr: reset MAC address to 00:24:D7:E8:8B:E4 (preserve)
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.0465] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: ready -> disabled
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.0472] device (wlo1): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')                         
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.0474] device (wlo1): Activation: (wifi) access point 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G' has security, but secrets are required.        
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.0474] device (wlo1): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')                       
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.0475] sup-iface[0x5610d74b1800,wlo1]: wps: type pbc start...
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.0751] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: disabled -> inactive
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.2795] device (wlo1): state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.2799] device (wlo1): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.2802] device (wlo1): Activation: (wifi) connection 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G' has security, and secrets exist.  No new secrets needed.
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.2802] Config: added 'ssid' value 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G'
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.2802] Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.2802] Config: added 'bgscan' value 'simple:30:-80:86400'
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.2803] Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'WPA-PSK'
Feb 14 12:02:03 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606123.2803] Config: added 'psk' value '<hidden>'
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <warn>  [1518606148.1640] device (wlo1): Activation: (wifi) association took too long, failing activation
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606148.1640] device (wlo1): state change: config -> failed (reason 'ssid-not-found', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606148.1644] manager: NetworkManager state is now DISCONNECTED
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <warn>  [1518606148.1654] device (wlo1): Activation: failed for connection 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G'
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606148.1663] device (wlo1): state change: failed -> disconnected (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606148.1808] device (wlo1): set-hw-addr: set MAC address to AE:6D:71:77:44:AB (scanning)
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606148.5300] policy: set-hostname: set hostname to 'susytmblwdke.fritz.box' (from system configuration)
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606148.5308] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: inactive -> disconnected
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606148.5310] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> disabled
Feb 14 12:02:28 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606148.5673] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: disabled -> inactive


Feb 14 12:04:16 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606256.7451] device (wlo1): Activation: starting connection 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G' (47fb7b91-e5b1-43ed-a8c7-a2b55b5fb9d8)
Feb 14 12:04:16 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606256.7453] audit: op="connection-activate" uuid="47fb7b91-e5b1-43ed-a8c7-a2b55b5fb9d8" name="BlackBear-a8c10-5G" pid=2168 uid=1000 result="success"
Feb 14 12:04:16 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606256.7455] device (wlo1): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:04:16 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606256.7470] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTING
Feb 14 12:04:16 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606256.7608] device (wlo1): set-hw-addr: reset MAC address to 00:24:D7:E8:8B:E4 (preserve)
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1143] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: inactive -> disabled
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1146] device (wlo1): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1149] device (wlo1): Activation: (wifi) access point 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G' has security, but secrets are required.
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1149] device (wlo1): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1149] sup-iface[0x5610d74b1800,wlo1]: wps: type pbc start...
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1301] device (wlo1): state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1305] device (wlo1): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1308] device (wlo1): Activation: (wifi) connection 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G' has security, and secrets exist.  No new secrets needed.
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1308] Config: added 'ssid' value 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G'
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1308] Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1308] Config: added 'bgscan' value 'simple:30:-80:86400'
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1309] Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'WPA-PSK'
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1309] Config: added 'psk' value '<hidden>'
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1510] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: disabled -> inactive
Feb 14 12:04:17 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606257.1663] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: inactive -> scanning
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.2424] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: scanning -> authenticating
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.3425] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> associating
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.4533] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: associating -> associated
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.5045] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: associated -> 4-way handshake
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.5246] device (wlo1): supplicant interface state: 4-way handshake -> completed
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.5247] device (wlo1): Activation: (wifi) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) successful.  Connected to wireless network 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G'.
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.5248] device (wlo1): state change: config -> ip-config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.5258] dhcp4 (wlo1): activation: beginning transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.5287] dhcp4 (wlo1): dhclient started with pid 2535
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6108] dhcp4 (wlo1):   address 192.168.1.72
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6109] dhcp4 (wlo1):   plen 24 (255.255.255.0)
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6109] dhcp4 (wlo1):   gateway 192.168.1.1
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6109] dhcp4 (wlo1):   lease time 43200
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6110] dhcp4 (wlo1):   hostname 'susytmblwdke'
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6110] dhcp4 (wlo1):   nameserver '192.168.1.1'
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6110] dhcp4 (wlo1):   domain name 'aircard'
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6110] dhcp4 (wlo1): state changed unknown -> bound
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6127] device (wlo1): state change: ip-config -> ip-check (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6135] device (wlo1): state change: ip-check -> secondaries (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6138] device (wlo1): state change: secondaries -> activated (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6140] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_LOCAL
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6223] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_SITE
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.6224] policy: set 'BlackBear-a8c10-5G' (wlo1) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: nisdomainname: you must be root to change the domain name
Feb 14 12:04:20 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606260.8324] device (wlo1): Activation: successful, device activated.
Feb 14 12:04:21 susytmblwdke.fritz.box NetworkManager[1374]: <info>  [1518606261.9228] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_GLOBAL

