Hello all,
Last Friday I experienced very strange behavior of my Wifi link. This happened at the same time on both my laptops working in my home network. Both the machines (different hardware) works under OpenSuse 12.2 and I didn’t perform any configuration changes last months, except for the OpenSuse auto-update.
The strange Wifi behavior looks like this:
Wifi turns on and connets properly after the system start. NetworkManager widget shows connected status, internet works ok.
After a while (usually a couple of minutes) the internet connection is broken. All the other services that use internet (Kopete, Dropbox etc.) loses their connection as well, I can’t even connect to any device in my local home network (printer, NAS, WiFi access point, etc.). The strange thing is, that NetworkManager widget shows status of the Wifi link as connected!
Switching the Wifi interface Off and On again brings the internet connection back for the next couple of minutes, and the problem occurs again and again.
What I checked:
I tried to use ifup instead of the NetworkManager, but it didn’t help - same behavior of the Wifi link.
Network works properly on my cable connection directly to my Wifi router using eth0
One of my two machines has multiboot config with Win XP installed so I checked the Wifi link under Windows and everything works OK.
Googling a while I havent found any similar issue. Please advice what do I have to check to solve the problem.
Thanks in advance.
On 10/19/2012 07:56 AM, miniol wrote:
>
> Hello all,
> Last Friday I experienced very strange behavior of my Wifi link. This
> happened at the same time on both my laptops working in my home network.
> Both the machines (different hardware) works under OpenSuse 12.2 and I
> didn’t perform any configuration changes last months, except for the
> OpenSuse auto-update.
>
> The strange Wifi behavior looks like this:
> - Wifi turns on and connets properly after the system start.
> NetworkManager widget shows connected status, internet works ok.
> - After a while (usually a couple of minutes) the internet connection
> is broken. All the other services that use internet (Kopete, Dropbox
> etc.) loses their connection as well, I can’t even connect to any device
> in my local home network (printer, NAS, WiFi access point, etc.). The
> strange thing is, that NetworkManager widget shows status of the Wifi
> link as connected!
> - Switching the Wifi interface Off and On again brings the internet
> connection back for the next couple of minutes, and the problem occurs
> again and again.
>
> What I checked:
> - I tried to use ifup instead of the NetworkManager, but it didn’t help
> - same behavior of the Wifi link.
> - Network works properly on my cable connection directly to my Wifi
> router using eth0
> - One of my two machines has multiboot config with Win XP installed so
> I checked the Wifi link under Windows and everything works OK.
>
> Googling a while I havent found any similar issue. Please advice what
> do I have to check to solve the problem.
> Thanks in advance.
This is not a generic problem with 12.2. During long-term testing, I have
maintained a wifi connection for 2 weeks with no unintended disconnections.
The differences between NM and ifup are all before the connection is made.
There is no reason to expect any differences for this problem.
When you “updated” to 12.2, did you “upgrade”, or did you do a clean install?
Again it shouldn’t make any difference, but we should have that info. What
desktop? Again, probably not important, but we should always get that info for
completeness.
What does the output of dmesg say about the disconnect? Do both systems have the
same reason?
You need to tell us what wifi hardware you have. If PCI, then the output of
‘/sbin/lspci -nn’ would tell that. If USB, then post the output of ‘lsusb’. It
would also be useful to know the make/model of the AP. Is it running standard
vendor firmware?
It depends. On one machine (DELL E5500) it was a clean install, on the second one (Lenovo B570) it was an upgrade from 12.1 I’m not sure if you understood correctly, the wifi problems didn’t start right after the system upgrade (to 12.2). I was using OpenSuse 12.2 successfully for a couple of weeks (mid of September) on both the machines. I discovered the problem last Friday.
KDE on both machines.
I can now only check on Dell, but in my opinion it doesn’t say anything. I run dmesg first when wifi worked ok. After the first connection loss i run dmesg again and no difference (no new entries). I restarted the wireless connection and run dmesg again - here you have the new lines:
2412.129260] wlan0: deauthenticating from 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f by local choice (reason=3)
2412.138510] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
2412.190352] iwlwifi 0000:0c:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to disable radio.
