prism2 doesn't work with network-manager

[Tormod Volden]

Binary package hint: linux-wlan-ng

On the upstream mailing list there is a patch to make linux-wlan-ng work with network-manager:
http://lists.linux-wlan.com/pipermail/linux-wlan-devel/2007-January/003626.html

The patch should be applied to the kernel source p80211wext.c file.

To make it work, the wlan_wext_write option must be enabled:
$ cat /etc/modprobe.d/linux-wlan-ng
# make prism2 wifi work with network-manager
options p80211 wlan_wext_write=1

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Here is the mentioned patch, modified to apply cleanly on linux-source-2.6.20_2.6.20-14.22.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

For those who want to test this on Feisty, I have compiled the modules here:
http://tormod.webhop.org/linux/wlan/feisty

(Don't ask me why my modules are so big compared to the original ones. It must be something with the way I compiled them - I tried to avoid compiling the whole kernel.)

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

(the modules got a normal size when I ran strip --strip-debug on them)

With this patch and network-manager, the linux-wlan-ng package is only needed for its udev rule which calls
wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_ifstate ifstate=enable
when the device is detected.

[Jose Baeza (baeza-jos)]

Please, add compiled modules for final kernel 2.6.20-15-generic.

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

I really need compiled modules for kernel 2.6.20-15-generic! Please!!

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Due to popular demand, here are the two compiled modules for 2.6.20-15-generic. Copy this first one to /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic/kernel/ubuntu/wireless/prism2/p80211/p80211.ko

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Copy this one to /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic/kernel/ubuntu/wireless/prism2/prism2_usb.ko
(Making backups of the original prism2.ko and p80211.ko before copying would not hurt.)

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Finally copy this file to /etc/modprobe.d/
Now run "sudo depmod -a", and either unload/reload the modules, or reboot.

Please report the results!

One known issue: network-manager will not connect automatically to "hidden" networks.

[Jose Baeza (baeza-jos)]

Didn't work for me (Acer Warplink 802.11B usb). Previously, I had to "ifdown" manually after disconnecting the device. After updating the modules and the file in /etc/modprobe.d, the device still is recognized in lsusb, but is not configured at all, in spite the configuration is manually set up in /etc/network/interfaces file. Commands ifconfig and iwconfig don't show the device.

Fortunately, I backed up the original files !

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Jose, so the new modules make things worse? They should not change any existing functionality, only add more "wireless extensions" for network-manager. Can you look for more information in /var/log/syslog after you have plugged in the card?

[Jose Baeza (baeza-jos)]

The net usb device is inside my laptop. I only switch it on/off with an slide button.
Do you want the syslog with the original modules or the patched ones? ... or both?

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Especially the one with patched modules, both would be nice too.

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

They didn't work for me either. I am also relatively new to ubuntu, so i just followed the instructions. I have a Netgear MA111v1 802.11b

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

also- is there any way that you could put the WORKING files in a .deb package? it would make it a lot easier for me because I frequently reinstall an OS.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

theubuntuna, what do you mean by "WORKING" files?

[Philipp Schlesinger (philipp-sadleder)]

Consider updating to the latest upstream release [1], which has support for NetworkManager:

0.2.8
 - Fix up a pile of sparse warnings (Pavel Roskin)
 - Support 2.6.20 kernels (Pavel Roskin)
 - Tweaks to the udev rules (Richard Kennedy)
 - Silence a large pile of warnings with GCC4.1
 - pt_regs is gone for USB as well on 2.6.19+ (Chris Rankin)
 - Large WEXT patch that allows use of NetworkManager. (Richard Kennedy)

[1] ftp://ftp.linux-wlan.org/pub/linux-wlan-ng/CHANGES

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Jose and theubuntuna, the modules were built for -i386, I hope you don't have -amd64. If we are to investigate your problems further we need more information from you than just "doesn't work".

Philipp, I also compiled the upstream 0.2.8, but the resulting modules failed on loading with an "INITWORK2" error. The patches I used here are the same as in the 0.2.8 version. Anyway, a Ubuntu package of 0.2.8 will hopefully arrive soon, it's already in Debian unstable.

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

don't worry- i have i386. I'm also sorry I was not more specific with "working" files. I meant that when the bug is fixed and everything is working correctly. Here is my problem: after i plug in my device, i need to select 'connect to other wireless network', then i enter all of that info, then i click 'connect'. After that i left-click on thenetwork manager icon in the top right corner and click on my network. then it prompts me to enter my encryption code again, i do that, even though i alredy did that in the 'connect to other wireless network' dialog. Then i repeat the step several times untill the "enter encryoption key" stops appearing. I have a WEP encrypted network. Is this enough info?

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

It should be enough to enter the network name and WEP key once in 'connect to other wireless network'. Can you attach your /var/log/syslog ? And what is the output from "cat /sys/module/p80211/parameters/wlan_wext_write" ?

