[SOLVED] Kernel 4.19.2-arch1-1-ARCH broke iwd

mcloaked · 2018-11-16 22:25:15

I just updated my laptop (Lenovo S540) to kernel 4.19.2-arch1-1-ARCH. I have been using iwd to make the wifi connection for many months. However upon updating the kernel and rebooting the laptop had no wireless connection. Looking at the iwd service status:

# systemctl status iwd
● iwd.service - Wireless service
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/iwd.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Fri 2018-11-16 22:14:23 GMT; 11s ago
 Main PID: 1116 (iwd)
    Tasks: 1 (limit: 4915)
   Memory: 520.0K
   CGroup: /system.slice/iwd.service
           └─1116 /usr/lib/iwd/iwd

Nov 16 22:14:23 lenovo1 iwd[1116]:         CONFIG_PKCS8_PRIVATE_KEY_PARSER
Nov 16 22:14:23 lenovo1 iwd[1116]: Wireless daemon version 0.12
Nov 16 22:14:23 lenovo1 iwd[1116]: Skipping optional configuration file /etc/iwd/main.conf
Nov 16 22:14:23 lenovo1 systemd[1]: Started Wireless service.
Nov 16 22:14:23 lenovo1 iwd[1116]: Wiphy: 0, Name: phy0
Nov 16 22:14:23 lenovo1 iwd[1116]:         Bands: 2.4 GHz
Nov 16 22:14:23 lenovo1 iwd[1116]:         Ciphers: CCMP TKIP
Nov 16 22:14:23 lenovo1 iwd[1116]:         Supported iftypes: ad-hoc station ap
Nov 16 22:14:23 lenovo1 iwd[1116]: No ControlPortOverNL80211 setting, defaulting to True
Nov 16 22:14:27 lenovo1 iwd[1116]: 4-Way handshake failed for ifindex: 3, reason: 15

The journal contains:

Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]: No asymmetric key support found.
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]: TLS based WPA-Enterprise authentication methods will not function.
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]: Kernel 4.20+ is required for this feature.
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]: The following options are missing in the kernel:
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]:         CONFIG_ASYMMETRIC_KEY_TYPE
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]:         CONFIG_ASYMMETRIC_PUBLIC_KEY_SUBTYPE
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]:         CONFIG_PKCS7_MESSAGE_PARSER
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]:         CONFIG_X509_CERTIFICATE_PARSER
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]:         CONFIG_PKCS8_PRIVATE_KEY_PARSER
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]: Wireless daemon version 0.12
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]: Skipping optional configuration file /etc/iwd/main.conf
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 systemd[1]: Started Wireless service.
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 msg='unit=iwd comm="sys>
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]: Wiphy: 0, Name: phy0
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]:         Bands: 2.4 GHz
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]:         Ciphers: CCMP TKIP
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]:         Supported iftypes: ad-hoc station ap
Nov 16 22:06:45 lenovo1 iwd[408]: No ControlPortOverNL80211 setting, defaulting to True

Also I don't know if previously this directory existed:

# ls /etc/iwd/
ls: cannot access '/etc/iwd/': No such file or directory

So I stopped iwd and started wpa_supplicant and I have the wireless connection running just fine.

Does anyone know of how to work around this issue?

Edit: Entered new bug report at https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/60831

Last edited by mcloaked (2018-11-18 20:21:10)

mcloaked · 2018-11-18 20:20:50

I have found the solution to this issue which turned out not to be the kernel or iwd! A sharp eyed user emailed me saying that it was noted that in the logs there was a line:

Nov 18 18:41:07 lenovo2 kernel: wlp8s0: AP has invalid WMM params (AIFSN=1 for ACI 2), will use 2

This surprised me - so I tried to log into the wireless router but found I could not access its embedded management web interface - it is a Netgear R8000. The router was apparently running as normal according to the LEDs on the panel. However pulling the power on the R8000 and rebooting the router then allowed my laptop to connect normally using iwd with the 4.19.2 kernel.

So apologies for the time taken to find the unusual solution but with the router operating abnormally and yet showing a normal LED display this was not suspected as the cause - and the router was connecting normally to all other wireless devices in the LAN including tablets and phones.

This is now resolved

Edit: I have done some searching on the Netgear forums and discovered that many users found disconnects with the version of the firmware that was running in my R8000, with rebooting the router as the only solution. New firmware was released 11 days ago and I have now updated the router with this new firmware which will hopefully be more stable! If anyone else has a Netgear R8000 then it would be advisable to update the firmware from V1.0.4.18_10.1.49 to V1.0.4.28_10.1.54.

Last edited by mcloaked (2018-11-18 21:09:13)

Arch Linux

#1 2018-11-16 22:25:15

[SOLVED] Kernel 4.19.2-arch1-1-ARCH broke iwd

#2 2018-11-18 20:20:50

Re: [SOLVED] Kernel 4.19.2-arch1-1-ARCH broke iwd

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