Can't stop wireless networking in Intrepid

[Toby Bartels]

Now that I've upgraded from Hardy to Intrepid, my wireless networking has gotten very aggressive!

If I start the computer (a Dell Inspiron E1505) with the ethernet connected, it still tries to connect to a wireless network. There are (usually) two wireless signals available, one open but weak and another password-protected. When I log in, I'm properly connected over the wire, and I can use the Internet and everything. Nevertheless, the automatic wireless searcher will try to connect to the open wireless network. If this succeeds, I seem to be connected two ways at once! (I'm not sure how to tell which connection I'm actually using.) If this fails, then it tries to connect to the closed network, popping up a password-request window that I must cancel. Then it gives up; nothing else that I try (short of disabling wireless networking) will make it give up.

The desired behaviour, which is what occurred under Hardy, is that it should never try to connect to wireless while I have a wired connection, unless I specifically tell it to.

The obvious work-around is to turn off wireless networking, to turn it on only when I need it. Fine, but guess what? When I start the computer up next time, wireless networking is back on again! I can't get rid of it!

uname -a: Linux toby-s 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 21:57:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU
/proc/version_signature: Ubuntu 2.6.27-9.19-generic
dmesg: attached
lspci -vnvn: attached
Ubuntu version: 8.10

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

This seems to be more about an issue with network-manager so I'm reassigning. Thanks.

[Martin Mai (mrkanister-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Could you please add the /var/log/syslog to your bug report as an attachment? Also you can submit more information for it by looking to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingNetworkManager , Thanks in advance.

[Toby Bartels (tobybartels)]

I've attached /var/log/syslog as it is now. I'll also do the stuff mentioned in DebuggingNetworkManager (test case, capture log, etc), but some of this depends on which driver I have. Do you know how I can tell what that is?

[Martin Mai (mrkanister-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Thanks for the syslog. Your driver name can be found in this syslog:

Jan 15 04:35:17 toby-s kernel: [ 20.400667] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.26ks

So you are using the driver "iwl3945".

[Toby Bartels (tobybartels)]

OK, I ran the testcase suggested at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingNetworkManager , but before that, I copied the syslog as it was immediately after I logged in (since the Network Manager had just done some stuff then too).

Note that both times, the Network Manager first connected me the ethernet connection (which I want) and then connected me to my neighbour's unsecured wireless 'linksys' (which I don't want, at least not unless I tell it to try, at least not while I'm connected through the ethernet). Usually the signal from 'linksys' is too weak, so it goes on to try another neighbour's secured system (as described in the original post), but that didn't happen this time.

[Martin Mai (mrkanister-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

Thank you, Toby, for giving us those information. Waiting for someone to confirm the issue.

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. The issue that you reported is one that should be reproducible with the live environment of the Desktop CD of the development release the Karmic Koala. It would help us greatly if you could test with it so we can work on getting it fixed in the next release of Ubuntu. You can find out more about the development release at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/ . Thanks again and we appreciate your help.

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

We are closing this bug report because it lacks the information we need to investigate the problem, as described in the previous comments. Please reopen it if you can give us the missing information, and don't hesitate to submit bug reports in the future. To reopen the bug report you can click on the current status, under the Status column, and change the Status back to New. Thanks again!.