Arch Linux

sam.bristow

Member

Registered: 2012-04-01

Posts: 8

Wireless connection dies constantly

Sorry for the cross-post. I originally posted this in the Installation sub-forum but the problem still exists now that I've got Arch installed so I think this is a more appropriate place for it. https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=138791 .

I just built a new desktop machine with a TP-Link TL-WN951N wireless card. I can connect to my wireless router (with WEP) by running the commands:

iwconfig wlan0 essid "MY_ROUTER" key "MY_PASSWD"
iwconfig wlan0 channel auto
dhcpcd wlan0

but after a couple of minutes I lose the connection and need to run those 3 commands again to get back on.

If I run dmesg | tail -n30 I get the following output (or similar):

[    4.701020] HDMI status: Codec=0 Pin=3 Presence_Detect=0 ELD_Valid=0
[    4.701097] input: HD-Audio Generic HDMI/DP,pcm=3 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card1/input8
[    4.832375] device-mapper: uevent: version 1.0.3
[    4.832498] device-mapper: ioctl: 4.22.0-ioctl (2011-10-19) initialised: dm-devel@redhat.com
[    4.921928] device fsid 981c88d8-328b-4e52-8993-f34136af0074 devid 1 transid 36 /dev/mapper/VolGroup01-home
[    4.953072] EXT4-fs (sda1): mounting ext2 file system using the ext4 subsystem
[    4.954048] EXT4-fs (sda1): mounted filesystem without journal. Opts: (null)
[    5.330205] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   53.065606] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1f:33:2d:f7:4c (try 1)
[   53.088404] wlan0: authenticated
[   53.095775] wlan0: associate with 00:1f:33:2d:f7:4c (try 1)
[   53.119829] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1f:33:2d:f7:4c (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=1)
[   53.119832] wlan0: associated
[   53.120640] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[   63.927216] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[  101.330398] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
[  101.331556] cfg80211: World regulatory domain updated:
[  101.331558] cfg80211:     (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
[  101.331559] cfg80211:     (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[  101.331561] cfg80211:     (2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[  101.331562] cfg80211:     (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[  101.331563] cfg80211:     (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[  101.331565] cfg80211:     (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[  101.331630] cfg80211: Calling CRDA for country: NZ
[  101.332622] cfg80211: Regulatory domain changed to country: NZ
[  101.332624] cfg80211:     (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
[  101.332625] cfg80211:     (2402000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 3000 mBm)
[  101.332627] cfg80211:     (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2300 mBm)
[  101.332628] cfg80211:     (5250000 KHz - 5330000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2300 mBm)
[  101.332629] cfg80211:     (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 3000 mBm)

The stuff about CRDA is always there once the connection has died.

I am not able to use a wired connection or disable wireless security (if you even consider WEP security).

Does anyone have any idea what else I can try to get this working?

I have got everything up to date and have checked the wireless connection on my other machines and it seems to be working properly. I'm about to try a live USB to check that it still works with other distros.

Strike0

Member

From: Germany

Registered: 2011-09-05

Posts: 1,429

Re: Wireless connection dies constantly

Try disabling hardware encryption of the driver with the option nohwcrypt=1.
Double-check with iwconfig if power management is off.
Have a try, if it works better with the stock Arch LTS kernel.
There was a recent thread by someone around issues with the card: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=137137
Not particularly successful, but you may get insights out of it.

By the way, I think the moderators are happy to move a thread to another more fitting forum for you (if it makes sense generally .. to ask them next time, you can click the link next to "quote" in your post).

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 19,939

Re: Wireless connection dies constantly

...By the way, I think the moderators are happy to move a thread to another more fitting forum for you (if it makes sense generally .. to ask them next time, you can click the link next to "quote" in your post).

Yes, we are.

---

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Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
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sam.bristow

Member

Registered: 2012-04-01

Posts: 8

Re: Wireless connection dies constantly

I have tested the system with a Linux Mint live USB as another data-point. From what I can tell that has the same issues but it's hidden by the the network manager reviving the connection every time it dies (again, straight after the CRDA stuff in dmesg). This is at least a little reassuring as it suggests I might be able to have a more functional system once I'm beyond a simple CLI.

I have checked that power management is off. I'll give the encryption idea a go tomorrow.

I have read the linked post. Despite being marked as "solved" it looks like they just swapped out the hardware for a different card rather than actually fixed the issues.