network-admin error: The interface does not exist

[lilbudda]

Binary package hint: gnome-nettool

After opening gnome-nettool, chose eth0 and click configure. Error message appears: The interface does not exist.

When running from the command line:

(network-admin:22818): Gtk-WARNING **: Unknown property: GtkComboBox.items

** (network-admin:22818): CRITICAL **: Unable to lookup session information for process '22818'

[Ben Wilber (benwilber)]

This also exists in Hardy Alpha 6 if you add the Network Monitor applet and choose "Properties" from the right-click menu then choose "Configure"

It displays an error:

"The interface does not exist

Check that it is correctly typed and that it is correctly supported by your system."

Going directly to network-admin in the Admin menu works though.

[Juan Pablo Salazar Bertín (snifer)]

newtork-admin --configure=INTERFACE isn't working.

[Ian Corne (icorne)]

I confirm, same problem.

I only recently reinstalled ubuntu 8.04b and got this problem too. My network isn't automaticly configured.
When i got System->Administration->Network ; I can't click unlock to check things.

Ian

[over 5000 (over5000-deactivatedaccount)]

Same problem here;

Hardy upgraded (tonight) from gutsy.

Working with the network admin only (from the system menu) works as expected.

Clicking "Konfigurieren" in the network monitor panel applet opens a message window:

"Die Schnittstelle existiert nicht
Stellen Sie sicher, dass es richtig geschrieben und das es korrekt von Ihrem System unterstützt wird."

(Possibly after having to type the password first.)

[Ian Corne (icorne)]

Maybe it's a problem with the unlock button, if i click manage user and groups in de system->admin menu, it's grayed out.

[bingmou (bingmou2004)]

Same Problem here:
Hardy newly installed,"VIA Networking Velocity Family Giga-bit Ethernet Adapter" can be detected ,but cannot configured: "the interface does not exist!"
I cannot connect to the internet in the Ubuntu

[Pipers (uriona)]

Same problem here but for my wifi interface,

Just upgraded from Gutsy, and found a bug, it couldn't associate to a wpa secured network.
Trying to resolve it I removed network-manager from the system (didn't know it was a known bug) because I could associate and after some seconds the wifi automagically dissasociated... Thought there was a process changing my terminal settings
Then I found it was a known bug -> 190968 and reinstalled network-manager. Now my error message in network manager is:
"The interface does not exist Check that it is correctly typed and that it is correctly supported by your system.", another known bug -> 184711

#lspci -v
02:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
 Subsystem: Intel Corporation Unknown device 1001
 Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 218
 Memory at fe0ff000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
 Capabilities: <access denied>
#uname -a
Linux juriona 2.6.24-16-generic #1 SMP Thu Apr 10 13:23:42 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux
# lsmod |grep iw
iwl3945 89844 0
iwlwifi_mac80211 219108 1 iwl3945
cfg80211 15112 1 iwlwifi_mac80211

[TonyT (tony-anthonythompson)]

I'm having the same issue. ifup and ifdown also do not see the interface either. ifconfig eth0 up|down both do work (this hits the kernel directly so it's not surprising).

I'm a newbie to debian and just converting from RH/Fedora but I noticed the /etc/network/interface file does not contain a reference to eth0, only the loopback. All reference on the web point to this as the place to configure interfaces. Apparently this text file is not used any more. If I add anything to to the text file (including iface eth0 inet dhcp which should configure it for dhcp), the interface no longer works and the GUI disables the "Configure" button.

I'm a bit upset that they changed something as basic as how networking configuration is persisted. This only has the purpose of selling support and training. It provides no value (in fact a great disservice) to the end user community. Now everything on the web regarding how to setup network is invalid. To boot the GUI tools don't actually work increasing the likely hood of folks purchasing support. This is the same kind of scam Fedora/RH are engaged in and why I thought I would look for a new distro after 10+ years of loyalty. (That and the fact upgrades have become a major pain.)