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

Here is the 'syslog'. also, i could not open the 'wlan_wext_write' file, so I didn't attach it. Do you still want it?

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

If you don't have the /sys/module/p80211/parameters/wlan_wext_write, it means you are not using the patch. Can you please also attach /var/log/dmesg and dmesg output from plugging in or turning on the network card?

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

i have the 'wlan_wext_write' file
Here it is.

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

Now, here is the dmesg fiel

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Please run "dmesg > dmesg.txt" after plugging in/turning on the card, and attach dmesg.txt
And run "tar zcf sys-mod-p80211.tgz /sys/module/p80211" and attach sys-mod-p80211.tgz

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

Sorry, but i don't quite understand what you want me to do. Could you please be a little more specific with your instructions. as i said earlier, I am relatively new to ubuntu, so i only have a very small idea of what you want me to do. Don't you have to run somthing in a terminal?

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

I'm sorry, but please disregard everything i said in my last post. once i took a closer look at everything on my system, and your instructions, i figured it out. I was in a rush at that moment.

Here is dmesg

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

and here is that other file

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Unfortunately I can not see the card initialize in your dmesg output. Did you unplug it and replug it before running the dmesg command? Does the card work with manual configuration?

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

Sorry, forgot to mention it's a usb device. Also, it does not work with manual config. and do i run the dmesg command immediatly after plugging in the device?

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

If your card doesn't work anyway, network-manager is not going to help. Please file a new bug, or support request. (Wait at least 10 seconds after plugging in before running dmesg)

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

I'm going to try the dmesg command one more time and post the output. Last time i ran it immediatly after i plugged in the card.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

theubuntuna, please post the new dmesg, together with the URL of your support request or new bug. This bug report is about the network manager patch, and you have another issue. It just adds confusion to this report.

[theubuntuna (www-x86-com)]

this may dissapoint you, but i have swiched back to M$. I do think that ubuntu is cool, but this error crap is stupid.

Hello Microsoft Windows XP!

[Sal (salty72)]

Hi Tormod,

I tried the patches you provided and they seem to work, albeit only for a couple of seconds. I've replaced the files and the configuration file for linux-wlan-ng. Upon connecting a Microsoft MN-510 USB devices, the system recognizes it and enables its wireless functionality. I've confirmed this through the execution of Network Manager and 'iwconfig'. After two or three seconds, it appears that the device does its scan for networks, then the wireless functionality is disabled. The command 'iwconfig' replies indicating no wireless extensions and network manager thinks that the device is a wired network interface.

I can re-enable the wireless functionality of the device by executing the following 'wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_ifstate ifstate=enable'.
Then both the network manager and 'iwconfig' recognize the wireless capability of the device.

Any suggestions? I need to configure this for non-expert users that just need it to work during boot-up and after suspend.

If I try to configure the device with my wireless settings, then the device loses its wireless capability and becomes a wired device in network-manager and has no wireless extensions in 'iwconfig'. After that, nothing works with the USB device; even trying 'wlanctl-ng ...' described earlier cannot enable the wireless functionality again.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Sal, thanks for testing. These problems sounds like a network-manager bug I have seen, where it takes down the interface after a few seconds. However, I haven't seen this in recent updates. You have fully updated your system, right? How can you tell that "network manager thinks that the device is a wired network interface"? Please attach /var/log/syslog. Is your network adapter stable with manual configuration (network-admin)?

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

The user utilities should now have been fixed in Gutsy with the release of 0.2.8+dfsg-1ubuntu1, but the kernel modules for 2.6.22 are missing, bug #115017.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

> With this patch and network-manager, the linux-wlan-ng package is only needed for its udev rule which calls wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_ifstate ifstate=enable when the device is detected.

The linux-wlan-ng packages are also needed for ram loading of firmware which is essential for some cards...

[Sal (salty72)]

Hi Tormod,

I'm responding to the post from you on 2007-05-18.

Sorry for the late reply. I was out of town for a few days.
In response to your questions:
1. The system is fully up-to-date according to the Update Manager response (including updating the repository information).
2. My conclusion that the network manager is changing its assessment from wireless to wired is based on the image in front of the interface and the properties field when I click to configure the interface. When it is wireless, the wireless interface icon appears and the properties allow the configuration of the ESSID, key, etc... When network manager shows the wired icon, the only properties available are the ip fields.
3. I am not near the computer at the moment, so I will upload the syslog tonight (EST).

Thanks.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Sal, I guess you mean network-admin then. Network-Manager is the little icon on the top right of your desktop. It has a menu entry "Manual configuration" which takes you to network-admin, which you can also access from System -> Administration -> Network

If you have trouble with network-admin, without using Network-Manager, it has probably nothing to do with the patches in this bug report.

