Can't get Qualcomm Atheros AR5212 802.11abg NIC to work
I am a member!
Hi.
I apologize for the length of this post.
I have been trying to figure out why my wifi card will not work (it apparently should, and it almost does).
Hopefully someone may know whether something is simply misconfigured or maybe knows for a fact that there are issues that cannot be addressed at this time given the age of my computer and wifi card.
I have an IBM ThinkPad x60s with the internal Lenovo Atheros card listed below.
Qualcomm Atheros AR5212 802.11abg NIC
IBM ThinkPad 11a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini Express Adapter (AR5BXB6)
I also am using (hopefully temporarily) an Etekcity USB wifi which uses RTL8187. This wifi works just fine. A little slow at times but it works. No issues at all but I'd rather use my internal card if possible as there is nothing to attach and carry around and so on. The Etekcity uses a cord and antenna, etc.
At times I have included some information below from the Etekcity USB output so as to compare it with the internal Atheros card.
My router is a dd-wrt router purchased from ThinkPenguin which I've had for a few months and it seems to work just fine. Many other devices, computers, phones, etc. connect without issue.
In a nutshell, I've found the Atheros card to be "ok" in my computer, no problems there apparently, the drivers are there, it connects, sort of, to my wireless router, sees SSIDs, however there is something about DHCP that is not quite right.
I tried installing Trisquel 6 using text-based install and the Atheros card was found and tried to connect but failed with a message that there was "no DHCP" or a strange version of DHCP or something like that. I gave up and installed using the Etekcity USB connection which is probably why that became wlan0.
After Trisquel was installed I tried Network Manager every which way, then removed it and installed wicd. When wicd was installed, and selecting "none" in one of the preferences (don't remember which one, it was at the top), a connection was established between the Atheros card and my router and showed in the menu bar, but a web page would not load. I could ping at the terminal but there was a 34% packet loss when usually I have none. Something wasn't right.
Giving up on wicd, I tried using wpa_supplicant directly and with its GUI. I couldn't get it set up as more files were needed to be configured and I was burned out. This is all new to me. A lot to learn. I removed wicd and reinstalled Network Manager. (I also briefly tried out an old tutorial that uses all command lines to connect and disconnect, but many of the commands no longer worked apparently.)
Once installed, Network Manager needed to be stopped in order to run wpa_supplicant by itself. Apparently you can use wpa_supplicant by itself but Network Manager must be stopped and other settings/files must be available to wpa_supplicant for it to work. I never got that far with the extra config files.
It seems there is a conflict in Network Manager, or between it and other programs it relies on, but only with certain devices of course, like my internal card; my usb wifi works fine. So does an ethernet cable.
Not sure of the extent of the mess I made in changing files, bumbling around, and adding and removing programs, I re-installed Trisquel fresh. Then added the Libre kernel shown a few lines down from here. I haven't altered much since then. Am starting over so to speak.
Output follows below along with my notes when I had something to add...
===
**** NOTE: It doesn't seem to matter whether I use the standard Trisquel kernel or the Libre one below, same results with both ***************
===
gnu@t6:~$ uname -a
Linux t6 3.4.60-gnu1 #1 SMP Fri Aug 30 04:28:46 UTC 2013 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
===
gnu@t6:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Trisquel
DISTRIB_RELEASE=6.0
DISTRIB_CODENAME=toutatis
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Trisquel 6.0"
gnu@t6:~$
===
gnu@t6:~$ lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 net
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82573L Gigabit Ethernet Controller [8086:109a]
Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad X60s [17aa:207e]
Kernel driver in use: e1000e
--
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Qualcomm Atheros AR5212 802.11abg NIC [168c:1014] (rev 01)
Subsystem: IBM ThinkPad 11a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini Express Adapter (AR5BXB6) [1014:058a]
Kernel driver in use: ath5k
===
gnu@t6:~$ sudo ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:16:d3:2b:3e:XX
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:16 Memory:ee000000-ee020000
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:183 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:183 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:27483 (27.4 KB) TX bytes:27483 (27.4 KB)
*** NOTE: wlan0 is the USB Etekcity ********************
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0f:13:08:03:XX
inet addr:192.168.1.133 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::20f:13ff:fe08:XXX/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:643 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:736 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:386752 (386.7 KB) TX bytes:108876 (108.8 KB)
*** NOTE wlan1 is the Qualcomm Atheros card ****************
wlan1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:4d:85:7f:XX
