[SOLVED] A real wifi oddity

[bathwatch]

I have an old Dell 32-bit laptop so I have been using it to get a feel for LMDE because it seemed a good insurance if Linux Mint Mate which I use on my main laptop ceases to have a 32-bit option. I installed LMDE3 on the Dell and after configuring the wireless parameters it happily autoconnected to my modem/router using WPA2. I used it like that for a while, and accepted all the offered updates. There was nothing important on the system so it was purely experimental.

Eventually I downloaded the LMDE4 ISO and today I burned it to a DVD (the Dell can't boot from USB) and I ran LMDE from the DVD with a wired connection and it looked OK so I installed it over the top of LMDE3, again with a wired connection so that it could call in the latest updates. It installed and it ran, and it offered me more updates which I accepted. Then I tried to configure the wifi service because that is how I used LMDE3 and although the list of available networks showed and the signal strength of my router was excellent, I couldn't connect using the correct password (which I checked was correct).

I went back to the live DVD and rebooted from that and tried the WPA2 password and that failed, asking me repeatedly for the password. As a flash of inspiration, I remembered I had an old router that used WEP security, and I cascaded it from a port on my modem/router and I could see that SSID among the available networks and when I put in the WEP password it connected and I could browse the internet, so at least it looked like a Plan B.

I shut down the live DVD session and booted again from the installed LMDE4 and found the old router SSID and inserted the WEP password exactly as I had using the live DVD, and it won't connect. I am now looking at a wifi connection that runs from the live DVD but not on the hard drive version installed from that DVD.

Has anybody got any suggestions why that is, and what I can do about it? In the long term I hope that wifi in LMDE4 might improve and allow a WPA2 connection, but right now it would be nice to be able to dispense with the wired connection I am currently using.

[sleeper12]

Post your system details:

Code: Select all

 inxi -Fxz 

Code: Select all

 rfkill list 

[bathwatch]

I did three separate attempts; using WEP and the Live DVD, using WEP from installed system, and then I switched off the WEP router, reset the networking to forget it, then I tried the WPA2 from the installed system.

All the output from your suggested commands is below.

WEP from Live DVD

mint@mint:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
Host: mint Kernel: 4.19.0-8-686 i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.8 Distro: LMDE 4 Debbie base: Debian 10.2 buster
Machine:
Type: Portable System: Dell product: ME051 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Dell model: 0GD366 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A05
date: 01/24/2006
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 56.7 Wh condition: 60.2/86.6 Wh (70%)
model: Sony DELL 00 status: Charging
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M315/M235
charge: 55% (should be ignored) status: Discharging
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: Intel Celeron M bits: 32 type: MCP
arch: M Dothan rev: 8 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: nx pae sse sse2 bogomips: 2992
Speed: 1496 MHz min/max: N/A Core speed (MHz): 1: 1496
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics vendor: Dell
driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 915GM x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 18.3.6
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-8-686
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell driver: b44
v: 2.0 port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:00.0
Device-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network driver: ipw2200
v: 1.2.2kmprq port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:03.0
IF: wlp2s3 state: up mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 132.45 GiB used: 7.61 GiB (5.7%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Zheino model: CHN-25PATA01M size: 118.00 GiB
temp: 40 C
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB model: USB DISK 2.0 size: 14.45 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 1004.4 MiB used: 12.7 MiB (1.3%) fs: overlay source: ERR-102
Sensors:
Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured?
Info:
Processes: 151 Uptime: 13m Memory: 1.96 GiB used: 538.1 MiB (26.8%)
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3
inxi: 3.0.32
mint@mint:~$

