[SOLVED] Wireless connection dropping since WPA update August 2019

[Northnet]

Hi, I am running 19.2 on a Lenovo Ideapad 120S. Everything has been perfect (barring the lack of brightness/volume function keys but I can live without), until last week when I ran an update which turned out to consist of WPA only. The update appeared to run correctly - wireless dropped and reconnected as I expected. However, ever since I have observed the wireless connection drop, usually after the laptop has been put to one side but left running. I expect there will be a clever method to restart wireless only, but reboot is so fast I simply restart the machine and wireless connectivity is restored without issues.

Has anyone else experienced wireless dropouts recently, or have a fix for the issue?

(NB I am a lifelong Windows techie but have recently learned the error of my ways and so a relative Linux newbie)

[Pjotr]

Please generate an overview of your system like this:
- Launch a terminal window (this is how to launch a terminal window);
- make the terminal window full screen, to avoid chopped lines;
- Copy/paste this command into the terminal:

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inxi -Fxz

(if you type: the letter F is a capital letter)

Press Enter.

Copy/paste the output in your next message.

Do the same with the following four commands:

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rfkill list all

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iwconfig

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lsusb

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lspci

[Northnet]

Just to clarify, when the problem occurs the task tray network icon appears normal (not disconnected), but my Megasync and Update Manager icons are greyed out. The following outputs are taken when WiFi is functional:

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System:    Host: ideapad Kernel: 4.15.0-58-generic x86_64 bits: 64 gcc: 7.4.0
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.9 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu4)
           Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: laptop System: LENOVO product: 81A5 v: Lenovo ideapad 120S-14IAP serial: N/A
           Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0J40700WIN serial: N/A
           UEFI [Legacy]: LENOVO v: 6GCN20WW X64 date: 08/15/2017
Battery    BAT1: charge: 30.1 Wh 95.9% condition: 31.4/32.2 Wh (97%)
           model: LENOVO BASE-BAT status: N/A
CPU:       Quad core Intel Pentium N4200 (-MCP-) arch: N/A cache: 1024 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8755
           clock speeds: max: 2500 MHz 1: 1067 MHz 2: 1061 MHz 3: 1003 MHz
           4: 962 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Integrated Graphics Controller
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
           drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1366x768@60.06hz
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 505 (Broxton)
           version: 4.5 Mesa 19.0.8 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Audio Cluster
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:0e.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-58-generic
Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: ath10k_pci bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Atheros usb-ID: 001-002
           IF: null-if-id state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 128.0GB (64.0% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: RTITF128PCA1MADL size: 128.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 20G used: 17G (91%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-2: /home size: 9.8G used: 3.7G (39%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 4.29GB used: 0.00GB (0%)
           fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 42.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 221 Uptime: 29 min Memory: 2394.3/3579.8MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.201) inxi: 2.3.56 

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rfkill list all
0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
2: hci0: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
3: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

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iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

wlp2s0    IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"DrayTek"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 00:1D:AA:60:60:40   
          Bit Rate=1 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:on
          Link Quality=55/70  Signal level=-55 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:70   Missed beacon:0

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lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:5627 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0cf3:e500 Atheros Communications, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

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lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Host Bridge (rev 0b)
00:00.1 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Device 5a8c (rev 0b)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0b)
00:0e.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Audio Cluster (rev 0b)
00:0f.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Trusted Execution Engine (rev 0b)
00:12.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series SATA AHCI Controller (rev 0b)
00:14.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series PCI Express Port B #1 (rev fb)
00:14.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series PCI Express Port B #2 (rev fb)
00:15.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series USB xHCI (rev 0b)
00:16.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series I2C Controller #1 (rev 0b)
00:16.2 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series I2C Controller #3 (rev 0b)
00:1c.0 SD Host controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series eMMC Controller (rev 0b)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Low Pin Count Interface (rev 0b)
00:1f.1 SMBus: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series SMBus Controller (rev 0b)
01:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5229 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 31)

[Pjotr]

Try this:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... html#ID2.1
(item 2.1)

[Larry78723]

There have been numerous threads concerning Megasync and update problems in Mint. Just search for Megasync in the forums and you'll find them. Sorry I can't help with your wifi issue.

[Northnet]

Thanks Larry, but Megasync is not the problem here, it is just indicative of actual internet connectivity, or the lack of it.

Thanks Pjotr, I have disabled auto power of the Wireless card (I like the sound of this tip since the problem occurs following a lack of use of the laptop). I have also disabled hardware encryption as the page suggests. I will wait to see if these changes have any effect.

[Pjotr]

I have also disabled hardware encryption as the page suggests.

That might be unnecessary or even counterproductive. I advise to try whether disabling WiFi power management only, is enough.

The least invasive hack, if it produces the desired result, is always the best...

[Northnet]

Well.... a couple of days on and no further internet problems (there should have been one or two by now), so the disable wireless auto-power tip looks to be the solution.

I am puzzled as to why this should have become an issue after a solid year of flawless operation, but then I am always puzzled when problems like this appear from nowhere and for no apparent reason. Incidentally, I removed the 'disable hardware encryption' code, that is left it enabled.

