Intel 4965 connectivity problems

[bds]

hi all --

i'm experiencing sporadic connection problems with the iwn driver and my Intel 4965 wifi card. at least, i think that's the culprit. hopefully someone can give me some clues for debugging this.

here's the relevant section of dmesg | grep iwn
iwn0: <Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965> mem 0xf7f00000-0xf7f01fff irq 17 at device 0.0 on pci3

i don't see anything specific in /boot/loader.conf regarding iwn, but when i created a /boot/loader.conf.local and added
if_iwn_load="YES"
legal.intel_iwn.license_ack=1

the following appeared in dmesg :)
module iwn already present

it seems like the wifi card is recognized, but then it will take it a long time (sometimes never) to connect to my personal wifi network (WPA-Personal key) at home (same problem on the open wifi network at work). i'll try Restart the Network from the system tray to no avail. i've also tried /etc/rc.d/netif restart (no luck).

is there any additional information i can provide that might help track down the problem?
thanks in advance for your time & trouble!

[bds]

i've tried to do a little more poking around, but i haven't had any significant luck with this.

1) reboot this morning ('cause i still don't have the suspend/hibernate stuff configured right i think -- but that's a different subforum topic c: )

2) ethernet is not plugged in

3) rt. click on wifi icon in the system tray and select "configure wlan0".
my wifi network is present in the list of available networks (general tab). obtain IP automatically (DHCP) is not checked (i had checked this last night) (adv. tab). under the advanced tab, select DHCP option, click Apply, and Close

4) wifi icon changes color and bars to indicate it's associated itself with a network. i hover mouse over the wifi icon and a) no IP address b) i'm associated with the wrong network! (my network is first in the list). i right click on the wifi icon again and the DHCP setting isn't remembered (advanced tab). so i reset the DHCP setting and click Apply, and Close

5) rt. click on the wifi icon and select "Restart the Network". after waiting for a few minutes (~3 or so), i recheck IP (and try to ping my router) and the network still isn't working.

>>>> word to the Devs: the Please Wait message seems to stay on my screen until i make it go away. should this be automagic?

6) i reopen the Configure wlan0 dialog and, under the Advanced tab, try to uncheck the DHCP to manually assign an IP address. once the box is unticked, the IP and Netmask boxes stay grayed out and I can't enter any data in them.

7) i try logging out/in, but that doesn't seem to help.

8) i capitulate and plug in the ethernet cable. everything works in just a few seconds.

so... i'm confused. i'm sure i'm missing something, but it doesn't look like the wlan0 is paying attention to my list of preferred networks. it (wlan0 configuration) also doesn't seem to be remembering settings (selecting DHCP, and network prefs).

here's a little more info that might help:
rook% uname -ar
FreeBSD rook 9.0-RELEASE FreeBSD 9.0-RELEASE #3: Tue Dec 27 14:14:29 PST 2011 root@build9x64.pcbsd.org:/usr/obj/builds/amd64/pcbsd-build90/fbsd-source/9.0/sys/GENERIC amd64

i'm using a lenovo thinkpad x61. my network has a WPA-Personal psk. i like cats and long walks on the beach.

thanks for reading! :)
ps i'm going to try to grab some screenshots.

[bds]

Hi all - here's a little more information:

tail -f /var/log/messages
...snip....
Jan 24 19:17:22 rook kernel: wlan0: link state changed to UP
Jan 24 19:17:22 rook kernel: lagg0: link state changed to UP
Jan 24 19:18:21 rook kernel: lagg0: link state changed to DOWN
Jan 24 19:18:21 rook dhclient[6329]: My address (192.168.0.104) was deleted, dhclient exiting
Jan 24 19:18:21 rook dhclient[6326]: connection closed
Jan 24 19:18:21 rook dhclient[6326]: exiting.
Jan 24 19:18:21 rook kernel: wlan0: link state changed to DOWN
Jan 24 19:18:24 rook ntpd[2484]: bind() fd 22, family AF_INET6, port 123, scope 1, addr fe80::21d:72ff:fe98:5641, mcast=0 flags=0x11 fails: Can't assign requested address
Jan 24 19:18:24 rook ntpd[2484]: unable to create socket on em0 (10) for fe80::21d:72ff:fe98:5641#123
Jan 24 19:18:37 rook kernel: wlan0: Ethernet address: 00:1d:72:98:56:41
Jan 24 19:18:38 rook wpa_supplicant[12524]: ctrl_iface exists and seems to be in use - cannot override it
Jan 24 19:18:38 rook wpa_supplicant[12524]: Delete '/var/run/wpa_supplicant/wlan0' manually if it is not used anymore
Jan 24 19:18:38 rook wpa_supplicant[12524]: Failed to initialize control interface '/var/run/wpa_supplicant'. You may have another wpa_supplicant process already running or the file was left by an unclean termination of wpa_supplicant in which case you will need to manually remove this file before starting wpa_supplicant again.
Jan 24 19:18:38 rook wpa_supplicant[12524]: ELOOP: remaining socket: sock=5 eloop_data=0x80180f300 user_data=0x80181c080 handler=0x4250d0
Jan 24 19:18:38 rook wpa_supplicant[12525]: ELOOP: remaining socket: sock=5 eloop_data=0x80180f300 user_data=0x80181c080 handler=0x4250d0
Jan 24 19:18:38 rook root: /etc/rc.d/wpa_supplicant: WARNING: failed to start wpa_supplicant
Jan 24 19:20:24 rook kernel: em0: link state changed to UP
Jan 24 19:20:24 rook dhclient: New IP Address (em0): 192.168.0.104
Jan 24 19:20:24 rook dhclient: New Subnet Mask (em0): 255.255.255.0
Jan 24 19:20:24 rook dhclient: New Broadcast Address (em0): 192.168.0.255
Jan 24 19:20:24 rook dhclient: New Routers (em0): 192.168.0.1
...snip...


