Wicd doesn't display all APs available.

[Mobad]

When I scan for wifi with "iwlist ath0 scan" I get nine APs in range, most of them with pretty good signals. When I scan with Wicd I get max four sometimes only one. It is like this with ioctl and external. Not sure what version it started but it wasn't always like this (probably 1.6 it started.)

My wicd.log is full of:

2009/08/30 20:08:28 :: hidden
2009/08/30 20:08:28 :: hidden
2009/08/30 20:08:29 :: hidden
2009/08/30 20:08:29 :: ERROR:dbus.service:Unable to append (18267127743084776831719818L,) to message with signature (x) (guessed): <type 'exceptions.OverflowError'>: long too big to convert

Using Ubuntu 8.04 with Wicd 1.6.2.1.

[Adam Blackburn (adamblackburn)]

If you don't mind can you give me the iwlist scan output?

There is a known problem with 1.6.2.1 involving ESSIDs with characters other than letters, but that shouldn't affect the ioctl backend.

Please see https://bugs.launchpad.net/wicd/+bug/421634 for more information about that.

[Mobad (mark-obad)]

Sure, but this has been going on for a while and none of them have anything special other than spaces. "2WIRE416" almost never shows yet it has a pretty good signal.

[Dan O'Reilly (oreilldf)]

Did you enter a wireless key for one of these networks made up entirely of numbers?

[Dan O'Reilly (oreilldf)]

Also, could you attach the full wicd.log?

[Mobad (mark-obad)]

My friends' AP's, 2WIRE416 (128-bit) and inhyeong (64-bit) have all number wep keys.

[NoOp (glgxg)]

$ apt-cache policy wicd
wicd:
  Installed: 1.6.2.2-1
  Candidate: 1.6.2.2-1
  Version table:
 *** 1.6.2.2-1 0
        500 http://apt.wicd.net jaunty/extras Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.5.9-2 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/universe Packages

Linux <snip> 2.6.28-15-generic #51-Ubuntu SMP Mon Aug 31 13:33:16 UTC 2009 i686 GNU/Linux
Ubuntu 9.04 (Gnome).

wicd_1.6.2.2-1 does not pick up any new/changed networks that show with 'sudo iwlist wlan0 scan'. I had to back down to 1.6.2.2 in order to get my network back.

Using wicd_1.6.2.2-1 I change the ESSID on the router from . (dot) to g (g) and it do a 'Refresh' and the network change is not picked up. Using wicd_1.6.2.2 I can do this and the ESSID change is picked up properly.

[Adam Blackburn (adamblackburn)]

> wicd_1.6.2.2-1 does not pick up any new/changed networks that show with 'sudo iwlist wlan0 scan'.

What do you mean by new/changed networks?

[NoOp (glgxg)]

Just as I said: wicd_1.6.2.2-1 does not pick up any new/changed networks that show with 'sudo iwlist wlan0 scan'. If I use 'sudo iwlist wlan0 scan' I can see multiple networks that 1.6.2.2-1 did not see (even after hitting the 'Refresh' button multiple times in 1.6.2.2-1. I *can* see these networks with wicd_1.6.2.2 and 1.5.9.

To test, I (as mentioned in comment #6 modified the ESSID on the router and tested using the 'Refresh' button in wicd. wicd_1.6.2.2-1 did not pick up the changes, 1.6.2.2 and 1.5.9 do.

[Adam Blackburn (adamblackburn)]

> Just as I said: wicd_1.6.2.2-1 does not pick up any new/changed networks that show with 'sudo iwlist wlan0 scan'.

I'm still not sure what a "new/changed" network is.

> If I use 'sudo iwlist wlan0 scan' I can see multiple networks that 1.6.2.2-1 did not see (even after hitting the 'Refresh' button multiple times in 1.6.2.2-1. I *can* see these networks with wicd_1.6.2.2 and 1.5.9.)

Can you post your iwlist scan output and point out which networks cannot be seen in wicd? (also, your comment is a little confusing, because you first say that with 1.6.2.2-1 you can't see the networks, but then you say you can see them with 1.6.2.2?)

[NoOp (glgxg)]

On 09/02/2009 05:13 AM, Adam Blackburn wrote:
>> Just as I said: wicd_1.6.2.2-1 does not pick up any new/changed
> networks that show with 'sudo iwlist wlan0 scan'.
>
> I'm still not sure what a "new/changed" network is.

I'm still not sure just what you don't understand about:

"Using wicd_1.6.2.2-1 I change the ESSID on the router from . (dot) to g
(g) and it do a 'Refresh' and the network change is not picked up. Using
wicd_1.6.2.2 I can do this and the ESSID change is picked up properly."

Here, try it for yourself:

1. From wicd, disconnect from your wireless network.
2. Change the ESSID on your network router/AP from what it currently is.
3. From wicd click the 'Refresh' button.

The results of that should pick up the new ESSID from your network.

From my comment #6:
"Using wicd_1.6.2.2-1 I change the ESSID on the router from . (dot) to g
(g) and it do a 'Refresh' and the network change is not picked up. Using
wicd_1.6.2.2 I can do this and the ESSID change is picked up properly."

4. Open a terminal and do an iwlist scan: 'sudo iwlist <wlaninterface>
scan. Compare that with #3 above.

What I am telling you is that I *can* see the changed ESSID in 1.5.9 and
1.6.2.2. With 1.6.2.2-1 I *cannot* see the changed ESSID.

