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Baffling Wifi Problem


raymac46

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Well I see my Manjaro guy didn't show up yet. I'll start a thread to see if anyone has any ideas about this one.

He has a PCI-e based desktop wifi card which has an Atheros chipset.

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/TP-LINK_TL-WDN4800

He can connect with a Fedora ISO just fine. Debian and Arch ISOs fail. The card associates OK but does not apparently get an IP address. Attempts to use the Arch cli manual method don't work.

His router is a DOCSIS 3 gateway supplied to him by Virgin Media in the UK.

He hasn't tried an install because of the failure to connect.

I have all kinds of Atheros cards - mostly with older chipsets - that work just fine with any distro. I am totally baffled and the pinheads over at the Manjaro forum have the view that it's his fault and too bad, so sad... :bye2:

Thoughts?

PS I saw in a Ubuntu forum that he might be able to install an atheros-firmware package. @Josh any idea of such a thing exists in Arch or in the AUR?

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Hedon James

The page you linked indicates that the LIKELY linux driver is ath9k and has been part of the kernel since 2.6.36 in 2010. This isn't cutting edge hardware, but it isn't antique, and it's a very popular chipset that isn't known for problems. I almost feel silly asking this, but....are you sure the hardware hasn't failed?

 

- Does the hardware work on a different machine? If not, bad hardware; if yes...

- Does the hardware work on THIS machine, but with a different distro? If not, bad machine/connection combo; if yes...

- I guess we're back to software/configuration issues

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securitybreach

Can he get any connection at all? The reason I ask is because the atheros (at9k) has its module included with the kernel by default. Can you get him to post the output from:

lspci -k | grep wl

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Hello, everyone. I'm the one currently having the issues. @Hedon James, My card works fine with Fedora 23/24. I'm about to test Mageia, But out of all the distro's i've tried whether it be arch or debian based my card will never work.

 

@securitybreach I'll post the output here soon.

Edited by kiakeu
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securitybreach

Hello, everyone. I'm the one currently having the issues. @Hedon James, My card works fine with Fedora 23/24. I'm about to test Mageia, But out of all the distro's i've tried wether it be arch or debian based my card will never work.

 

@securitybreach I'll post the output here soon.

 

Good deal and welcome to the forums :thumbsup:

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@kiakeu welcome. We'll likely work through some of the same ideas you've seen at Manjaro but we do have folks here who are familiar with Arch and Debian - even Open Suse. Plus you'll be treated with respect and friendliness so let's see what we can do.

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Welcome to Scot's, kiakeu. I can't offer much linux help. I run live USB sticks and if something doesn't work, I format the stick and try another distro.

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Thanks for the warm welcomes. I do need to re-format my usb again so bare with me ;).

 

I just tried Mageia seems it didn't even recognize my wireless card. strange. I am however using Fedora right now to post this.

Edited by kiakeu
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Hello, everyone. I'm the one currently having the issues. @Hedon James, My card works fine with Fedora 23/24. I'm about to test Mageia, But out of all the distro's i've tried wether it be arch or debian based my card will never work.

 

Curious. I have an Aetheros wireless card in my backup netbook. It didn't work with Arch, but Debian picked it up just fine. I did find an 'aetheros-firmware' package on the Debian repos. That might be of some use.

Regarding Arch, I remember finding a driver on the AUR, but it failed to compile for some reason, (could have been the PKGBUILD), mabey you'll have better luck...

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I think kiakeu is also running off a USB stick. He hasn't tried an install because wifi isn't working.

Fedora 23 has a 4.4 kernel and Network Manager is 1.2 so he's fairly up to date with software.

The AR93XX chipset is a bit newer than the old reliable AR 9285 and AR 9287 I use all the time but it really baffles me that an Atheros wifi adapter won't work.

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options ath9k nohwcrypt=1

@Josh any way to exercise this option with an ISO? You can't set up a ath9k.conf file very well if you don't have the distro installed.

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securitybreach

options ath9k nohwcrypt=1

@Josh any way to exercise this option with an ISO? You can't set up a ath9k.conf file very well if you don't have the distro installed.

