Wireless connection is lost, cannot reconnect without reboot

[Carsten Agger]

I'm running Ubuntu Netbook Remix on an Acer Aspire One.

This is the wireless card as indicated by lspci:

Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

I've installed linux-backports-modules-jaunty, and after booting, it connects to the network without any problems. However, after an unpredictable amount of time - may vary between a couple of hours and as little as five minutes - connection is lost, and the Network Applet shows the "reconnecting" animation.

However, the Network Manager *will not* reconnect to any wireless network without rebooting.

Desired behaviour:

Wireless vard should not lose the connection,

AND

if it loses the connection, it should be possible to reconnect without rebooting.

Here's some data about my configuration:

lspci | grep Atheros

03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

lsusb
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0c45:62c0 Microdia Pavilion Webcam
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0f62:1001 Acrox Technologies Co., Ltd Targus Mini Trackball Optical Mouse
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

ifconfig wlan0
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:4d:45:69:09
          inet6 addr: fe80::223:4dff:fe45:6909/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:233902 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:150778 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:327670007 (327.6 MB) TX bytes:15819365 (15.8 MB)

iwconfig wlan0
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:""
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
          Tx-Power=27 dBm
          Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

lsmod | grep "ath"
ath5k 126724 0
lbm_cw_mac80211 227364 3 rt2x00usb,rt2x00lib,ath5k
lbm_cw_cfg80211 73760 3 rt2x00lib,ath5k,lbm_cw_mac80211
led_class 12036 3 acer_wmi,rt2x00lib,ath5k

sudo lshw -C network
[sudo] password for agger:
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 02
       serial: 00:1e:68:d5:a9:5b
       size: 10MB/s
       capacity: 100MB/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half latency=0 link=no module=r8169 multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter
       vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       logical name: wmaster0
       version: 01
       serial: 00:23:4d:45:69:09
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix cap_list logical ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath5k latency=0 module=ath5k multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 1
       logical name: pan0
       serial: b2:70:a3:df:ed:1a
       capabilities: ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes

Kernel version: 2.6.28-11-generic i686, Ubuntu 9.04

[Laurens-Jan (ljmerkx)]

I've the same problem/bug, but with different hardware. A fresh installation of Ubuntu 9.04, installed with a netgear WN121T wireless (with ndiswrapper), connecting to a accesspoint with WPA2. I also tried with WEP, same problem. Only without any encryption, the connection is stable.

[horrorkld9 (horrorkld9)]

Duplicate of 365321?

[Carsten Agger (agger)]

> Duplicate of 365321?
>
> --
> Wireless connection is lost, cannot reconnect without reboot
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/372885
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
>
>
possibly - i think the problem may be wireless card specific, though?

[Andy Whitcroft (apw)]

This is not a bug in the linux-meta package, moving to the linux-backports-modules package.

[Eli Boaz (eli-sushigeek)]

My wife's netbook, also an Acer Aspire One w/ the same Atheros chipset listed above also has the issue reported. Additionally she is unable to join the network at all as her personal account. I tested the system with the the Live CD (via USB Thumb Drive) and it does not appear to show the issue while started from the live CD. Could this be an issue with user privileges?

I can confirm that she can join unsecured wireless network and does not have issues keeping those connections.

Can I provide any other information from her system or is there enough detail / information to resolve this bug?

[Mikko Taivainen (mikko-taivainen)]

I'm having the same problem with Jaunty Netbook Remix on Samsung NC10. Sometimes (although rarely) it helps to unload and reload a "ath5k" kernel module.

[Eli Boaz (eli-sushigeek)]

Hi,

I noticed the same thing. I chose to workaround the problem differently - I
set up my wireless network without WEP or WPA, but restricted the MAC
addresses that can communicate with the wireless access point. On top of the
the wireless network, I've configured all my systems to establish a VPN to
my home server and configured my router only allows traffic from the home
server.

Eli

On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 11:53 AM, Mikko Taivainen
<email address hidden>wrote:

> I'm having the same problem with Jaunty Netbook Remix on Samsung NC10.
> Sometimes (although rarely) it helps to unload and reload a "ath5k"
> kernel module.
>
>

[Mikko Taivainen (mikko-taivainen)]

Hello,

unfortunately the problem in my case isn't in WEP or WPA. My wife is
using Ubuntu 8.10 on Acer laptop and she had problems with WPA
connections and that's why I first tried to solve my problem by
setting up an unencrypted WiFi connection. But that wasn't helping:
the network keeps on disappearing, most often after a S3 sleep state,
but occassionally during an active session as well.