2412.227811] cfg80211: World regulatory domain updated:
2412.227815] cfg80211: (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
2412.227817] cfg80211: (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2412.227820] cfg80211: (2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2412.227822] cfg80211: (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2412.227824] cfg80211: (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2412.227827] cfg80211: (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2416.412238] iwlwifi 0000:0c:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to enable radio.
2416.413656] iwlwifi 0000:0c:00.0: L1 Enabled; Disabling L0S
2416.416725] iwlwifi 0000:0c:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0
2416.465744] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
2423.290913] wlan0: authenticate with 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f
2423.294548] wlan0: send auth to 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f (try 1/3)
2423.299414] wlan0: authenticated
2423.304067] wlan0: associate with 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f (try 1/3)
2423.310526] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=1)
2423.315457] wlan0: associated
2423.315650] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
2434.096251] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
After the next wifi loss nothing again new in dmesg result → next wireless restart and next dmesg:
2732.589332] wlan0: deauthenticating from 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f by local choice (reason=3)
2732.608713] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
2732.663477] iwlwifi 0000:0c:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to disable radio.
2732.829842] cfg80211: World regulatory domain updated:
2732.829846] cfg80211: (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
2732.829849] cfg80211: (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2732.829851] cfg80211: (2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2732.829853] cfg80211: (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2732.829856] cfg80211: (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2732.829858] cfg80211: (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
2735.930735] iwlwifi 0000:0c:00.0: RF_KILL bit toggled to enable radio.
2735.931842] iwlwifi 0000:0c:00.0: L1 Enabled; Disabling L0S
2735.934859] iwlwifi 0000:0c:00.0: Radio type=0x1-0x2-0x0
2735.979714] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
2742.334412] wlan0: authenticate with 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f
2742.336041] wlan0: send auth to 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f (try 1/3)
2742.338865] wlan0: authenticated
2742.340068] wlan0: associate with 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f (try 1/3)
2742.345743] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 80:c6:ab:3b:9d:8f (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=1)
2742.348742] wlan0: associated
2742.348900] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
2746.239297] IPv4: martian source 192.168.0.10 from 173.194.65.189, on dev wlan0
2746.239302] ll header: 00000000: 00 22 fb b5 83 7e 80 c6 ab 69 aa 38 08 00 ."...~...i.8..
2752.816032] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
On Lenovo B570 I will check later on, but this should be also a PCI, AFAIK some Intel as well.
The AP is Thompson TWG870UG running on standard firmware.
Update:
I’ve just checked the second machine - Lenovo B570.
The dmesg behaves the same way (no records on connection loss, only after wifi restart) so it isn’t helpful.
On 10/19/2012 04:46 PM, miniol wrote:
>
> Update:
> I’ve just checked the second machine - Lenovo B570.
> The dmesg behaves the same way (no records on connection loss, only
> after wifi restart) so it isn’t helpful.
>
> The network controllers are PCI:
>
> Code:
> --------------------
>
> 02:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
> 03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 06)
>
> --------------------
As you have one Intel and one Atheros wifi devices, the wireless driver is not
the source of your problem. It is possible that some change in mac80211 is not
working well with your AP; however, I am not aware of any problem in kernel 3.4.
You might try the compat-wireless package for your computer, or by trying the
3.6 kernel from the kernel repo.
Does it mean that there was some change performed recently? When exactly the new update was available in the repository?
Maybe I should reconfigure my AP according to the modification?
I didn’t find the compat-wireless binary package in repository.
I tried the 3.6.2-3-default i686 kernel on the Dell machine but no luck - the problem still exists.
You seem to miss one important thing that I mentioned earlier. Both the computers were operating OK for a quite long time and one of them (Dell) still works OK with my AP but under Windows XP. I use the AP over two years and I never experienced any problems with Wifi.
On 10/20/2012 11:56 AM, miniol wrote:
>
>>
>> As you have one Intel and one Atheros wifi devices, the wireless driver
>> is not
>> the source of your problem. It is possible that some change in mac80211
>> is not
>> working well with your AP; however, I am not aware of any problem in
>> kernel 3.4.
