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gabx

Member

From: Geneva, Switzerland

Registered: 2011-11-20

Posts: 211

Website

[SOLVED]wired and wireless network: issue with systemd-network

My network is managed by systemd-networkd and wpa_supplicant OR iwd (I tried both) for the wireless part.No local dhcp server is installed.
Below are my two .network configuration files and wireless configuration file:

% cat /etc/systemd/network/20-wired.network
[Match]
Name=enp*

[Link]
RequiredForOnline=routable

[Network]
DHCP=yes

[DHCPv4]
RouteMetric=100

[IPv6AcceptRA]
RouteMetric=100

------------------------------------------------------
% cat /etc/systemd/network/30-wireless.network
[Match]
Name=wlan0

[Link]
RequiredForOnline=routable

[Network]
DHCP=yes

[DHCPv4]
RouteMetric=600

[IPv6AcceptRA]
RouteMetric=600

--------------------------------------
% ip a
......
2: enp5s0
.......
4: wlan0

----------------------------------
 % cat /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/run/wpa_supplicant
update_config=1

network={
	ssid="GabHome"
	psk="*********"
	mesh_fwding=1
}

case 1 : systemd-networkd with wpa_supplicant
NOTE: ethernet cable is pluged

To test properly, I stopped iwd.service unit. No idea why, but the wireless interface is not listed anywhere:

% ip a
1: lo:
......
2: enp5s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
-----------------------------
% networkctl 
IDX LINK   TYPE     OPERATIONAL SETUP
  1 lo     loopback carrier     unmanaged
  2 enp5s0 ether    routable    configured

Why can't I see the wlan0 interface? Does it have anything to do with the install of iwd package?
So in this case, I can't use wired or wireless on the same machine when in fact it should be possible.

case 2 : systemd-networkd with iwd
NOTE: ethernet cable is pluged

I started iwd.service unit

% systemctl status iwd
● iwd.service - Wireless service
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/iwd.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Tue 2025-08-12 16:43:46 CEST; 4s ago
 Invocation: ddd212f65ffb49999dc30c9e5482df1f
       Docs: man:iwd(8)
             man:iwd.config(5)
             man:iwd.network(5)
             man:iwd.ap(5)
   Main PID: 4980 (iwd)
      Tasks: 1 (limit: 6926)
     Memory: 2M (peak: 2.4M)
        CPU: 45ms
     CGroup: /system.slice/iwd.service
             └─4980 /usr/lib/iwd/iwd

août 12 16:43:46 larmor iwd[4980]: event: state, old: autoconnect_quick, new: connecting (auto)
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: Received Deauthentication event, reason: 2, from_ap: true
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: event: disconnect-info, reason: 2
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: event: connect-info, ssid: GabHome, bss: 64:7b:1e:f8:84:a0, signal: -71, load: 10/255
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: hardware_rekey not supported
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: event: state, old: connecting (auto), new: connected
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: Received Deauthentication event, reason: 4, from_ap: false
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: event: disconnect-info, reason: 4
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: event: state, old: connected, new: disconnected
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: event: state, old: disconnected, new: autoconnect_quick

In that case, everything is working as supposed:

% networkctl
IDX LINK   TYPE     OPERATIONAL SETUP
  1 lo     loopback carrier     unmanaged
  2 enp5s0 ether    routable    configured
  5 wlan0  wlan     routable    configured
-------------------------------------------------
% ip a
2: enp5s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state UP group default qlen 1000
-----------------------------------
5: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000

BUT one minute later, the wireless is broken:

% networkctl
IDX LINK   TYPE     OPERATIONAL SETUP
  1 lo     loopback carrier     unmanaged
  2 enp5s0 ether    routable    configured
  5 wlan0  wlan     no-carrier  configured
-------------------------------------------
% ip a 
5: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state DOWN group default qlen 1000

and I found this error:

% systemctl --failed
  UNIT                                 LOAD   ACTIVE SUB    DESCRIPTION
● systemd-networkd-wait-online.service loaded failed failed Wait for Network to be Configured

For the remaining, I unplugged the ethernet cable.
Then I restarted the above service, now it is no more listed as failed.

% ip a
2: enp5s0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc fq_codel state DOWN group default qlen 1000
    link/ether e8:03:9a:1c:f6:11 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    altname enxe8039a1cf611
    inet6 fe80::ea03:9aff:fe1c:f611/64 scope link proto kernel_ll
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
5: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc noqueue state UP group default qlen 1000
    link/ether e0:ca:94:a5:ab:ed brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
    inet6 fe80::e2ca:94ff:fea5:abed/64 scope link proto kernel_ll
       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

But as you can see above, I don't have an  internet IP for the wireless network. Ping does not work
As a side note, the iwgtk AUR package is broken, at least can' show any indicator tray icon.

What am I doing wrong? How to get wired and wireless network on mw machine with one combo or another one: systemd-networkd/wpa_supplicant, or systemd-networkd/iwd ?

Thank you for help

Last edited by gabx (2025-08-13 13:59:04)

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 20,440

Re: [SOLVED]wired and wireless network: issue with systemd-network

Are you trying to connect both NICs to the same subnet on the same router?

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seth

Member

From: Don't DM me only for attention

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 66,989

Re: [SOLVED]wired and wireless network: issue with systemd-network

août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: event: connect-info, ssid: GabHome, bss: 64:7b:1e:f8:84:a0, signal: -71, load: 10/255
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: hardware_rekey not supported
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: event: state, old: connecting (auto), new: connected
août 12 16:43:50 larmor iwd[4980]: Received Deauthentication event, reason: 4, from_ap: false

The signal is lousy and you disconnect because of inactivity.

To test properly, I stopped iwd.service unit. No idea why, but the wireless interface is not listed anywhere:

rfkill

?
The ethernet plug serves as implicit rfkill trigger on various systems - the unplug that.
Make sure to only run networkd and EITHER iwd XOR wpa_supplicant, never both.
Then please post your complete system journal for the boot after some connection attempt (and re-establishing the wired connection)

sudo journalctl -b | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st

Do you btw. expect the signal to be this bad (20m + 5 drywalls or so)?

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gabx

Member

From: Geneva, Switzerland

Registered: 2011-11-20

Posts: 211

Website

Re: [SOLVED]wired and wireless network: issue with systemd-network

after long hours of debugging with chatGPT, I found my wireless interface (a broadcom  BCM43225)  as unstabled and often vanished from the ip a and networkctl list commands. The culprit was the kernel module, brcmsmac which I blacklisted and replaced with broadcom-wl driver.
Now the wlan0 interface doesn't disappear and the combo systemd-networkd/wpa_supplicant is working fine.