[SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-26 21:50:49

I realized that NetworkManager had forgotten my password, so I re-entered it. Here's the terminal output I got after attempting to connect:

Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8172] audit: op="connection-activate" uuid="dd476078-10eb-4dfc-a072-88f8674a09d3" name="Linksys01976_5GHz" pid=629 uid=1001 result="success"
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8175] device (wlan0): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8215] device (wlan0): set-hw-addr: reset MAC address to 80:19:34:E1:42:DB (preserve)
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8228] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8232] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) access point 'Linksys01976_5GHz' has security, but secrets are required.
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8232] device (wlan0): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8234] sup-iface[a853431fdb2c9e6e,1,wlan0]: wps: type pbc start...
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <warn>  [1630013977.8237] device (wlan0): no secrets: No agents were available for this request.
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8238] device (wlan0): state change: need-auth -> failed (reason 'no-secrets', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <warn>  [1630013977.8242] device (wlan0): Activation: failed for connection 'Linksys01976_5GHz'
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8243] device (wlan0): state change: failed -> disconnected (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8257] device (wlan0): set-hw-addr: set MAC address to 02:45:84:E1:5F:2C (scanning)

It seems to make no difference whether I provide password, or not. Also, there is still the strange behavior of the list of available networks disappearing when I click "connect" on one of them. After the connection inevitably fails, the list reappears. In the past when this worked, the list would remain and the chosen network would indicate "connecting", "assigning IP address", "connected" or something of that nature. Also, hardware works fine in both of my other OS's in this multiple boot system.

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-26 21:58:49

Here is iwconfig readout:

wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=-2147483648 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:on

seth · 2021-08-27 06:40:49

The point was to take NM out of the equation and se whether you can connect w/ eg. wpa_supplicant "manually"
The journal in #26 doesn't suggest that you in any way shape or form provided NM w/ a password for the network (not even the wrong one)

Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8232] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) access point 'Linksys01976_5GHz' has security, but secrets are required.
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8232] device (wlan0): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8234] sup-iface[a853431fdb2c9e6e,1,wlan0]: wps: type pbc start...
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <warn>  [1630013977.8237] device (wlan0): no secrets: No agents were available for this request.
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <info>  [1630013977.8238] device (wlan0): state change: need-auth -> failed (reason 'no-secrets', sys-iface-state: 'managed')
Aug 26 14:39:37 archlinux-lenovo-g780 NetworkManager[373]: <warn>  [1630013977.8242] device (wlan0): Activation: failed for connection 'Linksys01976_5GHz'

Let's at least take the clicked-together-in-QML thing out, can you connect using nmcli?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NetworkManager#Usage

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-29 22:57:44

Hi Seth,

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Sorry, I don't know what "clicked-together-in-QML" means.

I was not aware, or had forgotten, about nmcli.

I entered

$ nmcli device wifi list

and got

IN-USE  BSSID              SSID                 MODE   CHAN  RATE        SIGNAL  BARS  SECURITY 
        48:F8:B3:C8:09:E0  Linksys01976         Infra  3     130 Mbit/s  97      ▂▄▆█  WPA2     
        48:F8:B3:C8:09:E1  Linksys01976_5GHz    Infra  48    270 Mbit/s  74      ▂▄▆_  WPA2     
        BC:4D:FB:22:9F:68  suddenlink.net-9F60  Infra  6     195 Mbit/s  29      ▂___  WPA2     
        1C:36:BB:EA:D5:18  Tranquil Fox Den     Infra  6     130 Mbit/s  20      ▂___  WPA2     
        A6:40:A0:54:BE:BE  TheBatcave2.4G       Infra  9     130 Mbit/s  9       ▂___  WPA2

Then I entered

nmcli device wifi connect Linksys01976 password [mypassword]

which returned

Error: Connection activation failed: (7) Secrets were required, but not provided.

So, to answer your question, I did enter my correct password in NetworkManager before, and I did enter my correct password again when I got the "Secrets..." response. I know it's the correct password, because it works fine in Windows10 and Kubuntu.