inet6 addr: fe80::223:4dff:fe85:7XXX/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:127 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:369 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:10355 (10.3 KB) TX bytes:85530 (85.5 KB)
==
gnu@t6:~$ sudo nm-tool
NetworkManager Tool
State: connected (global)
- Device: wlan0 [router_nomap 1] ----------------------------------------------
Type: 802.11 WiFi
Driver: rtl8187
State: connected
Default: yes
HW Address: 00:0F:13:08:03:XX
Capabilities:
Speed: 36 Mb/s
Wireless Properties
WEP Encryption: yes
WPA Encryption: yes
WPA2 Encryption: yes
Wireless Access Points (* = current AP)
*router_nomap: Infra, F8:D1:11:96:E3:XX, Freq 2457 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 81 WPA2
IPv4 Settings:
Address: 192.168.1.133
Prefix: 24 (255.255.255.0)
Gateway: 192.168.1.1
DNS: 192.168.1.1
- Device: wlan1 ----------------------------------------------------------------
Type: 802.11 WiFi
Driver: ath5k
State: disconnected
Default: no
HW Address: 00:23:4D:85:7F:XX
Capabilities:
Wireless Properties
WEP Encryption: yes
WPA Encryption: yes
WPA2 Encryption: yes
Wireless Access Points
routerG_nomap: Infra, FA:D1:11:96:E3:XX, Freq 2457 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 52 WPA2
NETGEAR37: Infra, 4C:60:DE:2D:0D:XX, Freq 2437 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 17 WPA2
jaxxxxxxx: Infra, 28:CF:DA:B9:76:XX, Freq 2412 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 5 WPA2
Jxxxxxxx: Infra, 00:22:75:9F:E1:XX, Freq 2462 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 5 WEP
NETGEAR37-5G: Infra, 4C:60:DE:2D:0D:XX, Freq 5745 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 12 WPA2
NETGEAR13: Infra, 28:C6:8E:BB:92:XX, Freq 2447 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 4 WPA2
router_nomap: Infra, F8:D1:11:96:E3:XX, Freq 2457 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 34 WPA2
Pxxxxxx: Infra, 00:21:29:D3:4C:XX, Freq 2437 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 14 WPA WPA2
- Device: eth0 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Type: Wired
Driver: e1000e
State: unavailable
Default: no
HW Address: 00:16:D3:2B:3:XX
Capabilities:
Carrier Detect: yes
Wired Properties
Carrier: off
===
gnu@t6:~$ lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub [8086:27a0] (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a2] (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a6] (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio Controller [8086:27d8] (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 1 [8086:27d0] (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 2 [8086:27d2] (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 3 [8086:27d4] (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family PCI Express Port 4 [8086:27d6] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:27c8] (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:27c9] (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:27ca] (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:27cb] (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:27cc] (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:27b9] (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller [8086:27df] (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7-M Family) SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [8086:27c5] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation NM10/ICH7 Family SMBus Controller [8086:27da] (rev 02)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82573L Gigabit Ethernet Controller [8086:109a]
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Qualcomm Atheros AR5212 802.11abg NIC [168c:1014] (rev 01)
15:00.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II [1180:0476] (rev b4)
15:00.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C552 IEEE 1394 Controller [1180:0552] (rev 09)
15:00.2 SD Host controller [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter [1180:0822] (rev 18)
==
gnu@t6:~$ sudo iwlist scan
wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: F8:D1:11:96:E3:XX
Channel:10
Frequency:2.457 GHz (Channel 10)
Quality=70/70 Signal level=-39 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"router_nomap"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Mode:Master
Extra:tsf=000000054d7b83e7
Extra: Last beacon: 28ms ago
IE: Unknown: 000C726F757465725F6E6F6D6170
IE: Unknown: 010882848B960C121824
IE: Unknown: 03010A
IE: Unknown: 2A0104
IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : CCMP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
IE: Unknown: 2D1A6C111BFF00000000000000000000000100000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 3D160A001300000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101000003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
Cell 02 - Address: 4C:60:DE:2D:0D:XX
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=42/70 Signal level=-68 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"NETGEAR37"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Mode:Master
Extra:tsf=0000016e322bc2b9
Extra: Last beacon: 2312ms ago
IE: Unknown: 00094E4554474541523337
IE: Unknown: 010882848B962430486C
IE: Unknown: 030106
IE: Unknown: 2A0104
IE: Unknown: 2F0104
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : CCMP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
IE: Unknown: 32040C121860