>>
>
> Does it mean that there was some change performed recently? When
> exactly the new update was available in the repository?
>
> Maybe I should reconfigure my AP according to the modification?
Did you allow the update the the latest 3.4 kernel. If so, there were changes. I
have no idea what might have changed.
>>
>> You might try the compat-wireless package for your computer, or by
>> trying the
>> 3.6 kernel from the kernel repo.
>>
>
> I didn’t find the compat-wireless binary package in repository.
> I tried the 3.6.2-3-default i686 kernel on the Dell machine but no luck
> - the problem still exists.
>
>>
>> Two computers, same problem? I would restart the router or access point
>> instead.
>>
>
> You seem to miss one important thing that I mentioned earlier. Both the
> computers were operating OK for a quite long time and one of them (Dell)
> still works OK with my AP but under Windows XP. I use the AP over two
> years and I never experienced any problems with Wifi.
You also might have picked up a new and strong interference. You might try a new
channel on the AP from 1, 6, or 11. Using ‘sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan’ will tell
you what interference might be. Choose the channel that has the smallest number
of strong sources.
All updates I do are the automatic ones recommended for the distro.
I checked the Wifi channels utilization around my AP (using an android app on my mobile) and it looks like the only occupied band is between ch.3 and 11. I used ch.1 at my AP so an interference shouldn’t be aproblem - however I switched to ch.13 and it didn’t help.
I run the Opensuse 12.2 KDE live CD on my DELL and wifi works OK on it.
Yesterday I managed to work a couple of hours without any problems from WiFI. Same thing today - looks like a self healing problem. Great, but I still don’t know the root cause of my recent problems.
I suspect my AP more and more. I red many negative opinions about the Thomson WiFI router I have.
I installed OpenSuse 12.2 on my Toshiba Satellite L650 Laptop, I have the exact same problem, wifi internet works great for a few minutes, after that it gets lost. Restarting <downing/upping> gets it back for a second and then again it is lost.
There has to be something wrong with the OS somewhere, or the driver. I have other OS’s on other machines, I can connect easy mode with an internal wifi interfaces from any of em, and I have put a 18dbi directional antenna on a good usb interface on this machine and it’s ****.
If someone discovers something please let me know, please…
I can confirm the same problem for the ath9k module.
I ran an update today on openSUSE 12.2 and WLAN no longer works. I have a bouncing authentication:
Oct 24 13:18:54 kolibri kernel: [13650.192963] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:24:fe:08:e9:c7 by local choice (reason=3)
within seconds after connecting.
I will try to figure out which updates I got and where it went wrong. But that it’s somewhere in the updates is over obvious to me.
Been experimenting and I have wlan running again without problems.
I took the 12.2 install DVD and reinstalled everything (choose the update option!). That’s only a 15 minute job or so. (Ofcourse I have /home on a separate partition.) As expected wlan did not work.
Then gradually updated all other packages to the latest revisions. And wlan is still ok.
So the fact that wlan stopped working after the kernel update is likely due to a sequence ordering prroblem. I expect the kernel update to mess around with things which requires a reinstall of compat-wireless. In your case I would suggest to reinstall compat-wireless from said repo.
W.r.t. the repo of señor Lord_LT, it comes up as an unstable repo from download.opensuse.org. But it fits me better than openSUSEs own repo as it seems incomplete.
> So the fact that wlan stopped working after the kernel update is likely
> due to a sequence ordering prroblem. I expect the kernel update to mess
> around with things which requires a reinstall of compat-wireless. In
> your case I would suggest to reinstall compat-wireless from said repo.
I tire of reminding people that out-of-kernel drivers must be built for the
kernel that you are using. That is true for proprietary drivers such as wl and
Nvidia, and for open-source things like compat-wireless or the VirtualBox code.
If you use a driver other than those that are built into the kernel, that driver
will break once the kernel is changed. It is your responsibility to ensure that
you have a driver upgrade path BEFORE you allow a kernel to be changed.
