[SOLVED] WIFI interface has "state UNKNOWN"

psychopathrik · 2013-07-26 12:28:24

I have tried to read myself to a solution for the following problem but without luck. Now I'm stuck so any solution or directions would be most welcome.

I have a BCM4312 wifi card. No interface appeared when using the b43 driver but with broadcom-wl the interface is recognised.

I can run

# ip link set wlp3s0 up

without problems but then

$ ip link
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: wlp3s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UNKNOWN mode DEFAULT qlen 1000
    link/ether 0c:ee:e6:d2:20:c5 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: enp4s0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP mode DEFAULT qlen 1000
    link/ether 00:24:e8:ed:e3:c2 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

show that the state of the wifi interface wlp3s0 has changed (from down) to UNKNOWN. What does this mean and how can I get it up?

Furthermore, trying to assign an ip address gives

# dhcpcd wlp3s0
dhcpcd[312]: version 5.6.8 starting
dhcpcd[312]: wlp3s0: sending IPv6 Router Solicitation
dhcpcd[312]: wlp3s0: broadcasting for a lease
dhcpcd[312]: wlp3s0: sending IPv6 Router Solicitation
dhcpcd[312]: wlp3s0: sending IPv6 Router Solicitation
dhcpcd[312]: wlp3s0: sending IPv6 Router Solicitation
dhcpcd[312]: wlp3s0: no IPv6 Routers available
dhcpcd[312]: timed out

System info if relevant:

$ uname -r
3.10.2-1-ARCH

I would be thankful for any help.

Last edited by psychopathrik (2013-07-26 13:13:14)

Trilby · 2013-07-26 12:35:42

Read the wireless networking page on the wiki. What you show is expected. You have to connect to an access point.

psychopathrik · 2013-07-26 13:12:10

Thanks a lot for the quick reply Trilby.
I guess I should have read more carefully. I thought it would have needed it to be up before connecting.
Following the wiki solved it.

Trilby · 2013-07-26 19:53:53

The output of `ip` can be misleading. The part you are looking at goes from DOWN to UNKNOWN when the interface is up, and to UP when an actual connection is made. The part *inside* the angled brackets is what tells you when the interface itself is up.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-07-26 12:28:24

[SOLVED] WIFI interface has "state UNKNOWN"

#2 2013-07-26 12:35:42

Re: [SOLVED] WIFI interface has "state UNKNOWN"

#3 2013-07-26 13:12:10

Re: [SOLVED] WIFI interface has "state UNKNOWN"

#4 2013-07-26 19:53:53

Re: [SOLVED] WIFI interface has "state UNKNOWN"

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