 

Honestly, it should not need to be set up anyway. You should simply be able to modprobe ath9k

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securitybreach

Then the module is loaded correctly. What network manager are you using? networkmanager, wicd, netctl, etc.

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Then the module is loaded correctly. What network manager are you using? networkmanager, wicd, netctl, etc.

 

I am fairly Newbie but I think i'm using Network Manager 1.2.2 (Manjaro KDE) About Connection Editor says "Using NM version 1.2.2" So I can only assume this.

 

Sorry if I make any of you want to rip your eyes out.

 

Also if it makes any difference I was suggested by raymac46 to modprobe -r the wl module and since doing so I have been able to connect to my wifi but not receive or send any data.

 

Never-mind went back to not connecting

 

Just to note: it seems that now when attempting to connect to my network through the gui I am shown as "connected" a lot more. Than I have been previously

Edited by kiakeu
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securitybreach

No need to apologize as we like helping out. I have an appointment in a couple of minutes to set up a new machine. I will comment back when I get back

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Thanks for the warm welcomes. I do need to re-format my usb again so bare with me ;).

 

I just tried Mageia seems it didn't even recognize my wireless card. strange. I am however using Fedora right now to post this.

Hello, everyone. I'm the one currently having the issues. @Hedon James, My card works fine with Fedora 23/24. I'm about to test Mageia, But out of all the distro's i've tried whether it be arch or debian based my card will never work.

 

@securitybreach I'll post the output here soon.

Just out of curiosity, what channel is the router using? Are there other routers close by that you can see when using Fedora?
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Just out of curiosity, what channel is the router using? Are there other routers close by that you can see when using Fedora?

 

The router has been left on auto for channel so I don't actually know, it uses both 2.4 and 5gh on the same SSID, I have already messed with these but it doesn't make a difference.

 

I can see the same amount of networks on Fedora as with Manjaro.

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Then the module is loaded correctly. What network manager are you using? networkmanager, wicd, netctl, etc.

 

I am fairly Newbie but I think i'm using Network Manager 1.2.2 (Manjaro KDE) About Connection Editor says "Using NM version 1.2.2" So I can only assume this.

 

Sorry if I make any of you want to rip your eyes out.

 

Also if it makes any difference I was suggested by raymac46 to modprobe -r the wl module and since doing so I have been able to connect to my wifi but not receive or send any data.

 

Never-mind went back to not connecting

 

Just to note: it seems that now when attempting to connect to my network through the gui I am shown as "connected" a lot more. Than I have been previously

Use the Fedora LiveCD that works to go to the router's setup and try changing the wifi channel. If the other distros connect at all, even if the connection is intermittent, then it is unlikely that the problem is with the card or the driver.
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Just out of curiosity, what channel is the router using? Are there other routers close by that you can see when using Fedora?

 

The router has been left on auto for channel so I don't actually know, it uses both 2.4 and 5gh on the same SSID, I have already messed with these but it doesn't make a difference.

 

I can see the same amount of networks on Fedora as with Manjaro.

Then take it off auto and select a channel in the 2.4 range. That being the older standard is likely to have less problem unless there are a very many other routers crowding that range in your location.

 

edit: And change the SSID of the 5ghz channel so that you know which band you are trying to connect.

Edited by lewmur
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Just out of curiosity, what channel is the router using? Are there other routers close by that you can see when using Fedora?

 

The router has been left on auto for channel so I don't actually know, it uses both 2.4 and 5gh on the same SSID, I have already messed with these but it doesn't make a difference.

 

I can see the same amount of networks on Fedora as with Manjaro.

If both bands are using the exact same SSID, that could actually be the cause of your problems. Change the SSIDs so each band uses a different one.
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Just out of curiosity, what channel is the router using? Are there other routers close by that you can see when using Fedora?

 

The router has been left on auto for channel so I don't actually know, it uses both 2.4 and 5gh on the same SSID, I have already messed with these but it doesn't make a difference.

 

I can see the same amount of networks on Fedora as with Manjaro.

