Wifi connection problem after update

English Network/Internet
#1

Ever since updates 08 Sep 2022, the wifi will rarely connect. System is:

Operating System: openSUSE Leap 15.4
KDE Plasma Version: 5.24.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.90.0
Qt Version: 5.15.2
Kernel Version: 5.14.21-150400.24.18-default (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 4 × Intel® Core™ i5 CPU M 540 @ 2.53GHz
Memory: 3.6 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa DRI Intel® HD Graphics

69: None 01.0: 1070a WLAN
  [Created at net.126]
  Unique ID: djUx.QXn1l67RSa1
  Parent ID: PL6s.G7ywTgRV0c4
  SysFS ID: /class/net/wlan1
  SysFS Device Link: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.4/0000:02:00.0
  Hardware Class: network interface
  Model: "WLAN network interface"
  Driver: "iwlwifi"
  Driver Modules: "iwlwifi"
  Device File: wlan1
  HW Address: 00:23:14:7c:83:e4
  Permanent HW Address: 00:23:14:7c:83:e4
  Link detected: yes
  Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #17 (WLAN controller)

howard@X201-oS15KDE:~> /sbin/lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
00:16.3 Serial controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset KT Controller (rev 06)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 06)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 06)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 06)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev 06)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev 06)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 06)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a6)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation QM57 Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset SMBus Controller (rev 06)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 06)
02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Advanced-N 6200 (rev 35)
ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 1st Generation Core i3/5/7 Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 1st Generation Core i3/5/7 Processor Reserved (rev 02)
ff:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 1st Generation Core i3/5/7 Processor Reserved (rev 02)
howard@X201-oS15KDE:~>

Wifi always worked before the update, one of which was kernel-firmware-iwlwifi. Now when trying to connect, the window says “Configuring interface” for a while, then “The WiFi network could not be found” and “Connection ‘howardcathy2.4G’ deactivated.” If I try to connect five or so times, sometimes it finally will. This morning it has not connected to wifi. It’s on a cable now.

Regarding firmware, I get:

howard@X201-oS15KDE:~> sudo dmesg | grep firmware
[sudo] password for root: 
    0.147633] Spectre V2 : Enabling Restricted Speculation for firmware calls
    3.218889] psmouse serio2: trackpoint: IBM TrackPoint firmware: 0x0e, buttons: 3/3
   19.642841] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-6000-6.ucode failed with error -2
   20.286595] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: Direct firmware load for iwlwifi-6000-5.ucode failed with error -2
   20.322652] iwlwifi 0000:02:00.0: loaded firmware version 9.221.4.1 build 25532 6000-4.ucode op_mode iwldvm
howard@X201-oS15KDE:~>

When wifi does connect I get:

howard@X201-oS15KDE:~> /usr/sbin/iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan1     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"howardcathy2.4G"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.422 GHz  Access Point: 80:CC:9C:29:48:77   
          Bit Rate=1 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=-25 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:32   Missed beacon:0

tun0      no wireless extensions.

howard@X201-oS15KDE:~>

If wifi is not connected I get:

howard@X201-oS15KDE:~> /usr/sbin/iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan1     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          
tun0      no wireless extensions.

howard@X201-oS15KDE:~>

I can always get (deleting the other 80+ cells):

howard@X201-oS15KDE:~> sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan > scan.txt
[sudo] password for root: 
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

tun0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan1     Scan completed :

    ---------snip-----------
          Cell 13 - Address: XX:YY:ZZ:AA:BB:CC
                    Channel:3
                    Frequency:2.422 GHz (Channel 3)
                    Quality=70/70  Signal level=-27 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"howardcathy2.4G"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
                    Extra:tsf=00000193594da2b1
                    Extra: Last beacon: 212ms ago
                    IE: Unknown: 000F686F776172646361746879322E3447
                    IE: Unknown: 010882840B162430486C
                    IE: Unknown: 030103
                    IE: Unknown: 0706555320010B1E
                    IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                    IE: Unknown: 2F0100
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : CCMP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: 32040C121860
                    IE: Unknown: 2D1AAD1917FFFFFF0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 3D1603080000000000000000000000000000000000000000
                    IE: Unknown: 4A0E14000A002C01C800140005001900
                    IE: Unknown: 7F080500000000000040
                    IE: Unknown: DD800050F204104A0001101044000102103B000103104700102BBF0BD47094C1CDE0C12D8171B6A6801021000D4E4554474541522C20496E632E102300075236373030763310240007523637303076331042000233321054000800060050F20400011011000752363730307633100800022008103C0001031049000600372A000120
                    IE: Unknown: DD090010180201001C0000
                    IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101880003A4000027A400004243BC0062326600
                    IE: Unknown: 46057208010000
                    
    ---------snip-----------
howard@X201-oS15KDE:~>

Wifi always works correctly when this system is booted to Windows 10. What is happening here, and how can I fix it?

#2

Based on the MAC address this is an Intel Wifi card.

Regarding the firmware: I would be good to know if these failures are also seen before the update of 8 Sep.
You should be able to find that in the journal, with something like “sudo journalctl -b 7 | grep firmware” you can check the boot log 7 boot ago.

If there you do not see these failures I am pretty sure it has something to do with these failures.

