Hi, Newbee with wifi problems.

[brian]

I've been gifted several Lenovo T400 thinkpads, which I'm passing on to grandchildren with no PCs.( Intel core 2 duo processor. 2Gb Ram, 60Gb HDD,
Intel(R) Wifi Link 5100AGN)
I selected Sparky Gameover 64bit version as it seemed to contain all they could ever need.
I downloaded the Distro over wire and burned to a DVD which I then installed as a live test on one of the machines. It seemed fine, so I installed to Hard drive . I updated the system, down loading 520 Mb is of stuff and then rebooted the system.
During the live test the wifi seemed fine but after the reboot the wifi fails to connect. The Authentication password for the wifi  kept coming up.
I did the install again. This time with the wired network disconnected. The system installed to disk perfectly, updated over the wifi (520Mb ish), but after rebooting into the updated system the wifi failed to connect. always asking for the authentication password.
I have reconnected the wired network and the system works fine. But the Wifi, no. ---- Any Ideas.

[pavroo]

Show me the output, please:

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lspci -v | grep Network

[brian]

Thank you . From LXterm:

brian@spat400:~$ lspci -v | grep Network
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection
brian@spat400:~$

[pavroo]

Check do you have 'firmware-iwlwifi' package installed:

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apt-cache policy firmware-iwlwifi
If yes, try to load the module:

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modprobe -r iwlwifi
If no problem then:

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modprobe iwlwifi

[brian]

brian@spat400:~$ apt-cache policy firmware-iwlwifi
firmware-iwlwifi:
  Installed: 0.43
  Candidate: 0.43
  Version table:
*** 0.43 0
        500 http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing/non-free amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
brian@spat400:~$ modprobe -r iwlwifi
bash: modprobe: command not found
brian@spat400:~$ modprobe iwlwifi
bash: modprobe: command not found
brian@spat400:~$

[pavroo]

Sorry, mea culpa.
Use:

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sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi
If no problem then:

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sudo modprobe iwlwifi

[brian]

brian@spat400:~$ sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi

We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these three things:

    #1) Respect the privacy of others.
    #2) Think before you type.
    #3) With great power comes great responsibility.

[sudo] password for brian:
modprobe: FATAL: Module iwlwifi is in use.
brian@spat400:~$ sudo modprobe -r iwlwifi
modprobe: FATAL: Module iwlwifi is in use.
brian@spat400:~$

-----------------------------------------------------
NB. Before the second execution of the modprobe command I went to the Network menu and disabled the "Wifi network" in the menu, to see if it made any difference. But No.

-------------------------------------------------------
PS. Unless you need to sort this issue, then please don't spend any more time on it in this context on my behalf.
I noticed you have released the SparkyLinux 4 RC. It may not have the wide range of gaming stuff included, but it looks like it ticks all my boxes. It worked strait off the Live test with no apparent Wifi issues. 

[brian]

Re my previous post: I am keeping the Gameover 64bit machine until you tell me othewise - and don't need to do any more tests.
The 4RC distro is on a different machine.
Regards.

[FranceIsBacon]

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sudo ifconfig wlan0 down

This will fix that pesky error when trying to modprobe.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2010968&page=3

After some light googling it seems that some intel cards have some issues with wifi and BT coexisting. adding a line of code to the iwlwifi.conf might fix your issue.

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sudo leafpad /etc/modprobe.d/iwlwifi.conf

then add the following line to the file and save it:

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options iwlwifi bt_coex_active=0

then bring wlan0 back up:

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sudo ifconfig wlan0 up

[brian]

No change after carrying out the above procedure.
This stuff is well above my Linux pay grade, but:
The Wifi (Intel 5200AGN) works fine during live run, and after install to HDD.
It fails after the "System update". So it seems that whatever is changed during that update (500Mb ish.) causes the problem.
I don't know how to find out what part of the update affects the wifi stuff, or how to roll back the update until it starts working again.

[pavroo]

The 'firmware-iwlwifi' package is in version 0.43 before and after upgrading so can't be that one.
Should be something else ?

[brian]

Re:
The 'firmware-iwlwifi' package is in version 0.43.

Is this package. also used in the 4rc distro??

[pavroo]

Yes, it is.
It means it is not problem with firmware.
The upgrade changed something else, but don't know what.

[MoroS]

Yes, it is.
It means it is not problem with firmware.
The upgrade changed something else, but don't know what.