IE: Unknown: 2D1AFD191BFFFFFF0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 3D1606081500000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 4A0E14000A002C01C800140005001900
IE: Unknown: 7F0101
IE: Unknown: DD7B0050F204104A0001101044000102103B000103104700104D1F6EE6C42741108242B418098BCE0F1021000D4E4554474541522C20496E632E10230008574E44523435303010240008574E44523435303010420004343533361054000800060050F204000110110008574E445234353030100800020004103C000103
IE: Unknown: DD090010180202F03C0000
IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
Cell 03 - Address: FA:D1:11:96:E3:XX
Channel:10
Frequency:2.457 GHz (Channel 10)
Quality=70/70 Signal level=-40 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"routerG_nomap"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Mode:Master
Extra:tsf=000000054d650e80
Extra: Last beacon: 32ms ago
IE: Unknown: 000D726F75746572475F6E6F6D6170
IE: Unknown: 010882848B960C121824
IE: Unknown: 03010A
IE: Unknown: 2A0104
IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : CCMP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
IE: Unknown: 2D1A6C111BFF00000000000000000000000100000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 3D160A001300000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101000003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
irda0 Interface doesn't support scanning.
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.
eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.
wlan1 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 4C:60:DE:2D:0D:XX
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=19/70 Signal level=-91 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"NETGEAR37"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Mode:Master
Extra:tsf=0000016e32542809
Extra: Last beacon: 3824ms ago
IE: Unknown: 00094E4554474541523337
IE: Unknown: 010882848B962430486C
IE: Unknown: 030106
IE: Unknown: 2A0104
IE: Unknown: 2F0104
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : CCMP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
IE: Unknown: 32040C121860
IE: Unknown: 2D1AFD191BFFFFFF0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 3D1606081500000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 4A0E14000A002C01C800140005001900
IE: Unknown: 7F0101
IE: Unknown: DD7B0050F204104A0001101044000102103B000103104700104D1F6EE6C42741108242B418098BCE0F1021000D4E4554474541522C20496E632E10230008574E44523435303010240008574E44523435303010420004343533361054000800060050F204000110110008574E445234353030100800020004103C000103
IE: Unknown: DD090010180202F03C0000
IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
Cell 02 - Address: F8:D1:11:96:E3:XX
Channel:10
Frequency:2.457 GHz (Channel 10)
Quality=41/70 Signal level=-69 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"router_nomap"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Mode:Master
Extra:tsf=000000054d859f27
Extra: Last beacon: 36ms ago
IE: Unknown: 000C726F757465725F6E6F6D6170
IE: Unknown: 010882848B960C121824
IE: Unknown: 03010A
IE: Unknown: 2A0104
IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : CCMP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
IE: Unknown: 2D1A6C111BFF00000000000000000000000100000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 3D160A001300000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101000003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
Cell 03 - Address: FA:D1:11:96:E3:XX
Channel:10
Frequency:2.457 GHz (Channel 10)
Quality=41/70 Signal level=-69 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"routerG_nomap"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Mode:Master
Extra:tsf=000000054d85bae3
Extra: Last beacon: 36ms ago
IE: Unknown: 000D726F75746572475F6E6F6D6170
IE: Unknown: 010882848B960C121824
IE: Unknown: 03010A
IE: Unknown: 2A0104
IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : CCMP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
IE: Unknown: 2D1A6C111BFF00000000000000000000000100000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 3D160A001300000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101000003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
Cell 04 - Address: 4C:60:DE:2D:0D:XX
Channel:149
Frequency:5.745 GHz
Quality=15/70 Signal level=-95 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"NETGEAR37-5G"
Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s
36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Mode:Master
Extra:tsf=0000016e3213503a
Extra: Last beacon: 564ms ago
IE: Unknown: 000C4E45544745415233372D3547
IE: Unknown: 01088C129824B048606C
IE: Unknown: 050401020000
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : CCMP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
IE: Unknown: 2D1AFF091BFFFFFF0001000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 3D16950D0400000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: DD270050F204104A0001101044000102104700104D1F6EE6C42741108242B418098BCE0F103C000103
IE: Unknown: DD090010180202F03C0000
IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00
===
*** NOTE: When the Atheros fails, this is the typical message (below) *************************
There is a boatload of info to be found online re: "deauthenticating by local choice reason 3"
Looking at many many (many many) posts, I found little to be common among those who found solutions. I did see some that appeared to be similar to my situation, but no solutions that worked for me.