#3

You’ll have to take my word that there were no connection failures prior to the updates.

howard@X201-oS15KDE:~> sudo journalctl -b 7 | grep firmware
[sudo] password for root: 
Specifying boot ID or boot offset has no effect, no persistent journal was found.
howard@X201-oS15KDE:~>

I deleted kernel-firmware-all and kernel-firmware-iwlwifi, then reinstalled them and rebooted. Wifi is connecting most of the time now. May be tolerable if it holds.

#4

Post as root:

grep 09-08 /var/log/zypp/history
#5

OK. It’s at https://paste.opensuse.org/41900262

#6

The only thing I see is:
kernel-firmware and a new kernel.

Can you boot with the previous kernel and see?

If that do not help, can you install the previous kernel-firmware packages and see?

#7

Booting to the previous kernel made no difference. It had the updated kernel-firmware-iwlwifi - 20220509-150400.4.8.1. Seems the update put the new firmware in both the latest (running) kernel and the previous one.

Running the previous kernel (5.14.21-150400.24.11-default), I installed the previous firmware (kernel-firmware-iwlwifi - 20220509-150400.4.5.1) and rebooted, again to the previous kernel, but no change. The latest kernel is now booted, and it too has the previous firmware (kernel-firmware-iwlwifi - 20220509-150400.4.5.1) but still has connection trouble.

#8

Have you restarted your Router?

#9

I just did, but now cannot connect with NetworkManager. That is what I have always used. I just switched to wicked, and it connected. Our building has a wifi network and NetworkManager has trouble connecting to it. Strange.

#10

For the first time, in many years, my spouse’s laptop has had very intermittent connection to house WiFi. As my machine is on Ethernet I cannot reproduce this. in last few days, effectively she connects and the machine logs off of WiFi itself while she is browsing or sending emails. Random disconnects at a few minutes or longer. Has anyone else since say 24th Sept 2022 had intermittent connection to WiFi. System uses Intel WiFi with internal laptop aerials at about 20 metres through two brick walls.
Any suggestions from you folk?
PS Her machine uses openSUSE LEAP 15.4 up to date with KDE desktop on Intel hardware.
Could it be hardware problems?

#11

If she is using NetworkManager, I suggest trying wicked. You can switch in YaST > Network Settings. As mentioned above in this thread, since early September, a laptop similar to yours had trouble connecting with NetworkManager, but works fine with wicked. Also, no problem with Windows 10. Before trying wicked, once our laptop connected with NetworkManager it stayed on, unlike your disconnecting issue.

#12

Another suggestion is take the laptop to a library or somewhere with public wifi and see how it behaves. If it works there, your router may be failing.

#13

Eionmac
openSUSE LEAP 15.3 , Windows 10 & 11 ; standby Leap 15.4 on second USB external drive. Various old computers dual boot and Live Linux distros
I see we have a similar history with SuSE. You joined the forum one month before I did. Quite a nice distribution, eh, what?

#14

I’ve got a different problem with my Intel card, which seems to be random and pretty hard to reproduce. wlan0 would just go down without apparent cause. Restarting NetworkManager and reloading iwlmvm kernel modules don’t help. Neither does rebooting. wlan0 could only be ‘repaired’ by logging into a live system (15.4 Rescue), doing nothing, and rebooting again from hard disk. This strange problem first happened on 22 Sept, most recently two hours ago, and once again sometime in between.

I am trying downgrading

kernel-firmware-iwlwifi

to

20220509-150400.4.5.1

to see if it helps.

Please tell me if my description is unclear.

#15

Your description is clear.

Let’s us know if downgrading works and if that solves the problem.

Two questions:

  • Since when did the problem start? Never seen the problem before?
  • Does the journal show anything when the problem happens? Try “sudo hournalctl -b | grep wl” and consider pasting that output here Using Code Tags Around Your Paste
#16

More wireless trouble https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/534453-Switching-to-Fedora-and-back-to-openSUSE-renders-wireless-interface-dormant Problems are gone since using a static hostname in each installed system which is never changed through DHCP.

#17

Thank you for your reply.

  1. It happened on 22 Sept, 8 Oct, and sometime in between, only three times in total.
    No, never seen it.

  2. When it first happened, I checked dmesg and something unusual did happen. But I had a deadline approaching and logged into a Live system to finish it, and when I booted up again it was ‘magically’ fixed. I will save the journal entries if the problem comes up again,

#18

Sorry, but I’ve only got openSUSE installed on my laptop. So maybe it’s not a problem with DHCP? And wlan0 went down after I’d used it for some time. I’ve set the hostname explicitly to ‘localhost’ to see if it helps.

#19

What I observed with my FRITZ!Box 7360 acting as a DHCP server:

  • any installer of any distribution would always connect to the DHCP server
  • any installed system would inevitably experience connection problems related to DHCP upon prolonged operation

I made sure:

  • every installed system had its own static hostname
  • the FRITZ!Box would never try to assign the same ipv4 address based on the MAC address of the link

I made these changes three years ago. DHCP works flawlessly since then.

#20

Well, if it’s really a problem with DHCP, then the only thing I can do is set my hostname—I’m on my school’s WiFi.