Wireless dies?

[dequire]

There's a potantially relevant bug on launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ux/+bug/995467

[Jeremy_Ray]

Yes, I was using "card" rather loosely ... internally it must be wired into the USB system not PCI. And it ought to show up in lsusb.

Anyway, since it works some of the time this may be academic.

But one possibility occurs to me: since you found it originally only happening with Muon/apt, it could be related to large frames getting fragmented and the driver getting confused. Your MTU is 1500 (the default for Ethernet) but on some wireless networks I think it needs to be lower. If you know the IP address of your local gateway / router try this:

ping ip.address -c 1 -M do -s 1472

(1472 corresponds to a 1500 byte packet size, including 28 bytes of header)
If this gives an error (like "Frag needed and DF set") then your MTU needs to be set lower.

This is just a thought though.

Sounds like an error -

ping: unknown host ip.address

In addition to what SecretCode asked, what does

sudo ifconfig

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 50:e5:49:c4:61:a0
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:44 Base address:0xe000

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:612 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:612 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:61452 (61.4 KB) TX bytes:61452 (61.4 KB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1c:df:31:9b:b0
inet addr:192.168.2.4 Bcast:192.168.2.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::21c:dfff:fe31:9bb0/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:3835 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:2594 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:3709224 (3.7 MB) TX bytes:354605 (354.6 KB)

sudo iwlist scanning

lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:1CF:89:38:11
Channel:6
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality=48/70 Signal level=-62 dBm
Encryption keyff
ESSID:"router"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
18 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Mode:Master
Extra:tsf=00000006901f848e
Extra: Last beacon: 608ms ago
IE: Unknown: 000B726F757465725F62656172
IE: Unknown: 010882848B961224486C
IE: Unknown: 030106
IE: Unknown: 2A0104
IE: Unknown: 32040C183060
IE: Unknown: 2D1AEC0117FFFF0000000000000000000000000000000C0000 000000
IE: Unknown: 3D1606000400000000000000000000000000000000000000
IE: Unknown: 3E0100
IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101000003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F 00
IE: Unknown: 7F0101
IE: Unknown: DDA50050F204104A00011010440001021041000100103B0001 031047001000000000000000011000001CDF89381110210012 42656C6B696E20436F72706F726174696F6E102300114E2057 6972656C65737320526F7574657210240007332E30312E3130 1042000E313238303638323333303232353310540008000600 50F20400011011001B42656C6B696E20576972656C65737320 526F757465722857464129100800020004
IE: Unknown: DD07000C4304000000
IE: Unknown: 0706555320010B10
IE: Unknown: DD1E00904C33EC0117FFFF0000000000000000000000000000 000C0000000000
IE: Unknown: DD1A00904C3406000400000000000000000000000000000000 000000

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

sudo iwconfig

lo no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"router"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:1CF:89:38:11
Bit Rate=58.5 Mb/s Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Encryption keyff
Power Managementn
Link Quality=48/70 Signal level=-62 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:1 Invalid misc:2 Missed beacon:0

eth0 no wireless extensions.

[Jeremy_Ray]

There's a potantially relevant bug on launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ux/+bug/995467

I can't say this isn't the bug I have, but I didn't have a problem in 11.10.

[SecretCode]

by the way, [ CODE ] tags are better than [ QUOTE ] tags - they preserve formatting and avoid smilies being substituted!

Sounds like an error -

ping: unknown host ip.address

I meant you should find out the ip address (or DNS name) of your router and substitute it! For example if it was 192.168.0.1 you would type

ping 192.168.0.1 -c 1 -M do -s 1472

I don't see anything odd in the iwlist output, except perhaps that "last beacon" time is much longer than what I see (never more than 32ms for me).

[Jeremy_Ray]

by the way, [ CODE ] tags are better than [ QUOTE ] tags - they preserve formatting and avoid smilies being substituted!

Code tags it is . . .

I meant you should find out the ip address (or DNS name) of your router and substitute it! For example if it was 192.168.0.1 you would type

ping 192.168.0.1 -c 1 -M do -s 1472

I'm not advanced enough with Linux to know better.