===
gnu@t6:~$ dmesg | grep wlan1
[ 118.356466] udevd[662]: renamed network interface wlan0 to wlan1
[ 118.385626] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan1: link is not ready
[ 127.425722] wlan1: authenticate with f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX
[ 127.434379] wlan1: send auth to f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (try 1/3)
[ 127.436229] wlan1: authenticated
[ 127.444035] wlan1: associate with f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (try 1/3)
[ 127.447970] wlan1: RX AssocResp from f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=4)
[ 127.448498] wlan1: associated
[ 127.448697] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan1: link becomes ready
[ 137.696044] wlan1: no IPv6 routers present
[ 173.208637] wlan1: deauthenticating from f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX by local choice (reason=3)
[ 180.160897] wlan1: authenticate with f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX
[ 180.169990] wlan1: send auth to f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (try 1/3)
[ 180.171886] wlan1: authenticated
[ 180.180054] wlan1: associate with f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (try 1/3)
[ 180.183073] wlan1: RX AssocResp from f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=4)
[ 180.183793] wlan1: associated
[ 183.615088] wlan1: deauthenticating from f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX by local choice (reason=3)
[ 187.812935] wlan1: authenticate with f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX
[ 187.822752] wlan1: send auth to f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (try 1/3)
[ 187.825722] wlan1: authenticated
[ 187.836050] wlan1: associate with f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (try 1/3)
[ 187.839072] wlan1: RX AssocResp from f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=4)
[ 187.839789] wlan1: associated
[ 198.096070] wlan1: no IPv6 routers present
[ 217.813920] wlan1: deauthenticating from f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX by local choice (reason=3)
[ 264.177521] wlan1: authenticate with f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX
[ 264.187513] wlan1: send auth to f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (try 1/3)
[ 264.189424] wlan1: authenticated
[ 264.196053] wlan1: associate with f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (try 1/3)
[ 264.199072] wlan1: RX AssocResp from f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=4)
[ 264.199869] wlan1: associated
[ 274.968075] wlan1: no IPv6 routers present
[ 309.209124] wlan1: deauthenticating from f8:d1:11:96:e3:XX by local choice (reason=3)
gnu@t6:~$ dmesg | grep ath5k
[ 117.646377] ath5k 0000:03:00.0: registered as 'phy0'
[ 118.330022] Registered led device: ath5k-phy0::rx
[ 118.330054] Registered led device: ath5k-phy0::tx
[ 118.330067] ath5k phy0: Atheros AR5414 chip found (MAC: 0xa3, PHY: 0x61)