mint@mint:~$ rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
mint@mint:~$


WEP from installed system

jim@meg:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
Host: meg Kernel: 4.19.0-10-686 i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 Distro: LMDE 4 Debbie base: Debian 10.2 buster
Machine:
Type: Portable System: Dell product: ME051 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Dell model: 0GD366 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A05
date: 01/24/2006
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 56.7 Wh condition: 60.5/86.6 Wh (70%)
model: Sony DELL 00 status: Charging
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M315/M235
charge: 55% (should be ignored) status: Discharging
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: Intel Celeron M bits: 32 type: MCP
arch: M Dothan rev: 8 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: nx pae sse sse2 bogomips: 2992
Speed: 1496 MHz min/max: N/A Core speed (MHz): 1: 1496
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics vendor: Dell
driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 915GM x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 18.3.6
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-10-686
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell driver: b44
v: 2.0 port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:00.0
Device-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network driver: ipw2200
v: 1.2.2kmprq port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:03.0
IF: wlp2s3 state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 132.45 GiB used: 40.63 GiB (30.7%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Zheino model: CHN-25PATA01M size: 118.00 GiB
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB model: USB DISK 2.0 size: 14.45 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 62.58 GiB used: 22.39 GiB (35.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.99 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
Sensors:
Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured?
Info:
Processes: 156 Uptime: 6m Memory: 1.96 GiB used: 618.7 MiB (30.8%)
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3
inxi: 3.0.32
jim@meg:~$

jim@meg:~$ rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
jim@meg:~$


WAP2 from Installed system

jim@meg:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
Host: meg Kernel: 4.19.0-10-686 i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 Distro: LMDE 4 Debbie base: Debian 10.2 buster
Machine:
Type: Portable System: Dell product: ME051 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Dell model: 0GD366 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A05
date: 01/24/2006
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 56.7 Wh condition: 60.5/86.6 Wh (70%)
model: Sony DELL 00 status: Charging
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M315/M235
charge: 55% (should be ignored) status: Discharging
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: Intel Celeron M bits: 32 type: MCP
arch: M Dothan rev: 8 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: nx pae sse sse2 bogomips: 2992
Speed: 1496 MHz min/max: N/A Core speed (MHz): 1: 1496
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics vendor: Dell
driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 915GM x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 18.3.6
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-10-686
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell driver: b44
v: 2.0 port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:00.0
Device-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network driver: ipw2200
v: 1.2.2kmprq port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:03.0
IF: wlp2s3 state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 132.45 GiB used: 40.63 GiB (30.7%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Zheino model: CHN-25PATA01M size: 118.00 GiB
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB model: USB DISK 2.0 size: 14.45 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 62.58 GiB used: 22.39 GiB (35.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.99 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
Sensors:
Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured?
Info:
Processes: 156 Uptime: 12m Memory: 1.96 GiB used: 646.0 MiB (32.2%)
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3
inxi: 3.0.32
jim@meg:~$

jim@meg:~$ rfkill list
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
jim@meg:~$

I hope that gives you what you wanted to see.
I have now set up a wired connection in order to post this.
Jim

[sleeper12]

Does wifi work if you disconnect ethernet? If not, try:

Code: Select all

 sudo ifconfig wlp2s3 up 

Or:

Code: Select all

 sudo systemctl restart network-manager.service 

[bathwatch]

I booted LMDE4 with a wired connection, waited until the disc activity light stopped flashing then disconnected the wired connection. The status bar showed "No connection". Then I tried your first command.

jim@meg:~$ sudo ifconfig wlp2s3 up

We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these three things:

#1) Respect the privacy of others.
#2) Think before you type.
#3) With great power comes great responsibility.

[sudo] password for jim:
jim@meg:~$ sudo ifconfig wlp2s3 up
jim@meg:~$
Nothing appeared in the screen so I tried your inxi:

jim@meg:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
Host: meg Kernel: 4.19.0-10-686 i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 Distro: LMDE 4 Debbie base: Debian 10.2 buster
Machine:
Type: Portable System: Dell product: ME051 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Dell model: 0GD366 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A05
date: 01/24/2006
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 52.7 Wh condition: 60.5/86.6 Wh (70%)
model: Sony DELL 00 status: Discharging
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M315/M235
charge: 55% (should be ignored) status: Discharging
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: Intel Celeron M bits: 32 type: MCP
arch: M Dothan rev: 8 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: nx pae sse sse2 bogomips: 2992
Speed: 1496 MHz min/max: N/A Core speed (MHz): 1: 1496
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics vendor: Dell
driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 915GM x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 18.3.6
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-10-686
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell driver: b44
v: 2.0 port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:00.0
Device-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network driver: ipw2200
v: 1.2.2kmprq port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:03.0
IF: wlp2s3 state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 132.45 GiB used: 44.39 GiB (33.5%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Zheino model: CHN-25PATA01M size: 118.00 GiB
temp: 40 C
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB model: USB DISK 2.0 size: 14.45 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 62.58 GiB used: 26.15 GiB (41.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.99 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
Sensors:
Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured?
Info:
Processes: 156 Uptime: 10m Memory: 1.96 GiB used: 735.6 MiB (36.6%)
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3
inxi: 3.0.32
jim@meg:~$

I clicked on the No connection icon and I could see the list of nearby SSIDs and alongside mine were a couple I recognised as belonging to my neighbours.
I tried manually connecting to my WPA2 router, which resulted in a "Disconnected" message.so I tried again:
jim@meg:~$ sudo ifconfig wlp2s3 up
jim@meg:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
Host: meg Kernel: 4.19.0-10-686 i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 Distro: LMDE 4 Debbie base: Debian 10.2 buster
Machine:
Type: Portable System: Dell product: ME051 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Dell model: 0GD366 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A05
date: 01/24/2006
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 52.4 Wh condition: 60.5/86.6 Wh (70%)
model: Sony DELL 00 status: Discharging
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M315/M235
charge: 55% (should be ignored) status: Discharging
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: Intel Celeron M bits: 32 type: MCP
arch: M Dothan rev: 8 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: nx pae sse sse2 bogomips: 2992
Speed: 1496 MHz min/max: N/A Core speed (MHz): 1: 1496
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics vendor: Dell
driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 915GM x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 18.3.6
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-10-686
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell driver: b44
v: 2.0 port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:00.0
Device-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network driver: ipw2200
v: 1.2.2kmprq port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:03.0
IF: wlp2s3 state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 132.45 GiB used: 44.39 GiB (33.5%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Zheino model: CHN-25PATA01M size: 118.00 GiB
temp: 40 C
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB model: USB DISK 2.0 size: 14.45 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 62.58 GiB used: 26.15 GiB (41.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.99 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
Sensors:
Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured?
Info:
Processes: 156 Uptime: 11m Memory: 1.96 GiB used: 730.9 MiB (36.4%)
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3
inxi: 3.0.32
jim@meg:~$

It still showed wlp2s3 state: down
So I tried your second command and looked at the result

jim@meg:~$ sudo systemctl restart network-manager.service
jim@meg:~$
jim@meg:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
Host: meg Kernel: 4.19.0-10-686 i686 bits: 32 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 Distro: LMDE 4 Debbie base: Debian 10.2 buster
Machine:
Type: Portable System: Dell product: ME051 v: N/A serial: <filter>
Mobo: Dell model: 0GD366 serial: <filter> BIOS: Dell v: A05
date: 01/24/2006
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 52.0 Wh condition: 60.5/86.6 Wh (70%)
model: Sony DELL 00 status: Discharging
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M315/M235
charge: 55% (should be ignored) status: Discharging
CPU:
Topology: Single Core model: Intel Celeron M bits: 32 type: MCP
arch: M Dothan rev: 8 L2 cache: 1024 KiB
flags: nx pae sse sse2 bogomips: 2992
Speed: 1496 MHz min/max: N/A Core speed (MHz): 1: 1496
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics vendor: Dell
driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: intel
unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 1280x800~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel 915GM x86/MMX/SSE2 v: 1.4 Mesa 18.3.6
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0
Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.19.0-10-686
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom Limited BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX vendor: Dell driver: b44
v: 2.0 port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:00.0
Device-2: Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network driver: ipw2200
v: 1.2.2kmprq port: bfa0 bus ID: 02:03.0
IF: wlp2s3 state: down mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 132.45 GiB used: 44.39 GiB (33.5%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Zheino model: CHN-25PATA01M size: 118.00 GiB
temp: 40 C
ID-2: /dev/sdb type: USB model: USB DISK 2.0 size: 14.45 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 62.58 GiB used: 26.15 GiB (41.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.99 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
Sensors:
Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured?
Info:
Processes: 157 Uptime: 13m Memory: 1.96 GiB used: 674.3 MiB (33.6%)
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.3
inxi: 3.0.32
jim@meg:~$

That showed no improvement either.