I am noting that between 12:02:03 and 12:02:28 it says “WiFi activation took too long”. (Yes, the NetGear AirCard for sure was not in any sleep mode when trying to connect from the laptop.)

I am sorry but it seems I would need some help in looking at this log and trying to get to the root cause.

Please remember that this WiFi device used to work smoothly in Tumbleweed until last week, and it continues to work as it should in Windows, Linux Mint and Manjaro. Only Tumbleweed is giving me these problems this week, and other WiFi devices continue to work fine in all operating systems.

111MilesToGo · February 28, 2018, 3:43pm

I have updated Tumbleweed twice in the meantime. Latest versions installed today are Tumbleweed 20180226 with Linux Kernel 4.15.5.

The bad news is: Nothing changed. It still takes like 5-10 manual attempts to let Tumbleweed connect to my WiFi access point NetGear AirCard - such 5-10 attempts take like 30 sec each! Didn’t change any technical parameters. Just as a side remark: There had been a firmware update for the NetGear in the meantime, no effect on the issue seen with Tumbleweed.

As I reported previously, all other WiFi access points work fine under Tumbleweed. And under Manjaro, all WiFi’s including the NetGear do work fine. The same holds for Windows 8.1. It takes 2-3 sec under Manjaro to automatically hook up to the NetGear at boot.

Since I think it is NetworkManager that is responsible for establishing a WiFi connection between my computer and any WiFi device, here are the respective versions:
Tumbleweed networkmanager 1.10.4
Manjaro networkmanager 1.10.5

S.O.S.: Any ideas for a remedy out there, please? I should be very grateful.

In fact, I am considering to file a bug report with openSUSE Bugzilla, but I am not sure whether to do so at all, and not sure about what to provide then.

deano_ferrari · February 28, 2018, 7:36pm

It is a strange issue. I doubt that NetworkManager is responsible for the issue though. It uses wpa_supplicant to handle WPA authentication and as such controls the IEEE 802.11 authentication/association of the underlying wireless driver. So if there is a problem, then it is likely to be with wpa_supplicant or the wireless (iwlwifi) driver IMHO. When you try connecting with this particular machine is it the only station connecting at the time? You might need to remove NM out of the equation and perhaps read this guide to debug further using wpa_supplicant to manually connect…
https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Tracking_down_wireless_problems

A bug report might be the only way forward here.

111MilesToGo · March 5, 2018, 2:06pm

Update: This strange issue is NOT solved as of now.

I have done another Tumbleweed (KDE, by the way) update today to 20180302. And I have worked my way through the various sticky posts here under “Wireless” that give some guidelines as well as the https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Tracking_down_wireless_problems contribution.

Regarding the computer hardware: Please refer to the “inxi -Fxzd” output pasted in a previous post in this thread. In addition, adhering to one of the sticky guides here:

dmesg | grep firmware
    8.976481] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-6000-6.ucode failed with error -2
    8.976498] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-6000-5.ucode failed with error -2
    8.978340] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: loaded firmware version 9.221.4.1 build 25532 op_mode iwldvm

Dear fellows, please advise on what to learn from that. Do I need to install external firmware??? Anyway, the WiFi module in the laptop is detected as a PCI device at bus number 25:00.0

/sbin/lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200/2nd Generation Core Processor Family PCI Express Root Port (rev 09)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:16.3 Serial controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family KT Controller (rev 04)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection (Lewisville) (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev b4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev b4)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev b4)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev b4)
00:1c.7 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 8 (rev b4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation QM67 Express Chipset Family LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 6 Series/C200 Series Chipset Family 6 port Mobile SATA AHCI Controller (rev 04)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF108GLM [Quadro 1000M] (rev a1)
01:00.1 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation GF108 High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
24:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): JMicron Technology Corp. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (rev 30)
24:00.1 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller (rev 30)             
24:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technology Corp. Standard SD Host Controller (rev 30)       
25:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (rev 35)                 
26:00.0 USB controller: NEC Corporation uPD720200 USB 3.0 Host Controller (rev 04)

with PCI vendor and product ID codes

/sbin/lspci -n                                                           
...
25:00.0 0280: 8086:4238 (rev 35)
...