Maybe Ubuntu is not right disro either.

[TonyT (tony-anthonythompson)]

Update: I was able to the the "Network" GUI to work. It did write the the file with the extra line "auto eth0" at the end (not something I've seen in online examples). That said, ifup and ifdown still don't work and "Configure" from the "Network Tools" interface still does not see the interface.

I may have a been a bit harsh above but it stills seems quirky with changes to something very basic. If "auto eth0" has always been required, someone please let me know.

[openaddict (support-openaddict)]

Same problem. I can connect to the internet fine, but I cannot change any details about this interface using Network Tools. Tried using 2 different nic's. Running a fresh install of 8.04.

lspci -v:

01:09.0 Ethernet controller: Linksys Gigabit Network Adapter (rev 10)
 Subsystem: Linksys EG1032 v3 Instant Gigabit Network Adapter
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 17
 I/O ports at a000 [size=256]
 Memory at fb005000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
 [virtual] Expansion ROM at fa000000 [disabled] [size=128K]
 Capabilities: [dc] Power Management version 2

00:14.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation MCP51 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
 Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Unknown device e000
 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 20
 Memory at fc007000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
 I/O ports at b000 [size=8]
 Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

uname -a:
Linux fadebloom 2.6.24-16-generic #1 SMP Thu Apr 10 13:23:42 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

lsmod:
Module Size Used by
ipv6 267780 10
af_packet 23812 2
rfcomm 41744 2
l2cap 25728 13 rfcomm
bluetooth 61156 4 rfcomm,l2cap
ppdev 10372 0
powernow_k8 16704 1
cpufreq_stats 7104 0
cpufreq_userspace 5284 0
cpufreq_conservative 8712 0
cpufreq_powersave 2688 0
cpufreq_ondemand 9740 1
freq_table 5536 3 powernow_k8,cpufreq_stats,cpufreq_ondemand
video 19856 0
output 4736 1 video
dock 11280 0
sbs 15112 0
sbshc 7680 1 sbs
container 5632 0
battery 14212 0
iptable_filter 3840 0
ip_tables 14820 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 16132 1 ip_tables
ac 6916 0
sbp2 24072 0
parport_pc 36260 0
lp 12324 0
parport 37832 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
snd_hda_intel 344728 3
snd_pcm_oss 42144 0
snd_mixer_oss 17920 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 78596 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_page_alloc 11400 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_hwdep 10500 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_dummy 4868 0
snd_seq_oss 35584 0
pcspkr 4224 0
snd_seq_midi 9376 0
snd_rawmidi 25760 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 8320 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 54224 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
evdev 13056 3
snd_timer 24836 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 9612 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 56996 17 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_hwdep,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
k8temp 6656 0
sr_mod 17956 0
cdrom 37408 1 sr_mod
soundcore 8800 1 snd
nvidia 7825536 34
i2c_nforce2 ...

[Ian Corne (icorne)]

In my case it was console-kit-daemon that i disabled. In gutsy there were no problems if you disable it, in hardy the unlock doesn't work.

Ian

[Satch (notsatch)]

Same problem here, running clean install of 8.04, interface does not exist. Being a Linux newb, I don't know any other way to config my NIC. Any suggestions? Works fine, just slow. Would like to be able to verify speed/duplex.

[jan (jan-ubuntu-h-i-s)]

Same problem. My /etc/network/interfaces file was > 300 (mostly empty lines) long. On the last lines, the interfaces are set to auto. I don't know what's wrong.
This bug causes me not to be able to perform a workaround:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/5525

[Will (war59312)]

Same here!

Running Ubuntu 8.04 and gnome-netstatus-applet version 2.12.1-1ubuntu1

When I attempt to Configure my wireless card, wlan0, I get the following error:

The interface does not exist

Check that it is correctly typed and that it is correctly supported by your system.

Wireless nic is working perfectly, showing packets being sent and everything...

So of course I expect to be able to config my wireless nic.

