Wifi won't connect anymore...

[Dulwithe]

Hi All, I don't know if it is due to the update I did last Thursday/Friday, but my wifi just WON'T connect anymore to my regular every-day office connection.

Does anyone have any suggestions??  I don't know what other background I can give.  This morning, I was connected business as usual at the office.  Went to a cafe, connected there.  Had to do a "Guest" login via web-browser.  Then, I was connected a-ok to the cafe's wifi.

Now that I am back at the office, no amount of reboots or reconnect tries is getting this thing connected.  So, I am near the kitchenette now plugged into the router directly via lan cable.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

D.

[Dulwithe]

And now the Power Off button (widget) doesn't work.

[ElCuervo]

Have you tried redoing the settings in PCC>Network & Internet>Set up new network? That is where I would start, and if that didn't get me anywhere, I'd go to Konsole and see what happens with  ifconfig  and  ifup.

[YouCanToo]

Just guessing here, but did perhaps the cafe change something like using a proxie? I know here is I connect to the city free wireless system I can no longer log into my own system when I am back home.  I did some checking in firefox and things in networking had changed to using a proxie, when I changed them back to the original setting, everything worked as before.  Perhaps it is well worth checking out, before diving off the deep end. 

[Dulwithe]

Have you tried redoing the settings in PCC>Network & Internet>Set up new network? That is where I would start, and if that didn't get me anywhere, I'd go to Konsole and see what happens with  ifconfig  and  ifup.

Thanks for your ideas.

Tried redoing settings for an hour.  No go on that account.

ifconfig yields:

[root@localhost ~]# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 78:E4:00:4E:A1:63
          inet6 addr: fe80::7ae4:ff:fe4e:a163/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:6 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:15523
          TX packets:83 errors:48 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:15392 (15.0 KiB)
          Interrupt:17

eth0:9    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 78:E4:00:4E:A1:63
          inet addr:169.254.125.13  Bcast:169.254.255.255  Mask:255.255.0.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          Interrupt:17

eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 70:5A:B6:E9:41:8B
          inet addr:192.168.2.10  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::725a:b6ff:fee9:418b/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:3632 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2436 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:4462994 (4.2 MiB)  TX bytes:258661 (252.5 KiB)
          Interrupt:16

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:1629 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1629 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:135835 (132.6 KiB)  TX bytes:135835 (132.6 KiB)


Deleting and re-making a connection to the wifi just yields: "There was a problem setting up the device...."

Time for a large hammer, or to go back to windows.  I really am befuddled with the instability of linux's updates: kde4 and network interfaces, to be specific.

Any other suggestions??  Can I roll back to a driver that is known to have worked??

[Dulwithe]

I went back to the same cafe and I can connect via wifi to this network, and another similar Cisco systems network that requires a guest login (you know the automatic type that even if you press "Home" on your browser, you are forwarded to a login page...).

I cannot, however, log into another open network on a linksys router, so I expect I won't be able to connect to my work wifi when I go back to the office...  ;-(

I am totally lost.

Thanks for your offers of advice so far.

[AS]

[root@localhost ~]# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 78:E4:00:4E:A1:63
          inet6 addr: fe80::7ae4:ff:fe4e:a163/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:6 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:15523
          TX packets:83 errors:48 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:15392 (15.0 KiB)
          Interrupt:17

eth0:9    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 78:E4:00:4E:A1:63
          inet addr:169.254.125.13  Bcast:169.254.255.255  Mask:255.255.0.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          Interrupt:17

Look like you have an Atheros card.

Which kernel and kernel module are you using ? Some improvement has been introduced with the latest kernel 2.6.38.8-pclos3 for ath5k kernel module....

AS

[muungwana]

Did you change the kernel when you last update? This kind of a problem usually happen when a change of kernel happen and easily solved by changing to a different kernel. If you did, go back to the old one and check to see if it now works as expected.

You can open synaptic, go to history section and look at what packages were updated when you last update. A better sense of what changed when you update will greatly advance the effort to solve your problem.

[Dulwithe]

Did you change the kernel when you last update? This kind of a problem usually happen when a change of kernel happen and easily solved by changing to a different kernel. If you did, go back to the old one and check to see if it now works as expected.

You can open synaptic, go to history section and look at what packages were updated when you last update. A better sense of what changed when you update will greatly advance the effort to solve your problem.

