Re: odd network error - wireless drops when browsing with mc over ssh
On Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:40:35 +0100, andy baxter wrote:
> On 14/10/11 15:40, Camaleón wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Please, don't "cross-post" between lists unless it is strictly
>> necessary (I don't think this is such case ;-) ), it's a mess because
>> users who follow Debian list could not be following the replies you get
>> on the Ubuntu one (and viceversa) so we can miss information.
>>
>>
> Sorry. I did it because the server is debian and my laptop is ubuntu,
> but I guess I should have stated that in the original email.
It's okay to post in both lists but separately, that is, sending two e-
mails, that way you and us can track each of them properly.
Anyway, don't worry, just take note for the next time :-)
>> You said "local router"... does it mean the client side? If yes, you
>> can do some debugging, for example, restarting the networking service
>> (instead rebooting) and retest the connection.
>>
>>
> Yes I lose the connection between my laptop and my home router. I meant
> rebooting the router, not my computer. What happens is the wireless
> drops completely, and won't reconnect until I reboot the router. I don't
> know how to restart just the networking on this router.
Ah... okay. I see.
More questions then:
1/ When wifi drops, can you connect to the AP from another device (i.e.,
a smartphone or another computer), or the AP becomes completely
inaccessible for any device?
If another device can be linked to the AP, then what fails here is the
computer (wifi adapter, NetworkManager, wifi driver...) not the router.
If no other device can get associated to the AP, then the culprit here is
the router that freezes or drops the wifi somehow.
2/ When wifi drops, can you access the router using a wired cable?
>> Are you using NM to manage the wireless interface? If yes, you can
>> monitor the logs in real time (as root, "tail -f /var/log/syslog") to
>> gather more information on the disconnection.
>>
>>
> I've already tried this, but don't know enough about what's happening to
> interpret it much. I've pasted below what comes up in the syslog when
> the error occurs.
Thanks for the logs... yes, the connection is completely dropped, NM
retries the associaction but it fails.
>> OTOH, are you sure the above steps are the only pattern that triggers
>> the failure? I don't see the relation between using MC to get into
>> "/etc" directory and loss the wifi connection :-?
>
> There could be other things that would cause the error - that's probably
> just how it's shown up because it's something I do often. If I do 'cd
> /etc', and start mc from there, it works fine, and continues to work. I
> haven't yet managed to work out the boundaries of what makes it drop and
> what doesn't. E.g. sometimes I can do what seems to be the same thing,
> and it works differently.
Okay... what's the wifi driver you are using with your wifi card?
"lspci -vvv" will tell both things (wifi driver in use and wifi card) :-)
> Here is a copy of /var/log/syslog on my laptop from the point that the
> terminal session hangs, through the wireless dropping, to when it gives
> up trying to re-authenticate to the router. The first line in the log is
> at the point where the wireless drops, which is a minute or so after the
> terminal session freezes.
(...)
Thanks for the logs. I keep the relevant lines unwrapped for better reading:
> Oct 14 20:23:49 monkey kernel: [16509.860121] No probe response from AP e0:46:9a:05:59:46 after 500ms, disconnecting.
> Oct 14 20:23:49 monkey wpa_supplicant[1140]: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED - Disconnect event - remove keys
> Oct 14 20:23:49 monkey NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: completed -> disconnected
Here drops the connection. Is there something more before that lines?
> Oct 14 20:23:49 monkey NetworkManager: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: disconnected -> scanning
Then tries to reconnect again...
> Oct 14 20:23:52 monkey kernel: [16512.848085] wlan0: direct probe to AP e0:46:9a:05:59:46 timed out
> Oct 14 20:23:57 monkey NetworkManager: <debug> [1318620237.003883] periodic_update(): Roamed from BSSID E0:46:9A:05:59:46 (PARROT) to (none) ((none))
> Oct 14 20:24:02 monkey wpa_supplicant[1140]: Authentication with e0:46:9a:05:59:46 timed out.
But it fails (cannot get authenticated).
> Oct 14 20:24:05 monkey NetworkManager: nm_setting_802_1x_get_pkcs11_engine_path: assertion `NM_IS_SETTING_802_1X (setting)' failed
> Oct 14 20:24:05 monkey NetworkManager: nm_setting_802_1x_get_pkcs11_module_path: assertion `NM_IS_SETTING_802_1X (setting)' failed
And NM continues with the routine again, trying to setup thinngs. Those look
like certificates, what kind of security does the AP have?
> Oct 14 20:24:07 monkey wpa_supplicant[1140]: WPS-AP-AVAILABLE
Are you using the AP's WPS capabilities (secure auto-conf)?
> Oct 14 20:24:14 monkey wpa_supplicant[1140]: Authentication with 00:00:00:00:00:00 timed out.
> Oct 14 20:24:14 monkey wpa_supplicant[1140]: Failed to initiate AP scan.
And finally fails again. It cannot even detect the MAC address of the AP.
Greetings,
--
Camaleón
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