[SOLVED] Wi-Fi unable to connect after updating nvidia proprietary driver (Linux mint 19 Cinnamon)

[Karrig]

Newb here.

A week or so ago I freshly installed Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon and dual-booted alongside Window 10. Upon installation Wi-Fi worked, albeit with weak signal compared to windows. I then updated drivers and other updates and stopped working, tried to fix it but was unable, googling the issue also didn't help. Today I timeshifted to fresh install and Wi-Fi worked, so I updated nvidia proprietary drivers and nothing else, and Wi-Fi stopped working, it stays for ever in an endless loop of trying to connect and failing. I don't know if it's due to my Wi-Fi adapter or what exactly is the issue here. My Wi-Fi adapter is a tp-link TL-WN822N, I tried looking that up but the solutions that were out there didn't really help. I'm pretty much out of ideas and I don't really know how to do anything with Linux.

Thanks in advance.

infi -Fxz

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System:
  Host: karrig-mint Kernel: 4.15.0-20-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc 
  v: 7.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.0.8 Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa 
  base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M5A97 PRO v: Rev 1.xx serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: American Megatrends v: 0902 date: 12/07/2011 
CPU:
  Topology: 8-Core model: AMD FX-8350 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Bulldozer 
  L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 64214 
  Speed: 2106 MHz min/max: 1400/4000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2103 2: 1863 
  3: 1670 4: 1846 5: 2101 6: 1826 7: 1671 8: 1459 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GK106 [GeForce GTX 660] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia 
  v: 390.116 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 660/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 390.116 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: ASUSTeK M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:14.2 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GK106 HDMI Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
  Device-3: C-Media CM108 Audio Controller type: USB 
  driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus ID: 4-2:2 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k4.15.0-20-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI 
  port: c000 bus ID: 04:05.0 
  IF: enp4s5 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Samsung GT-I9500 [Galaxy S4] / GT-I9250 [Galaxy Nexus] (network 
  tethering) 
  type: USB driver: rndis_host bus ID: 3-1:3 
  IF: enp0s22f2u1 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-1: wlx503eaa8f499c state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.95 TiB used: 279.73 GiB (9.3%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Crucial model: CT240BX500SSD1 size: 223.57 GiB 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-22MFCA0 
  size: 931.51 GiB 
  ID-3: /dev/sdc type: USB vendor: Intenso model: External USB 3.0 
  size: 1.82 TiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 19.57 GiB used: 6.97 GiB (35.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
  ID-2: /home size: 58.67 GiB used: 10.40 GiB (17.7%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/sda7 
  ID-3: swap-1 size: 3.14 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 34.4 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 37 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 gpu: nvidia fan: 10% 
Info:
  Processes: 235 Uptime: 15m Memory: 15.61 GiB used: 1.26 GiB (8.1%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.3.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.19 
  inxi: 3.0.27 

[HAWR]

Hello Karrig,

at first you should update your kernel. You use the version 4.15.0-20, which is the install-version, but now there is the version 4.15.0-52 available for better support of hardware. The update can be done in the update manager > view > linux kernel an then choose the mentioned one above. after installation, you have to reboot, so the system starts with the new kernel. In help (F1) you find a short description for kernel updates. Read it through, so that you know what to do, if there is something faulty with the update, in order to get back to the previous kernel.

I think that will probably solve the problem.

[Karrig]

Status update:

I logged back into Mint, internet worked somehow. Decided to update the kernel, told me there was a broken package, carried on installing by itself after I hit the close button on said message, rebooted and cannot log into cinnamon, hit the button and error occurs. I assume that whole "hold shift during boot" is the advanced options that appear in the grub menu, because no matter where I tried holding shift nothing happened. Tried the repair option for both kernels but the error still persists. I'm suspecting I'm going to have to reinstall the whole thing again.

[HAWR]

Okay, I haven't expected such a thing because of the update. It is not usual, but if there went something wrong during kernel installation, it could be. What kind of internet connection you have used? Wifi (you wrote "internet worked somehow") or ethernet? It is better for an installation to use a wired connection if possible because of stability. If you really can't get access to the grub-menu during boot, where you can choose the previous kernel in advanced options, then I have no better advice as to make a brand new installation, if no one else here has another suggestion. I'm sorry.

[Karrig]

I got connected through wi-fi via the adapter, should've specified that. Sadly due to the location of my computer I can't really use ethernet, only wi-fi. However internet worked fine until updating nvidia proprietary drivers. Then randomly it worked again, and after updating the kernels it just kinda died. Grub menu works fine since I'm dualbooting, however I am not sure if I did something wrong trying to repair through the old kernels, or if it simply won't work.

[HAWR]

Hello Karrig,

I don't know if I understand you right: Is it right, that you can get to the grub-menu (because of your dual-boot the grub-menu would appear by itself)? If so, can you choose the advanced options and is there the possibility to take the previous kernel (4.15.0-20)? Can you boot then to LM ?