And some longer dmesg logging:

dmesg | grep Centrino
    9.070014] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Detected Intel(R) Centrino(R) Ultimate-N 6300 AGN, REV=0x74
myself@susytmblwdke:~> dmesg | grep 25:00.0
    1.916261] pci 0000:25:00.0: [8086:4238] type 00 class 0x028000
    1.916352] pci 0000:25:00.0: reg 0x10: [mem 0xd1200000-0xd1201fff 64bit]
    1.916644] pci 0000:25:00.0: PME# supported from D0 D3hot D3cold
    8.930964] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
    8.940959] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: can't disable ASPM; OS doesn't have ASPM control
    8.976481] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-6000-6.ucode failed with error -2
    8.976498] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-6000-5.ucode failed with error -2
    8.978340] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: loaded firmware version 9.221.4.1 build 25532 op_mode iwldvm
    9.070008] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUG enabled
    9.070010] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEBUGFS enabled
    9.070012] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: CONFIG_IWLWIFI_DEVICE_TRACING disabled
    9.070014] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Detected Intel(R) Centrino(R) Ultimate-N 6300 AGN, REV=0x74
    9.220520] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0 wlo1: renamed from wlan0
   10.994671] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1
   11.235311] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1
   11.352399] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1
   11.596570] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1
   21.150945] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1
   21.396117] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1
   52.025871] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1
   52.268251] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1
   81.002842] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1
   81.248848] iwlwifi 0000:25:00.0: Radio type=0x0-0x3-0x1

And now for iwconfig outputs:

/usr/sbin/iwconfig
wlo1      IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"blablabla"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.18 GHz  Access Point: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX   
          Bit Rate=135 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=64/70  Signal level=-46 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:69   Missed beacon:0

enp0s25   no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

as well as iwlist

sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan
[sudo] Passwort für root: 
wlo1      Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
                    Channel:36
                    Frequency:5.18 GHz (Channel 36)
                    Quality=66/70  Signal level=-44 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"blablabla"
                    Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s
                              36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
                    Extra:tsf=00000001845b379c
                    Extra: Last beacon: 232ms ago
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : CCMP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---
                    IE: Unknown: ---snipped hex code---

Maybe most interesting is the log output from wpa_supplicant (with -dddt added):

Successfully initialized wpa_supplicant
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SCAN-FAILED ret=-22 retry=1
wlo1: SME: Trying to authenticate with XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX (SSID='blablabla' freq=5180 MHz)
wlo1: Trying to associate with XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX (SSID='blablabla' freq=5180 MHz)
wlo1: Associated with XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SUBNET-STATUS-UPDATE status=0
wlo1: WPA: Key negotiation completed with XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX [PTK=CCMP GTK=CCMP]
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX completed [id=0 id_str=]
wlo1: CTRL-EVENT-SIGNAL-CHANGE above=1 signal=-44 noise=9999 txrate=13500
wlo1: WPA: Group rekeying completed with XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX [GTK=CCMP]

The first bunch of SCAN-FAILED messages is generated when Tumbleweed tries to auto-connect to the WiFi access point in question after booting the laptop. Thereafter, when trying to connect manually, things do work, and the connection is being established. A very similar output is generated by wpa_supplicant when not auto-connecting at boot, but try to manually connect at any point in time. As I said, it usually takes like 5 manual attempts before a WiFi connection is established; when I’m lucky, it take two attempts like here.

Unfortunately, I do need further help in order to understand what to make out of all this. Thanks again and in advance for your help and time!

