Networkmanager sketchy

Dusty · 2007-09-24 23:03:57

I just switched my laptop over to use NetworkManager, which worked flawlessly under Gnome. Under Arch, its much more sporadic. Sometimes it connects to my unsecured network as soon as I log in, sometimes it takes three or four attempts. This is what I get in /var/log/messages:

Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Device ath0 activation scheduled...
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) started...
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) scheduled...
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) started...
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) scheduled...
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) complete.
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) starting...
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0/wireless): access point 'camval' is unencrypted, no key needed.
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: sending command 'INTERFACE_ADD ath0                wext    /var/run/wpa_supplicant      '
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: response was 'OK'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: sending command 'AP_SCAN 1'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: response was 'OK'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: sending command 'ADD_NETWORK'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: response was '0'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: sending command 'SET_NETWORK 0 ssid 63616d76616c'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: response was 'OK'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: sending command 'SET_NETWORK 0 key_mgmt NONE'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: response was 'OK'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: sending command 'ENABLE_NETWORK 0'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  SUP: response was 'OK'
Sep 24 16:51:33 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) complete.
Sep 24 16:51:41 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  nm_policy_device_change_check:: old_dev has_link? 1
Sep 24 16:51:41 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Old device 'ath0' activating, won't change.
Sep 24 16:51:46 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  nm_policy_device_change_check:: old_dev has_link? 1
Sep 24 16:51:46 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Old device 'ath0' activating, won't change.
Sep 24 16:51:58 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  nm_policy_device_change_check:: old_dev has_link? 1
Sep 24 16:51:58 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Old device 'ath0' activating, won't change.
Sep 24 16:52:11 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  nm_policy_device_change_check:: old_dev has_link? 1
Sep 24 16:52:11 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Old device 'ath0' activating, won't change.
Sep 24 16:52:13 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0/wireless): association took too long (>40s), failing activation.
Sep 24 16:52:13 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) failure scheduled...
Sep 24 16:52:13 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) failed for access point (camval)
Sep 24 16:52:13 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Activation (ath0) failed.
Sep 24 16:52:13 apoeiro NetworkManager: <info>  Deactivating device ath0.

The specific problem is that association took too long line, although I don't know what's causing it.

I thought maybe there was something wrong with the order of my DAEMONS, but this looks ok according to all docs I've read:

DAEMONS=(syslog-ng !network dbus hal dhcdbd networkmanager networkmanager-dispatcher gdm @fam @alsa !cups @crond @postgresql !vmware @acpid @cpufreq @laptop-mode)

Could it possibly be udev related?

Laptop is a thinkpad x60, using the madwifi drivers for ath0 on:

dusty:~ $ lspci | grep Atheros
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC (rev 01)

Thanks,
Dusty

xaw · 2007-09-24 23:18:20

Just curious, but are you using the ndiswrapper drivers or are you using the madwifi drivers for the wifi?

Recently I switched from ndiswrapper to the madwifi drivers and have eliminated the problem similar to what you are having.

Cheers,

Dusty · 2007-09-25 00:29:51

I'm using the madwifi drivers. Perhaps I need to try the opposite switch... I'd rather not though.

Dusty

Dusty · 2007-09-25 23:43:48

Now I'm back in Ubuntu, which also uses the madwifi drivers and it worked first time. The reason I'm back in ubuntu is because Arch refused to connect at all after several reboots, restarting the network manager daemons, attempting to reconnect, etc. Its depressing... especially since it takes so freaking long to boot Ubuntu as compared to Arch! :-)

I can't imagine what's difference between networkmanager on ubuntu and networkmanager on Arch. That error I'm getting (Association took too long) isn't very informative; do you think there might be some more information in a different log somewhere?

I'm pretty much at a loss; what can I compare between Ubuntu and Arch to figure out why one works and the other doesn't?