What do you mean with:

trying to repair through the old kernels

Do you mean the wifi with:

after updating the kernels it just kinda died

[Karrig]

Sorry for the late reply.

I tried booting with the old kernels, but the error persisted trying to log-in, error said about cinnamon session not found and going to default one, but same happens over and over. At the same time I tried the advance options to see if I could repair it through some option given, sadly forgot to take pictures and my memory is not good. But there was no result, now that menu is a bit glitched too, displays graphical errors with lines of text appearing randomly.

No, after updating the kernels linux itself stopped working, for all I know wi-fi could still work, however I cannot actually log-in into my account to check.

I'm a complete noob so I'm afraid I do not understand most of the options the grub menu gives me, or even what the error is trying to tell me went wrong most of the time, so this is as in-depth as I can go I'm afraid.

[HAWR]

Okay, your Cinnamon-Desktop is corrupt (why also ever). I think, probably this is the error message you've got:

Unable to launch "cinnamon-session-cinnamon" x session "cinnamon-session-cinnamon" not found falling back to default session.

You can try/do this to get back your Cinnamon-Desktop (print it out, so that you will have it nearby):

Boot to Linux login-screen, then press Ctrl+Alt+F1 (all at once) und the screen should change to a terminal-like design (black screen, white letters), where you're asked for login (type in your username) and then press Enter; after this, you are asked for your password (type in your password) and then press Enter.

If this will work out, then you got the line with $-sign at the end. There you type in the following code:

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sudo apt install mint-meta-cinnamon

then Enter, then (if asked for) your password and press Enter again. After the install has gone through (hopefully with no errors) you type in (a new line with the $-sign) the following code:

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sudo reboot

then Enter, then (if asked for) your password and press Enter again. The systems starts new and I hope, you will report about a successful next login to Cinnamon. If that works, we can go on. If you get error messages in any step, write it down, so that you can report it here!

[Karrig]

Thanks a lot, I am now able to log in into cinnamon again, I'll try to keep these steps in mind for when I inevitably break Linux again.

However the wi-fi issue still persists, seems like the kernels are still updated, but not entirely sure.

Here's the inxi -Fxz

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System:
  Host: karrig-mint Kernel: 5.0.0-17-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc 
  v: 7.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.0.10 Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa 
  base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M5A97 PRO v: Rev 1.xx serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: American Megatrends v: 0902 date: 12/07/2011 
CPU:
  Topology: 8-Core model: AMD FX-8350 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Bulldozer 
  L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
  flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 64217 
  Speed: 1404 MHz min/max: 1400/4000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1414 2: 1552 
  3: 1404 4: 1392 5: 1403 6: 1404 7: 1403 8: 1404 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GK106 [GeForce GTX 660] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia 
  v: 390.116 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.19.6 driver: nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 660/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 390.116 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: ASUSTeK M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:14.2 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GK106 HDMI Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
  Device-3: C-Media CM108 Audio Controller type: USB 
  driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus ID: 4-2:2 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.0.0-17-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 v: kernel 
  port: c000 bus ID: 04:05.0 
  IF: enp4s5 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Samsung GT-I9500 [Galaxy S4] / GT-I9250 [Galaxy Nexus] (network 
  tethering) 
  type: USB driver: rndis_host bus ID: 3-1:3 
  IF: enp0s22f2u1 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-1: wlx503eaa8f499c state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.95 TiB used: 282.75 GiB (9.4%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Crucial model: CT240BX500SSD1 size: 223.57 GiB 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-22MFCA0 
  size: 931.51 GiB 
  ID-3: /dev/sdc type: USB vendor: Intenso model: External USB 3.0 
  size: 1.82 TiB 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 19.57 GiB used: 7.54 GiB (38.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
  ID-2: /home size: 58.67 GiB used: 11.15 GiB (19.0%) fs: ext4 
  dev: /dev/sda7 
  ID-3: swap-1 size: 3.14 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 32.4 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 42 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 gpu: nvidia fan: 10% 
Info:
  Processes: 256 Uptime: 3m Memory: 15.61 GiB used: 1.09 GiB (7.0%) 
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 7.4.0 Shell: bash v: 4.4.19 
  inxi: 3.0.27 

[HAWR]

Hello Karrig,

congratulations, that sounds very good , so that I think now, a new installation will not be absolutely necessary anymore. You have installed the 5.0.0-17-Kernel and because of your new system hardware, that ist okay, too.

Your nvidia-card could run a newer driver (as stated on nvidia-website), but if you have no problems now, then it is better to stay with the actual driver. First we have to solve the wifi-problem.

In the overview of your system there are mentioned two network-devices. The first is the Realtek Ethernet for a wired connection. The second (and I don't know why) states a mobile phone, which is used with tethering. But the most important information (your tp-link-adapter) is not found. There is mentioned wlx503eaa8f499c state: down, I think that has something to do with the wifi-adapter.