gnu@t6:~$ dmesg | grep rtl8187
[ 732.671932] rtl8187: Customer ID is 0x00
[ 732.672055] Registered led device: rtl8187-phy1::radio
[ 732.672112] Registered led device: rtl8187-phy1::tx
[ 732.672161] Registered led device: rtl8187-phy1::rx
[ 732.673171] rtl8187: wireless switch is on
[ 732.673969] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8187
===
gnu@t6:~$ rfkill list
bash: rfkill: command not found
gnu@t6:~$ cat /etc/modules
# /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time.
#
# This file contains the names of kernel modules that should be loaded
# at boot time, one per line. Lines beginning with "#" are ignored.
loop
lp
===
gnu@t6:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0bda:8187 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8187 Wireless Adapter
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
===
gnu@t6:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
rtl8187 56176 0
eeprom_93cx6 13169 1 rtl8187
arc4 12474 4
snd_hda_codec_analog 75012 1
snd_hda_intel 32240 2
snd_hda_codec 109272 2 snd_hda_codec_analog,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13273 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 76278 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
thinkpad_acpi 73004 0
snd_seq_midi 13133 0
ath5k 143020 0
snd_rawmidi 25329 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 14476 1 snd_seq_midi
ath 19125 1 ath5k
snd_seq 51133 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 24488 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14131 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
mac80211 437578 2 rtl8187,ath5k
coretemp 13200 0
cfg80211 170279 4 rtl8187,ath5k,ath,mac80211
nsc_ircc 22981 0
irda 180832 1 nsc_ircc
pcmcia 39543 0
bnep 17641 2
rfcomm 37087 0
bluetooth 179397 10 bnep,rfcomm
yenta_socket 27031 0
pcmcia_rsrc 18192 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 21506 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,pcmcia_rsrc
parport_pc 31969 0
snd 62117 14 snd_hda_codec_analog,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,thinkpad_acpi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
microcode 14017 0
tpm_tis 18172 0
mac_hid 13038 0
snd_page_alloc 14037 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
dm_multipath 22389 0
soundcore 14557 1 snd
psmouse 71575 0
scsi_dh 14198 1 dm_multipath
ppdev 12841 0
serio_raw 13028 0
crc_ccitt 12628 1 irda
nvram 13958 1 thinkpad_acpi
lp 13322 0
parport 36544 3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
ext2 63035 1
dm_crypt 22237 1
raid10 38730 0
raid456 64460 0
async_raid6_recov 12808 1 raid456
async_pq 12839 2 raid456,async_raid6_recov
raid6_pq 88235 2 async_raid6_recov,async_pq
async_xor 12682 3 raid456,async_raid6_recov,async_pq
xor 21861 1 async_xor
async_memcpy 12482 2 raid456,async_raid6_recov
async_tx 13124 5 raid456,async_raid6_recov,async_pq,async_xor,async_memcpy
raid1 34702 0
raid0 16960 0
multipath 12971 0
linear 12767 0
dm_mirror 21586 0
dm_region_hash 15985 1 dm_mirror
dm_log 18073 2 dm_mirror,dm_region_hash
btrfs 723654 0
zlib_deflate 26420 1 btrfs
libcrc32c 12544 1 btrfs
firewire_ohci 35265 0
sdhci_pci 18129 0
sdhci 31608 1 sdhci_pci
firewire_core 56853 1 firewire_ohci
crc_itu_t 12628 1 firewire_core
i915 422498 3
e1000e 137116 0
drm_kms_helper 45267 1 i915
drm 215813 4 i915,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit 13191 1 i915
video 18622 1 i915
===
Below are iwconfig's from several attempts. I notice the "Invalid misc:#" changed but I don't know what that means if anything.
===
gnu@t6:~$ sudo iwconfig
irda0 no wireless extensions.
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wlan1 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID:"router_nomap"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.457 GHz Access Point: F8:D1:11:96:E3:XX
Bit Rate=1 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=47/70 Signal level=-63 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:6 Missed beacon:0
===
gnu@t6:~$ sudo iwconfig
irda0 no wireless extensions.
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wlan1 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID:"router_nomap"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.457 GHz Access Point: F8:D1:11:96:E3:XX
Bit Rate=1 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=41/70 Signal level=-69 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:4 Missed beacon:0
===
This has both wlan0 (the USB) and wlan1 (my internal card)
===
gnu@t6:~$ sudo iwconfig
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"router_nomap"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.457 GHz Access Point: F8:D1:11:96:E3:XX
Bit Rate=54 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=70/70 Signal level=-39 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:15 Invalid misc:16 Missed beacon:0
irda0 no wireless extensions.
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wlan1 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=30 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
===
/etc/network/interfaces
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
# The primary network interface
#NetworkManager#auto eth0
#NetworkManager#iface eth0 inet dhcp
===
NOTE: I saw a message one time from the terminal saying I should unblacklist this.
===
/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ath_pci.conf
# For some Atheros 5K RF MACs, the madwifi driver loads buts fails to
# correctly initialize the hardware, leaving it in a state from
# which ath5k cannot recover. To prevent this condition, stop
# madwifi from loading by default. Use Jockey to select one driver
# or the other. (Ubuntu: #315056, #323830)
# blacklist ath_pci
===
Thank you for your help and thank you for looking this over.
