GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 572653
NM doesn't want to connect a a fon hotspot but iwconfig/dhclient work
Last modified: 2012-07-24 17:08:55 UTC
Please describe the problem: Hi, I have a fon hotspot (fon.com) at home. I can connect to it without problem using the following command lines but NetworkManager always fail. More information can be found in the Ubuntu report: https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/332501 This works: $ sudo /etc/init.d/avahi-daemon stop $ sudo iwconfig eth1 essid "Neuf WiFi FON" $ sudo dhclient eth1 [...] DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8 DHCPOFFER of 192.168.2.13 from 192.168.2.1 DHCPREQUEST of 192.168.2.13 on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 DHCPACK of 192.168.2.13 from 192.168.2.1 bound to 192.168.2.13 -- renewal in 519 seconds. Steps to reproduce: 1- Select "Neuf WiFi FON" in the list of networks in nm-applet the first light rapidly becomes green but the second ones never does. NetworkManager decides to stop trying to connect to this access point and try another one. Actual results: Expected results: Does this happen every time? Yes, I never managed to connect to this hotspot. Other information: The hotspot does not have WEP or WPA configured but uses a captive portal.
I assume you mean it cannot connect to "Auto Neuf WiFi FON". All the other connections look successful. In any case, the driver is simply unable to connect to the AP, the supplicant keeps looping through scanning for the AP and isn't able to match it up. What driver does your hardware use?
The network I would like to connect to is named 'Neuf WiFi FON'. This is the one I pass to iwconfig (see the command lines in the report). This is also the name that appears in NetworkManager. I know nothing about 'Auto Neuf WiFi FON'. Sometimes, in the daemon.log file you will see 'Neuf WiFi FON' and sometimes 'Auto Neuf WiFi FON'. I don't know the difference. Since the connection works perfectly using iwconfig and dhclient, I don't see how it can be related to the driver. But I can easily admit my ignorance in this domain :-): 02:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4328 802.11a/b/g/n (rev 03) Subsystem: Apple Computer Inc. Device 0088 Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx- Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx- Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 256 bytes Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 16 Region 0: Memory at 90500000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] Region 2: Memory at 90000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=1M] Capabilities: <access denied> Kernel driver in use: wl Kernel modules: ssb, wl
You're likely using the binary, non-free "wl.o" driver, which is immediately suspect because we cannot fix the driver for problems that we may encounter. You may have issues with this driver that I simply cannot fix or debug, precisely becuase I cannot inspect the drivers code and send patches to fix it. NetworkManager uses wpa_supplicant to control wireless connections. The supplicant is more dynamic than simply doing 'iwconfig', because 'iwconfig' just sets up the adapter and then does nothing further. wpa_supplicant may set up the adapter in different ways (which are legal, but buggy drivers may not support), and NetworkManager requests status from the adapter periodically, and scans periodically. Being more dynamic exposes driver bugs. But unfortunately, with 'wl.o' we cannot fix those bugs... If you can try a USB wifi adapter that's supported by-kernel drivers, that would be a good way to test whether the Broadcom wl.o driver is having problems.
I confirm I'm using the proprietary driver (if there exists a free driver, I can try it). I've just tried with a Netgear WG111 usb wifi adapter. The results are even worse because I can't connect to the AP I use normally (Neuf_F914). I still can't connect to 'Neuf WiFi FON' too. I attach the daemon.log file.
Created attachment 129355 [details] daemon.log showing that using the usb wifi adapter doesn't help
Are there any *other* USB wifi adapters you can get? p54usb is somewhat iffy still; I'd recommend zd1211 or rt2x00 adapters, which are both quite common... The p54usb adapter also appears to have driver problems. If you can't find another adapter, let me know and we can try some manual supplicant runs to isolate the issue to the driver and ensure that NM actually isn't involved.
Hi, I've asked all my colleagues and I wasn't able to get a usb/wifi adapter. Could you please still help me investigate the problem further? If you prefer, we could use instant messaging this week-end, that would ease things. Thank you very much
Might be related to https://bugs.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/329798
This bug still happens on Jaunty.
Reopen if still applicable.