Many thanks, Pjotr, for your timely and useful response.

[Northnet]

Well, this is just typical! A few hours after making the previous post, I come back to find 'Update Manager' greyed out. The wireless icon appeared normal.

Instead of simply restarting, I tried a few things:
Turn off Wireless from the panel - worked.
Turn Wireless back on - nothing doing, just 'not connected'.
Run Restart Network Manager (sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager) - machine hung, no cursor movement, no keyboard.

A full power off/on restored everything to normal.

[Pjotr]

What you also might try:
Update Manager - panel: View - Linux kernels
Install the latest kernel of the 5.0 series. Then reboot.

Reason: the kernel contains the drivers. A kernel from a newer series may very well contain a newer version of your WiFi driver as well.

[Northnet]

I wasn't aware that routine updates do not also maintain the kernel. I have updated to 5.0.0-25 without a problem. I now wait to see if the issue has resolved...

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inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: ideapad Kernel: 5.0.0-25-generic x86_64 bits: 64 gcc: 7.4.0
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.9 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu4)
           Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: laptop System: LENOVO product: 81A5 v: Lenovo ideapad 120S-14IAP serial: N/A
           Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0J40700WIN serial: N/A
           UEFI [Legacy]: LENOVO v: 6GCN20WW X64 date: 08/15/2017
Battery    BAT1: charge: 29.9 Wh 95.2% condition: 31.4/32.2 Wh (97%)
           model: LENOVO BASE-BAT status: N/A
CPU:       Quad core Intel Pentium N4200 (-MCP-) arch: N/A cache: 1024 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 8755
           clock speeds: max: 2500 MHz 1: 1642 MHz 2: 1425 MHz 3: 1311 MHz
           4: 1765 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Integrated Graphics Controller
           bus-ID: 00:02.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 )
           drivers: modesetting (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1366x768@60.06hz
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 505 (Broxton)
           version: 4.5 Mesa 19.0.8 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Audio Cluster
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:0e.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k5.0.0-25-generic
Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: ath10k_pci bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Atheros usb-ID: 001-002
           IF: null-if-id state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 128.0GB (63.7% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: RTITF128PCA1MADL size: 128.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 20G used: 18G (94%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-2: /home size: 9.8G used: 3.6G (38%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda6
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 4.29GB used: 0.00GB (0%)
           fs: swap dev: /dev/sda3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 227 Uptime: 3 min Memory: 2471.9/3577.0MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.201) inxi: 2.3.56

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rfkill list all
0: ideapad_wlan: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
1: ideapad_bluetooth: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
2: hci0: Bluetooth
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no
3: phy0: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: no

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iwconfig
wlp2s0    IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"DrayTek"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 00:1D:AA:60:60:40   
          Bit Rate=1 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=54/70  Signal level=-56 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:112   Missed beacon:0

lo        no wireless extensions.

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lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:5627 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. 
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0cf3:e500 Atheros Communications, Inc. 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

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lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Host Bridge (rev 0b)
00:00.1 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Device 5a8c (rev 0b)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0b)
00:0e.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Audio Cluster (rev 0b)
00:0f.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Trusted Execution Engine (rev 0b)
00:12.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series SATA AHCI Controller (rev 0b)
00:14.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series PCI Express Port B #1 (rev fb)
00:14.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series PCI Express Port B #2 (rev fb)
00:15.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series USB xHCI (rev 0b)
00:16.0 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series I2C Controller #1 (rev 0b)
00:16.2 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series I2C Controller #3 (rev 0b)
00:1c.0 SD Host controller: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series eMMC Controller (rev 0b)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series Low Pin Count Interface (rev 0b)
00:1f.1 SMBus: Intel Corporation Celeron N3350/Pentium N4200/Atom E3900 Series SMBus Controller (rev 0b)
01:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5229 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9377 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter (rev 31)

[Pjotr]

I wasn't aware that routine updates do not also maintain the kernel.

They do, but you always stay within your kernel series. As long as that series is being supported. Which is the case for both your former 4.15 kernel series and your current 5.0 series.

[gm10]

Well, this is just typical! A few hours after making the previous post, I come back to find 'Update Manager' greyed out. The wireless icon appeared normal.

Does not compute. There is no functionality in Update Manager to grey out the icon when there is no connectivity.

[Northnet]

Perhaps 'blank out' would be more accurate, no green tick, nor blue 'update available'. The point is that it is visually indicative of a loss of internet connectivity, alongside the Megasync icon which definitely does grey out. Obviously attempting and failing to load a web page is proof positive.

Thanks for your helpful explanation, Pjotr, we learn something every day!

[gm10]

Perhaps 'blank out' would be more accurate, no green tick, nor blue 'update available'. The point is that it is visually indicative of a loss of internet connectivity,

Actually it means that Update Manager is currently refreshing. If refreshing had failed due to lack of connectivity you'd have a red cross on the shield instead.

[Northnet]

At risk of speaking too soon, again, but since updating to kernel 5.0.0-25 there have been no further instances of wireless internet dropout. I am flagging the issue as Solved.