wireless disconnects randomly

[sojourner]

Binary package hint: network-manager

up to date natty , this started with the 2.6.38 series kernel , I updated a maverick install at natty repo opening and update at least once daily . My wireless (rtl8185) was solid until the 2.6.38 kernel came in . my wireless is solid in a maverick install and 2 other distros on the same system but is very flaky in natty or when running from a natty live cd . also attaching a clip from my system log at the time of a disconnect . When a disconnect occurs just clicking on the connection in NM-applet does not reconnect , just searches . I have to disable wireless with NM-applet and the re-enable it to get it to connect . Sometimes this does not work either.

I also tried this in natty and also broke wireless in lucid with the 2.6.38 kernel. This may be attributed to atheros regressions and possibly other cards. Help would be much appreciated.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: network-manager 0.8.3+git.20110210t152733.00327fb-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-5.32-generic 2.6.38-rc6
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-5-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Date: Sun Feb 27 09:57:16 2011
IfupdownConfig:
 auto lo
 iface lo inet loopback
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Alpha amd64 (20110207)
IpRoute:
 192.168.3.0/24 dev wlan0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.3.173 metric 2
 169.254.0.0/16 dev wlan0 scope link metric 1000
 default via 192.168.3.1 dev wlan0 proto static
Keyfiles: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
NetworkManager.state:
 [main]
 NetworkingEnabled=true
 WirelessEnabled=true
 WWANEnabled=true
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: network-manager

[Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox)]

Because of the description which attributes this to a rough kernel version, reassigning to the 'linux' package so kernel-level regressions may be investigated.

[sojourner (itsmealso2)]

additional info , the disconnects happen less frequently if I do not have indicator applet running in the panel . I also filed an apport report against nm-applet crashing but this is a separate issue because the disconnects are usually not associated with a crash of nm-applet .

[raggar (mbaart)]

Same problem here. I have a AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter. On a up-to-date Natty 64 bit system.

The problem o cures most at startup and at wakeup from suspension. For the first 15 minutes it is connecting and disconnecting again and again.

[Jakob Kehrer (kehrer-jakob)]

Same story here on Atheros AR5001X+ Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01). But except there is no way reconnect, if i lose wlan connection i need to restart my pc to get connected again. Sounds very similar: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/736930

[Ryan S Kingsbury (ryanskingsbury)]

This affects me as well. I've tried the 2.6.38 Kernel on an up-to-date Maverick system where wireless normally works fine, on the Natty Beta live disk and a test install of Natty beta. I stay connected but experience about 30% packet loss to my router.

 I'm using the ath9k driver in 802.11n mode.
Atheros AR5008 (rev 01)

Please help!

[sojourner (itsmealso2)]

More info I installed the 2.6.39-rc1 kernel from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v2.6.39-rc1-natty/ and the problem persists .

[none (ubuntu-bugs-nullinfinity-deactivatedaccount)]

I also have this problem. I'm running kernel 2.6.38-7-generic (buildd@allspice) (gcc version 4.5.2 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.5.2-6ubuntu5) ) #38-Ubuntu SMP Tue Mar 22 13:41:53 UTC 2011

and my wireless card is

Broadcom Corporation BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n [14e4:4328] (rev 03)

I ran wpa_supplicant in debug mode and got this log when the connection is dropped and network-manager tries to reconnect:

FT: Stored MDIE and FTIE from (Re)Association Response - hexdump(len=0):
WPA: set AP WPA IE - hexdump(len=28): XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
WPA: set AP RSN IE - hexdump(len=26): XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
WPA: Set own WPA IE default - hexdump(len=22): XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
ioctl[SIOCSIWAP]: Device or resource busy

The last line ("Device or resource busy") looks like a hint that something is going wrong. When it eventually manages to reconnect (sometimes after tens of tries), the (slightly redacted) log says

  replay_counter - hexdump(len=8): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01
  key_nonce - hexdump(len=32): XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
  key_iv - hexdump(len=16): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  key_rsc - hexdump(len=8): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  key_id (reserved) - hexdump(len=8): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  key_mic - hexdump(len=16): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
RSN: msg 1/4 key data - hexdump(len=0):
WPA: Renewed SNonce - hexdump(len=32): XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
WPA: PMK - hexdump(len=32): [REMOVED]
WPA: PTK - hexdump(len=48): [REMOVED]
WPA: WPA IE for msg 2/4 - hexdump(len=22): XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
  replay_counter - hexdump(len=8): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02
  key_nonce - hexdump(len=32): XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
  key_iv - hexdump(len=16): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  key_rsc - hexdump(len=8): 17 58 02 00 00 00 00 00
  key_id (reserved) - hexdump(len=8): 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
  key_mic - hexdump(len=16): XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX
RSN: encrypted key data - hexdump(len=104): XX XX [...]
WPA: decrypted EAPOL-Key key data - hexdump(len=96): [REMOVED]

[none (ubuntu-bugs-nullinfinity-deactivatedaccount)]

I've noticed that this bug occurs both with the proprietary wl driver and the open-source b43 driver. This leads me to believe that the problem is not at the driver layer. I'd be inclined to suspect wpa-supplicant problems, possibly in conjunction with network-manager. But at this stage, that's little more than a hunch.

I'll try configuring the wireless manually to see if the bug goes away.

[none (ubuntu-bugs-nullinfinity-deactivatedaccount)]

I've now manually configured wpa-supplicant to connect to my WPA2-PSK wireless network using the method described at http://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse#WPA-PSK_and_WPA2-PSK . The connection has been stable for hours. This suggests to me that the problem lies in network-manager.

[sojourner (itsmealso2)]

I did not mention in the original report that my wireless chip is a realtek rtl 8185 and that I use no security on my network . the problem has persisted through natty and into oneric . Sabayon ,suse , puppy and ubuntu prior to the natty kernel do not exhibit this behavior . I have since found that Debian squeeze can be made to exhibit the behavior if the package firmware-realtek is installed and then cured if the package is purged.This package is for cards later than mine (rtl 8185) the driver for mine and earlier has been built into the kernel for a long time . This package does not exist in the Ubuntu repos , so I suspect that begining with the .38 kernel Ubuntu built the contents of the package into the kernel causing a conflict for earlier cards .

[Sebastian Schlatow (buzz-dee)]

the same problem after upgrading from maverick to natty and also under oneiric for:

07:07.0 Ethernet controller: Belkin F5D7000 v7000 Wireless G Desktop Card [Realtek RTL8185] (rev 20)

[penalvch (penalvch)]

sojourner, 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.

[sojourner (itsmealso2)]

this bug has NOT recurred at any time during precise pangolin development .

[penalvch (penalvch)]

sojourner, this bug report is being closed due to your last comment regarding this being fixed with an update. For future reference you can manage the status of your own bugs by clicking on the current status in the yellow line and then choosing a new status in the revealed drop down box. You can learn more about bug statuses at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status. Thank you again for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. Please submit any future bugs you may find.