Also,

nmcli connection show

provides

NAME                       UUID                                  TYPE       DEVICE 
Braley Asus wired          0c5fbdb6-a4ce-4a28-a160-b464c9bddf18  ethernet   enp1s0
Linksys01976               9f7f43c6-4b33-4c02-8fb6-21269fd56c52  wifi       --     
Linksys01976_5GHz          dd476078-10eb-4dfc-a072-88f8674a09d3  wifi       --

so the password, which is the same for all three connections, works fine in NetworkManager for ethernet connection in Arch, just not WiFi.

Also tried

nmcli -a device wifi connect Linksys01976

so that it would prompt me for the password rather than my entering it initially, and got this response

Password: ••••••••••••
Error: Connection activation failed: (7) Secrets were required, but not provided.

I remain stuck. :-(

Bruce

progandy · 2021-08-29 23:17:28

Try to delete the connection with e.g."nmcli con delete ..." or in the GUI. I'd guess networkmanager tries to reuse a stored connection that is missing the password.

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-29 23:30:24

Given that NetworkManager "forgets" my passwords for wifi connections in Arch (but not in Kubuntu), I thought I'd check again to see if it had saved my password from the last time I entered it in Configure Network Connections. It had not. So I tried again and then clicked Apply, but it did not save the password--at least it did not list it under the password buffer. I tried again, this time switching to a different network in Configure Network Connections before clicking Apply. It asked if I wanted to save my changes to the previous network, and I clicked Save. Again, it did not show that there was a password under that buffer when I went back in.

I tried changing to Ask For Password Every Time, so that I would be prompted when I tried to log in. There was no change to the response: The list of available networks went blank for several seconds, then came back--no connection, no prompt for password, no nothing. Same as before.

By the way, months ago, I deleted my saved configurations for both Linksys01976 and Linksys01976_5GHz, thinking the problem might have been that those files had been corrupted, somehow. I created new ones, being very careful to ensure there were no errors in the new configurations. After all this time, and many, many attempts, both networks indicate that they have never been used.

I did try to get things to work using wpa_supplicant with NetworkManager removed by pacman -R, but after much failure and frustration due to having no internet connection at all while trying to get it to work (I used my cellphone's browser to help, during that time), I reinstalled NetworkManager. That's why I now have an ethernet connection while I play with this yet again.

V1del · 2021-08-29 23:41:03

Which networkmanager UI are you using? If you use KDE and set up your connections with it's plasma-nm you also need to have your KDE wallet keyring unlocked for accessing the secrets.

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-29 23:42:20

Hi progandy,

I didn't see your post until after I posted my previous one. I think it kind of addressed your suggestion, but just to address it specifically, I deleted the two stored connections. Now when I click on those, I am prompted for the password, I enter it, and the window behaves as before. All networks go blank for several seconds, then the list reappears and no connection has been made, nor does any error message appear.

Thanks for jumping in to help,

Bruce

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-29 23:47:52

Hi V1del,

I used to be prompted for my KDE Wallet password when logging on, but at some point that stopped. I think that's because it used to be different from my login password, but I changed my login password to match my KDE Wallet password, so perhaps it accepts that and doesn't need to prompt. I was able to enter the KDE Wallet manager without entering a password just now. I deleted the NetworkManager folder while there, thinking I didn't need the extra step. Besides, I checked the saved entries under that folder, and none of them applied to these connections, anyhow.

Thanks for the suggestion,

Bruce

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-30 00:26:09

In searching for answers, I found a couple of pieces of information that might be relevant to my problem:

wpa_state=DISCONNECTED (I don't know if this means it is not present because there is no wifi connection, or there is no wifi connection, so it is not present)

I have no file /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf, nor file /etc/modprobe.d/iwl4965.conf. Shouldn't one or the other exist? (I have an Intel-based laptop.)

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-30 01:08:36

I went into /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections and deleted all four entries with "Linksys01976" in their names. No change to the NetworkManager behavior.

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-30 01:34:14

When making a new attempt to connect to a network, a new file, Linksys01976.nmconnection was created. It includes:

[wifi-security]
auth-alg=open
key-mgmt=wpa-psk
psk-flags=1

I'm trying to find anything that may be relevant to the "no secrets provided" error messages in the kernel log.