This is on my ASUS F3Sv laptop which has a Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG nic.

95% sure I did not have this issue with Ubuntu 7.10

[tgpae (n-launchpad-net-ubuntu-tgape-org)]

While I am experiencing the same issue as the others here, I am more interested in another aspect of the problem. Specifically, the error message given does not give any information about the actual issue - it indicates something was typed, but nothing was typed. It does not indicate what was typed. It does not indicate what interface doesn't exist.

I've attempted to check the system logs for more information, and found nothing.

Error messages should give advanced users information to facilitate their efforts to resolve the issue. Generally, it is very easy to do so - most of the time, the code throwing the error has additional information which would make sense to tell the user. One might want to hide this information behind a 'show details' link, but it should be available to those who want it.

[eryksun (eryksun)]

If I try to configure the interface by clicking the 'Configure' button in gnome-nettool, I see the following error message on standard error:

 CRITICAL **: Unable to lookup session information for process '#####'

It seems gnome-nettool is calling network-admin with superuser privileges, which no longer works. For example, 'sudo network-admin' will start disabled and you'll see the same security error on standard error. If this is by design, I fail to see the reason. The superuser should be able to configure network interfaces with or without the GUI.

[Kiwi-Hawk (pjcague)]

Hi

Same error,.. I have full internet connection and I can see my network but when I got to configure eth0
with a static IP number I get this device doe not exist and therefor can not set a static number for it

[fedor (shirisu11)]

I found this, in a another forum: launch the network-admin with gksu, [gksu network-admin] then it ask you for your root password, it works for me.

I hope it can help you

[jan (jan-ubuntu-h-i-s)]

Fedor:
this bug is not about network-admin, but about gnome-nettool. I tried this fix, but
gksu gnome-nettool &
has the same (wrong !) behavior as launching it directly from Nautilus.

[eryksun (eryksun)]

Jan:

From what I can tell this bug is definitely about network-admin. It seems that gnome-nettool is calling network-admin to configure the interface, but with superuser credentials (gksu), which no longer works in Ubuntu 8.04 since network-admin requires you to use the 'unlock' button. If I run 'gksu network-admin' from the command line, I get the same error (on standard error at the command line, not the GUI error dialog) about looking up session information that I get when I click on the 'configure' button in gnome-nettool.

[anthony_88 (antonis0000)]

Same here. I installed 8.04 yesterday and i have the exact same problem. I connect to the internet but the configure button keeps popping up this message. If there is any solution, i would be happy if you shared it with us!

[Filofel (filofel)]

Variant here:
Running Hardy.

I needed to change from 100MBps to 1000MBps.
Shutdown, replaced the Intel Pro/100 NIC (removed it) for a Pro/1000, fixed the DHCP so the machine kept the same IP.
At reboot, the machine had detected the new NIC and assigned it to eth1.
The network worked.
But the "Configure" button in Networks Tools behaved as reported here.
Incidentally, /etc/network/interfaces was still referencing eth0. Changing it to eth1 didn't make anything better (even after a reboot) - at least anything obvious.

I manually put eth0 back in interfaces, shutdown, removed the Pro/1000 for the original e100b NIC, fixed the DHCP server accordingly: The machine went back to using eth0. But the problem persisted (same "The interface does not exist" message.
So it looks like I'm just in the same situation as anyone else here. I might just have got there using a slightly different path.

[eryksun (eryksun)]

Did you try to run 'network-admin' directly as a non-root user without any
options?

* If I run as root with 'gksudo network-admin', the window comes up grayed
out; I can't unlock it; and there's an error reported in the CLI: "Unable
to lookup session information for process" (IMO, the GtkComboBox error is
irrelevant).

* If I run 'network-admin -c eth0', it goes straight to a message box saying
"The interface does not exist...", but there's no "Unable to lookup session
information..." error in the CLI.

* If I run " gksudo 'network-admin -c eth0' ", I get both errors, and the
message box window for "The interface does not exist" is using the GTK theme
of the root user, which is very different from my user theme on purpose to
know when a window is running as root.

