Wireless not working on HP ze4500 laptop

English Network/Internet
1

I have OpenSUSE 11.1 Installed on my Hp ze4500 laptop. My wireless has been working until a few days ago. When it stopped, I checked in here on the Wireless forum and found some had experienced wireless failure with a recent update, so I rolled back the Networkmanager, Networkmanager-glib, and Networkmanager-kde versions to the earliest ones available under the versions tab of the Yast Software Manager. This didn’t work, so I returned to the updated versions and am posting here for help now.

I thank anyone who can give me a hand with this.

Pursuant to lwfinger’s sticky the following is the info for my current hardware, firmware, kernel, etc.

Wireless specs excerpted from the output list of the terminal command “/sbin/lspci”
00:09.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LANController (rev 02)

Matching bus number excerpted from the output list of the terminal command “/sbin/lspci -n”
00:09.0 0280: 14e4:4320 (rev 02)

Firmware info from the terminal command “dmesg | grep firmware”
firmware: requesting b43legacy/ucode4.fw
firmware: requesting b43legacy/pcm4.fw
firmware: requesting b43legacy/b0g0initvals2.fw
b43legacy-phy0: Loading firmware version 0x127, patch level 14 (2005-04-18 02:36:27)

Kernel info related to the wireless controller from the terminal command “dmesg | grep Broadcom”
b43legacy-phy0: Broadcom 4306 WLAN found
Broadcom 43xx-legacy driver loaded Features: PLRID, Firmware-ID: FW10 ]

Output from the terminal command “/usr/sbin/iwconfig”
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wmaster0 no wireless extensions.
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:“Green_Acres”
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:18:39-DC:06:92
Bit Rate=1 Mb/s Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr-off Fragment thr=2352 B
Power Management-off
Link Quality=66/100 Signal level:-61 dBm Noise level=-63 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

Note: I’ve tried the above command several times after reboots and sometimes receive Access Point: Not-Associated. I’m not sure if this is relevant or not.

Output from the terminal command “sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan”
lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.
eth0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.
wmaster0 Interface doesn’t support scanning.
wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:18:39-DC:06:92
ESSID:“Green_Acres”
Mode:Master
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=61/100 Signal level:-66 dBm Noise level=-63 dBm
Encryption key-off
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; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Extra:tsf=000000293a0ad9c9
Extra: Last beacon: 560ms ago

2

If you have the problem that I did with the NM update, you should see a
directory /var/run/dbus/at_console/root while logged in as an unprivileged user.
If you do, then the sequence


sudo rm -r /var/run/dbus/at_console/root
sudo rcnetwork restart

will restore your network.

If this does not, look at /var/log/NetworkManager to see if a problem shows up
there.

3

Thank you for your reply. I had seen your post in the NM update thread mentioning the /var/run/dbus/at_console/root folder, looked for it but didn’t see one. So, that doesn’t appear to be the problem.

Here’s what /var/log/NetworkManager looks like for my most recent boot:

Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> starting…
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Trying to start the modem-manager…
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <WARN> nm_generic_enable_loopback(): error -17 returned from rtnl_addr_add(): Sucess
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> eth0: driver is ‘natsemi’.
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Found new Ethernet device ‘eth0’.
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): exported as /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/net_00_0d_9d_5a_6d_76
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> wlan0: driver is ‘b43-pci-bridge’.
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> wlan0: driver supports SSID scans (scan_capa 0x01).
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Found new 802.11 WiFi device ‘wlan0’.
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): exported as /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/net_00_90_4b_43_ca_67
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Trying to start the supplicant…
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Trying to start the system settings daemon…
Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> modem manager appeared
Mar 24 15:57:46 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant manager state: down → idle
Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): device state change: 1 → 2
Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): bringing up device.
Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): preparing device.
Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): deactivating device (reason: 2).
Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 1 → 2
Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): bringing up device.
Mar 24 15:57:50 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): preparing device.
Mar 24 15:57:50 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): deactivating device (reason: 2).
Mar 24 15:57:50 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 2 → 3
Mar 24 15:57:50 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: starting → ready

I’m not sure what any of this means, but I see “ready” on the bottom line. Does that mean what I think it means?

