[SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

caminoix · 2011-07-08 07:38:52

Solved by awayes – thanks a lot!
iwconfig wlan0 power off

Hello,

I'm having problems with my Wi-Fi connection.

I have a D-Link DI-524 router and four devices connecting to it: a desktop (cable), a laptop, a mobile phone and a kindle (all three Wi-Fi). The problem only occurs with the laptop (which runs Arch).

Every now and then, the wireless goes down for about a minute. The intervals between breakdowns seem quite random to me, ranging from a couple of times in ten minutes to hours without problems. --- EDIT --- Most commonly, they happen when I try to open many (fifteen or so) websites at once. They are much less frequent under heavy load from a single source, such as copying large files from my desktop over the network, but still more frequent than during casual browsing. --- / EDIT ---

I use wicd; here's the log from today:

2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: ---------------------------
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: wicd initializing...
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: ---------------------------
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: wicd is version 1.7.0 552
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: setting backend to external
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: trying to load backend external
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: successfully loaded backend external
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: trying to load backend external
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: successfully loaded backend external
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: Automatically detected wireless interface wlan0
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: setting wireless interface wlan0
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: automatically detected wired interface eth0
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: setting wired interface eth0
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: setting wpa driver wext
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: setting use global dns to False
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: setting global dns
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: global dns servers are None None None
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: domain is None
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: search domain is None
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: setting automatically reconnect when connection drops True
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: Setting dhcp client to 0
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: Wireless configuration file found...
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: Wired configuration file found...
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: chmoding configuration files 0600...
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: chowning configuration files root:root...
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: Using wireless interface...wlan0
2011/07/08 07:40:25 :: Using wired interface...eth0
2011/07/08 07:40:31 :: Autoconnecting...
2011/07/08 07:40:33 :: No wired connection present, attempting to autoconnect to wireless network
2011/07/08 07:40:36 :: trying to automatically connect to...malloka_reto
2011/07/08 07:40:36 :: Connecting to wireless network malloka_reto
2011/07/08 07:40:37 :: Putting interface down
2011/07/08 07:40:37 :: Releasing DHCP leases...
2011/07/08 07:40:37 :: Setting false IP...
2011/07/08 07:40:37 :: Stopping wpa_supplicant
2011/07/08 07:40:37 :: Flushing the routing table...
2011/07/08 07:40:37 :: Putting interface up...
2011/07/08 07:40:39 :: Generating psk...
2011/07/08 07:40:39 :: Attempting to authenticate...
2011/07/08 07:40:42 :: wpa_supplicant rescan forced...
2011/07/08 07:40:43 :: Running DHCP with hostname kamil-studio-arch64
2011/07/08 07:40:43 :: dhcpcd[2627]: version 5.2.12 starting
2011/07/08 07:40:43 :: 
2011/07/08 07:40:44 :: dhcpcd[2627]: wlan0: rebinding lease of 192.168.0.119
2011/07/08 07:40:44 :: 
2011/07/08 07:40:44 :: dhcpcd[2627]: wlan0: acknowledged 192.168.0.119 from 192.168.0.1
2011/07/08 07:40:44 :: 
2011/07/08 07:40:44 :: dhcpcd[2627]: wlan0: checking for 192.168.0.119
2011/07/08 07:40:44 :: 
2011/07/08 07:40:49 :: dhcpcd[2627]: wlan0: leased 192.168.0.119 for 604800 seconds
2011/07/08 07:40:49 :: 
2011/07/08 07:40:49 :: dhcpcd[2627]: forked to background, child pid 2692
2011/07/08 07:40:49 :: 
2011/07/08 07:40:49 :: 
2011/07/08 07:40:49 :: DHCP connection successful
2011/07/08 07:40:49 :: not verifying
2011/07/08 07:40:49 :: Connecting thread exiting.
2011/07/08 07:40:53 :: Sending connection attempt result Success

The next line after that is

2011/07/08 08:51:57 :: Autoconnecting...

and than again the same messages for the second time, ending in a successful connection. No trace of a breakdown.