So I reconnected the ethernet wired connection so that I could send this.

It looks to me as though the wifi card is working with LMDE4 because the wifi list shows the SSIDs I would expect to see. Unfortunately, none of them show as unsecured so I can't test what happens when I try to connect to a network that doesn't need a password.

What appears to be happening is that LMDE4 is accepting my network password because when it tells me that a password is needed it shows the password I entered and it is correct. There seems to be a mismatch between what I enter and what LMDE4 then tries to use to make the connection live hence the repeated requests for the password despite the correct password being supplied.

I am happy to try anything else you can suggest.

[sleeper12]

I don't know much about LMDE4, but something is keeping wifi in a down state. Try this one:

Code: Select all

 sudo service network-manager restart 

[antikythera]

You know what I'd try, uninstall the Buster firmware-ipw2x00 package and see if you can use the Stretch one instead. Hopefully it won't chuck a load of dependency errors at you:

Details - https://packages.debian.org/stretch/firmware-ipw2x00

Download - http://security.debian.org/debian-secur ... u1_all.deb

afterwards:

Code: Select all

sudo depmod -a

Code: Select all

sudo update-initramfs -u -k all

then restart

[bathwatch]

Taking sleeper12's suggestion first:

jim@meg:~$ sudo service network-manager restart
[sudo] password for jim:
jim@meg:~$ sudo service network-manager restart
jim@meg:~$

On-screen message afterwards each time:
The network connection has been disconnected

It looks as though nothing changed.


Then following antikythera's suggestions:

I removed the firmware with a straight remove without the --purge option because that wasn't mentioned.
I downloaded the version suggested. When I installed it I got a nag screen saying there is a newer version available, which I ignored and installed the version given to me.

Then I ran the following:
jim@meg:~$ sudo depmod -a
[sudo] password for jim:
jim@meg:~$

jim@meg:~$ sudo update-initramfs -u -k all
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.19.0-10-686
cryptsetup: WARNING: The initramfs image may not contain cryptsetup binaries
nor crypto modules. If that's on purpose, you may want to uninstall the
'cryptsetup-initramfs' package in order to disable the cryptsetup initramfs
integration and avoid this warning.
W: plymouth: The plugin label.so is missing, the selected theme might not work as expected.
W: plymouth: You might want to install the plymouth-themes package to fix this.
I: The initramfs will attempt to resume from /dev/sda6
I: (UUID=abdc1f99-a3c2-4c5e-96e8-39a9ada0dacc)
I: Set the RESUME variable to override this.
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.19.0-8-686
cryptsetup: WARNING: The initramfs image may not contain cryptsetup binaries
nor crypto modules. If that's on purpose, you may want to uninstall the
'cryptsetup-initramfs' package in order to disable the cryptsetup initramfs
integration and avoid this warning.
W: plymouth: The plugin label.so is missing, the selected theme might not work as expected.
W: plymouth: You might want to install the plymouth-themes package to fix this.
I: The initramfs will attempt to resume from /dev/sda6
I: (UUID=abdc1f99-a3c2-4c5e-96e8-39a9ada0dacc)
I: Set the RESUME variable to override this.
jim@meg:~$

When I disconnected the ethernet cable and rebooted, it still did not give a wifi connection. When I tried a manual connection it disconnected immediately, like it always has done so far.
I reconnected the ethernet cable so that I could write this, and I now have an update available for the binary firmware, which I haven't done anything with yet.

So no success so far.

[sleeper12]

Maybe you need to go into BIOS & turn wifi on there or reset BIOS to default.

[bathwatch]

The wifi is definitely on. Although I haven't succeeded in using a wifi connection, the operating system can see the wifi card because I can see the choice of available SSIDs, of mine and other local wifi services.

