iwl4965 / kernel 2.6.30 - intermittent failure to scan for APs

jwcxz · 2009-07-06 13:58:59

Not quite sure how to explain this issue, as I'm still in the process of trying to figure out what exactly is going on, but the problem is something like this.

I have a Dell XPS M1330 with Intel 4965 abgn wireless card. No parameters for the device are passed at boot.

After upgrading to kernel 2.6.30, I restarted my computer and once my desktop had loaded, I opened up the wicd manager. I have a hidden, encrypted network, so when I start the manager, I will see an entry with the name <hidden>. I then always have to go to Network > Find a Hidden Network and enter my router's SSID. After that, wicd is supposed to find that network and connect to it. However, this time, the wicd manager just said "No Networks Found." and when I tried to enter the SSID of my router, it continued to say this.

I then, tried to refresh the list, but had the same issue. So, I removed and re-added the iwl kernel modules and then restarted wicd and my hidden network appeared in the list. But, after entering the SSID, suddenly, wicd displays "No Networks Found." again!

So, I shut wicd and its daemon down and played with iwlist scan. It seems as though immediately adding the iwl kernel modules, I can scan and find networks. But after that, they appear only on occasion... seemingly randomly. I looked through my logs and can't find any relevant errors or messages being spat out by the kernel about wireless issues. Toggling the RF kill switch a few times doesn't seem to do anything.

My guess is that this is a kernel issue since 2.6.30 was pretty much the only thing I updated. But I'm not sure about how to proceed. If it is a kernel bug, I'm not sure how to provide any relevant information considering that I can't find a useful, consistent message in any of my logs.

For now, I guess the answer is to downgrade to 2.6.29, but I hope not for long. I would appreciate any advice on this matter.

olovram · 2009-07-07 02:13:51

Im also having problems to connect, on a iwl3945

sand_man · 2009-07-07 02:22:38

I have the same card and I'm not having any problems with netcfg2.
Maybe its a problem with wicd.

jwcxz · 2009-07-07 20:54:42

sand_man wrote:

Maybe its a problem with wicd.

I initially suspected that too, but iwlist scan exhibits very similar behavior: sometimes, it returns the networks it finds and other times, it returns nothing.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-07-06 13:58:59

iwl4965 / kernel 2.6.30 - intermittent failure to scan for APs

#2 2009-07-07 02:13:51

Re: iwl4965 / kernel 2.6.30 - intermittent failure to scan for APs

#3 2009-07-07 02:22:38

Re: iwl4965 / kernel 2.6.30 - intermittent failure to scan for APs

#4 2009-07-07 20:54:42

Re: iwl4965 / kernel 2.6.30 - intermittent failure to scan for APs

Board footer