what's weird is that
rook% ls /var/run
ConsoleKit gdm ntpd.pid
PolicyKit gdm.pid pbid.pid
avahi-daemon hald powerd.pid
consolekit.pid hcsecd.pid ppp
cron.pid ld-elf.so.hints resolvconf
cups ld-elf32.so.hints sdp
cups.sock lirc swapexd.pid
dbus log syslog.pid
denyhosts.pid logpriv syslogd.sockets
devd.pid moused.pid utx.active
devd.pipe moused.ums0.pid
dmesg.boot named

is missing a wpa_supplicant directory.

i'm not seeing anything (yet) re how to restart /var/run/wpa_supplicant.
any suggestions?

thanks!

[bds]

hm.

so, i've tried adding the following to /boot/loader.conf if_iwnfw_load="YES"
if_iwn_load="YES"
iwn4965fw="YES"

wlan_wep_load="YES"
wlan_ccmp_load="YES"
wlan_tkip_load="YES"

but that doesn't seem to be helping matters :-)

what's interesting is that, now, i'm "associated" with my home network, but i'm getting DNS failures.

...eh.

[drulavigne]

Can you post the 2 wlan lines from /etc/rc.conf and your ifconfig when the card is associated.

[bds]

hi dru --- thanks for the response.

here's the /etc/rc.conf# Auto-Enabled NICs from pc-sysinstall
ifconfig_em0="DHCP"
wlans_iwn0="wlan0"


ifconfig wlan0
wlan0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
ether 00:1d:72:98:56:41
inet6 fe80::21d:72ff:fe98:5641%wlan0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xc
inet 216.96.177.52 netmask 0xfffffe00 broadcast 216.96.177.255
nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet OFDM/6Mbps mode 11ng
status: associated
ssid ut-open channel 11 (2462 MHz 11g ht/20) bssid 00:1a:1e:15:78:82
country US authmode OPEN privacy OFF txpower 14 bmiss 10
scanvalid 450 bgscan bgscanintvl 300 bgscanidle 250 roam:rssi 7
roam:rate 64 protmode CTS ampdulimit 64k ampdudensity 8
-amsdutx amsdurx shortgi wme roaming MANUAL


it's working now, but i needed to set the gateway in Network Manager. i didn't need to do that for the em0 interface... but hey! it works. :)

[drulavigne]

Yay!

Looks like this line is missing from /etc/rc.conf:

ifconfig_wlan0="WPA SYNCDHCP"

[bds]

hi dru --
Yay is right :-)

i've added ifconfig_wlan0="WPA SYNCDHCP" to /etc/rc.conf, but it's getting stripped out. should i try added it to an /etc/rc.conf.local file?

thanks for any suggestions,
cheers!

[drulavigne]

That sounds like you're hitting a bug as that shouldn't be happening. Let's see what Kris thinks about it.

[bds]

hi again --
i'm continuing to experience what *appears* to be weird behavior from em0 (ethernet) and wlan0 (wireless). i say appears, because i suppose this could be normal.

e.g., turn on the laptop at home & wlan0 sees my network and connects with it, but doesn't get an IP address or anything else. i try rebooting the machine and that doesn't get it to connect completely (no IP/dns/gateway). i grab an ethernet cable, plug it in, and (i have em0 connection displaying in the tray) the connection icon switches from red to white, but, while it recognizes the network it too won't get an IP address/gateway/dns stuff. attempting to restart the network doesn't seem to get it either. i'll reboot, w/ the networking cable plugged in, and that will typically get it to connect to the router & i'm good.

if i can pass anything along, please let me know.
thanks a bunch for any suggestions!

[bds]

i had thought i had this problem beaten, but i'm experiencing zero wireless connectivity after trying to connect to a WPA2/EAP network yesterday afternoon.

what's the preferred order for debugging a problem like this?
1) i've checked iwn (wireless driver) and it's loaded
2) my etc/rc.conf seems to be in order (i'll post it if it will help)
3) ...?

not quite sure what to check next. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
thanks in advance!

EDIT: my wifi card (Intel 4965) sees the wifi networks & associates with them - what i'm not getting is IP address/gateway/DNS information.
/etc/rc.conf has `ifconfig_wlan0="WPA SYNCDHCP"`. do i need to configure default gateway values somewhere?

EDIT 2: this seems to fix the problem -- open the wireless configuration window > scan for networks > add one of the new networks > select the Advanced tab and check 'Obtain IP automatically (DHCP)' > click Apply > right click on the wireless icon in the system tray and restart the network.

... weird.