wlan0 disappeared

Hi,

Although I didn’t tamper with the drivers or any other system setting (except from doing recommended updates) I’m now unable to use Atheros wireless card and I’m cable bound.

hwinfo
–snip–
25: PCI a03.0: 0200 Ethernet controller
Model: “Atheros AR2413 802.11bg NIC”
Vendor: pci 0x168c “Atheros Communications Inc.”
Device: pci 0x001a “AR2413 802.11bg NIC”
SubVendor: pci 0x1468 “AMBIT Microsystem Corp.”
SubDevice: pci 0x0418
Driver Status: ath5k is active

I can’t configure it in Yast as what I get is:

AR2413 802.11bg NICBusID : 0000:0a:03.0

Unable to configure the network card because the kernel device (eth0, wlan0) is not present. This is mostly caused by missing firmware (for wlan devices). See dmesg output for details.

I’ve tried to look for any line containing word ‘firmware’ in what dmesg produces, but with no results.

Please help!

In Konsole type

lsmod|grep mac80211

This should confirm your driver. Something like athXX.

Now type in

dmesg|grep athXX

Post the results here.

linux-v9lv:/home/tomasz # lsmod|grep mac80211
mac80211 214872 1 ath5k
cfg80211 103584 3 ath5k,mac80211,ath
linux-v9lv:/home/tomasz # dmesg|grep athXX
linux-v9lv:/home/tomasz #

I’ve now reinstalled madwifi and have ath0 wireless interface. Although I can detect WiFi networks it won’t let me to connect. In the Network manager I can see it:
‘Activating’, ‘preparing to connect’ and coming back to idle state again.

These are the results of the test that I found on the SUSE forum:

code]
collectNWData.sh V0.6.2.0 (Rev: 1.193, Build: 2010/01/20 21:22:30 UTC)
— Which type of your network connection should be tested?
— (2) Wireless connection (WLAN)
— What’s the type of networktopology?
— (2) WLAN HW router <—> LinuxClient
— On which host is the script executed?
— (1) LinuxClient
!!! CND0120E: Network card ath0 has no IP address
!!! CND0300E: No dhcp server found on interface ath0
!!! CND0310W: Classic network configuration with ifup was detected. Configuration with knetworkmanager is much easier
— Go to Fehlermeldungen/Errormessages | collectNWData.sh Fehlermeldungen to get more detailed instructions about the error/warning messages and how to fix the problems on your own
— Place the contents of file collectNWData.txt in the net (see Webseiten für Text- und Bilderuploads/Websites for text and image uploads | collectNWData.sh for links) and then paste the nopaste link on your favorite Linux forum.

==================================================================================================================
*** uname -a
Linux linux-v9lv 2.6.31.12-0.1-default #1 SMP 2010-01-27 08:20:11 +0100 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

*** cat /etc/-_]release || cat /etc/-_]version
/etc/SuSE-release
openSUSE 11.2 (i586)
VERSION = 11.2

*** cat /etc/resolv | grep -i “nameserver”
nameserver 192.168.0.1

*** cat /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 localhost
127.0.0.2 linux-v9lv.site linux-v9lv

*** route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
127.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo

*** ifconfig
ath0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr ##:##:##:##:##:#1
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:354 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:238 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:38178 (37.2 Kb) TX bytes:32831 (32.0 Kb)
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:191 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:191 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:13291 (12.9 Kb) TX bytes:13291 (12.9 Kb)
wifi0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-19-7D-29-3E-BE-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:47310 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:5073
TX packets:2754 errors:131 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:280
RX bytes:10193038 (9.7 Mb) TX bytes:159661 (155.9 Kb)
Interrupt:18

*** ping tests
connect: Network is unreachable
Ping of 195.135.220.3 failed
ping: unknown host Linux-Betriebssystem | SUSE Linux Enterprise
Ping of Linux-Betriebssystem | SUSE Linux Enterprise failed

*** dhcpcd-test
ath0: No DHCP server detected

*** lspci
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller [11ab:4352] (rev 14)
0a:03.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413 802.11bg NIC [168c:001a] (rev 01)

*** lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 08ec:0008 M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers TravelDrive 2C
Bus 002 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 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

*** hwinfo (filtered)
24: PCI 200.0: 0200 Ethernet controller
Model: “Marvell 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller”
Vendor: pci 0x11ab “Marvell Technology Group Ltd.”
Device: pci 0x4352 “88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller”
SubVendor: pci 0x1025 “Acer Incorporated [ALI]”
SubDevice: pci 0x0110
Driver: “sky2”
Driver Modules: “sky2”
Device File: eth0
Link detected: no
Driver Status: sky2 is active
Driver Activation Cmd: “modprobe sky2”
25: PCI a03.0: 0282 WLAN controller
Model: “Atheros AR2413 802.11bg NIC”
Vendor: pci 0x168c “Atheros Communications Inc.”
Device: pci 0x001a “AR2413 802.11bg NIC”
SubVendor: pci 0x1468 “AMBIT Microsystem Corp.”
SubDevice: pci 0x0418
Driver: “ath_pci”
Driver Modules: “ath_pci”
Device File: ath0
Link detected: yes
Driver Status: ath5k is active
Driver Activation Cmd: “modprobe ath5k”
Driver Status: ath_pci is active
Driver Activation Cmd: “modprobe ath_pci”