I don't even have a log for any updates last week.  Most recent updates are shown to be in July.

This is crazy!!!  12 hours and I still can't connect to the wifi...  ;-(

[muungwana]

So you can connect to all wireless networks except the one at your office?

This suggests a change in the office wireless network is the one causing the problem. Can you ask the office IT guy if they changed anything? How do you connect at the office? is it an open network,WEP, WPA personal or WPA enterprise?

[Dulwithe]

So you can connect to all wireless networks except the one at your office?

This suggests a change in the office wireless network is the one causing the problem. Can you ask the office IT guy if they changed anything? How do you connect at the office? is it an open network,WEP, WPA personal or WPA enterprise?

Thanks Muungwana and all the others who have been replying to try and help out.

Here is the updated situation.

I cannot connect to my work router when it is set up as WPA encryption.  Perhaps there is a file on my computer storing old data that is causing it to fail.  When I setup the router as WEP 128 bit, I can connect.

I really have no idea at all what is wrong.  And, I am the office IT guy, and I haven't changed any settings to have caused this issue.

Another thing really strange is that when I used CTRL ALT BACKSPACE to force out of x-server and go back to a login screen, the computer got stuck in an endless loop, flashing messages on and off (not long enough to catch what the messages were).  It seems like the computer was trying to go from text interface to x interface, but not working so going into an endless loop of try,fail,try,fail,try,fail.  This behaviour was NOT evident when I was hooked up to a wifi properly.

Are there some files that I could rename to see if clearing out all my cached data will have an effect??

Thanks, and sorry for the trouble.

[Hootiegibbon]

Dulwithe,

can you confirm the hardware by opening a terminal and posting the results of

lspci     

if this is a usb device

lsusb

also we need to see a little more detail install infobash from the repo open a terminal and use

infobash -v3 

Thanks

Jase

[Dulwithe]

Dulwithe,

can you confirm the hardware by opening a terminal and posting the results of

lspci     

if this is a usb device

lsusb

also we need to see a little more detail install infobash from the repo open a terminal and use

infobash -v3 

Thanks

Jase

Hi Jase,

Thanks.  Here is the readouts as per your command instructions.

@localhost ~]$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS880 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780/RS880 PCI to PCI bridge (int gfx)
00:04.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 0)
00:05.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 1)
00:11.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
00:12.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:12.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB EHCI Controller
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 41)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 IDE Controller (rev 40)
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) (rev 40)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 LPC host controller (rev 40)
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge (rev 40)
00:14.5 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB7x0/SB8x0/SB9x0 USB OHCI2 Controller
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M880G [Mobility Radeon HD 4200]
01:05.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc RS880 Audio Device [Radeon HD 4200]
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 01)
08:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43225 802.11b/g/n (rev 01)


...  and:

localhost ~]$ infobash -v3
Host/Kernel/OS  "localhost.localdomain" running Linux 2.6.33.7-pclos1 i386 [ PCLinuxOS release 2011 (PCLinuxOS) for i586 ]
CPU Info        AMD V120 512 KB cache flags( sse3 nx lm svm ) clocked at [ 2194.363 MHz ]
Videocard       ATI M880G [Mobility Radeon HD 4200]  X.Org 1.10.3  [ 1366x768@60.0hz ]
Network cards   Broadcom BCM43225 802.11b/g/n
                Broadcom NetLink BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
Processes 173 | Uptime 4:46 | Memory 1386.0/2782.7MB | HDD ATA ST9250315AS Size 250GB (18%used) | GLX Renderer ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Series | GLX Version 3.3.10907 Compatibility Profile Context | Client Shell | Infobash v3.05

[Hootiegibbon]

Dulwithe

I would strongly recomend updating your kernel to version 2.6.38.8 (in the repo) that should in itself "fix" the issue

Jase

[muungwana]

first, update the kernel to the latest one as advised in the above post, then if you still can not connect, then do what is below.

1. Open the terminal and log in as root.
2. Run this command: service syslog restart
3. Run this command: echo "" > /var/log/syslog
4. Try to connect and wait for a minute when it fail.
5. Run this command and post your output: cat /var/log/syslog

You should always check what is in "/var/log/syslog" text file as one of the first steps in troubleshooting a hardware related problem. It usually contains most of the clues.