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Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software problem

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 4:24 pm
by Foxx
Hi. I'm having an issue lately where my wireless signal keeps dropping every couple of minutes for a couple of minutes. It's only started in the last few days
and I haven't moved my laptop or changed any network settings

(It took me a while between registration and posting this because it kept dropping.

this is a snippet of dmesg | grep wlan0
[35356.156111] wlan0: authenticate with 00:24:17:af:7e:2b (try 1)
[35356.158269] wlan0: authenticated
[35356.158990] wlan0: associate with 00:24:17:af:7e:2b (try 1)
[35356.161699] wlan0: RX ReassocResp from 00:24:17:af:7e:2b (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=1)
[35356.161714] wlan0: associated
[35366.171446] wlan0: disassociating from 00:24:17:af:7e:2b by local choice (reason=3)
[35366.182616] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:24:17:af:7e:2b by local choice (reason=3)
[35367.042834] wlan0: authenticate with 00:24:17:af:7e:2b (try 1)
[35367.045075] wlan0: authenticated
[35367.045707] wlan0: associate with 00:24:17:af:7e:2b (try 1)
[35367.048434] wlan0: RX ReassocResp from 00:24:17:af:7e:2b (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=1)
[35367.048450] wlan0: associated
[35378.176232] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present


denver@earth ~ $ sudo /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintWifi/mintWifi.py
[sudo] password for denver:
-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
-- Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01)
==> PCI ID = 10ec:8176 (rev 01)
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
lo no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"o2box"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: 00:24:17:AF:7E:2B
Bit Rate=54 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr=2347 B Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=44/70 Signal level=-66 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:3245 Missed beacon:0

eth0 no wireless extensions.

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr dc:0e:a1:3c:93:7e
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:40

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:31671 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:31671 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:4015923 (4.0 MB) TX bytes:4015923 (4.0 MB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 74:de:2b:ff:8a:12
inet addr:192.168.1.66 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::76de:2bff:feff:8a12/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:202270 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:219052 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:109394601 (109.3 MB) TX bytes:80558243 (80.5 MB)

-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...
Rather than invoking init scripts through /etc/init.d, use the service(8)
utility, e.g. service smbd reload

Since the script you are attempting to invoke has been converted to an
Upstart job, you may also use the reload(8) utility, e.g. reload smbd
RTNETLINK answers: File exists
-------------------------
* VI. querying nslookup google.com...
Server: 192.168.1.254
Address: 192.168.1.254#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: google.com
Address: 173.194.34.104

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 4:34 pm
by remoulder
What version of mint?

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 4:39 pm
by Foxx
Sorry, forgot that.
Mint 13 MATE

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 5:41 pm
by remoulder
If things were fine until recently, what has changed? Before looking at issues with the client, you could try changing channel on the router as someone in the neighbourhood may now be using a network on the same channel or there may be some interference from some equipment? Also if using mixed mode security, try changing to just wpa or wpa2?

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 5:47 pm
by Foxx
you could try changing channel on the router as someone in the neighbourhood may now be using a network on the same channel
Surely that would affect all 3 computers on the network and not just mine which is the issue?

The router is explicitly set to use WPA2 (I set that as soon as I got the router from my ISP)

As for any recent changes, all I have done (besides IRC and facebook) is install updates yesterday but I was using an Ethernet cable for that but that isn't viable all the time. Once the other two computers aren't being used, I'll try changing the channel but as I mentioned earlier, it's only my computer affected and not the other 2 on the same network (both using wireless (and Windows))

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:02 pm
by remoulder
Foxx wrote:only my computer affected and not the other 2 on the same network (both using wireless (and Windows))
Do they have the same hardware? Also even if they did, since they are not using linux the driver will be different.
Foxx wrote:install updates
Was this before or after the problem began? If before what updates were installed - are you using mintupdate?

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:26 pm
by Foxx
Do they have the same hardware? Also even if they did, since they are not using linux the driver will be different.
No.