* When I click the 'configure' button in gnome-nettool, I get the same two
errors on the CLI, and the error message is also a root window. I think
gnome-nettool is simply calling 'sudo network-admin -c INTERFACE', which no
longer seems to work -- doubly.

* If I run just 'network-admin', the window loads normally; I'm able to
unlock it, select an interface and configure it.

On Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 8:31 AM, Filofel <email address hidden> wrote:

> Variant here:
> Running Hardy.
>
> I needed to change from 100MBps to 1000MBps.
> Shutdown, replaced the Intel Pro/100 NIC (removed it) for a Pro/1000, fixed
> the DHCP so the machine kept the same IP.
> At reboot, the machine had detected the new NIC and assigned it to eth1.
> The network worked.
> But the "Configure" button in Networks Tools behaved as reported here.
> Incidentally, /etc/network/interfaces was still referencing eth0. Changing
> it to eth1 didn't make anything better (even after a reboot) - at least
> anything obvious.
>
> I manually put eth0 back in interfaces, shutdown, removed the Pro/1000 for
> the original e100b NIC, fixed the DHCP server accordingly: The machine went
> back to using eth0. But the problem persisted (same "The interface does not
> exist" message.
> So it looks like I'm just in the same situation as anyone else here. I
> might just have got there using a slightly different path.
>

[Filofel (filofel)]

I see the same here.

I would add that system > administration > network works.
The only thing that doesn't work (at least here) is gnome-nettool, either command line or as in
system > administration > network tools > {Select interface} > {Configure button>}
It then yelds the infamous "The interface does not exist".

As a side note, I think there is something strange in the interface handling logic when one changes the NIC, anyway. This might or might not be related to the bug we're talking about, but the contents of /etc/network/interfaces
after a NIC change doesn't seem to be what it should be, and it takes a few reboots (with the machine coming up with no interface at all) and manual fixing of the /etc/network/interfaces fix before things get back to normal, and stable. When the machine comes up with no interface at all, I see that something has removed all but the loopback device from /etc/network/interfaces.
I'm trying to understand what goes on there.
Might also be related to what udev does: I've noticed that if I manually load my enet driver at early boot (i.e. while still in initramfs), it appears as eth0. While when the machine is done booting, i.e. after the root partition has been mounted, it appears as eth1.
What I'm seeing when performing a NIC replacement might also happen when using two alternative ways to access the network, like a wired connection and a WiFi one used alternatively.

[StMartin (stmartin-scientist)]

Also, I got the same problem? Any solutions?

When this bug will be fixed?

Thanks.

[Xel' Naga (aureliano-jz)]

Same problem too!
:-/

[Rthaduthd Anthnhkrc (nthnuekeu-deactivatedaccount)]

seeing same thing here .. i have no idea what's going on:

$ sudo network-admin
[sudo] password for lnostdal:

(network-admin:15446): Gtk-WARNING **: Unknown property: GtkComboBox.items

** (network-admin:15446): CRITICAL **: Unable to lookup session information for process '15446'
...

..then everything is greyed out in the UI. Ubuntu is still struggling getting these basic things right. :/ ..

[goo25 (cvivanco)]

Same problem, the weird thing is that I can connect to skype and make phone calls, but not firefox or konqueror works. I cannot ping to a host other than my gateway, and the nm-applet shows 100% connected. Probably it's related with route tables not pointing where they should. It´s a pain now not to have internet. Anyone had a solution for this or a way to keep up with internet?

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

Somshankar Bose, please do not change the status of the report, thanks you.

[Jack Waugh (2uppk4m02)]

Thanks, eryksun; your workaround works for me! "[R]un 'network-admin' directly as a non-root user without any options". The window comes up with the unlock button. I pressed the button, supplied the password, and the configuration interface seemed to work fine after that (at least, for looking; I didn't actually try changing any configurations).