****END of my message, Thank You! ******
Out of curiosity are other devices connected to the WiFi base station when this is happening? I'd like to know what happens if there are no other devices connected (reboot the router for good measure as well) and then try with only the laptop using the base station.
Also, what is the make & model of this base station and does it have the latest firmware revision?
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Thanks, I hadn't thought of that!
There are all sorts of things attached to the router.
Funny though why the other devices, even on the x60s work via that router without incident. I will clean it out and see.
The router is a TP-Link TL-WR741ND v4 with the most recent firmware that will work with it (as of a couple of months ago.) DD-WRT v24-sp2 (07/20/12) std (SVN revision 19519) There are newer versions but not recommended for this router...at least as of a couple of months ago.
Tried your idea. Unplugged everything except the cable modem and rebooted.
Didn't make any difference, dmesg had the same deauthentication by local choice reason 3.
Did anything else look or seem strange?
> Unplugged everything
I was wondering more about other devices connected via WiFi. After unplugging physical connections was anything connected via WiFi? I had similiar problem with a router in which mine would only work if it was the only device connected to the WiFi.
Trying a newer kernel can't hurt. Version 3.11 will be in my repository soon-ish which would be good to try.
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The older Atheros G wireless mini pci/e chipsets don't work terribly well... They should sort of work from my experience although there are things which won't work well or at all like power management, etc. That said I'm not sure this is the problem your having. Did you swap the wireless card out for another or was this the original? Even the older IBM laptops had digital restrictions so you might not be able to swap it for another (easily or possibly at all). I'd probably stick to the RTL8187 USB adapter/chipset. If you unlocked the BIOS and you can install another wireless card I'd suggest trying an 802.11N Atheros card. We actually have them even in the old mini PCI card format (gasp! I know) in addition to the newer Mini PCIe and half height formats.
...
That is if nothing else works.
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jxself,
Oh, I just took out the plugged in cords attached to my router, there were still a couple of smartphones and a Roku that were connected wirelessly. I never thought about those…
I'm wondering if it would be worth the bother to try again? It might be interesting to know, but it likely would never allow me to use that card here or elsewhere since few WiFi's are ever that empty. If you want me to try again, I will. Maybe it could confirm what happened to you?
Chris,
I did swap out the card. My bios had no passwords activated. It's just the standard bios that came with the computer as far as I know, showing the logos and the press the ThinkVantage button at boot up.
The Atheros card supposedly is an original Lenovo part (used $10) which I assumed was whitelisted. I believe I saw it on Lenovo's list. It was a card that was available for the ThinkPad X60s.
The card did not look "new", but neither did it look beat up or damaged in any way. Seemed to be a true used part.
There was no problem putting it in, the Lenovo instruction book was clear. It booted up without a problem, no restriction there, it just gets "stuck" when trying to finalize a new connection and gives up with that deauthentication by local choice reason 3.
I think I'll try the ThinkPenguin tiny USB. Maybe it will be faster than the Etekcity USB? On my MacBook with its built in WiFi, my wireless download speeds are around ~30m and with the Etekcity on the ThinkPad X60s, 12-15m. Uploads are typically ~4m, but with the Etekcity often hardly 1m. I think the Etekcity goes up to "g", no "n". Ethernet connected speeds on the X60s seem very fast but I haven't checked them, think I'll do that.
I see the USB's you offer can be purchased with extended support; will probably buy that too after going through this! Wireless connections aren't always simple and they can break due to upgrades.
Knowing only what I've read and tried and not having a lot of technical background re: GNU/Linux or its programs myself, my observation is that sometime around kernel 2.6.30-something, the way that certain tasks were handled internally changed. I remember reading something like sockets were not flexible enough, so there was a new way to handle things.
Network Manager seems to have a history, rightly so I suppose, of wanting to control "everything" and will rig up whatever it needs to get the job done. When some underlying kernel things changed, some people had trouble with their ath5k setups.
When wpa_supplicant is mixed in, apparently at times battling with Network Manager, along with those kernel changes, even if the ath and ath5k drivers themselves were ok, they perhaps could no longer "fit" nicely with all the other code that had changed or been adapted. I think the ath5k driver project ended in 2010. People moved on.