Kernel/modules perhaps? You could compare (or post here) the output of lsmod ran both on the installed system and on the livecd.

[brian]

OK --  This is the output from lsmod on the "updated" installation.
I.ll Load the live session next, and then paste that output.


brian@spat400:~$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
rfcomm                 57927  4
bnep                   17431  2
nfsd                  263032  2
auth_rpcgss            51211  1 nfsd
oid_registry           12419  1 auth_rpcgss
nfs_acl                12511  1 nfsd
nfs                   188136  0
lockd                  83389  2 nfs,nfsd
fscache                45542  1 nfs
sunrpc                237402  6 nfs,nfsd,auth_rpcgss,lockd,nfs_acl
btusb                  29721  0
bluetooth             374429  9 bnep,btusb,rfcomm
6lowpan_iphc           16588  1 bluetooth
joydev                 17063  0
iTCO_wdt               12831  0
iTCO_vendor_support    12649  1 iTCO_wdt
snd_hda_codec_conexant    17841  1
snd_hda_codec_generic    63107  2 snd_hda_codec_conexant
pcmcia                 49012  0
iwldvm                135156  0
mac80211              474218  1 iwldvm
radeon               1345162  1
coretemp               12820  0
kvm_intel             139116  0
kvm                   388635  1 kvm_intel
yenta_socket           38994  0
pcmcia_rsrc            17433  1 yenta_socket
psmouse                98616  0
pcmcia_core            18392  3 pcmcia,pcmcia_rsrc,yenta_socket
pcspkr                 12595  0
snd_hda_intel          26327  3
iwlwifi                96547  1 iwldvm
snd_hda_controller     26727  1 snd_hda_intel
evdev                  17445  25
i2c_i801               16965  0
lpc_ich                20768  0
snd_hda_codec         104463  4 snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
i915                  837133  2
serio_raw              12849  0
mfd_core               12601  1 lpc_ich
cfg80211              405538  3 iwlwifi,mac80211,iwldvm
ttm                    77862  1 radeon
snd_hwdep              13148  1 snd_hda_codec
drm_kms_helper         49210  2 i915,radeon
snd_pcm                88662  3 snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_controller
snd_timer              26614  1 snd_pcm
mei_me                 17941  0
mei                    74977  1 mei_me
thinkpad_acpi          69119  0
nvram                  13034  1 thinkpad_acpi
snd                    65244  14 snd_hwdep,snd_timer,snd_hda_codec_conexant,snd_pcm,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,thinkpad_acpi
tpm_tis                17182  0
soundcore              13026  2 snd,snd_hda_codec
rfkill                 18867  6 cfg80211,thinkpad_acpi,bluetooth
wmi                    17339  0
drm                   249955  7 ttm,i915,drm_kms_helper,radeon
battery                13356  0
button                 12944  1 i915
i2c_algo_bit           12751  2 i915,radeon
i2c_core               46012  6 drm,i915,i2c_i801,drm_kms_helper,i2c_algo_bit,radeon
shpchp                 31121  0
ac                     12715  0
tpm                    31511  1 tpm_tis
video                  18096  1 i915
acpi_cpufreq           17218  1
processor              28221  3 acpi_cpufreq
loop                   26605  0
fuse                   83350  3
parport_pc             26300  0
ppdev                  16782  0
lp                     17074  0
parport                35749  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
autofs4                35529  2
ext4                  473802  1
crc16                  12343  2 ext4,bluetooth
mbcache                17171  1 ext4
jbd2                   82413  1 ext4
sg                     29973  0
sd_mod                 44356  3
crc_t10dif             12431  1 sd_mod
crct10dif_generic      12581  1
sr_mod                 21903  0
cdrom                  47424  1 sr_mod
crct10dif_common       12356  2 crct10dif_generic,crc_t10dif
ahci                   33291  2
libahci                27158  1 ahci
libata                177457  2 ahci,libahci
scsi_mod              191405  4 sg,libata,sd_mod,sr_mod
firewire_ohci          39523  0
firewire_core          56665  1 firewire_ohci
crc_itu_t              12347  1 firewire_core
thermal                17559  0
thermal_sys            27642  3 video,thermal,processor
uhci_hcd               43499  0
ehci_pci               12512  0
ehci_hcd               69837  1 ehci_pci
e1000e                203664  0
ptp                    17692  1 e1000e
pps_core               17225  1 ptp
usbcore               195340  4 btusb,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd,ehci_pci
usb_common             12440  1 usbcore
brian@spat400:~$