rtl8723be wifi unusable on lenovo ideapad y50-70

[Henk Stubbe]

The rtl8723be wifi adapter rarely connects to a network. When it does, it will be choppy (10% to 50% packet loss on a ping to the default gateway) and usually disconnect after a few minutes.

Run with fwlps=0 ips=0 as options to the rtl8723be module, or testing https://github.com/lwfinger/rtlwifi_new/ didn't help.

---
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.19
Architecture: amd64
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
InstallationDate: Installed on 2015-08-21 (130 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Beta amd64 (20150805)
MachineType: LENOVO 20378
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcFB: 0 inteldrmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-3.19.0-39-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=0127c47d-596d-4248-826b-b48818acce77 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.19.0-39.44~14.04.1-generic 3.19.8-ckt9
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.19.0-39-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.19.0-39-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.127.19
Tags: trusty
Uname: Linux 3.19.0-39-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 08/12/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 9ECN43WW(V3.03)
dmi.board.asset.tag: 31900058WIN
dmi.board.name: Lenovo Y50-70
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: 31900058WIN
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: 31900058WIN
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Lenovo Y50-70
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr9ECN43WW(V3.03):bd08/12/2015:svnLENOVO:pn20378:pvrLenovoY50-70:rvnLENOVO:rnLenovoY50-70:rvr31900058WIN:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrLenovoY50-70:
dmi.product.name: 20378
dmi.product.version: Lenovo Y50-70
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Henk Stubbe, thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please execute the following command only once, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect 1493143

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

apport information

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

Done. The wlan2 in the wifilog is an external USB wifi adapter i'm currently using - it was not plugged in when I ran apport.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Henk Stubbe, could you please advise to the router manufacturer, model, firmware version, and version of WiFi you are attempting to connect on (ex. 802.11n)?

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

It is my opinion that the wifi router is not the culprit, because:

- i have tried to connect to various wifi routers in various locations, all with the same issue:
   - at home I have a linksys wrt54gl v1.1 w/ OpenWrt Backfire 10.03.1 / LuCI 0.10.0 Release (0.10.0), that's an 802.11b/g router
   - i also have a GL-INET router w/ OpenWrt Barrier Breaker r38451 / LuCI Trunk (svn-r9971) , that's a 802.11bgn router
   - the appartment building here has an own wifi network, which is a cisco system with transceivers and a central controller, i have no clue about the models, firmware versions or capabilities of that network as i do not manage that
   - at a club-building i often come there is an aruba networks system, also with transceivers and a central controller, where I have the same problems connecting with ubuntu - no clue again of what firmware etc that is not my equipment
   - when setting up my samsing galaxy note 4 as a mobile access point, I have the same issues connecting this laptop when running ubuntu
   - at work, i don't have a clue about the make/model/firmware of the wifi system there, but i know i also have the same issues
   - at various public venues and hotels i tried connecting, resulted in the same issues
   - i have tried connecting to the wifi when visiting friends or family, it will be near impossible to make a list of all those ap's and their make/model/firmware versions, but i never was able to get a usable connection there either
   - all other devices in the house (several other laptops w/ windows or ubuntu, android phones, android tablets) connect to both of my own routers and the appartment building routers without any issues
- when booting into the windows installation that is also on this machine, i can connect to all those networks flawelessly and stay connected without any packet loss over prolonged periods

hope that helps.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Henk Stubbe, to advise, it's much easier to debug, and keep upstream's attention, when talking about one router with easy access to specifics (ex. Linksys), versus all the different ones that may be connected to, and/or ones where specifics aren't available.

Despite this, with your device specifically, it has a two-parter, the kernel, which you have tested a later version of, and the firmware, which is the older one in Trusty.

Hence, in order to allow additional upstream developers to examine the issue, could you please test this with the latest firmware, and latest upstream kernel?

The latest firmware is available in Vivid+, or via

Regarding the latest mainline kernel, could you please test the latest one available from the very top line at the top of the page from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/?C=N;O=D (the release names are irrelevant for testing, and please do not test the daily folder)? Install instructions are available at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/MainlineBuilds .

If testing on your main install would be inconvenient, one may:
1) Install Ubuntu to a different partition and then test this there.
2) Backup, or clone the primary install.

If the latest kernel did not allow you to test to the issue (ex. you couldn't boot into the OS) please make a comment in your report about this, and continue to test the next most recent kernel version until you can test to the issue. Once you've tested the upstream kernel, please comment on which kernel version specifically you tested. If this issue is fixed in the mainline kernel, please add the following tags by clicking on the yellow circle with a black pencil icon, next to the word Tags, located at the bottom of the report description:
kernel-fixed-upstream
kernel-fixed-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Where X, and Y are the first two numbers of the kernel version, and Z is the release candidate number if it exists.

If the mainline kernel does not fix the issue, please add the following tags:
kernel-bug-exists-upstream
kernel-bug-exists-upstream-X.Y-rcZ

Please note, an error to install the kernel does not fit the criteria of kernel-bug-exists-upstream.

Once testing of the latest upstream kernel is complete, please mark this report's Status as Confirmed. Please let us know your results.

Thank you for your understanding.

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

Hello Christopher,

I have tried with vivid a few weeks ago already (live cd), but that didn't help either. Should I retry that or is there a way to use the latest firmware in 14.04? I don't have any spare partition on this machine to install 15.04 on, and given that 15.x is not LTS i don't want to overwrite my current LTS with that.

I will try the mainline kernel, although I did try that as well several weeks ago (even tried upstream kernels directly from kernel.org). I will report back.

Thanks.

[Henk Stubbe (b-ubuftu-m)]

Tried with 4.4.0-RC7, still have the issue of high packet loss and unstable connection. Tagging accordingly.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Henk Stubbe, to clarify, was this test done in Vivid?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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