Realtek 8191SEvB wireless card drops connections and can't reconnect without reboot

[Joseph Garvin]

I just purchased a Thinkpad 410s which for the most part Ubuntu works with fantastically out of the box (suspend and hibernate both work, 3D works, sound works). But the wifi occasionally gets disconnected, and when that happens it becomes impossible to reconnect without a reboot -- network manager will ask for the key as if it had been rejected, and then if I click ok it will try for awhile and eventually say I'm disconnected. I primarily have seen this when connecting to a WPA protected network, but I believe it's also happened on an unprotected network (where it doesn't ask for a key obviously but still can never reconnect).

I played with toggling networking/wireless in the network manager context menu but it didn't have any effect on whether I could reconnect. The laptop also has a physical switch for turning the wireless on and off, but it made no difference either. Here's the identifying snippet from lspci for my card:

03:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8191SEvB Wireless LAN Controller (rev 10)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10
Package: linux-image-2.6.35-22-generic 2.6.35-22.33
Regression: No
Reproducible: No
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-22.33-generic 2.6.35.4
Uname: Linux 2.6.35-22-generic x86_64
AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.23.
Architecture: amd64
ArecordDevices:
 **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
 card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: CONEXANT Analog [CONEXANT Analog]
   Subdevices: 1/1
   Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: prophet 1650 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xfc620000 irq 47'
   Mixer name : 'Intel IbexPeak HDMI'
   Components : 'HDA:14f15069,17aa21a4,00100302 HDA:80862804,17aa21b5,00100000'
   Controls : 14
   Simple ctrls : 6
Card29.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:29 'ThinkPadEC'/'ThinkPad Console Audio Control at EC reg 0x30, fw 6UHT31WW-1.12'
   Mixer name : 'ThinkPad EC 6UHT31WW-1.12'
   Components : ''
   Controls : 1
   Simple ctrls : 1
Card29.Amixer.values:
 Simple mixer control 'Console',0
   Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined penum
   Playback channels: Mono
   Mono: Playback [off]
Date: Thu Dec 9 00:28:52 2010
Frequency: Once a day.
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=e491809d-03d4-4bdc-871d-c76076529699
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (20101007)
MachineType: LENOVO 2901CTO
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-22-generic root=UUID=cff85db2-8aa7-463b-b36f-378cad3ecc02 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.utf8
 SHELL=bash
RelatedPackageVersions: linux-firmware 1.38
SourcePackage: linux
dmi.bios.date: 10/27/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 6UET61WW (1.41 )
dmi.board.name: 2901CTO
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr6UET61WW(1.41):bd10/27/2010:svnLENOVO:pn2901CTO:pvrThinkPadT410s:rvnLENOVO:rn2901CTO:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 2901CTO
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T410s
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

[Jeremy Foshee (jeremyfoshee)]

Hi Joseph,

This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux 687692

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

    [This is an automated message. Apologies if it has reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[wolfger (wolfger)]

Still an issue for me, in Natty. Doesn't actually require reboot (usually). Does require rmmod of driver followed by modprobe of driver. Happens with such frequency as to make wifi nearly unusable.

[wolfger (wolfger)]

According to Google, some people have solved this by creating/editing the file /etc/modprobe.d/realtek.conf to add:
options r8192se_pci hwwep=0

This solution does not work for me. (Toshiba L505)

[popeluvsu (popeluvsu)]

Affects me in 10.10 and 11.04, completely unable to use WIFI without restarting machine.

I am on a Lenovo thinkpad edge 14. Any suggestions?

[wolfger (wolfger)]

To avoid restarting, you should be able to recover wifi by executing the following commands:
sudo rmmod r8192se_pci
sudo modprobe r8192se_pci

However, sometimes (and I can't seem to figure any pattern to it) the modprobe command will completely lock up my system. Also, you will lose wifi again. I wind up executing these commands many times per hour.

[popeluvsu (popeluvsu)]

Same exact deal over here, wolfger. I use the rmmod and modprobe commands and also have a complete screen freeze every 5 or 6 times. Very irritating. Is there anything we can do to encourage this bug gets assigned and resolved?

[wolfger (wolfger)]

There has been at least one kernel upgrade on Natty since 3/16 and I have not had any problems with my wifi dropping out since 3/17.