Before I installed LMDE4 over the top of LMDE3 the wifi always worked OK so there isn't anything wrong with the BIOS settings. When I boot from the LMDE3 live DVD the wifi works for internet browsing just by putting in the password, as it did when I had LMDE3 on the hard drive.

It is just LMDE4 which is giving problems with wifi. I could reinstall LMDE3, but I don't need it for anything important and it would be nice to get LMDE4 running a wifi connection if possible. I am happy to try anything suggested for the time being.

I am beginning to suspect there is a bug in LMDE4, but why the live DVD gives a different result to the system installed from the same live DVD is still a bit of a mystery.

[bathwatch]

I have now downloaded all the updates available for LMDE4 via a wired connection, and that set includes updated firmware for Intel Wifi cards.

I applied all the updates and then shut down the laptop (rather than using the restart option) and disconnected the ethernet wire.
Then I did a fresh boot. It did not make a wifi connection. I can see the available networks list, and my router is set to connect when available and the WPA2 password is recorded and it is correct. It did not connect though, and when I tried to connect manually I got the Connection Failed pop-up like before.

The arrival of revised wifi firmware indicates that someone is trying to fix the problem that the WPA2 password is not being processed correctly. Unfortunately it isn't successful so far, hence this post having reconnected the wired ethernet to provide that feedback.

[sleeper12]

Could it be a kernel issue? Is it possible to try the LMDE 3 kernel in LMDE 4 or a lower kernel at least?

[SMG]

It seems you are not the only one to notice a WiFi connection difference between LMDE3 and LMDE4 MAC-address of wifi-adapters changed during installation of LMDE4.

[asinoro]

Check this: https://wiki.debian.org/ipw2200

[bathwatch]

Sorry for the delay in replying. I usually get an e-mail telling me that a comment has been added to my thread, and yours didn't get notified to me. I have just done a LMDE update which included a replacement Firefox so I tested Firefox with my thread bookmark and found your suggestion.

I followed up the link you suggested, and it takes me to a guide on installing a driver for my Intel Wifi Card. That doesn't look like my problem.
My Wifi card does work, to the extent that I can see all the nearby routers including my own. That must mean that the operating system can see the Wifi card, and can make sense of the information that the card hands across, and that means the drivers for the card are already functional.

What then goes wrong is using the password I enter to communicate to my router. The password is correct (I have checked it many times).
Out of interest, the next strongest signal is a neighbour, and they provided me with their network password so that I can test, and their password doesn't give me access to their router either after giving me the screen asking for the password in the first place. That is two different networks (mine is VirginMedia cable and theirs is Sky ASDL) that show an identical problem.

My conclusion, bearing in mind that LMDE3 used to connect to my router and give me internet access and LMDE4 doesn't using the same laptop hardware and the same router, is that the LMDE4 processing of the password isn't exactly the same as the earlier version and my router is rejecting whatever it is being communicated as the password. I have installed an update to the proprietary wifi firmware around the time you posted your advice, so the firmware will be the latest, which leaves the two possibilities that the bridge between the firmware and the kernel is introducing the problem or else the kernel itself is.

Unfortunately, all the routers I can see are secured so I can't test whether a router that isn't password protected would accept a connection.

The only thing I do know for certain is that I am not seeing a different MAC address that SMG has reported. Also, this is a spare laptop not used for anything else except playing with LMDE. I could revert to the LMDE3 kernel, but LMDE4 is the one I would like to see working properly, and I can afford to wait and try out whether each update is the one that fixes it.

[Dr. Octagon]

Hello,

tl;dr
to resolve the problem with wlan/wifi in LMDE 4 just execute in terminal:

Code: Select all

sudo nano /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

Paste this at the end of the .conf file text:

Code: Select all

[device]
wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=no

Save now and everything works fine (maybe restart afterwards).

Cu
Dr. Octagon

[bathwatch]

Thank you. That did work, though as you suspected I did have to reboot first.

I am sending this via my wifi connection to prove it, having marked the topic SOLVED.