Then take it off auto and select a channel in the 2.4 range. That being the older standard is likely to have less problem unless there are a very many other routers crowding that range in your location.

 

edit: And change the SSID of the 5ghz channel so that you know which band you are trying to connect.

 

So I just did various different configurations, Disabled 5ghz, tried various channels on 2.4, disabled 2.4 tried various channels on 5ghz unable to connect at all. In terms of changing both band names I have already tried this also. I've even tried using a guest network with no password.

Edited by kiakeu
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Just out of curiosity, what channel is the router using? Are there other routers close by that you can see when using Fedora?

 

The router has been left on auto for channel so I don't actually know, it uses both 2.4 and 5gh on the same SSID, I have already messed with these but it doesn't make a difference.

 

I can see the same amount of networks on Fedora as with Manjaro.

Then take it off auto and select a channel in the 2.4 range. That being the older standard is likely to have less problem unless there are a very many other routers crowding that range in your location.

 

edit: And change the SSID of the 5ghz channel so that you know which band you are trying to connect.

 

So I just did various different configurations, Disabled 5ghz, tried various channels on 2.4, disabled 2.4 tried various channels on 5ghz unable to connect at all. In terms of changing both band names I have already tried this also.

Just to be clear, when you disable 5g, can you see multiple routers in the network manager GUI? If so, when you attempt to connect to your router, does it ask for the password? If so, when you enter the password, there should be a two stage attempt to connect. First it should say something about authorizing and then connecting. Does it get past the "authorizing" stage?
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Just out of curiosity, what channel is the router using? Are there other routers close by that you can see when using Fedora?

 

The router has been left on auto for channel so I don't actually know, it uses both 2.4 and 5gh on the same SSID, I have already messed with these but it doesn't make a difference.

 

I can see the same amount of networks on Fedora as with Manjaro.

Then take it off auto and select a channel in the 2.4 range. That being the older standard is likely to have less problem unless there are a very many other routers crowding that range in your location.

 

edit: And change the SSID of the 5ghz channel so that you know which band you are trying to connect.

 

So I just did various different configurations, Disabled 5ghz, tried various channels on 2.4, disabled 2.4 tried various channels on 5ghz unable to connect at all. In terms of changing both band names I have already tried this also.

Just to be clear, when you disable 5g, can you see multiple routers in the network manager GUI? If so, when you attempt to connect to your router, does it ask for the password? If so, when you enter the password, there should be a two stage attempt to connect. First it should say something about authorizing and then connecting. Does it get past the "authorizing" stage?

 

I can see multiple routers, When connecting to mine It will get stuck at setting network address (past Authorizing).

 

*Edit, in the many times it does this on the off-chance it will "connect" but will have no "connection".

 

*Edit 2, it does fail various times to authenticate or associate

Edited by kiakeu
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Just out of curiosity, what channel is the router using? Are there other routers close by that you can see when using Fedora?

 

The router has been left on auto for channel so I don't actually know, it uses both 2.4 and 5gh on the same SSID, I have already messed with these but it doesn't make a difference.

 

I can see the same amount of networks on Fedora as with Manjaro.

Then take it off auto and select a channel in the 2.4 range. That being the older standard is likely to have less problem unless there are a very many other routers crowding that range in your location.

 

edit: And change the SSID of the 5ghz channel so that you know which band you are trying to connect.

 

So I just did various different configurations, Disabled 5ghz, tried various channels on 2.4, disabled 2.4 tried various channels on 5ghz unable to connect at all. In terms of changing both band names I have already tried this also.

Just to be clear, when you disable 5g, can you see multiple routers in the network manager GUI? If so, when you attempt to connect to your router, does it ask for the password? If so, when you enter the password, there should be a two stage attempt to connect. First it should say something about authorizing and then connecting. Does it get past the "authorizing" stage?

 

I can see multiple routers, When connecting to mine It will get stuck at setting network address (past Authorizing).

 

*Edit, in the many times it does this on the off-chance it will "connect" but will have no "connection".

 

*Edit 2, it does fail various times to authenticate or associate

How many "bars" does your router show in the network manager?
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