Kernel 2.6.27 networking woes

moljac024 · 2008-10-24 18:27:58

Hi, sometime since the upgrade to the new kernel I kept losing my wireless connection.
It would still be reported as up, and associated with the correct ESSID but there would be no actual connection.
So I had to manually take it down, and start netcfg again. At first I thought it might be a kernel issue, but just to be sure, I've tried using wicd for a while and so far haven't experienced those symptoms described earlier. So, let's get to debugging this, and finding out what the cause is.

I should just point out that I had to use the predown quirk for netcfg2. Maybe I'm still missing a few, although I did try adding prescan,pressid,postsleep and it didn't help the issue. Here is the netcfg profile:

CONNECTION="wireless"
DESCRIPTION="Home Wireless"
INTERFACE=wlan0
SCAN="no"
SECURITY="wep"
ESSID=myessid
KEY="mykey"
IP="dhcp"
DHCP_TIMEOUT=30
QUIRKS=(predown)

Still haven't tried other methods, trying wicd was the quickest thing I could do, and it first came to my mind. Since that works out nicely, the problem most likely lies in netcfg. So, maybe you could tell me what exact steps does netcfg take, so we could debug this. Thanks.

P.S. Before you say it, I'm switching over to WPA2 as soon as I get around to it I haven't had any hackage so far...

Last edited by moljac024 (2008-10-25 16:14:19)

moljac024 · 2008-10-24 23:59:38

Scrap that, networkmanager seems to be having the same issue. What can this be ?

Last edited by moljac024 (2008-10-25 00:08:37)

PeteMo · 2008-10-25 01:51:28

I don't know what the problem is, but I'm experiencing it too, with ipw2200 and wpa2...I'll just randomly lose my connection. Sometimes calling dhcpcd again will fix it, sometimes it takes a netcfg restart. I was sort of assuming it was part of all the other networking problems people have been reporting with kernel 2.6.27.

Sjoden · 2008-10-25 04:43:43

I couldn't connect to WEP networks with the .26 kernel, and in now in the .27, I have to set scan="no" for WPA to work . Sometimes I have to try and connect twice before I can associate to the AP. WicD hasn't worked in a long time for me, but I haven't tried it recently.

Last edited by Sjoden (2008-10-25 04:44:22)

moljac024 · 2008-10-25 13:56:58

Wicd won't connect on its own to my network. If I connect with netcfg it will show the connection and everything.
But it refuses to make the connection itself. Something is seriously broken.

I'm editing the title, as this is obviously a kernel issue but I, as always, spoke too soon.

Last edited by moljac024 (2008-10-25 16:13:50)

iphitus · 2008-10-26 04:49:01

bah! more breakage! It's so annoying, I'm never fortunate enough to experience or be able to reproduce these bugs, which makes most of them a pain to debug! I must be the only Linux user irritated that his wireless driver is stable and reliable (ipw2100).

I can't do anything at the moment due to exams. I'll look into this in a few weeks. My fingers are crossed that the wpa_supplicant/dbus connection method is more reliable..... it should be. I'll post my scrappy prototype/pseudocode up in case anyone wants to clean it up/test it before I get a chance.

dhcpcd not working at boot, but working later
I was debugging this one with someone on IRC, it's a fucked up wierd bug that isn't netcfg. Seems that dhcpcd simply just doesnt work for a period of time... it's like the driver needs some time to settle or something before it can be used. Try putting net-profiles at the end of your DAEMONS=()

PeteMo: Random connection loss = driver or network issue, often poor reception.

moljac024 · 2008-10-26 08:36:56

iphitus wrote:

Seems that dhcpcd simply just doesnt work for a period of time... it's like the driver needs some time to settle or something before it can be used. Try putting net-profiles at the end of your DAEMONS=()
PeteMo: Random connection loss = driver or network issue, often poor reception.

This happens to me too, while I didn't experience this with the older kernel. My connection was always stable, seeing as how my wireless router is in the same room as my laptop most often is, just a desk away. What a strange coincidence would it be that my router would somehow crap out at the same time I updated my linux kernel

Arch Linux

#1 2008-10-24 18:27:58

Kernel 2.6.27 networking woes

#2 2008-10-24 23:59:38

Re: Kernel 2.6.27 networking woes

#3 2008-10-25 01:51:28

Re: Kernel 2.6.27 networking woes

#4 2008-10-25 04:43:43

Re: Kernel 2.6.27 networking woes

#5 2008-10-25 13:56:58

Re: Kernel 2.6.27 networking woes

#6 2008-10-26 04:49:01

Re: Kernel 2.6.27 networking woes

#7 2008-10-26 08:36:56

Re: Kernel 2.6.27 networking woes

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