I installed updates after the problem to see if there was anything that might fix this issue
Yes, I used mintUpdate.

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 2:19 pm
by beastmanh
I'm having the exact same problem, with what looks like the same card, and started at approximately the same time. I had mint13 installed for a few weeks without any issues, then out of nowhere the connection started dropping once in a while.

inxi -SNx
System: Host: hp-pavilion-dv7 Kernel: 3.2.0-23-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.6.3) Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 13 Maya
Network: Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: 2000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
Card-2: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230 driver: iwlwifi ver: in-tree: bus-ID: 04:00.0

I have noticed people having this issue with realtek cards. Any suggestions would be awesome. I really like mint but I have to keep a live link for ssh connections.

thanks,
~Mike

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2012 4:08 pm
by banjoman
I am using an Acer TravelMate 7510 running Mint Maya (Cinnamon). Today my wireless connection refused to start up. Other computers in the house connect fine, my laptop connects wirelessly when I switch to Windows7.

I have tried to look at the Networking settings, but don't really know what I'm looking for to see if anything is amiss!! I have deleted the network entry, then set it up again on reboot as the laptop detected my network, but it will not connect. I get the following error from Chrome - Error 106 (net::ERR_INTERNET_DISCONNECTED): The Internet connection has been lost. And I get an error message on my desktop that the network connection failed.

I am posting this connected by a wire to my router - that is fine!

Should I re-install anything? Are there some network settings I can change to fix this? Any suggestions gratefully received...

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 6:42 pm
by Bob Fletcher
Hello, my first post to this forum.
I'm replying to this post as it is the most recent of a number of posts relating to the Wi-Fi dropouts. Has anyone arrived at a possible solution. One post on the Ubuntu forums suggest that the problem could be the kernel.
I loaded Linux Mint 13 and all went very well except the Wi-Fi kept dropping out every few minutes. This is the same problem that other people have been reporting. What I would like to know is does it seem to be a problem with the particular Wi-Fi adapter. At the moment the one I have in the computer is using an RA Link chipset. I do have somewhere a card that I am not using with the an as the particular Atheros card was not supported. I bought a new card to that when I was running Windows RP. I can see I will have to go dig into the cupboard.
What I am trying to do is gradually move over entirely to Linux and Linux Mint has such a nice feel about it.
I hope someone has managed to find some answers to this problem.
Robert…

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:28 pm
by hunkirdowne
Robert,

What do you get when you run the Mint WiFi utility?

Run it from a terminal window.

The following will just do a screen dump:

Code: Select all

sudo /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintWifi/mintWifi.py
The following will create a text file in your home directory:

Code: Select all

sudo /usr/lib/linuxmint/mintWifi/mintWifi.py | tee ~/mintWifi.txt
You can copy <CTRL+C> from here and paste <SHIFT+CTRL+V> in the terminal window. If you type it in manually, note the "W" in mintWifi.py is capitalized and linux commands (and filenames) are (wonderfully) case sensitive. (Wonderfully, once you get used to it. Miss this in Windows.)

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 7:50 pm
by Bob Fletcher
Just this minute worked it out. It was the card with the RALink chipset. Atheros works perfectly.

Robert

Re: Wireless issues - not sure if hardware or software probl

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:28 pm
by hunkirdowne
Bob Fletcher wrote:Just this minute worked it out. It was the card with the RALink chipset. Atheros works perfectly.

Robert
Glad you got at least one card worked out. Too bad your RALink is such a bother.

I thought I had trouble with an Atheros card once, but I was mistaken (network-manager, at the time anyway, couldn't see a hidden wap with wpa enabled so I switched to wicd and problem solved). Solid hardware and solid linux support for ath9k. Broadcom is stout (best experience was with the wl driver, wpasupplicant, and text-only mode wireless-tools), but often required a temporary hard connection during kernel upgrades (esp. in sid). Not my favorite linux experience.