Many people had the error messages I had (shown earlier) and it seemed to start for nearly everyone at the point of an upgrade. When they changed back to an earlier version they were ok.
A couple of people had their physical WiFi switches shut off by accident and a few, sometimes posting weeks or months later, said a later upgrade of one thing or another fixed things for them.
Chris you may well have it correct that the chipset itself has issues, perhaps worsened by various software changes over the years that re-broke some earlier fixes. At one time, that Atheros card should have worked. It did for other people, for years they say.
I wonder if anyone has such a setup working now? My guess is no, not out-of-the-box. Maybe using older kernels or older methods to connect, but I do not wish to go that route even if I had the brains to do it. Just looking for a free software laptop experience similar to the corporate OS's, but without the bloat and spyware and so on.
One final thing, in general. I looked at the usual online sources for confirmation that my hardware and drivers would work, and on paper as they say, there is no issue with my setup. Reality is different. A part of me wanted to believe I guess that somehow hardware that was known to work with GNU/Linux would "always" continue to be compatible. Like my hardware would die one day but would not be put out to pasture because of software upgrades. I am not complaining about this. Thinking about it now, it would be foolish to try to encompass everything old and new into current software. This was just a belief I had that doesn't seem to be true, and was unrealistic.
Thank you both for trying to help.
I'm very impressed with Trisquel and am enjoying learning how to use it. So far, so good.
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While it isn't realistic that free software drivers/firmware will work indefinitely (and we certainly wouldn't claim that) but there is a certain level of community support behind these drivers and support over the long haul. These drivers have been pushed into the mainline kernel and things have tended to work very well for a very long time. The thing with Atheros is if you go back far enough they were no better than broadcom (broadcom's a headache, although there is one chipset that has support, but I was told by the developer its usage is ill-advised, but there are people here who use at and think its fine).
Now getting a realistic perception of the problems is a challenge because there are many other issues which can negatively impact networking and wifi. From on/off switches (common issue on laptops) that don't work to people having BIOS configuration issues (plug-n-play support disabled in BIOS) to blacklisting to having installed non-free wrappers and screwed up there wireless/networking. Sometimes figuring out where the problem actually lies is hard to near impossible.
I think the problem is the ath5k stuff was never terribly well supported. It was “good enough” for the time period (and actually a lot of stuff I'd still say is just “good enough” unfortunately, but at least it generally meets 95% of users needs). I have tested ath5k wireless cards as we have a batch and they worked fine a year or two ago. We never actually sold these cards mind you and the ath5k drivers and cards date back 10+ years if I'm not mistaken. The fact they are still working at all is pretty impressive given the majority have moved on. Well.. we did accidentally send out a batch of several to a certain free software organization... that was a bit embarrassing. However- I learned from them of some additional issues with the ath5k stuff I wasn't aware of. But even before this I was aware older Atheros stuff was not that great. And before that there wasn't any support at all. Atheros did a reverse flip several years ago. They went from not supporting GNU/Linux at all to hiring an outside developer to come and work for them who was working on drivers for its chipsets already. The result of all this is I have a lot of respect for the company or somebody within for taking action and fixing the problem. Mind you like most companies they are far from perfect and I'd still advise avoiding many of the companies products (although in many cases I'd still advise there products over others because the others don't provide any free software support. Or for persons that are insisting on somthing that does not exist there is a better chance Atheros might... if we push a bit... realease the code... which is another reason I'm a big fan of what we are doing... as we are pushing... and helping others to help us push).
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Chris,
Interesting. Like Mic sings, "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime..."
Looking at some bug reports I was amazed at how torturous bad code can be to hardware. Temporarily freezing it up and so on. Also in looking over the various outputs, there is WAY MORE activity going on under the hood than I ever knew. Things just going and going, good, bad, and otherwise. It's a miracle anything works at all. A much less efficient and elegant process than I had thought.
I thought coders just wrote and compiled, but man their hardware takes a beating on some things. Much more physical than I had thought. It's not just code, it's hardware and software. Would be great to get it right. One hand into the other. Proprietary approaches make such efforts hopeless. How can things ever get ironed out that way? I never knew, or never appreciated I guess.
