Arch Linux

2mac

Member

Registered: 2013-11-09

Posts: 95

Netctl can't access wifi card

I've got a friend who has suddenly lost the ability to join wifi networks. He's using netctl and wifi-menu to connect to the network, and his failure log is in this pastebin: http://pastebin.com/S3S27rtV

It looks to me like he can't access his own wifi card, but I'm not an IT expert, and networking isn't my forte.

Any advice?

frank604

Member

From: BC, Canada

Registered: 2011-04-20

Posts: 1,219

Re: Netctl can't access wifi card

First of all, this is not a Laptop Issue.  Second of all, I don't think he has read the manpage for netctl nor the wiki fully, at https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/netctl  If he has, what has he tested?
How is he connecting? through wifi-menu or through netctl?  What is his profile he is trying to connect to (show in pastebin)?  Has he tried to manually connect with just wpa_supplicant and dhcpcd https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners'_Guide#Wireless

stianhj

Member

Registered: 2014-03-23

Posts: 1

Re: Netctl can't access wifi card

I ran into the same issue after upgrading netctl to 1.6. There's a bug report about it here: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/39544

The quick fix is to disable the dhcpcd.service.

# systemctl disable dhcpcd.service

frank604

Member

From: BC, Canada

Registered: 2011-04-20

Posts: 1,219

Re: Netctl can't access wifi card

You should only run one network service/manager.  If you are using netctl then you shouldn't have dhcpcd enabled, and vice versa.  If you are using wifi-menu then you need to disable netctl.  It isn't a fix, it is how it works. That bug report you linked is not a bug.  It is the user not doing it right.

otakugeek

Member

Registered: 2014-03-26

Posts: 6

Re: Netctl can't access wifi card

try this:

$ sudo pacman -S wpa_supplicant

$ sudo pacman -S wireless_tools

$ sudo pacman wpa_actiond dialog

$ sudo pacman -S networkmanager

$ sudo pacman -S network-manager-applet

$ sudo pacman -S gnome-keyring

$ sudo systemctl enable NetworkManager.service

$ sudo systemctl disable dhcpcd.service
$ sudo systemctl disable dhcpcd@.service
$ sudo systemctl stop dhcpcd.service
$ sudo systemctl stop dhcpcd@.service

$ sudo systemctl enable wpa_supplicant.service

$ gpasswd -a USERNAME network

$ sudo systemctl start wpa_supplicant.service

$ sudo systemctl start NetworkManager.service

frank604

Member

From: BC, Canada

Registered: 2011-04-20

Posts: 1,219

Re: Netctl can't access wifi card

try this:

$ sudo pacman -S wpa_supplicant

$ sudo pacman -S wireless_tools

$ sudo pacman wpa_actiond dialog

$ sudo pacman -S networkmanager

$ sudo pacman -S network-manager-applet

$ sudo pacman -S gnome-keyring

$ sudo systemctl enable NetworkManager.service

$ sudo systemctl disable dhcpcd.service
$ sudo systemctl disable dhcpcd@.service
$ sudo systemctl stop dhcpcd.service
$ sudo systemctl stop dhcpcd@.service

$ sudo systemctl enable wpa_supplicant.service

$ gpasswd -a USERNAME network

$ sudo systemctl start wpa_supplicant.service

$ sudo systemctl start NetworkManager.service

That looks like a set of commands you downloaded from the net.  This is horrible advice since the OP is using netctl and this script doesn't that that into account. Also, why add to network group?  Why even start wpa_supplicant.service?

At least explain to OP what all that does like "this will install network manager and its applet BUT this won't work if you have netctl services running" or some sort of disclaimer or warning.

Last edited by frank604 (2014-03-26 15:50:20)