Dusty

nesl247 · 2007-09-26 02:52:21

From the looks of the log, you use wpa supplicant. Ubuntu heavily patched their networkmanager for a bunch of changes in regards to wpa supplicant.

Dusty · 2007-09-26 03:03:46

I don't think I need wpa_supplicant right now as I'm accessing an unencrypted network, but networkmanager depends on it. Ugh. I've reverted to rc.conf configuration for now, although that's sometimes sketchy too. It'll do for now. I can always boot Ubuntu if I need to roam. Maybe some of those ubuntu patches will make it upstream...

Now eth0 is not showing up in ifconfig, so this kernel is acting funny too. *sigh* Anybody else wish they would open a 2.7 kernel and move development out of the main tree?

Dusty

shen · 2007-09-26 03:06:30

Dustry give wiicd a shot from aur. I use it in fluxbox and love it..load the daemon in rc.conf and depending on your DE?WM have it load /opt/wicd/tray.py and life is golden for me at least..

cu3edweb · 2007-10-08 19:37:20

shen wrote:

Dustry give wiicd a shot from aur. I use it in fluxbox and love it..load the daemon in rc.conf and depending on your DE?WM have it load /opt/wicd/tray.py and life is golden for me at least..

wicd sound good. How is it compared to network manager?

JGC · 2007-10-09 12:52:24

One thing I see in your setup is that you disable the network daemon. When you do this the lo interface is not setup, which leads to quite some problems with many applications.

ise · 2007-10-09 13:14:32

JGC wrote:

One thing I see in your setup is that you disable the network daemon. When you do this the lo interface is not setup, which leads to quite some problems with many applications.

I have setup networkmanager on my girlfriend's laptop, too. The lo interface is up, after networkmanager is started. You have to disable the network daemon otherwise networkmanager won't work correctly. Don't ask my why, but it is printed in the wiki and other documentations for networkmanager.

Last edited by ise (2007-10-09 13:15:27)

Forlong · 2008-03-26 20:37:59

Dusty, did you get your atheros chip to work with networkmanager properly by now?

I am also struggling with this and I found this thread via google, because you have the same wifi chip.
Here's the thread: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=45779

I wonder what changes Ubuntu made to networkmanager...

ph0tios · 2008-03-26 21:03:18

I was reading somewhere that the new networkmanager has some regressions, and doesn't work correctly in hardy for some people. Some ubuntu users have been working on a fix I think(maybe it could work in arch?)...hm...let me see if I can find the link.

Also, you might try using something like netcfg2...personally, I've never used it, but there is plenty of testimony on this forum that it is extremely reliable, and fully functional without bugs really.

I still use wicd...mainly, because it is what I first tried, and I don't see any reason to switch when it works fine for me. But if for whatever reason it stopped working for me...I'd probably go to netcfg2...I'm willing to sacrifice the gui for functionality and reliability...especially since, prior to wicd...I was acustomed to just using the basic commandline tools to configure my connection.

But try and get networkmanager working first if it is really what you desire to use.

Last edited by ph0tios (2008-03-26 21:46:15)

drewbug01 · 2008-03-27 03:19:22

Dusty, I had similar problems with my Atheros chip... I ended up switching to NetworkManager... works flawlessly for me now..

Although I did have to add a hook script for pm-utils to keep ndiswrapper working with NM after a resume/thaw...

Arch Linux

#1 2007-09-24 23:03:57

Networkmanager sketchy

#2 2007-09-24 23:18:20

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#3 2007-09-25 00:29:51

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#4 2007-09-25 23:43:48

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#5 2007-09-26 02:52:21

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#6 2007-09-26 03:03:46

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#7 2007-09-26 03:06:30

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#8 2007-10-08 19:37:20

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#9 2007-10-09 12:52:24

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#10 2007-10-09 13:14:32

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#11 2008-03-26 20:37:59

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#12 2008-03-26 21:03:18

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

#13 2008-03-27 03:19:22

Re: Networkmanager sketchy

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