[popeluvsu (popeluvsu)]

Sadly, after a week of perfection, now in Natty the wifi problem has returned:(

This time, rmmod and modprobe commands do not work at all...and it freezes more often needing a complete reboot to connect again.

[kdemarest (kdemarest)]

according to this forum thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1635892&page=2 the problem doesn't occur in x64 version. If you have a 64bit processor (intel or amd) then you should try the x64 version of ubuntu.

i would be curious to see how many individuals have this chipset on systems with x86 processors.

[ra chav (rcha2000)]

I have a 64 bit processor and I have had this problem for a while.
--
Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

seidos <email address hidden> wrote:

according to this forum thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1635892&page=2 the problem doesn't occur in x64 version. If you have a 64bit processor (intel or amd) then you should try the x64 version of ubuntu. i would be curious to see how many individuals have this chipset on systems with x86 processors. -- You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber of the bug. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/687692 Title: Realtek 8191SEvB wireless card drops connections and can't reconnect without reboot Status in “linux” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: I just purchased a Thinkpad 410s which for the most part Ubuntu works with fantastically out of the box (suspend and hibernate both work, 3D works, sound works). But the wifi occasionally gets disconnected, and when that happens it becomes impossible to reconnect without a reboot -- network manager will ask for the key as if it had been rejected, and then if I click ok it will try for awhile and eventually say I'm disconnected. I primarily have seen this when connecting to a WPA protected network, but I believe it's also happened on an unprotected network (where it doesn't ask for a key obviously but still can never reconnect). I played with toggling networking/wireless in the network manager context menu but it didn't have any effect on whether I could reconnect. The laptop also has a physical switch for turning the wireless on and off, but it made no difference either. Here's the identifying snippet from lspci for my card: 03:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8191SEvB Wireless LAN Controller (rev 10) ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.10 Package: linux-image-2.6.35-22-generic 2.6.35-22.33 Regression: No Reproducible: No ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.35-22.33-generic 2.6.35.4 Uname: Linux 2.6.35-22-generic x86_64 AlsaVersion: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Driver Version 1.0.23. Architecture: amd64 ArecordDevices: **** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices **** card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: CONEXANT Analog [CONEXANT Analog] Subdevices: 1/1 Subdevice #0: subdevice #0 AudioDevicesInUse: USER PID ACCESS COMMAND /dev/snd/controlC0: prophet 1650 F.... pulseaudio CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory Card0.Amixer.info: Card hw:0 'Intel'/'HDA Intel at 0xfc620000 irq 47' Mixer name : 'Intel IbexPeak HDMI' Components : 'HDA:14f15069,17aa21a4,00100302 HDA:80862804,17aa21b5,00100000' Controls : 14 Simple ctrls : 6 Card29.Amixer.info: Card hw:29 'ThinkPadEC'/'ThinkPad Console Audio Control at EC reg 0x30, fw 6UHT31WW-1.12' Mixer name : 'ThinkPad EC 6UHT31WW-1.12' Components : '' Controls : 1 Simple ctrls : 1 Card29.Amixer.values: Simple mixer control 'Console',0 Capabilities: pswitch pswitch-joined penum Playback channels: Mono Mono: Playback [off] Date: Thu Dec 9 00:28:52 2010 Frequency: Once a day. HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=e491809d-03d4-4bdc-871d-c76076529699 InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Release amd64 (2...

[wolfger (wolfger)]

I have 64-bit processor with 32-bit Natty install. The problem was gone (or so infrequent I no longer noticed it), but now it's back as bad as ever.

[Dan Shapiro (emtdan)]

This bug is still an issue. It is a problem with Network Manager NOT the Ubuntu Kernel. Completely removing N.M. and installing WICD solves the issue. But WICD is buggy as well.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Joseph Garvin, thank you for reporting this and helping make Ubuntu better. This bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? Can you try with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO CD images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/ .

If it remains an issue, could you run the following command from a Terminal (Applications->Accessories->Terminal). It will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report.

apport-collect -p linux <replace-with-bug-number>

Also, if you could test the latest upstream kernel available that would be great. It will allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelMainlineBuilds . Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please remove the 'needs-upstream-testing' tag. This can be done by clicking on the yellow pencil icon next to the tag located at the bottom of the bug description and deleting the 'needs-upstream-testing' text. Please let us know your results.

Thanks in advance.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]