ipw2200: unstable or not connection at all

vpoinot · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2003 Posts: 155

I have several stability issues with wireless under Linux:
- at home, my access point uses WPA: I sometimes can connect quickly, sometimes I have to stop my network interface, rmmod ipw2200 and reload it, sometimes once connected, I can see in wpa_gui that the connection goes up and down from time to time, and since yesterday, I just can't connect at all,
- when I am on the road, I uses open access points: I usually can connect, but other issues happen as well (so I guess WPA is not the cause, nor my home router -- and anyway, I can connect to my home netwrok from Windows with no problem at all).

I found on the forum several people having similar issues, but no real solution except upgrading to latest packages. However, I do have latest packages:
- kernel 2.6.24
- in-kernel ipw2200 module,
- ipw2200 firmware 3.0,
- wpa_supplicant 0.5.7

Here is some configuration values that should be relevant:
1) Wireless kernel configuration

davidgurvich · Veteran Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1063

You can try increasing the priority of the wpa network in wpa_supplicant.conf and after disconnecting that will be the preferred network. Also, you might try 'wpa_cli reassociate' instead of rmmod. I had similar issues with the 2100 and have been testing FreeBSD7 on my laptop. The wireless is more robust but battery life is shorter. Suspend/Resume works better.

vpoinot · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2003 Posts: 155

I could change the priority, but I don't think this would help connecting to my home network: I did try several manual operations (wpa_cli enable_network, select_network, reassociate) instead of just rmmod/modprobe, but this did not help.
And anyway, only one of the configured networks is available at any time, so there is no competition between them: wpa_supplicant should be able to select the unique available network.

But it is not: not only it cannot automatically select my home network, but if manually select it, wpa_supplicant cannot connect...

davidgurvich · Veteran Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1063

Is that disabled=1 actually in wpa_supplicant.conf? Does that cause wpa_supplicant to ignore that network?

vpoinot · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2003 Posts: 155

Actually, I suspect that wpa_supplicant writes this line (disabled=1) itself after figuring out that it cannot connect, because if I stop wpa_supplicant, remove the line and restart wpa_supplicant, the line is back in the file.

I tried to manually enable the network in wpa_cli (enable_network), but it still cannot connect.

Could there be something wrong with the driver itself (ipw2200) ? or with my kernel configuration ?

davidgurvich · Veteran Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1063

I suspect that you are missing some required kernel options for wpa encryption if wpa_supplicant is adding that line. I see that you are using 2.6.24 from your signature. There were significant changes between 2.6.22,2.6.23, and 2.6.24 that negate using an older .config file.

pappy_mcfae · Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:57 am Post subject:

Using a .24 kernel with wireless is a real crap shoot, and it's usually a losing proposition. The .22 kernel has the best wireless reputation, but it's no longer in development. It is in portage, though. The .25 kernels are getting there again, but still not perfect. You may have to experiment with different kernel versions until you find the one that allows your hardware to work properly.

Blessed be!
Pappy
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vpoinot · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2003 Posts: 155

At least, this tends to confirm that wireless is fragile under Linux...
Can someone explain me what's the deal with this old/new mac80211 stack? Which one are we supposed to use now? Are both usable with any driver? What about ipw2200 specificatlly?

What about wireless extensions? Are they obsolete? What is supposed to replace them?

I will try a 2.6.25 when I have some time.

davidgurvich · Veteran Joined: 23 Apr 2004 Posts: 1063

You want to use the newer stack, if you can. Many cards are not yet working correctly with the new stack. Most features are abstracted out of the driver, hopefully allowing for simpler drivers with fewer bugs. An example might be changing from WEP to WPA encryption or whatever comes afterwards. If done in the driver, every driver needs to be rewritten for the change to work. If done in the stack, only the stack needs to be rewritten. Of course, there are features that are not available on certain cards.

Perhaps someone who knows more about this will correct me if anything here is wrong.

pappy_mcfae · Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:45 pm Post subject:

You're pretty much right. The real thing that ultimately determines the kernel settings is what driver you want to use. If you go the route of ndiswrapper, you don't need that many settings. If you go for an in-kernel driver, you may have to do some fishing for the right info.

Wireless under Linux is delicate because of a lack of good first-hand info. Some wireless cards are well supported in-kernel. Others simply are not. This is because, like it or not, Windoze rules the world. As long as stuff works with Windoze, 95% of people are happy. For instance, my particular wireless adapter works much better with ndiswrapper and the Windoze driver than with the in-kernel driver. Other wireless drivers will not work at all with ndiswrapper, no matter the kernel version.

Linux has come a long way since I first used it. All things considered, it's come a long way...from an experiment with the 386 chip to a fully featured and fairly functional operating system; nearly the only one I use anymore.

Blessed be!
Pappy
_________________
This space left intentionally blank, except for these ASCII symbols.

vpoinot · Apprentice Joined: 10 Nov 2003 Posts: 155

As a follow-up, I did install kernel 2.6.25, and if I want to be optimistic, I could say the situation improved: the results of my experiments are now systematic:
- when I boot, I never have a wireless connection: /etc/init.d/net.eth1 status always returns "inactive",
- now, my network is always disabled (as seen in wpa_cli),
- the only way to have it up is to rmmod ipw2200, modprobe it again, go to wpa_cli and enable my network: then the next second, the network is up and runnning.

There is no irony in my post: I do consider this determinism an improvement, although it is obviously still not satisfying...

Anybody whith an Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG card out there? How did you get it working smoothly? I'd really appreciate any advice...