--- EDIT ---

My everything.log is perhaps more informative:

Jul  8 08:51:49 localhost kernel: [ 4305.980568] wlan0: disassociated from 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (Reason: 14)
Jul  8 08:51:49 localhost dhcpcd[2692]: wlan0: carrier lost
Jul  8 08:51:49 localhost kernel: [ 4306.017460] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a by local choice (reason=3)
Jul  8 08:51:49 localhost kernel: [ 4306.039768] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
Jul  8 08:51:52 localhost dhcpcd[22170]: sending signal 1 to pid 2692
Jul  8 08:51:52 localhost dhcpcd[2692]: received SIGHUP, releasing
Jul  8 08:51:52 localhost dhcpcd[2692]: wlan0: removing interface
Jul  8 08:51:52 localhost dhcpcd[22170]: waiting for pid 2692 to exit
Jul  8 08:51:53 localhost kernel: [ 4309.247616] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:51:53 localhost dhcpcd[22182]: dhcpcd not running
Jul  8 08:51:53 localhost kernel: [ 4309.463473] tg3 0000:08:00.0: irq 50 for MSI/MSI-X
Jul  8 08:51:53 localhost kernel: [ 4309.576963] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:51:58 localhost kernel: [ 4314.072353] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:01 localhost dhcpcd[22210]: dhcpcd not running
Jul  8 08:52:01 localhost kernel: [ 4317.347752] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:01 localhost dhcpcd[22216]: dhcpcd not running
Jul  8 08:52:01 localhost kernel: [ 4317.520088] tg3 0000:08:00.0: irq 50 for MSI/MSI-X
Jul  8 08:52:01 localhost kernel: [ 4317.622429] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:01 localhost dhcpcd[22225]: dhcpcd not running
Jul  8 08:52:01 localhost kernel: [ 4317.750841] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:03 localhost kernel: [ 4319.916755] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 1)
Jul  8 08:52:04 localhost kernel: [ 4320.116294] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 2)
Jul  8 08:52:04 localhost kernel: [ 4320.316277] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 3)
Jul  8 08:52:04 localhost kernel: [ 4320.516269] wlan0: authentication with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a timed out
Jul  8 08:52:16 localhost kernel: [ 4333.048528] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 1)
Jul  8 08:52:17 localhost kernel: [ 4333.246269] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 2)
Jul  8 08:52:17 localhost kernel: [ 4333.446270] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 3)
Jul  8 08:52:17 localhost kernel: [ 4333.646302] wlan0: authentication with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a timed out
Jul  8 08:52:30 localhost kernel: [ 4346.099234] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 1)
Jul  8 08:52:30 localhost kernel: [ 4346.296274] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 2)
Jul  8 08:52:30 localhost kernel: [ 4346.496276] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 3)
Jul  8 08:52:30 localhost kernel: [ 4346.696278] wlan0: authentication with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a timed out
Jul  8 08:52:42 localhost dhcpcd[22453]: dhcpcd not running
Jul  8 08:52:43 localhost kernel: [ 4359.146933] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:43 localhost dhcpcd[22459]: dhcpcd not running
Jul  8 08:52:43 localhost kernel: [ 4359.160506] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 1)
Jul  8 08:52:43 localhost kernel: [ 4359.163518] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a by local choice (reason=3)
Jul  8 08:52:43 localhost kernel: [ 4359.165323] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a by local choice (reason=3)
Jul  8 08:52:43 localhost kernel: [ 4359.350128] tg3 0000:08:00.0: irq 50 for MSI/MSI-X
Jul  8 08:52:43 localhost kernel: [ 4359.452567] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:48 localhost kernel: [ 4364.086909] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:51 localhost dhcpcd[22493]: dhcpcd not running
Jul  8 08:52:51 localhost kernel: [ 4367.474203] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:51 localhost dhcpcd[22502]: dhcpcd not running
Jul  8 08:52:51 localhost kernel: [ 4367.636732] tg3 0000:08:00.0: irq 50 for MSI/MSI-X
Jul  8 08:52:51 localhost kernel: [ 4367.739143] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:51 localhost dhcpcd[22509]: dhcpcd not running
Jul  8 08:52:51 localhost kernel: [ 4367.871662] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
Jul  8 08:52:53 localhost kernel: [ 4370.054247] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 1)
Jul  8 08:52:53 localhost kernel: [ 4370.056996] wlan0: authenticated
Jul  8 08:52:54 localhost kernel: [ 4370.073107] wlan0: associate with 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (try 1)
Jul  8 08:52:54 localhost kernel: [ 4370.076489] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1e:58:0b:62:0a (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
Jul  8 08:52:54 localhost kernel: [ 4370.076494] wlan0: associated
Jul  8 08:52:54 localhost kernel: [ 4370.080616] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
Jul  8 08:52:54 localhost dhcpcd[22538]: version 5.2.12 starting
Jul  8 08:52:54 localhost dhcpcd[22538]: wlan0: rebinding lease of 192.168.0.119
Jul  8 08:52:54 localhost dhcpcd[22538]: wlan0: acknowledged 192.168.0.119 from 192.168.0.1
Jul  8 08:52:54 localhost dhcpcd[22538]: wlan0: checking for 192.168.0.119
Jul  8 08:53:00 localhost dhcpcd[22538]: wlan0: leased 192.168.0.119 for 604800 seconds
Jul  8 08:53:00 localhost dhcpcd[22538]: forked to background, child pid 22574
Jul  8 08:53:04 localhost kernel: [ 4380.256263] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

