Arch Linux

cit30

Member

Registered: 2009-08-19

Posts: 24

Wireless drops out

Hello networking gurus,

I installed Arch a few days ago and so far I am very impressed. However, I have been having problems with my wireless dropping out for no apparent reason. Suddenly my web browser, torrent client, chat client, etc. will just stop working. But when I open the wicd-client it shows that I am still connected to the network, and the connection is good.

When this happens I disconnect from the wireless network, then immediately reconnect. If I do this my internet will be good for another 15 or 20 minutes until it slows to a crawl again, then I have to open the wicd-client again, disconnect, reconnect... rinse, wash, repeat. I have been doing this all day.

My stepmother's laptop, running Linux Mint, has no such problems.

Does anyone have a guess as to why it would behave this way? I can understand getting kicked off the network and wicd having to reconnect, but wicd doesn't seem to know there's a problem.

Here is my rc.conf

#
# /etc/rc.conf - Main Configuration for Arch Linux
#

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# LOCALIZATION
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# LOCALE: available languages can be listed with the 'locale -a' command
# HARDWARECLOCK: set to "UTC" or "localtime"
# USEDIRECTISA: use direct I/O requests instead of /dev/rtc for hwclock
# TIMEZONE: timezones are found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
# KEYMAP: keymaps are found in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
# CONSOLEFONT: found in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (only needed for non-US)
# CONSOLEMAP: found in /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans
# USECOLOR: use ANSI color sequences in startup messages
#
LOCALE="en_US.utf8"
HARDWARECLOCK="UTC"
USEDIRECTISA="no"
TIMEZONE="America/New_York"
KEYMAP="us"
CONSOLEFONT=
CONSOLEMAP=
USECOLOR="yes"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# HARDWARE
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# MOD_AUTOLOAD: Allow autoloading of modules at boot and when needed
# MOD_BLACKLIST: Prevent udev from loading these modules
# MODULES: Modules to load at boot-up. Prefix with a ! to blacklist.
#
# NOTE: Use of 'MOD_BLACKLIST' is deprecated. Please use ! in the MODULES array.
#
MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"
#MOD_BLACKLIST=() #deprecated
MODULES=()

# Scan for LVM volume groups at startup, required if you use LVM
USELVM="no"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# NETWORKING
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# HOSTNAME: Hostname of machine. Should also be put in /etc/hosts
#
HOSTNAME="myhost"

# Use 'ifconfig -a' or 'ls /sys/class/net/' to see all available interfaces.
#
# Interfaces to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each interface then list in INTERFACES
#   - prefix an entry in INTERFACES with a ! to disable it
#   - no hyphens in your interface names - Bash doesn't like it
# 
# DHCP:     Set your interface to "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
# Wireless: See network profiles below
#

#Static IP example
#eth0="eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255"
wlan0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(wlan0)

# Routes to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each route then list in ROUTES
#   - prefix an entry in ROUTES with a ! to disable it
#
gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)
 
# Enable these network profiles at boot-up.  These are only useful
# if you happen to need multiple network configurations (ie, laptop users)
#   - set to 'menu' to present a menu during boot-up (dialog package required)
#   - prefix an entry with a ! to disable it
#
# Network profiles are found in /etc/network.d
#
# This now requires the netcfg package
#
#NETWORKS=(main)

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# DAEMONS
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order)
#   - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it
#   - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background
#
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network netfs crond alsa hal)

One other thing is that dhcpcd fails to load (time out) at boot. I confess to not knowing if that would have anything to do with my problem.

I am grateful for any help.

Last edited by cit30 (2009-08-23 04:16:34)

djszapi

Member

From: Cambridge, United Kingdom

Registered: 2009-06-14

Posts: 1,439

Website

Re: Wireless drops out

Hello cit30!

Which wifi card/chipsest/driver/kernel do you try to use ? Is there any related information in the /var/log/wicd/ or in the syslog ? Did you try to connect from command line manually, or with other applications like network manager ? Do you use open/wep/wpa/wpa2 network?

---

http://lpapp.blogspot.com

cit30

Member

Registered: 2009-08-19

Posts: 24

Re: Wireless drops out

Thanks for once again being the first to answer my question, djszapi.

Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN [Kedron] Network Connection (rev 61).

The router is a linksys router, and we have never had a problem with it before on several computers, two running Mint and one running Crunchbang. That includes my computer, before I installed Arch.

I use a password protected WPA network, which I manage with wicd.

If you need more info here is the output of lsmod, which I have a hard time understanding.