111MilesToGo · March 5, 2018, 5:06pm

Maybe there’s light now at the end of the tunnel…

One more thing I figured to do: Switch the WiFi access point in question (NetGear AirCard) to unprotected mode for little while, connect to and disconnect from it, then switch the AP back to WPA2-PSK protected mode and re-establish its settings via Network Manager. Well, this finally did “cut the Gordian knot”, sigh… At least Tumbleweed now did connect to it smoothly some four or five times both automatically at boot and manually at any point in time, as it used to do before.

Whatever bit/byte did get rotten and couldn’t be restored to normal - I don’t like to dig even deeper and invest any more time.

It remains terribly strange that out of all six possible combinations of two WiFi access points (this NetGear AirCard in question, and a FritzBox) and three operating systems (Tumbleweed KDE, Manjaro Xfce, WIndows 8.1) only this one combination (Tumbleweed / NetGear) started the misbehavior described above. Plus numerous Tumbleweed updates as well as one firmware update on the NetGear, and of course several deletes/rebuilds of the WiFi connection in question via Network Manager.

If I don’t report back here, then my WiFi’s continue to run smoothly. Thus, thanks for your help and suggestions.

deano_ferrari · March 5, 2018, 8:07pm

A very similar output is generated by wpa_supplicant when not  auto-connecting at boot, but try to manually connect at any point in  time.

Did you try connecting directly with wpa_supplicant from a terminal (ie with NetworkManager service stopped)? Was that what you were trying to communicate with the above comment? Your other comment about testing disabling WPA encryption on the router leads me to wonder if wpa_supplicant is the issue here? As mentioned already, this may need a bug report to help resolve.

111MilesToGo · March 6, 2018, 12:20pm

Hi deano_ferrari, please accept my sincere gratefulness for your interest and help.

I hope you will understand that there are three souls in me, the first being the humble user with only 1.5 years of Linux experience who just wants everything to run smoothly, the second one being the curious person who is always willing to learn new things, and the third one being the person who is willing to take part in the open-source community by sharing know-how and contributing to improvements as well as aiding in debugging.

And I hope you will understand that - after three weeks of living with and diving into the network / WiFi issue here - my threshold for trying another pragmatic fix instead of cooperating in serious debugging lowered considerably. I know very well this is conflicting with the open-source community spirit, but I couldn’t resist any longer to just try pragmatically and get the issue out of my way. Thus, with the issue gone now, I can’t help in debugging.

deano_ferrari:

A very similar output is generated by  wpa_supplicant when not  auto-connecting at boot, but try to manually  connect at any point in  time.
Did you try connecting directly with wpa_supplicant from a terminal (ie with NetworkManager service stopped)? Was that what you were trying to communicate with the above comment? Your other comment about testing disabling WPA encryption on the router leads me to wonder if wpa_supplicant is the issue here? As mentioned already, this may need a bug report to help resolve.

Answering your most recent question: No, I didn’t stop the NetworkManager service and didn’t run wpa_supplicant from a terminal. I just called for wpa_supplicant to log verbosely, then used the KDE NetworkManager applet again and again. So there is no clue as to who might be the ultimate culprit in my case, wpa_supplicant, iwlwifi, NetworkManager or its applet etc. I had worked through the sticky posts here on the openSUSE Forum -> Technical Help -> Wireless, and I found all checks to be passed fine. Thereafter, I went to the “SDB:Tracking down wireless problems” wiki, but I lost my courage at the point when this wiki asks for creating wpa_supplicant config files in order to run it manually. I just got scared at breaking my system much more. That was the point when I decided to try the brute-force “switch the wireless access point to unprotected and back to protected” approach - which worked like a miracle.

PS: As a side remark in asking for your understanding, I might like to tell you that I was thrown into chewing away on too many computer problems during the last 2 or 3 months: The world’s biggest operating system a.o. company simply trashed my two Windows 10 installations (a physical system and a virtual machine) by faulty updates causing endless “boot device not found” blue screens that could not be repaired; this resulted in my spending time on building two Windows 8.1 machines complete with all software on top of losing the purchase price for two Win10 licenses. Plus I lost one data partition on an external SSD that irregularly just didn’t like to live on 5V USB power. On the other hand, the nice achievements during that time were to perfect my computer audio setup both on Linux and Windows, get Tumbleweed KDE polished, and last but not least discover Manjaro Linux Xfce, get to like it and make it my secondary OS instead of Mint.

deano_ferrari · March 8, 2018, 12:02am

Whatever works for you.