>
>> If I use 'sudo iwlist wlan0 scan' I can see multiple networks that
> 1.6.2.2-1 did not see (even after hitting the 'Refresh' button multiple
> times in 1.6.2.2-1. I *can* see these networks with wicd_1.6.2.2 and
> 1.5.9.)
>
> Can you post your iwlist scan output and point out which networks cannot
> be seen in wicd? (also, your comment is a little confusing, because you
> first say that with 1.6.2.2-1 you can't see the networks, but then you
> say you can see them with 1.6.2.2?)
>

I'll post when I have a chance to reload/test 1.6.2.2-1 again. Just what
is confusing about being able to see the network in 1.6.2.2 (and 1.5.9)
but not with 1.6.2.2-1? I am referring to:
http://apt.wicd.net/pool/extras/w/wicd/
1.6.2.2 = wicd_1.6.2-2_all.deb
1.6.2.2-1 = wicd_1.6.2.2-1_all.deb

Are we clear now?

[NoOp (glgxg)]

> I'll post when I have a chance to reload/test 1.6.2.2-1 again. Just what
> is confusing about being able to see the network in 1.6.2.2 (and 1.5.9)
> but not with 1.6.2.2-1? I am referring to:
> http://apt.wicd.net/pool/extras/w/wicd/
> 1.6.2.2 = wicd_1.6.2-2_all.deb
> 1.6.2.2-1 = wicd_1.6.2.2-1_all.deb

My apologies: 1.6.2.2 should be 1.6.2-2.

[Adam Blackburn (adamblackburn)]

Ah, sorry, I understand what you mean.

This is a different bug then the original one, so I'll look into it and let you know when I get it sorted out. Thanks for all the help and information :)

[Adam Blackburn (adamblackburn)]

Also, I should add that you can edit /etc/wicd/wireless-settings.conf and change the ESSID in there, and Wicd will report it correctly. Wicd just needs to ignore the value in that file if the AP is broadcasting the ESSID.

[NoOp (glgxg)]

> Also, I should add that you can edit /etc/wicd/wireless-settings.conf
> and change the ESSID in there, and Wicd will report it correctly. Wicd
> just needs to ignore the value in that file if the AP is broadcasting
> the ESSID.
>

Yes, I'm aware of that: /etc/wicd/wireless-settings.conf, thanks. Let me
know if you need any further information/testing.

[Victor Hooi (victorhooi)]

heya,

I'd just like to add I encountered the same issue (at least I believe so).

I just reconfigured the AP at our apartment, and in the process, we changed our ESSID (as well as our WPA key).

Either way, when I tried to connect again with Wicd, it failed, saying it was unable to get an IP address.

I tried deleting the configuration in /var/lib/wicd/configurations for this particular network, with no effect.

Then I read this bug report, and removed the corresponding lines from /etc/wicd/wireless-settings.conf, which seems to have fixed the problem (as attested by the fact that I am now online, and posting here...lol).

This is on Arch Linux, running Wicd 1.6.2.2 (Package is local/wicd 1.6.2.2-3 on Arch Linux)

Cheers,
Victor

[spiffytech (spiffytech)]

I'm having the same problem but my wireless-settings.conf is empty so that fix doesn't work for me. The essid I'm trying to connect to is ARI-WPA2.

[Robby Workman (rworkman)]

If I'm not mistaken, the bug referenced by the subject line is fixed in 1.6.2.2 and onward.
The bug referenced in some of the comments, which is that wicd doesn't recognize an essid that happens to be changed (i.e. the router's essid is changed from e.g. "blah1" to "blah2"), is a separate bug and is completely unexpected given the subject/title of this bug report. As such, that one needs a new bug report, and this one should be marked "fix released."

If anyone disagrees, speak up; otherwise, I'll close this on my next janitorial run. :-)

[NoOp (glgxg)]

Perhaps you missed all of the references to 1.6.2.2 posted for this issue? Did you actually *read* the posts in this bug?

[Robby Workman (rworkman)]

Yes, I read them, but I wasn't sure I fully grasped everything, which is why I asked for clarification.

After re-reading, it *still* appears that your main problem is that a changed essid is not noticed by wicd as having been changed. Assuming that's the case, I don't think the original bug report is the same thing you're experiencing.

Having personally experienced the bug with 1.6.2.1 not showing all essid's available (instead it was showing them as hidden, exactly like the original post in this bug report), AND the fact that simply upgrading to 1.6.2.2 did not change that (it required a manual edit or clearing out of wireless-settings.conf), AND the fact that none of our users have reported similar problems EXCEPT in the exact circumstances described previously in this sentence, I reached the conclusion that I wrote in post #20.

Maybe in post #17 you're saying that you already cleared out wireless-settings.conf, but if so, it's not terribly clear that such is the case, so I don't have any reason to believe that you're experiencing something different.

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding something, or I'm overlooking something important (this won't be the first time I've done it, and it probably won't be the last either), but it's easy to forget bits and pieces while reading later posts in the thread. Perhaps a complete backup of all your wicd configs (including /etc/wicd and /var/lib/wicd) and then wiping them and starting over with a "we think this version is bug free - 1.6.2.2" installation from wicd.net instead of the ubuntu package would be a good idea.

[Adam Blackburn (adamblackburn)]

If you do wipe the configs or edit them, make sure you stop the wicd daemon first, as it will just overwrite your changes if it is running.