*** lsmod # (filtered)
| ac | acer_wmi | af_packet | ahci | ata_piix |
| ath5k | ath | ath_hal | ath_pci | ath_rate_sample |
| battery | cfg80211 | container | crc16 | drm |
| edd | ehci_hcd | fscache | fuse | hwmon |
| i2c_algo_bit | i2c_core | i2c_i801 | i915 | intel_agp |
| iptable_raw | iTCO_vendor_support| iTCO_wdt | jbd2 | led_class |
| libata | mac80211 | nf_conntrack_ipv4| nf_conntrack_netbios_ns| nls_utf8 |
| output | pcmcia_core | rfkill | rsrc_nonstatic | serio_raw |
| sg | sky2 | snd_hda_codec | snd_hda_codec_realtek| snd_hda_codec_si3054 |
| snd_hda_intel | snd_hwdep | snd_seq_device | snd_seq_dummy | sr_mod |
| thermal | thermal_sys | tifm_7xx1 | tifm_core | uhci_hcd |
| usb_storage | video | wlan | wlan_scan_sta | wmi |
| xt_limit | xt_NOTRACK | xt_pkttype | xt_state | xt_tcpudp |
| yenta_socket |

*** cat /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-ath0 | egrep -v “.*=’’”
BOOTPROTO=‘dhcp’
INTERFACETYPE=‘wlan’
NAME=‘AR2413 802.11bg NIC’
STARTMODE=‘auto’
USERCONTROL=‘no’
WIRELESS_AUTH_MODE=‘no-encryption’
WIRELESS_BITRATE=‘auto’
WIRELESS_DEFAULT_KEY=‘0’
WIRELESS_ESSID=‘e#y#k#’
WIRELESS_KEY_LENGTH=’@@@@@@’
WIRELESS_MODE=‘Managed’
WIRELESS_POWER=‘yes’

*** iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wifi0 no wireless extensions.
ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:“e#y#k#”
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:1 Mb/s Tx-Power:16 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=59/70 Signal level=-36 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:21546 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

*** Actual date for bias of following greps
13:13:11 2010-02-25

*** grep -i radio /var/log/messages* | tail -n 5
/var/log/messages:Feb 24 21:06:44 linux-v9lv kernel: 1369.205320] wifi0: Atheros AR2413 chip found (MAC 7.8, PHY 2112A 4.5, Radio 5.6)
/var/log/messages:Feb 25 12:31:17 linux-v9lv kernel: 2310.591700] wifi0: Atheros AR2413 chip found (MAC 7.8, PHY 2112A 4.5, Radio 5.6)

*** dmesg | grep -i radio | tail -n 5
2310.591700] wifi0: Atheros AR2413 chip found (MAC 7.8, PHY 2112A 4.5, Radio 5.6)

*** tail -n 300 /var/log/messages* | /usr/bin/grep -i firmware | tail -n 5

*** ls /lib/firmware/*
| 2.6.31.12-0.1-default | 2.6.31.12-0.1-desktop | 3CCFEM556.cis | 3CXEM556.cis |
| aica_firmware.bin | asihpi | COMpad2.cis | COMpad4.cis |
| digiface_firmware.bin | digiface_firmware_rev11.bin| DP83903.cis | ea |
| E-CARD.cis | emagic | emu | LA-PCM.cis |
| mixart | MT5634ZLX.cis | multiface_firmware.bin | multiface_firmware_rev11.bin |
| NE2K.cis | PCMLM28.cis | pcxhr | PE-200.cis |
| PE520.cis | RS-COM-2P.cis | tamarack.cis | vx |

*** ndiswrapper -l
No ndiswrapper module loaded

*** Active processes
wpa_supplicant:YES knetworkmanager:YES nm-applet:NO

*** egrep -i “persistent|networkmanager” /etc/sysconfig/network/config | grep -v “^#|^$”
NETWORKMANAGER=“no”

*** grep ‘eth|ath|wlan|ra’ /etc/udev/rules.d/net_persistent /etc/udev/rules.d/persistent-net
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules:SUBSYSTEM==“net”, ACTION==“add”, DRIVERS=="?", ATTR{address}=="##:##:##:##:##:#1", ATTR{type}==“1”, KERNEL=="ath", NAME=“ath0”
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules:SUBSYSTEM==“net”, ACTION==“add”, DRIVERS=="?", ATTR{address}=="##:##:##:##:##:#2", ATTR{type}==“1”, KERNEL=="eth", NAME=“eth0”

*** grep -r ‘eth[0-10]|ath[0-10]|wlan[0-10]|ra[0-10]’ /etc/modprobe.*

*** iwlist scanning
ESSID:“B#H#m#H#b#A#A#”
Quality=15/70 Signal level=-80 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:“e#y#k#”
Quality=57/70 Signal level=-38 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Encryption key:off
ESSID:“S#x# #l#t”
Quality=12/70 Signal level=-83 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Encryption key:on

*** NWElizaStates
IF:ath0 IM:2 DI:1 AP:1 dI:0 NIC:1 cNiC:1:1 NI:2 cNI:2 NIW:ath0-0 DHCP:2 CM:0 IP6:0 KM:0 WLW:0 RTDT:SuSE

On the top of these results it says I was using ifup configuration, but I’m normally running K Network manager.