Is there a mobile phone connected to your computer? If yes, please deconnect it. Make sure that the tp-link-adapter is connected, and then type in the terminal the following codes and report the respective outputs/results here as you have done it with "inxi -Fxz":

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lsusb

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iwconfig

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rfkill list

[Karrig]

Yes, I was using my mobile phone as a usb adapter to get internet at that time. However now I've logged in (restarted from windows 10 since I was using that and switched to linux, in case it's relevant) and wi-fi works, albeit with really weak signal (38% opposed to windows where I had excellent strength). I don't know what is the cause of that because previously I tried restarting the computer 3 times or so but the wi-fi problem persisted.

lsusb:

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Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 046d:c31c Logitech, Inc. Keyboard K120
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 1038:1729 SteelSeries ApS 
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2357:0108  
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0d8c:013c C-Media Electronics, Inc. CM108 Audio Controller
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 009 Device 003: ID 152d:0579 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. 
Bus 009 Device 002: ID 05e3:0616 Genesys Logic, Inc. hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 002: ID 05e3:0610 Genesys Logic, Inc. 4-port hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

iwconfig:

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enp4s5    no wireless extensions.

wlx503eaa8f499c  IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"MASMOVIL_4pqD"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.422 GHz  Access Point: 00:4A:77:41:08:3C   
          Bit Rate=1 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=28/70  Signal level=-82 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:1736   Missed beacon:0

lo        no wireless extensions.

rfkill list

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0: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

[HAWR]

That's good when the wifi's back. Here we have your wifi-adapter:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 2357:0108

(without any description behind, what is reported in another forum, too)

Can you type in the following code in the terminal in order to see, if it is recognized now (and report it here):

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inxi -nxz

I found out, that the ID should belong to

TL-WN822N-v4 USB 2357:0108 Realtek rtl8192eu

Can you confirm, that you have have the adapter version v4? It is important to know, because the different adapter versions of TL-WN822N (a total of 5) have different chipsets, so that different drivers are necessary.

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TL-WN822N_v4

Maybe there is a label on the adapter, where you can find it. Or it is on the carton, or it is engraved anywhere on the adapter (maybe on the usb-plug itself).

[JeremyB]

That wifi uses rtl8xxxu module and there are quite a few reports of signal strength issues, there is an alternative driver on github but it will not compile on a kernel higher than 4.15 that I know of

[HAWR]

Hello JeremyB,

I've seen that, too, but I only want to be sure, that it is really rtl8192eu. Otherwise we have to take the 4.15 again and I think it is still on Karrig's system.

[JeremyB]

I placed the commit on Manges github site a couple years ago for that USB ID and a year ago sent an email to the USB-ID maintainer so that lsusb results would show something after sudo update-usbids

[Karrig]

Can you confirm, that you have have the adapter version v4? It is important to know, because the different adapter versions of TL-WN822N (a total of 5) have different chipsets, so that different drivers are necessary.

The label under the adapter says it's version 5. Model: TL-WN822N(EU).

inxi -nxz:

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Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 v: kernel 
  port: c000 bus ID: 04:05.0 
  IF: enp4s5 state: down mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-1: wlx503eaa8f499c state: up mac: <filter> 

[JeremyB]

Boot into the 4.15 kernel again, remove the 5.0 kernel, then do

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sudo apt install build-essential dkms git
git clone https://github.com/Mange/rtl8192eu-linux-driver.git
sudo dkms add ./rtl8192eu-linux-driver
sudo dkms install rtl8192eu/1.0
echo "blacklist rtl8xxxu" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8xxxu.conf

Reboot

[HAWR]

Thank you for that information. On this website https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TL-WN822N_v5 is mentioned, that the probable driver is rtl8xxxu, which can be found on this site:

https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/ ... xu_8192e.c and there inside the chipset rtl8192eu is mentioned, so I think it could work, because Torvald's website seems to be very actual.

Maybe, JeremyB or Pjotr, can help us to install this driver, if that is possible. I don't know exactly how-to and don't want to say anything wrong.

[JeremyB]

Thank you for that information. On this website https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TL-WN822N_v5 is mentioned, that the probable driver is rtl8xxxu, which can be found on this site:

https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/ ... xu_8192e.c and there inside the chipset rtl8192eu is mentioned, so I think it could work, because Thorvald's website seems to be very actual.

Maybe, JeremyB or Pjotr, can help us to install this driver, if that is possible. I don't know exactly how-to and don't want to say anything wrong.

HAWR, the 4.15 and 5.0 kernel was likely using the rtl8xxxu module, it has known reception issues that don't seem to occur from the github module

[HAWR]

Okay, I only thought so, because the files there seem only a month old. Then I have to explain Karrig how he can boot with the 4.15 kernel.

Karrig, can you tell us, what kernel-versions are now installed on your system beneath the 5.0.0-17? You find the answers in the update manager > view > linux kernel. Important are the ones installed of the 4.15 line.