I am tired of people screaming in my ear whilst I’m just trying to explain the state of facts. Also I can’t remember you have giving me this advice before and me being deaf for it. I fail to see the basis for your attitude.
On your argument: I don’t check the technical contents of updates. I’m an end user. I expect my “service provider” (whether the official packager or not) to set the dependencies correctly. That’s (in my naive perception) what rpm dependencies are for. I’m physically unable to investigate if I get 50 or so updates, if these updates are conflicting or depending or other versions of other rpms. It may technically be my responsibility, but that’s theory. Practice is totally different.
I did almost the same, re-install (complete!) when I install the Lord_LT compat_wireless package it destroys my intel i915 video driver. I racked my brains trying to figure out why the driver complained about missing kernel symbols then I remembered the warning above.
Removing the wireless-compat stuff fixed the driver but of course, my wlan drops out all the time now…
I’ll try to find out what went wrong.
I’m documenting my struggles here so others might benefit, hopefully.
After my debacle with wireless-compat built against a different kernel I found some site with instructions on how to switch out KnetworkManager for the gnome variant.
This appeared to work until I installed the rest of Gnome to give that a spin and who knows what was changed.
I just reconfigured and rebooted my TP link router and set a specific channel to prevent it from channel hopping and the connection is still up after 15 minutes.
Fingers crossed!
I have a Dell (older model) that is new install from 12.1 to 12.2. No problems at all. I also have a newer Toshiba that is a new install from 12.1 to 12.2. Internet hooked up after install. Seems fine. After 30 minutes or so, it drops connection. In my case it thinks there are NO wireless anywhere. I’ve reinstalled 3 times from scratch. Same thing each time. I have come across something that may help. I’m using KDE, and then I go into the KDE control module for networks, I click on the wireless tab and then click edit a connection and get a big red X that says “no agents were available for this request”. If I click ok, I can edit my connection, but if you do a scan, nothing. So there is definitely with the interaction of modules in 12.2 that are new. Oh, and all the passwords that were entered are blank. That is probably not related either, but…
I have also noted, (probably not related) that numerous times using the Yast install, it will hang claiming there is a process still open, do you want to ask it to close. Of course it never will, even if you tell it to force it closed. The only way I’ve ever gotten past it, is it kill the process. The reason I thought of it, is I was going to try to install a compat-wireless rpm to see if that helps. I’m stuck “waiting for other tasks”. Of course it will never go until I manually go find the process and kill it. Not sure why.
I hope to save this and do some more work and edit. If not, I’ll add some below.
Aha! I may be onto something. After installing compat-wireless, I only get the error every other time. But… I was looking across the panel of lights at the top of the keyboard, and the wirless has been turned off! FN F8 should turn it back on, but it does not. I’ll bet that is where our problems lie. I reboot, and the light comes on, as soon as it goes into booting up the kernel, it goes out! This may explain why my older Dell does not have the problem, it has a mechanical on off for the wireless!
That wireless light goes out when when windows starts to boot too, but it comes back on as the system comes up. I’ll bet a nickel this is the trouble.
Okay, edits have timed out, so to continue, I have discovered the “cause”, now we need to figure out the cure.
There is a switch next to the power switch called “ecoboost”. While in windows, pushing that button causes it to go into “ecoboost” mode, which turns off wifi and other things. I have no option in my CMOS to force wifi to on as others have claimed. I am using the A665 model. So what is happening, is when the system boots to opensuse, it defaults to ecoboost on, but the lights remain off. Touching the ecoboost button has not affect, however, opening up the network manager, and THEN touching the wifi symbol, WILL turn on wifi. Just no light confirming it. Hopefully this will help others.
I wonder how hard it would be to figure it out, so linux can hook the ecoboost function and turn the light on to correspond what is actually happening.
But… I was looking across the panel of lights at the top of the keyboard, and the wirless has been turned off! FN F8 should turn it back on, but it does not. I’ll bet that is where our problems lie. I reboot, and the light comes on, as soon as it goes into booting up the kernel, it goes out! This may explain why my older Dell does not have the problem, it has a mechanical on off for the wireless!