Look for my order shortly for one of those USB Wifi nubs. Glad you are offering hardware that is "known". Need the coders too but with known hardware/firmware at least they'll know what they are up against.
So much to be amazed by around here.
Thank you for your help and the backgrounds on Atheros/WiFi. Take care.
It absolutely should work. That it doesn't sounds like buggy software. But where? In the kernel? In the router? Elsewhere?
My previously laptop had a WiFi card that used ath9k instead of your which uses ath5k. My friend had a WiFi router that I'd try to use and there was a bug in his router's firmware in which I could only use it if my laptop was the only device connected via WiFi. If anything else was connected then DHCP didn't work for me. My choice was to replace the WiFi card or wait for a bug fix for his router. I ended up getting a ThinkPad X60s anyway 'cause I wanted support for coreboot and it works just fine. Sometimes bugs are that specific.
It can be hard to debug, which is why I was hoping you'd try a newer kernel (3.11 is now available in my repository) to test. Also, does it work with other WiFi base stations? That's another important clue.
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jxself,
Tried the other router, with nothing connected wireless or wired except the modem. Used the Atheros card to try and connect. Didn't work. Tried 3 kernels, all the same response when giving up: deauthenticating by local choice reason 3.
Each of the kernels were slightly different in dmesg listings and the listings themselves were a little different because of this router which has dual bands, etc. the results were pretty much the same and definitely no connection at all.
Plugged in the USB WiFi, that again worked just fine.
I can check the dd-wrt forum, haven't done that yet, but things are looking dim. I've put enough time into this and on a $10 part, it's time to move on. There's lots I need to figure out in Trisquel yet as I try to set it up for daily use.
I read about some ath5k bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/269253
Trouble since 2008 and still so in 2012. Different from what I am experiencing but still bugs.
Quite a few WiFi bugs on "deauthenticating" also (a long link but it should work copy and paste): https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux?field.searchtext=deauthenticating&search=Search&field.status%3Alist=NEW&field.status%3Alist=INCOMPLETE_WITH_RESPONSE&field.s...
Thanks for your help. Hope to hear more about your core boot one day. Take care.
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jxself,
Man, you are full of ideas!
I've never tried using the computer with a different WiFi router, I've only had the computer a couple of weeks. I could do that as I have another router, not hooked up at the moment. When I have some time, I'll try that and report back.
Also, I will try the new kernel. Easy to do. Will report back on that as well.
The message I get upon failure, the deauthenticating "reason 3" means the following:
3 Deauthenticated because sending STA is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS. The access point went offline, deauthenticating the client.
http://www.aboutcher.co.uk/2012/07/linux-wifi-deauthenticated-reason-codes/
It seems to me that the software is assuming some sort of blessed handshake has taken place because certain steps have transpired without a problem. However it is as if it cannot wait long enough for the DCHP type info to be picked up (It must be there, other devices pick it up ok). Or maybe it can't hear it and deauthenticates/does not complete the connection. It thinks the AP went offline when in reality something simply didn't take place as thought by the software, leaving a gap that perhaps is seen as the AP not being there. Perhaps the gap is a spot that was brought about by changes in the kernel or in Network Manager or wpa_supplicant. I am not a coder so I can only guess at this. Could be the dd-wrt software in the router is bad too I guess, I haven't checked their forum, which is huge, might be info there.
This doesn't happen with the USB WiFi but yeah, that uses a different driver.
I noticed the core boot potential in the X60s too and would like to try that some day. Seems complicated.
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jxself,
Tried the new linux-libre32. Same deauthenticating message as with the other kernels. When I test the other router I will try it with the various kernels, just in case. Also will check the dd-wrt forum.
I have installed Trisquel 6.0 with twoo users and after installing so much programs i can not log in i get a failure,
How can i recover from console the system
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Update: I received the Penguine Wireless N USB adapter for GNU/Linux, plugged it in, using one of jxself's kernels that I had installed earlier and everything worked without a problem. Took seconds to install instead of spending days trying to get the other card working to no avail. It was a worthwhile learning experience though.
I had to enter the password for my router, but that was it. And speed has improved noticably. The best part is the thing is so small it hardly matters, no cords, antennas and so on.
On to other things now, checking this off the list.