--- / EDIT ---

Before wicd, I used netcfg and had the same problem. I only switched to wicd because netcfg requires WIRELESS_INTERFACE to be defined in rc.conf, and I was told it should no longer be there.

Here's my network part of rc.conf:

HOSTNAME="kamil-studio-arch64"

interface=wlan0
address=
netmask=
gateway=

NETWORK_PERSIST="no"

DAEMONS=(syslog-ng cpufreq dbus @wicd @ntpd @laptop-mode @crond @alsa @sensors)

and my /etc/hosts:

127.0.0.1        localhost.localdomain    localhost kamil-studio-arch64

Can you help me, please?

--- EDIT ---
Adding an explicit entry to wpa_supplicant.conf doesn't help. Maybe it's important that while the network was down, I ran wicd-gtk and it said the password was wrong. I quit it and a moment later it connected just fine.
--- / EDIT ---

Last edited by caminoix (2011-07-15 14:39:02)

stqn · 2011-07-08 19:19:14

Have you tried changing your wifi channel?

caminoix · 2011-07-08 20:29:37

stqn wrote:

Have you tried changing your wifi channel?

Thank you for the idea; I haven't tried that. But if I understand correctly, this wouldn't help in my case. My laptop can see the following networks:

channel  strength
6        100%     (mine)
13        61%
2         51%
1         44%
11        41%
5         35%
11        35%
10        34%

Or did I misunderstand the idea behind channels? I'll check what networks are visible at other times of the day.

MoonSwan · 2011-07-08 20:36:45

Update the router's bios perhaps or rebooting it may help. I have almost exclusively used D-Links stuff for years (god knows why I continue apart from a sense of patriotism maybe?). I've found that the updates to the bios helps (usually) -to stave off the problem you're having, IE wifi cutting out.

If it's just the one device though, I don't know if my ideas would help much. Good luck and I hope you find a solution.

caminoix · 2011-07-08 21:09:08

Thank you for your ideas, MoonSwan. I will update the BIOS but I'm afraid you're right that it might not help: it is only one device that has problems.

However, in the meantime I checked my everything.log and I think I found something interesting that points to wpa_supplicant if I understand correctly. I'll edit my original post with this new info. I added an entry to wpa_supplicant.conf and I'll see if this helps. But if it does, does it mean that I have to manually add every new network to wpa_supplicant.conf? How come I haven't had this problem before (around a month ago, I believe.)

tomk · 2011-07-08 21:52:35

caminoix wrote:

I only switched to wicd because netcfg requires WIRELESS_INTERFACE to be defined in rc.conf

No it doesn't - where did you get that information?

caminoix · 2011-07-08 22:13:23

tomk wrote:

caminoix wrote:
I only switched to wicd because netcfg requires WIRELESS_INTERFACE to be defined in rc.conf
No it doesn't - where did you get that information?