If you configure your card manually with network-admin, the configuration is written to /etc/network/interfaces. In this case, NetworkManager will not even try to use the card (if it does, it would be a Network-Manager bug). Maybe you can try deinstalling Network-Manager to see if there is any interference. You should try to fix the problems you have with manual configuration before you reinstall Network-Manager and come back to this bug report.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

For testing, here are modules for the 2.6.20-16-generic kernel.

[Sal (salty72)]

Hi Tormod,

I tried the patched modules with the latest kernel version and the wireless device MN-510 works perfectly.
I performed a manual update, installed your modules by executing the provided README file.
The wireless connection was verified by connecting to servers in the local area network and wide area network (by disabling the wired connection to ensure that the wireless was workig properly).

If there is anything I can do to help test, please let me know.
Thanks for your help!

~Sal

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Hi Sal, I am glad to hear that. Thanks for trying it out. If you want to test more, it would be nice if you could test Gutsy, or install the Gutsy linux-wlan-ng package in your Feisty.

[Stefan (ubuntu-trittler)]

Thanks very much for the patched modules, now works for me with 2.6.20-16-generic kernel and Netgear MA111 v1 USB.

Had to change a couple of settings (i.e. deactivate roaming mode), but it seems to be working fine with WEP now (after entering the key as xx:xx:xx:xx:... instead of xxxxxxx...).
Some error messages can be found in the logs though, i.e.
dmesg:
[ 36.673137] p80211: no version for "struct_module" found: kernel tainted.
[ 710.006358] hfa384x_usbctlx_complete_sync: CTLX[3] error: state(Request failed)
[ 710.006368] prism2sta_commsqual_defer: error fetching commsqual

There seem to be some issues when switching users (i.e. network strength icon vanishes), but as long as it works, this is ok for me.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Stefan, are you sure you need to enter the WEP key as xx:xx:xx...? This was fixed in an earlier version, so it would be a bug.

If you deactivate roaming mode, then you are not using these patches! Are you using "Manual configuration..." (network-admin)?

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

It seems like the prism2 modules shipped with linux-ubuntu-modules in Gutsy are not working (bug #121959). Here are modules that I built from upstream svn. They work, but I get some errors in syslog.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

The debdiff in bug #114793 fixes all user-land issues. Only the kernel modules needs to be fixed. I leave this bug open anyway, so people can find it and test the attached modules.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

The prism2 modules shipped with linux-ubuntu-modules are still broken in 2.6.22-7. Here is upstream svn 1832.

[Marcos (marcosrdz)]

do the precompiled modules work on Feisty amd64?

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Kernel modules have to match the exact kernel version. The attached modules were built for the -generic kernel.

For other kernels, you can either download the kernel source package, patch it with the patch above and build the modules, or you can download the linux-wlan-ng-source package (0.2.8 or newer has the patch incorporated) and try to build the modules on your system with module-assistant.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

From bug #114793 it seems that the linux-wlan-ng-source 0.2.8+dfsg1-ubuntu1 does not build on Feisty. You can also try downloading the source from upstream (tar-ball or git) and build it with "configure" and "make". You only need the two modules, for the rest use the normal Ubuntu packages.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

For the broken kernel modules in Gutsy, please see bug #121959.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Gutsy finally has working kernel modules again, which can work with network-manager. The only piece missing for out-of-the-box plug-and-play with network-manager will be fixed by the debdiff in bug 114793.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Now that Gutsy finally has 0.2.8+svn1832+dfsg-2ubuntu1, everything should work out of the box. Note that there is a limitation in the driver - scans won't return hidden essids - so network-manager will not automatically reconnect to hidden networks.

linux-wlan-ng (0.2.8+svn1832+dfsg-2ubuntu1) gutsy; urgency=low

  [ Tormod Volden ]
  * Merge from Debian unstable, remaining changes:
    - Ubuntu maintainer fields in control.*
    - debian/control updates concerning modules in Ubuntu kernels
    - etc/Makefile: no hotplug agent in Ubuntu
    - etc/rc.wlan: say p80211.ko instead of p80211.o
  * debian/control.firmware: drop recommends on -modules package
    in Ubuntu (LP: #115580)
  * wlan-udev.sh: remove dbus-send call
  * debian/rules: rename local TMPDIR variable which clashes with the
    environment variable of the same name (LP: #128002)
  * Ubuntu bugs resolved in new Debian version:
    - debian/linux-wlan-ng.modprobe: enable writeable extensions for
      network-manager operation (LP: #115594)

[Jakub 'Livio' Rusinek (liviopl-pl)]

SHOULD work, but doesn't...
Neither wireless extension support or NM support is provided by this driver (prism2_usb).

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Jakob, please file a new bug where you explain what you see, error messages, lsusb and dmesg output and so on.