[ipirlea (ipirlea)]

Hi, girls guys! Read this. I installed Ubuntu 8.04 and it was like a dream. Finaly I could get read of Windows. After a period of 10 days everything was PERFEKT. I installed all the packs I needed. WAW! And then........My internet connection didn't worked anymore. I've done all the asttings hundred of times, reinnstalled Ubuntu, nothing. I tried Slackware, Suse, Gentoo even Lindows and it worked perfectly. UBUNTU does't let me connect to internet. I recieve the " The interface does not exist" from network tool for eth0 and pppo dsl. The result of the ifconfig is perfekt:
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:13:8f:a5:f9:d5
          inet addr:192.168.1.1 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::213:8fff:fea5:f9d5/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:16 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:38 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:1336 (1.3 KB) TX bytes:4853 (4.7 KB)
          Interrupt:20 Base address:0xb400

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
          RX packets:6514 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:6514 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:327060 (319.3 KB) TX bytes:327060 (319.3 KB)

ppp0 Link encap:Point-to-Point Protocol
          inet addr:87.18.212.190 P-t-P:192.168.100.1 Mask:255.255.255.255
          UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING NOARP MULTICAST MTU:1492 Metric:1
          RX packets:7 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:3
          RX bytes:550 (550.0 B) TX bytes:462 (462.0 B)
But it still doesn't work

[SDC186 (sdc186)]

Hello Guys...
The problem is due to the previleges. If you run wireshark in super user mode then it automatically detects the interfaces. so just run
sudo wireshark

hopefully this should work.

[MaX (ubuntu-flebus)]

Hello SDC186,
I do not agree that the problem is "due to to the previleges". The problem is that the error is misleading: if it read "you do not have privileges to access interface" no one would complain! :)
"Interface does not exist" gives you a feeling of irreality :)

MaX

[LinuxN00B33 (conan72o)]

Pedro, I think the correct status for this is Confirmed. I believe all the triage has been done. When can we expect a fix for this? I just installed the newest version of Ubuntu and this issue is still lingering. I'd expected this would have been on the Top 100 list for usability fixes in any new release. Question for you though, is there a workaround? Something we can do to enable the "configure" button? I noticed the same behavior is present in the Network Tools app from the Administration menu. The only place I can get anywhere is with the Network app and using the Unlock function. That's really not a workaround as you can't do any MTU modifications or any other advanced network admin from there so we're stuck hunting for terminal commands. Looking forward to a speedy closure for EVERYONE. Thanks!

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

LinuxN00B33 No, the right status is Triaged, you can read more about bug statuses on launchpad/ubuntu here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status ; and you're welcome to post those comments upstream since they develop the tool, Ubuntu just package it and distributed.

[Greg Grossmeier (greg.grossmeier)]

As pedro said, it would be great if someone experiencing this issue could add helpful information to the upstream bug report at bugzilla.gnome.org:
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=434993

That way the developers of the software will have more information and will be better able to address the issue.

Thanks!

[Ian Corne (icorne)]

Does this bug still affect anyone?

[jan (jan-ubuntu-h-i-s)]

In Jaunty (9.04) the Configation button has disappeared in
system > administration > networking tools > Devices > Configuration
so no: there cannot be any problems with that anymore in jaunty.

With "Edit Connections" in NetworkManager Applet 0.7.0.100 I have not experienced these problems.
So, unless somebody readlly needs this fixed on Hardy, I think this bug should be closed.

[Milan Bouchet-Valat (nalimilan)]

I don't think we can close the bug because it was confirmed on the upstream report to be still present in 2.28.0. No code changes have been made since then, so the bug is still here. Sure, network-admin is no longer shipped by default, so that's less of a problem, but from the POV of this tool, it's still a bug. If one day we decide to kill network-admin, then we'll close all of those bugs at once.

[LinuxN00B33 (conan72o)]

Moved my comments upstream for you guys. I noticed we're using different tools now in 9.10! Onward and upward.