Hm, I'm pretty sure that's what netcfg told me the last time I tried to run it without this line in rc.conf. Also, that's what the Arch wiki says.

tomk · 2011-07-08 22:49:07

OK - that's for net-auto-wireless only. You didn't mention that above.

As for this:

caminoix wrote:

I was told it should no longer be there.

the wiki says it should be there - who told you it shouldn't?

caminoix · 2011-07-08 22:51:11

tomk wrote:

As for this:
caminoix wrote:
I was told it should no longer be there.
the wiki says it should be there - who told you it shouldn't?

In this post.

tomk · 2011-07-08 23:37:03

Inxsible was wrong - the wiki is right.

caminoix · 2011-07-09 06:46:51

tomk wrote:

Inxsible was wrong - the wiki is right.

I now read the wiki on rc.conf and it turns out both ways are valid. So you're right, Inxsible was wrong. Thanks for making it clear to me. I'm happy I can go back to netcfg which I think I preferred, but unfortunately this doesn't solve my current problem.

----

Adding an entry to wpa_supplicant.conf didn't help. The network still disconnects.

MoonSwan · 2011-07-09 20:49:57

Stab in the dark here but is the computer you're having trouble with in a differnt location than the other 2 machines? If it is, try putting in the same room that the router resides in and see if you have a drop out again. I know that some routers do not do well if there are too many walls between them and the pc. If that's the case, you can either buy a repeater or an extra long antenna from most computer stores.

I chose the latter option and later I moved the router to the middle floor (it was previously in the basement). The move did help somewhat but not as much as I'd like. The longer antenna boosted my signal by about 10% I think (don't hold me to that figure please) . Either way they are viable solutions that may work for you. Oh and by the way, my antenna cost $20 or $30 CDN.

caminoix · 2011-07-09 21:04:58

MoonSwan wrote:

Stab in the dark here but is the computer you're having trouble with in a differnt location than the other 2 machines?

Thank you for trying! But unfortunately, this isn't it in my case. In fact, there's about a meter and a half (less than five feet) between the router and the laptop and no walls, just my printer and desktop.

---

If this can serve as a clue, I did some more testing and I can now tell that indeed the most often case when failures happen is when I try to open many (around fifteen) websites at once. Under heavy load but from a single source, as copying huge files from my desktop, failures are far less common but still more often than while casual browsing.

caminoix · 2011-07-12 21:45:34

Bump, please?

lilsirecho · 2011-07-12 21:58:12

Perhaps you are experiencing drop-outs due to cpu throttle or some such......

awayes · 2011-07-13 09:56:49

Hi,

you can try "iwconfig wlan0 power off" to disable the powermanagement!
i had a similar problem with my wlan stick a couple off weeks ago and this fixed it.

caminoix · 2011-07-13 18:29:43

@lilsirecho:
Yes, my CPU usage can get very high with certain websites but I don't think this is the reason here because the failures sometimes also happen when CPU load is around 5%. Thanks for trying, anyway!

@awayes:
Oh my, oh my! It looks like it did that! Awayes, you're a magician! Thanks a lot! I owe you a crate of beer
I'll wait a day or two (I'm going to be away much tomorrow) just to be on the safe side and will mark the topic solved.

lilsirecho · 2011-07-14 05:09:49

awayes wrote:

Hi,
you can try "iwconfig wlan0 power off" to disable the powermanagement!
i had a similar problem with my wlan stick a couple off weeks ago and this fixed it.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-07-08 07:38:52

[SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#2 2011-07-08 19:19:14

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#3 2011-07-08 20:29:37

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#4 2011-07-08 20:36:45

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#5 2011-07-08 21:09:08

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#6 2011-07-08 21:52:35

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#7 2011-07-08 22:13:23

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#8 2011-07-08 22:49:07

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#9 2011-07-08 22:51:11

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#10 2011-07-08 23:37:03

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#11 2011-07-09 06:46:51

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#12 2011-07-09 20:49:57

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#13 2011-07-09 21:04:58

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#14 2011-07-12 21:45:34

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#15 2011-07-12 21:58:12

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#16 2011-07-13 09:56:49

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#17 2011-07-13 18:29:43

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

#18 2011-07-14 05:09:49

Re: [SOLVED] Disappearing wireless

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