Sometimes modprobing the ath5k module off and back helps, sometimes it
doesn't. Sometimes computer restart (or hibernate) helps, sometimes
not. If nothing else helps, I can restore the connection by first
booting to Windows and then back to Ubuntu! Yes, it sounds weird, but
I think that the wlan adapter goes to some power saving state that
Linux driver can not handle (and it needs Windows to rescue her -- so
embarrassing).

Mikko

2009/7/2 Eli Boaz <email address hidden>:
> Hi,
>
> I noticed the same thing. I chose to workaround the problem differently - I
> set up my wireless network without WEP or WPA, but restricted the MAC
> addresses that can communicate with the wireless access point. On top of the
> the wireless network, I've configured all my systems to establish a VPN to
> my home server and configured my router only allows traffic from the home
> server.
>
> Eli
>
> On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 11:53 AM, Mikko Taivainen
> <email address hidden>wrote:
>
>> I'm having the same problem with  Jaunty Netbook Remix on Samsung NC10.
>> Sometimes (although rarely) it helps to unload and reload a "ath5k"
>> kernel module.
>>
>>
>
> --
> Wireless connection is lost, cannot reconnect without reboot
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/372885
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Ubuntu Netbook Remix: New
> Status in “linux-backports-modules-2.6.28” package in Ubuntu: New
>
> Bug description:
> I'm running Ubuntu Netbook Remix on an Acer Aspire One.
>
> This is the wireless card as indicated by lspci:
>
> Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
>
> I've installed linux-backports-modules-jaunty, and after booting, it connects to the network without any problems. However, after an unpredictable amount of time - may vary between a couple of hours and as little as five minutes - connection is lost, and the Network Applet shows the "reconnecting" animation.
>
> However, the Network Manager *will not* reconnect to any wireless network without rebooting.
>
> Desired behaviour:
>
> Wireless vard should not lose the connection,
>
> AND
>
> if it loses the connection, it should be possible to reconnect without rebooting.
>
> Here's some data about my configuration:
>
>
> lspci | grep Atheros
>
> 03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
>
> lsusb
> Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0c45:62c0 Microdia Pavilion Webcam
> Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
> Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
> Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
> Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
> Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0f62:1001 Acrox ...

[pjs (pjs38-columbia)]

same issues, acer aspire one, driver is ath5k_pci. happens several times a day.

[Antonio Navarro (anavarrog)]

same issues with acer aspire one and ubuntu karmic

[Romulo Nunes (sarumanromulo)]

same issues, Acer Aspire 1410, Ubuntu Netbook Remix

[Leo (leorolla)]

Could you test with Ubuntu 10.04 and then run "apport-collect 372885" ?

Thank you.

[Carsten Agger (agger)]

I no longer have this problem in Ubuntu 10.04, and I think also not in 9.10. So it may be limited to UNR 9.04 and previous.

[Carsten Agger (agger)]

Why status "invalid"? Many people seems to have this problem in still-supported versions like 9.04. Given the previous response on this bug and the number of people affected it should probably be set to "Confirmed", don't you think?

[Leo (leorolla)]

My mistake.

[Abhishek Kona (abhishek-kona)]

I still have the bug.
Using Ubuntu 10.04
My Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5784M Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 10)

[Chris Jutting (amdinside624)]

I've been having this bug lately. Also on an Acer Aspire One, but running 10.10 NBE.
Mine has an Atheros AR5001 wireless card.

Here is what was in the messages file in /var/log after the wireless drops

Oct 20 21:00:15 AAO-Netbook kernel: [ 1106.381052] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
Oct 20 21:00:15 AAO-Netbook kernel: [ 1106.399980] cfg80211: World regulatory domain updated:
Oct 20 21:00:15 AAO-Netbook kernel: [ 1106.399992] (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
Oct 20 21:00:15 AAO-Netbook kernel: [ 1106.400002] (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 20 21:00:15 AAO-Netbook kernel: [ 1106.400011] (2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 20 21:00:15 AAO-Netbook kernel: [ 1106.400020] (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 20 21:00:15 AAO-Netbook kernel: [ 1106.400028] (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 20 21:00:15 AAO-Netbook kernel: [ 1106.400037] (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)