After replaying backup - wireless messed up :(

[Martux]

Hi!
I had to replay my backup and now my wireless setup is severely broke.
I use Networkmanager, wpa_supplicant and the KDE network applet, all in the latest available ~amd64 versions.
The network applet or wpa_gui are not showing any base stations around, even if there are several there. The scan just shows nothing. Strange thing is: If I put my mobile in USB tethering mode, it just works as a cable network. Too strange.
What I tried so far: reconfiguring, also as root, I get only message "insufficient privileges", remerging solid, networkmanager, wpa_supplicant > doesn't work. Remerging and deleting /etc/NetworkManager/ & /etc/wpa_supplicant before.
This is my backup script, I used it often before and never, ever had such errors:

[Martux]

Well, still no succes.
My system log is filled rapidly with messages like these:

[CkoTuHa]

Disassociating by local choice (reason=3) is classical, typical, very annoying fuck up of linux stack, in this case of 802.11 implementation.

I bet you have intel wifi card, the kernel ver > 3 and are trying to get some stable wifi out of your Wireless-N router.
Can congratulate you. The intel linux wireless guys are full of it. They are really unable to get grip on wifi problems of linux users out there. Wey-Yi Guy, I am looking at you. So, the big idea is - pathetic state of wireless stack of linux. Get used to it.

That said, you can help yourself by building a patched kernel.
What you can try to do to alleviate most of the issues is keep an eye on big boys, and use their patches!
With some redhat patches applied most of your network problems will be gone.


if you are using kernel version 3.1.X, get :
http://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org/packages/kernel/3.1.7/1.fc16/src/kernel-3.1.7-1.fc16.src.rpm
rpmunpack it
there you will have source for the linux kernel linux-3.1.tar.bz2, tar xjvf it, then cd to linux-3.1, apply the patch : bzcat ../patch-3.1.7.bz2 | patch -p1 and then, apply the patches :

iwlwifi-allow-to-switch-to-HT40-if-not-associated.patch
iwlwifi-do-not-set-the-sequence-control-bit-is-not-n.patch
iwlwifi-tx_sync-only-on-PAN-context.patch
iwlwifi-update-SCD-BC-table-for-all-SCD-queues.patch
mac80211_offchannel_rework_revert.patch

you know how to do it by this time, right ? in the kernel dir issue: patch -p1 <../iwlwifi-allow-to-switch-to-HT40-if-not-associated.patch for example.
then copy your .config to the kernel dir, execute make oldconfig, then make;make modules_install and copy the built kernel bzImage file to your partition adjust grub/lilo.

Hope this helps. Running gentoo is supposed to be "great learning experience". The truth is that it is a great way to spend so much time and effort to distantly learn something about that is something about linux. + a lot of pain guarantee.

[Martux]

Well, thanks for your reply.
I must say, I don't have an Intel Wifi adapter (ath9k) nor did I ever had problems with it.
This issue somehow "solved" itself, after a lot of remerging, deleting and what not else.
I truly don't know what fixed it in the end. Unsatisfying, I don't know now if it will appear again if I ever replay a backup again.
For gentoo in general: Sometimes it get's frustrating, right. But personally I never found any distro which even comes close to the gentoo experience within 11 years of linux. It just suits me best and all the other "easy to use" distros give you bad trouble too. Plus the community in the other forums (ubuntu & co) sucks hard, where here I get problems solved most of the time.
Regards, Martux
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