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Bug 624271 - Won't allow Wifi at startup
Won't allow Wifi at startup
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Product: NetworkManager
Classification: Platform
Component: general
0.8.x
Other Linux
: Normal critical
: ---
Assigned To: Dan Williams
Dan Williams
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2010-07-13 18:34 UTC by Severo Raz
Modified: 2010-09-29 13:07 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: ---


Attachments
solution-attempts (1.82 KB, text/plain)
2010-07-13 18:35 UTC, Severo Raz
Details
dmesg 1 (48.25 KB, text/plain)
2010-07-17 20:58 UTC, Severo Raz
Details
demon.log 1 (526.93 KB, text/plain)
2010-07-17 20:59 UTC, Severo Raz
Details
lsmod 1 (2.33 KB, text/plain)
2010-07-17 21:00 UTC, Severo Raz
Details

Description Severo Raz 2010-07-13 18:34:09 UTC
The Problem
-----------
When I turn on my computer, the network manager applet shows an exclamation mark indicating that there is no wireless networking available. 

Temporary solutions
-------------------
I have tried tons of methods of repairing it, but none have worked so far except switching the wireless card off, suspending the computer, waking it up, switching the wireless card on.
Something that does the trick sometimes is reinstalling wpasupplicant package in Ubuntu, which makes networking work for the next boots but I believe whenever there is an important update, it stops working again.

Additional information
----------------------
When this happens, the wireless indicator light isn't turned on upon the OS loading process.
The command '$ iwlist scan' does detect the wireless networks available around, even when the network manager is not working.

See the attachment for all my attempts at solving this problem.
Comment 1 Severo Raz 2010-07-13 18:35:33 UTC
Created attachment 165823 [details]
solution-attempts

This file contains a log of all the things I have tried to solve this problem. None of them has provided me with a permanent solution.
Comment 2 Severo Raz 2010-07-15 23:06:45 UTC
Also, on the right-click menu, the "Enable Wireless" option appears greyed-out.
Comment 3 Dan Williams 2010-07-16 20:04:37 UTC
THis sounds like an kernel-related rfkill issue.  TO start with, lets get:

1) rfkill list
2) ls /sys/class/rfkill/
3) cat /sys/class/rfkill/type
4) cat /sys/class/rfkill/state
5) 'dmesg' output from a bootup that has this problem
6) /var/log/daemon.log output from a bootup that has this problem
7) lsmod

Thanks!
Comment 4 Severo Raz 2010-07-16 20:07:55 UTC
Ok, I'll let you know about the last 3 command outputs later, but I must confess that none of the other first commands threw any output :-/ So.. was that expected?
Comment 5 Severo Raz 2010-07-17 20:45:45 UTC
Oh.. now this is curious.. today I turned on my computer and the problem happened again. I ran each of the commands, and every one of them threw an output. Ill paste it below, and attach the last 3.

Output of the first 4 commands:

$ rfkill list
0: dell-wifi: Wireless LAN
	Soft blocked: no
	Hard blocked: yes
------------------
$ ls /sys/class/rfkill/
rfkill0
------------------
$ cat /sys/class/rfkill/rfkill0/type
wlan
------------------
$ cat /sys/class/rfkill/rfkill0/state
2
Comment 6 Severo Raz 2010-07-17 20:58:48 UTC
Created attachment 166095 [details]
dmesg 1
Comment 7 Severo Raz 2010-07-17 20:59:18 UTC
Created attachment 166096 [details]
demon.log 1
Comment 8 Severo Raz 2010-07-17 21:00:20 UTC
Created attachment 166097 [details]
lsmod 1
Comment 9 Severo Raz 2010-07-18 19:08:29 UTC
Well well, I was experimenting this morning, and I found another temporary fix, but this one needs no suspension.

This is the magic:

Situation
---------
I turn the laptop on, and [$ rfkill list] output says the following:

wifi:
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: yes

Steps to solve the problem
--------------------------
NOTE: An [$ rfkill list] is always issued at the end of each step.

1. Switch off wifi

Results:
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no

2. Hard block wifi: [$ rfkill block wifi]

Results:
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: yes

3. Switch on wifi

Results:
  Soft blocked: no
  Hard blocked: no


Those steps seem to solve the problem, but still its not what I want; the ideal is to have it working effortlessly, as it is supposed to do.
Comment 10 Jiri Klimes 2010-07-19 14:26:58 UTC
Looks like a Dell platform driver issue.

You can try to remove the platform driver by:
# sudo rmmod dell_laptop

If that helps, you can make the change permanent with:
# sudo su
# echo "blacklist dell_laptop" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
Comment 11 Severo Raz 2010-07-21 04:38:31 UTC
Hm, what functionality does that driver have, if you happen to know?
Comment 12 Jiri Klimes 2010-07-21 07:53:23 UTC
These platform drivers usually add support for various platform specific buttons, hotkeys, backlight, etc.
Unfortunately, they sometimes cause problems.

More info on them can be found in the kernel itself:
http://lxr.linux.no/#linux+v2.6.34.1/drivers/platform/x86/Kconfig#L76

BTW, does removing the driver help?
Comment 13 Severo Raz 2010-07-21 19:17:15 UTC
Well, I didn't want to try until I knew the implications, but I will let you know about the results :) Thanks!
Comment 14 Severo Raz 2010-07-24 04:39:36 UTC
Well, I have booted my computer a couple of times with the dell_laptop driver blacklisted (as Jiri indicated in comment #10) and the wifi has started fine both times, so I think the problem can be marked as solved.