It suggests direct causes of my problems:

  • no IP assigned to ath0
  • and no DHCP

However, I don’t really understand why dhcp isn’t working?
In Network manager settings I set it to use dhcp, what else can I do??

My fault, I didn’t mean for you to actually type “athXX” I meant “Type the five letters found above that start with aht.” So in your case it would be dmesg|grep ath5k but that’s ok the data you provided is adaquate.


...
...
====================
*** ifconfig
ath0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr ##:##:##:##:##:#1  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:354 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:238 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:38178 (37.2 Kb)  TX bytes:32831 (32.0 Kb)
lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:191 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:191 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:13291 (12.9 Kb)  TX bytes:13291 (12.9 Kb)
wifi0     Link encap:UNSPEC  HWaddr 00-19-7D-29-3E-BE-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00  
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:47310 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:5073
          TX packets:2754 errors:131 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:280 
          RX bytes:10193038 (9.7 Mb)  TX bytes:159661 (155.9 Kb)
          Interrupt:18 
==================================================================================================================

OK, we see the interfaces as UP and they are sending and receiving data. But the card, ath0, is not showing a valid MAC address. I’ve not seen this so I don’t know what that means. Unless you typed the ##s in there to obfuscate the MAC before posting? I would expect the wireless handler wifi0 and the NIC ath0 to report the same MAC of 00-19-7D-29-3E-BE. You might google “MAC cloning” together with “Atheros” and see if you come with something.


...
...
=================================================
*** cat /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-ath0 | egrep -v ".*=''"
BOOTPROTO='dhcp'
INTERFACETYPE='wlan'
NAME='AR2413 802.11bg NIC'
STARTMODE='auto'
USERCONTROL='no'
WIRELESS_AUTH_MODE='no-encryption'
WIRELESS_BITRATE='auto'
WIRELESS_DEFAULT_KEY='0'
WIRELESS_ESSID='e#y#k#'
WIRELESS_KEY_LENGTH='@@@@@@'
WIRELESS_MODE='Managed'
WIRELESS_POWER='yes'
==================================================================================================================

Are these the settings that you want to see there? I am concerned about the KEY_LENGTH field. And the fact that you and the AP are running without encryption. While, in theory, this would make it easier to diagnose, in practice what happens is that we end up association with random routers causing parameter corruption and much confusion. Which AP did you mean to connect to?



*** iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.
eth0      no wireless extensions.
wifi0     no wireless extensions.
ath0      IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"e#y#k#"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Bit Rate:1 Mb/s   Tx-Power:16 dBm   Sensitivity=1/1  
          Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=59/70  Signal level=-36 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
            Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
==================================================================================================================

Here we see that the card has detected an AP and that the signal is strong but there is an error in the RX field “Rx invalid nwid:21546.” Again, the MAC code seems to be a problem. You might want to google that error and see if you come up with anything. Is there mac filtering on the router? Could that be blocking your connections? Check your router logs. Is there evidence there of your router seeing your card try to connect?

==================================================================================================================
*** grep 'eth|ath|wlan|ra' /etc/udev/rules.d/*net_persistent* /etc/udev/rules.d/*persistent-net*
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules:SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="##:##:##:##:##:#1", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="ath*", NAME="ath0"
/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules:SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="##:##:##:##:##:#2", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="eth*", NAME="eth0"
==================================================================================================================

Again with the ##s. Does the MAC in your udev rules match that displayed in the output from ifconfig above?


...
...
*** iwlist scanning
                    ESSID:"B#H#m#H#b#A#A#"
                    Quality=15/70  Signal level=-80 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"e#y#k#"
                    Quality=57/70  Signal level=-38 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
                    Encryption key:off
                    ESSID:"S#x# #l#t"
                    Quality=12/70  Signal level=-83 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
==================================================================================================================
*** NWElizaStates
IF:ath0 IM:2 DI:1 AP:1 dI:0 NIC:1 cNiC:1:1 NI:2 cNI:2 NIW:ath0-0 DHCP:2 CM:0 IP6:0 KM:0 WLW:0 RTDT:SuSE 

The card seems to be working. It sees three access points. Two with encryption and one without. It would seem to me that what we have here is a configuration issue. All the elements, sysconfig, udev rules, MAC filtering, router settings, etc. need to be talking the same parameters.

How about it forum participants, anything I missed?