Module                  Size  Used by
ipt_REJECT              2884  1 
ipt_LOG                 5544  5 
xt_limit                2408  6 
xt_tcpudp               2820  7 
xt_state                1924  5 
ipt_addrtype            2308  4 
ip6table_filter         2372  1 
ip6_tables             12564  1 ip6table_filter
nf_nat_irc              2020  0 
nf_conntrack_irc        5000  1 nf_nat_irc
nf_nat_ftp              2820  0 
nf_nat                 17816  2 nf_nat_irc,nf_nat_ftp
nf_conntrack_ipv4      14608  7 nf_nat
nf_defrag_ipv4          1668  1 nf_conntrack_ipv4
nf_conntrack_ftp        7304  1 nf_nat_ftp
nf_conntrack           62860  7 xt_state,nf_nat_irc,nf_conntrack_irc,nf_nat_ftp,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conntrack_ftp
iptable_filter          2532  1 
ip_tables              11412  1 iptable_filter
x_tables               15304  8 ipt_REJECT,ipt_LOG,xt_limit,xt_tcpudp,xt_state,ipt_addrtype,ip6_tables,ip_tables
fuse                   60896  2 
radeon                366208  2 
drm                   154656  3 radeon
ext2                   69036  1 
snd_hda_codec_atihdmi     3748  1 
arc4                    1732  2 
ecb                     2788  2 
snd_seq_dummy           2696  0 
snd_seq_oss            31168  0 
snd_hda_codec_conexant    21412  1 
snd_seq_midi_event      7012  1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq                53744  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device          6768  3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
iwlagn                 95496  0 
snd_pcm_oss            40352  0 
usbhid                 40608  0 
sdhci_pci               7300  0 
sdhci                  17128  1 sdhci_pci
iwlcore                96036  1 iwlagn
snd_mixer_oss          17540  1 snd_pcm_oss
uvcvideo               61040  0 
fan                     4392  0 
snd_hda_intel          26664  0 
snd_hda_codec          71716  3 snd_hda_codec_atihdmi,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep               7656  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                73672  3 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_timer              21100  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
videodev               36544  1 uvcvideo
joydev                 10400  0 
hid                    42496  1 usbhid
v4l1_compat            15688  2 uvcvideo,videodev
i2c_i801                9656  0 
snd                    58436  11 snd_seq_oss,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_timer
mac80211              182848  2 iwlagn,iwlcore
uhci_hcd               23540  0 
rfkill                 10640  2 iwlcore
soundcore               6848  1 snd
mmc_core               52704  1 sdhci
ohci1394               30196  0 
psmouse                59644  0 
battery                10984  0 
intel_agp              27484  0 
agpgart                32756  2 drm,intel_agp
i2c_core               22776  2 drm,i2c_i801
iTCO_wdt               10952  0 
iTCO_vendor_support     3080  1 iTCO_wdt
ac                      4360  0 
button                  5556  0 
ehci_hcd               35664  0 
thermal                13888  0 
wmi                     6600  0 
input_polldev           3628  0 
snd_page_alloc          8876  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
ieee1394               85324  1 ohci1394
led_class               3976  2 sdhci,iwlcore
usbcore               150192  5 usbhid,uvcvideo,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd
sky2                   47240  0 
video                  19832  0 
output                  2884  1 video
pcspkr                  2372  0 
serio_raw               5704  0 
cfg80211               67364  3 iwlagn,iwlcore,mac80211
evdev                  10176  12 
sg                     27928  0 
processor              35800  2 
ipv6                  277972  10 
rtc_cmos               11212  0 
rtc_core               18048  1 rtc_cmos
rtc_lib                 2500  1 rtc_core
ext4                  237988  2 
mbcache                 7080  2 ext2,ext4
jbd2                   57756  1 ext4
crc16                   1636  1 ext4
sr_mod                 16612  0 
cdrom                  36032  1 sr_mod
sd_mod                 27328  5 
pata_acpi               4228  0 
ata_piix               23080  0 
ahci                   34004  4 
ata_generic             4680  0 
libata                168012  4 pata_acpi,ata_piix,ahci,ata_generic
scsi_mod              110708  4 sg,sr_mod,sd_mod,libata

Oddly enough, it seems like there isn't a problem when there isn't a lot of network activity. Yesterday I had deluge open and was seeding a few torrents, and that's when my wireless kept dropping out. So far today I haven't  opened deluge and my wireless has been fine. However, I don't like being limited to what I can do on the internet, so I would still like to get this sorted out if possible.

R00KIE

Forum Fellow

From: Between a computer and a chair

Registered: 2008-09-14

Posts: 4,734

Re: Wireless drops out

First thing I see that is not correct is that you have this

wlan0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(wlan0)

in rc.conf, and you don't have wicd on your deamons array, please follow the wiki http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wicd on how to setup your machine to use wicd, then if that doesn't work post back and everyone here will try their best to help you.
Once again, please look in the (very good) wiki how to setup things before posting, it will help you learn and avoid some embarrassment to you if you happen to be making some mistake

---

R00KIE
Tm90aGluZyB0byBzZWUgaGVyZSwgbW92ZSBhbG9uZy4K

cit30

Member

Registered: 2009-08-19

Posts: 24

Re: Wireless drops out

The wiki didn't solve the problem, but it is a good wiki and at least now my rc.conf looks like it should. I guess I'll keep digging through the wikis. Thanks for the help, guys.