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-30 02:42:51

Okay, I finally got Linksys01976 to log me in! I don't know why nmcli works, while NetworkManager doesn't.

nmcli --ask connection up Linksys01976
Passwords or encryption keys are required to access the wireless network 'Linksys01976'.
Password (802-11-wireless-security.psk): ••••••••••••
Connection successfully activated (D-Bus active path: /org/freedesktop/NetworkManager/ActiveConnection/11)

I suspect maybe a problem with my keyring or access to it from NetworkManager, but I could definitely use some help. I'm hoping my previous postings from today will provide worthwhile clues for someone who knows how to recognize them as such or can apply them to a solution. I know NM should work, but I can't seem to figure out why it doesn't and what to do to restore it to normal functioning.

This message sent via wifi in Arch (first time in at least a year)!

Bruce

seth · 2021-08-30 06:13:24

nmcli *is* networkmanager

Sorry, I don't know what "clicked-together-in-QML" means.

Disdain for UI development that follows the "i poked it until it somehow worked" approach of webdevelopers…
That thing is not Networkmanager. Networkmanager is a daemon that can be controlled by various client user interfaces - nmcli being the CLI one…

I deleted the two stored connections. Now when I click on those, I am prompted for the password, I enter it, and the window behaves as before.

I went into /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections and deleted all four entries with "Linksys01976" in their names.

When making a new attempt to connect to a network, a new file, Linksys01976.nmconnection was created.

Okay, I finally got Linksys01976 to log me in!

… which is why I told you to avoid that.

psk-flags=1

This is "agent-owned" - is it still there now?
Otherwise V1del was right and the problem is/was with the communication w/ kwallet.

You could try whether https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/KDE_Wa … e_terminal allows you to query the psk and if not, there's maybe a useful error message.

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-31 21:43:25

Hi Seth,

I'm aware that nmcli is NetworkManager. I should have said, "I don't know why nmcli works, while the plasma NetworkManager applet doesn't.

"Which is why I told you to avoid that." I'm not sure what "that" refers to. In any case, I finally got it to log me in, so not sure what I should have avoided.

I'm slow and have a lot to learn, much of which I forget easily, post chemotherapy, radiation, and in January COVID-19. However, I managed to solve the problem yesterday, partially, and this morning, completely.

Bruce

Bruce1956 · 2021-08-31 21:43:56

Thanks to Seth and others who chimed in providing suggestions to try and things to check.

Here's what worked:

I researched why my passwords were no longer being saved in System Settings/Connections/Network. Turns out I needed kdewallet-pam, which I had deleted long ago, probably about the time I lost the ability to have the plasma network manager applet log me into wifi networks while saving my password encrypted.

However, reinstalling PAM did not cause my password to be saved as before. I still do not know what has to happen behind the scenes to make PAM resume enabling wifi passwords to be saved encrypted in Network Connections.

However, while looking for something else in System Tray Settings--Plasma/Entries, I found that the Networks (Automatic Load) entry had been set to Disabled. I don't believe I did that directly, but perhaps the removal of PAM caused that setting. Reinstalling PAM did not change it back on its own, regardless. Anyway, I reset it to Always Shown (Shown When Relevant will work, also).

I had been using the work-around of having the setting "Store password for all users (not encrypted)" under the password buffer in the WiFi Security tab, which will save the password where all can see it if I happen to leave my laptop open and someone gets to it before it falls asleep. I changed it to my preferred, "Store password for this user only (encrypted)" and voilà, my plasma NetworkManager applet works again as it used to after more than a year!

Bruce

Arch Linux

#26 2021-08-26 21:50:49

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#27 2021-08-26 21:58:49

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#28 2021-08-27 06:40:49

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#29 2021-08-29 22:57:44

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#30 2021-08-29 23:17:28

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#31 2021-08-29 23:30:24

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#32 2021-08-29 23:41:03

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#33 2021-08-29 23:42:20

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#34 2021-08-29 23:47:52

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#35 2021-08-30 00:26:09

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#36 2021-08-30 01:08:36

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#37 2021-08-30 01:34:14

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#38 2021-08-30 02:42:51

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#39 2021-08-30 06:13:24

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#40 2021-08-31 21:43:25

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

#41 2021-08-31 21:43:56

Re: [SOLVED] WiFi connects in multiboot system (Win10, Kubuntu), not Arch

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