PING 192.168.2.4 (192.168.2.4) 1472(1500) bytes of data.
1480 bytes from 192.168.2.4: icmp_req=1 ttl=64 time=0.047 ms

--- 192.168.2.4 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 1 received, 0% packet loss, time 0ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.047/0.047/0.047/0.000 ms

I don't see anything odd in the iwlist output, except perhaps that "last beacon" time is much longer than what I see (never more than 32ms for me).

There's a problem somewhere, it's driving me up the wall.

[SecretCode]

And this same setup worked fine with 11.10 on the same hardware? That leads me to suspect an issue with the version of the driver.

Did you upgrade or reinstall? Can you access the wireless if you boot from the Live CD of 12.04?

Also, what OS and version is your laptop running (which you said works fine)?

[Jeremy_Ray]

And this same setup worked fine with 11.10 on the same hardware?

Yessir.

Did you upgrade or reinstall?

New install from CD.

Can you access the wireless if you boot from the Live CD of 12.04?

I'll give it a try.

Also, what OS and version is your laptop running (which you said works fine)?

Ubuntu 8.04 is on the hard drive currently in the laptop. Wireless works fine.

[GreyGeek]

The suggestions I made in post #4 may work, since nothing else has been found to be of help.

As far as modprobe.conf not existing under /etc/modprobe.d/ you can create it. It is just a text file. In a console open kate.

kdesudo kate

add the line suggested, and save it as modprobe.conf.

Then reboot. (There are other ways but that is the easiest.)

[Jeremy_Ray]

Can you access the wireless if you boot from the Live CD of 12.04?

Yes, but after a while it craps out same as my install.

GreyGeek - O.K., modprobe.conf has been created and the computer rebooted. I'll let you know what happens.

[Jeremy_Ray]

Wireless died after 45 minutes with Greygeek's changes.

[tek_heretik]

Sometimes Wifi routers, boxes, cable 'modems', whatever, die, process of elimination helps (It may not be your motherboard or OS). I have had several broadband 'modems' die on me, one phone line, the other cable, cheap junk made in China not meant to last. The components on the breadboards (circuit boards, whatever) suck, some companies allow the Chinese to put in the cheapest garbage they can find. I have had some electronics (TVs, etc) die right when the warranty period was up, proving the garbage components are only meant to last only so long, needless to say, those same scammer companies don't get my gadget dollar anymore.

[Jeremy_Ray]

Sometimes Wifi routers, boxes, cable 'modems', whatever, die, process of elimination helps (It may not be your motherboard or OS). I have had several broadband 'modems' die on me, one phone line, the other cable, cheap junk made in China not meant to last. The components on the breadboards (circuit boards, whatever) suck, some companies allow the Chinese to put in the cheapest garbage they can find. I have had some electronics (TVs, etc) die right when the warranty period was up, proving the garbage components are only meant to last only so long, needless to say, those same scammer companies don't get my gadget dollar anymore.

I've been through a couple dsl modems. The last one died a month ago, so the current one is only a couple months old. Usually they go 2-3 years.

This problem isn't showing up on two other computers, and the laptop goes through the wireless router too. The problem didn't exist on this desktop until 12.04 was installed. Seems like 12.04 must be the problem.

[GreyGeek]

Wireless died after 45 minutes with Greygeek's changes.

Sorry to hear that. I agree that the problem is with 12.04. Probably the driver for your USB wireless chip.

There are several param's. Have you tried adjusting the values to see if there are changes in the up time?

[Jeremy_Ray]

Sorry to hear that. I agree that the problem is with 12.04. Probably the driver for your USB wireless chip.

There are several param's. Have you tried adjusting the values to see if there are changes in the up time?

I'm not sure, but it may be better. It only died on me twice last night, whereas the night before it was every 5-10 minutes. But it died right off the bat this morning.

edit - back to dying every 5-10 minutes this morning.

Should I increase the modprobe.conf values? How much should I increase them by?

[Jeremy_Ray]

Couple other ideas, is it possible to go back to the 11.10 driver? If not, what USB antenna will definitely definitely work with 12.04?