Wi-Fi problems

Arche · 2013-07-14 18:08:01

Hello first,

I am not sure if this is the right part of the forum. I have a Laptop but my problem is also hardware related. I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong section.

I have decided to install Arch Linux. Meanwhile, my login manager, desktop environment and sound are working.
The problem is currently only Wi-Fi.
I have been looking for a long time to solve the following problem and made some steps forward. Unfortunately, the whole thing does not work anyway.

Specifications:

Samsung P35
Wireless card: Intel Pro 2100 3B Mini PCI (rev 04)
-> I have downloaded the ipw2100 and ipw2200 firmware, like it's stated in Arch Linux Wiki. As a result, this wireless card is displayed as "wlp2s2" when I type "ip link".

Moreover I am able to scan for networks and they show up.
If I run wpa_supplicant_gui as root, no network adapter is shown and it mentions "Could not get status from wpa_supplicant".

Does anybody have an advice what I need to do to solve the problem? I would really appreciate help. The distribution is very good so far. I have XFCE and thus the laptop boots and runs much faster than with Ubuntu 12.04, which was my first experience with Linux.

Best Regards

Last edited by Arche (2013-07-14 18:09:15)

cris9288 · 2013-07-14 18:24:55

so are you trying to connect manually via wpa_supplicant? Or are you using anohter network manager like netctl or wicd?

Did you remember to bring up your interface with ip link before running wpa_supplicant_gui?

ewaller · 2013-07-14 18:31:36

Well, the good news is that it appears that your network hardware is working. The problem, I think, is that wpa_supplicant is not running; you may need to start it before you start the GUI.

Have your read the network management part of the wiki? I would recommend a look at the netctl section. Either that, or wicd is my second choice.

ewaller · 2013-07-14 18:32:32

Moderator: Moving to "Network, Server and Protection"

Arche · 2013-07-14 18:33:19

Thanks for your fast answer.

I use wpa_supplicant only, but I don't know how to set up my network when this tool doesn't recognize my card properly.

I tried "ip link set dev wlp2s2 up" two times, to bring it from position 3 to 1. But when I type "ip link" it is still at the third position. Or has this nothing to do with the order from "ip link" ?

EDIT: Oh, two new answers. I need a moment to read this.

EDIT2: Okay, I tried netctl and I created a profile with my SSID and password. But when I try "netctl start profile" it fails :-(
Anyway, it seems to work better than wpa_supplicant until now.

Here is some error code:

sudo systemctl status netctl@wlp2s2\x2d\x28\x20.\x20Y\x20.\x20\x29.service
netctl@wlp2s2x2dx28x20.x20Yx20.x20x29.service - Networking for netctl profile wlp2s2x2dx28x20.x20Yx20.x20x29
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/netctl@.service; static)
Active: inactive (dead)
Docs: man:netctl.profile(5)

With "wifi-menu -o" I am able to find my network but after I wrote down my password, connection fails. And I guarantee that there are no typos.

EDIT3: Could NetworkManager cause a problem? I installed it today to solve my WiFi problem. Problem isn't solved, as you can see, but now my wired connection is setting up automatically. Before I had to type "dhcpcd ..." everytime.

Last edited by Arche (2013-07-14 19:04:27)

cris9288 · 2013-07-15 01:24:19

you should only run one network manager at a time. Disable whichever one you don't want, otherwise you won't be able to get it working. After you've done that try starting your profile again and posting the output if it fails.

Some common reasons of failure:

1. dhcp timed out. increase this value in the profile.
2. incorrect/improper security configuration. some special rules apply to hex keys.

check out the manpage for netctl.profile for info on those two.

Arche · 2013-07-15 05:55:07

Oh noo...
I established a connection to my network after I removed networkmanager and ipw2200-fw (because my device is IPW2100). But after reboot, I can't connect to my network.

I did:

systemctl enable netctl-auto@interface.service

and changed Security=wpa to Security=wpa-configsection in /etc/netctl/myprofile

Still no autoconnect. Did I forget something?!

Even if I try dhcpcd interface he stops at "waiting for carrier".
This can't be such a difficult problem, because I had a connection before I rebooted... But I can't solve it...

Greets

Last edited by Arche (2013-07-15 05:58:32)

ewaller · 2013-07-15 06:08:31

The service name (on your computer) is netctl-auto@wlp2s2.service
You told netcontrol to control a device called 'interface'. You need to tell it the name of the interface to control. You could have two wan cards; one that you want to connect upstream, the other you might want to configure as a wireless access point. You could then act as a wireless repeater. To do that, you would not want your automation to control the second card. That is why you have to tell it explicitly the NIC to control.

Edit : BTW, don't waste your time with DHCP until you have established a link. DHCP is much higher in the communication stack. The link layer is at the lowest layers; check the connection with ip link If it does not know about the access point, forget the higher level stuff.

Last edited by ewaller (2013-07-15 06:11:11)

Arche · 2013-07-15 06:40:18

I used the right device name, I'm sorry that I didn't state it. I just copied the command from the wiki because I'm writing this here from my desktop PC.

Hmm, but I needed this DHCP thing to use wired connection, too. Without this command, I wasn't able to establish a connection.

IP Link output:

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 65536 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: enp2s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT qlen 1000
link/ether 00:00:f0:7f:f1:76 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlp2s2: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state DOWN mode DORMANT qlen 1000
link/ether 00:0c:f1:3b:0c:49 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

EDIT:

If I try: sudo netctl start "mynetworkname"

Job for netctl@wlp2s2\x2d\x28\x20.\x20Y\x20.\x20\x29.service failed. See 'systemctl status netctl@wlp2s2\x2d\x28\x20.\x20Y\x20.\x20\x29.service' and 'journalctl -xn' for details.

$ systemctl status netctl@wlp2s2\x2d\x28\x20.\x20Y\x20.\x20\x29.service
netctl@wlp2s2x2dx28x20.x20Yx20.x20x29.service - Networking for netctl profile wlp2s2x2dx28x20.x20Yx20.x20x29
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/netctl@.service; static)
Active: inactive (dead)
Docs: man:netctl.profile(5)

journal -xn gives only old outputs

I do not understand this... It worked until I rebooted...

EDIT2:

It is working now! I changed my SSID (the old one had spaces, could that be a problem?) and readded it via wifi-menu -o. Now everthing is okay, even after a reboot.
Thank you for your patience!

Last edited by Arche (2013-12-22 17:07:42)

BGK · 2013-07-15 18:50:01

Arche wrote:

It is working now! I changed my SSID (the old one had spaces, could that be a problem?) and readded it via wifi-menu -o. No everthing is okay, even after a reboot.
Thank you for your patience!

According to my understanding, it's never a good idea to use space in a SSID because you will need to use quotes --> " in command lines and it's not always implemented on tools. IMHO I'd recommend not using spaces unless you use only custom scripts you made yourself to manage wireless connections and know what you are doing.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-07-14 18:08:01

Wi-Fi problems

#2 2013-07-14 18:24:55

Re: Wi-Fi problems

#3 2013-07-14 18:31:36

Re: Wi-Fi problems

#4 2013-07-14 18:32:32

Re: Wi-Fi problems

#5 2013-07-14 18:33:19

Re: Wi-Fi problems

#6 2013-07-15 01:24:19

Re: Wi-Fi problems

#7 2013-07-15 05:55:07

Re: Wi-Fi problems

#8 2013-07-15 06:08:31

Re: Wi-Fi problems

#9 2013-07-15 06:40:18

Re: Wi-Fi problems

#10 2013-07-15 18:50:01

Re: Wi-Fi problems

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