When I attempt to connect using Network Manager it sees the wireless broadcast but doesn’t even attempt to connect by showing a little blue gear turning in a circle like it used to. It remains a grayed out icon with no change at all.

4

Also, I just noticed that when opening the NM applet it says “no carrier” second item from the top. I’m not certain but when it was working this may have been something else. Can’t remember what though.

5

longgraybeard wrote:
> Thank you for your reply. I had seen your post in the NM update thread
> mentioning the /var/run/dbus/at_console/root folder, looked for it but
> didn’t see one. So, that doesn’t appear to be the problem.

It seems not.

> Here’s what /var/log/NetworkManager looks like for my most recent
> boot:
>
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> starting…
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Trying to start the
> modem-manager…
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <WARN>
> nm_generic_enable_loopback(): error -17 returned from rtnl_addr_add():
> Sucess
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> eth0: driver is
> ‘natsemi’.
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Found new Ethernet
> device ‘eth0’.
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): exported as
> /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/net_00_0d_9d_5a_6d_76
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> wlan0: driver is
> ‘b43-pci-bridge’.
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> wlan0: driver
> supports SSID scans (scan_capa 0x01).
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Found new 802.11
> WiFi device ‘wlan0’.
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): exported as
> /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/net_00_90_4b_43_ca_67
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Trying to start the
> supplicant…
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> Trying to start the
> system settings daemon…
> Mar 24 15:57:45 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> modem manager
> appeared
> Mar 24 15:57:46 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant
> manager state: down → idle
> Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): device state
> change: 1 → 2
> Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): bringing up
> device.
> Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): preparing
> device.
> Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (eth0): deactivating
> device (reason: 2).
> Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): device
> state change: 1 → 2
> Mar 24 15:57:49 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): bringing up
> device.
> Mar 24 15:57:50 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): preparing
> device.
> Mar 24 15:57:50 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0):
> deactivating device (reason: 2).
> Mar 24 15:57:50 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): device
> state change: 2 → 3
> Mar 24 15:57:50 linux-xinm NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant
> interface state: starting → ready
>
> I’m not sure what any of this means, but I see “ready” on the bottom
> line. Does that mean what I think it means?
>
> When I attempt to connect using Network Manager it sees the wireless
> broadcast but doesn’t even attempt to connect by showing a little blue
> gear turning in a circle like it used to. It remains a grayed out icon
> with no change at all.

That was the behavior with my problem as well. Sometimes I could see a flicker
in the gray icon. In your case, all of the NM messages appear normal. I have not
a clue where the problem might be.

Larry

6

Thanks for taking a look. I’ll be following The Latest NetworkManager Broken thread for further developments.

7

JFYI I was having the same problem yesterday. My fix was I pushed the reset button on the back of my Lynksys Router. and it started to connect go figure.
Ron

8

Thanks for the additional information. Every little bit helps. I’ve already completely removed NM, libraries, and applet and can sometimes connect with the KWifi Manager, but the connection is spotty. Ifup doesn’t work.

I’m a house guest for the next couple of days and don’t want to fool with someone else’s router. I’ll see what happens when I get home and will update.

9

an UPDATE.
That must have been just a coincidence. After I rebooted internet was lost again. I can fiddle with the configuration in yast it sometimes comes back but doesn’t stay connected on reboot. In another thread someone said not to use the ifup traditional way. So now I’m trying to get network manager to work but it wont save my passphrase. It sees the router/internet but wont connect.

Isn’t life great in paradise.

Ron

10

are you using WEP or WPA ? if WEP,use hex for the encryption

Andy

11

Hi Andy,
I use WEP. I’m getting confused…Does Hex for encryption use the same passphrase? Should I be in ifup or knetwork manager on this laptop?

What is the difference of “lynksys passphrase” and the “Encryption key”?

Ron

12

Passphrase & encryption key are easily mistaken.

Passphrase = a phrase or set of letters/numbers that can be used by software to generate a key
encryption key = the resulting output of putting a passphrase or set of letters/numbers in to a software encoding program.

( i may be wrong with the descriptions, if i am,someone will correct me )

If you want the encrypted connection to work, you need to match the security your router has. WHen using WEP,it is preferred to use a hexadecimal key asthere is little room for error in matching ( although it is the easier of wireless encryption to crack )
WPA is the preferred method of securing your wireless router.

Andy