Bug 1579 - iwl3945 does not detect all AP's and is too slow for NetworkManager
: iwl3945 does not detect all AP's and is too slow for NetworkManager
Status: VERIFIED FIXED
: iwlwifi
others
: unspecified
: IBM All
: P1 major
Assigned To:
:
:
:
:
:
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Reported: 2008-01-27 08:47 by
Modified: 2008-06-16 19:43 (History)


Attachments
scan.log (244.21 KB, text/plain)
2008-02-28 20:53, Eugene,Liao
Details
screenshot (266.93 KB, image/png)
2008-03-24 21:45, Miguel Cañedo
Details


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Description From 2008-01-27 08:47:27
Hello,

What I can say for sure:

  o Configuring the device manually (ifconfig, iwlist, iwconfig) everything 
    works
  o "iwlist wlan0 scan" takes more time with iwl3945 than with ipw3945
  o "iwlist wlan0 scan" returns sometimes no results, or just a few -
    (2 or 3) of 7 AP's are detected (ipw3945 detects all 7 of them)

Issues with NetworkManager
----------------------------
So these are the facts. I also use NetworkManager. Booting the systems and
logging in, I just get connected to the right network. But doing a reconnect via
NetworkManager I get the following:

  o "Activation (wlan0/wireless): association took too long (>40s), asking
     for new key."
  o Several times I got something like: "scan took to long, get a better card"
    or something like this from NM, but now I can't reproduce this anymore.


Used software versions
--------------------------
Kernel: 2.6.23-ARCH (Distri: current Arch Linux)
iwl3945: 1.2.23ds (latest snapshot, from 25 Dec. 2007)
iwlwifi-3945-ucode: 2.14.1.5-2
mac80211: default kernel version (2.6.23-ARCH)
------- Comment #1 From 2008-02-28 20:50:04 -------
Here I went across a similar case.
My test environment is FC kernel 2.6.23, mac80211-10.0.4, iwlwifi-1.2.25ds, 
3945-ucode-2.14.1.5.
sometimes I run"iwlist wlan0 scan", it showed:
                 wlan0     No scan results
And such thing occured with big probability.

attchment scan.log is a dmesg log file with debug=0x43fff.
------- Comment #2 From 2008-02-28 20:53:23 -------
Created an attachment (id=1361) [details]
scan.log
------- Comment #3 From 2008-02-29 07:36:01 -------
When iwlist returns "wlan0     No scan results" - can you confirm that you are 
running the command as root?
------- Comment #4 From 2008-03-02 17:19:47 -------
(In reply to comment #3)
> When iwlist returns "wlan0     No scan results" - can you confirm that you 
are 
> running the command as root?

yes, I'm sure I'm the root user, and sometime it did show scan results, but 
intermittently it scanned for nothing.

------- Comment #5 From 2008-03-03 18:33:34 -------
*** Bug 1586 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
------- Comment #6 From 2008-03-04 00:58:10 -------
Good morning,
I'm so sorry, but I find out my iwl3945 is working well. The problem likely was
with lower sensitivity than with ipw3945. I'm able to search and connect to the
network now. I'm using (root rights -> sudo) for setting network, steps sudo
ifconfig wlan0 up, sudo iwlist scan..... I consider my request as solved (bug
1586) Thanks a lot

Petr Bartel
------- Comment #7 From 2008-03-24 18:43:17 -------
I Have a simmilar case as I have posted in the mailing list:

Hi I have two laptops, one with ipw2200 the other with iwl3945
both running ubuntu hardy
If I sit them together the ipw2200 can see some aps while the iwl3945 can not.
Also if I use ipwraw and the airodump-ng its able to see all the aps that the
iwl3945 was not able...

I can confirm also the same behavior on no results after running:
iwlst:

mcanedo@xps-mac:~$ sudo iwlist wlan0 scan
[sudo] password for mcanedo: 
wlan0     No scan results


Please let me know if there is some information I might provide in order to
help

Regards,
Miguel
------- Comment #8 From 2008-03-24 18:48:02 -------
One more thing:
These no results from iwlist are at this same moment while I'm already
connected via an associated ap, posting this reply.
------- Comment #9 From 2008-03-24 20:59:49 -------
Are any of the APs that do not show up during the scan perhaps hidden?
------- Comment #10 From 2008-03-24 21:45:30 -------
Created an attachment (id=1386) [details]
screenshot
------- Comment #11 From 2008-03-24 21:47:45 -------
(In reply to comment #9)
> Are any of the APs that do not show up during the scan perhaps hidden?
> 

No they are not hidden.
I have attached a screenshot.
First try on iwlist has no results.
Second try on iwlist return one app.
The network-manager applet reports two apps.
(I'm connected)

At the same time the other laptop with the ipw2200 is seeing two additional
aps. (a total of four)
------- Comment #12 From 2008-04-14 18:33:34 -------
I have updated the driver via the package:
linux-backports-modules-hardy-generic
in Ubuntu Hardy

And it feel to work better

Even the LED is working now.
------- Comment #13 From 2008-04-18 16:12:27 -------
Is this still an issue?

It may be that the HW scanning does not wait long enough on each channel for an
AP to respond. Depending on the band you are interested in, try to increase the
values of IWL_ACTIVE_DWELL_TIME_24 or IWL_ACTIVE_DWELL_TIME_52 (found in
iwl3945-base.c). Setting IWL_PLCP_QUIET_THRESH to zero may also help.

For a reference, the mac80211 stack uses 30msec for active and 200msec for
passive.

Could you please try it out?

Marking this as needsmoredata to find out of this is still an issue or to hear
the results from the testing.
------- Comment #14 From 2008-04-29 10:48:06 -------
Resurrecting this since it doesn't work for me.

I'm running Kubuntu 8.04 x64 with the 2.6.24-16-generic kernel and the
linux-backports-modules-hardy package installed.

     zorael@sunspire:~$ modinfo iwl3945
     filename:      
/lib/modules/2.6.24-16-generic/updates/wireless/iwlwifi/iwlwifi/compatible/iwl3945.ko
     license:        GPL
     author:         Copyright(c) 2003-2007 Intel Corporation
     version:        1.2.25
     description:    Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver
          for Linux
     srcversion:     FDE2E62843DE3ED112A50C3
     alias:          pci:v00008086d00004227sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
     alias:          pci:v00008086d00004222sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
     depends:        led-class,iwlwifi_mac80211
     vermagic:       2.6.24-16-generic SMP mod_unload
(truncated)

I've basically given up on KNetworkManager because it never works and always
messes up routes, so I'm using ifconfig and iwconfig to connect. Even so, the
card usually works early after boot, but if I disable it via the kill switch it
often stops working completely. modprobing the module doesn't help, nor does
toggling the kill switch on and off.

I *know* the essid I'm trying to connect to is working (phone is connected next
to the computer), and when I manage to connect I get about ~40% signal
strength, yet even then sudo iwlist scan finds nothing. And yes, it does take
exactly 10 seconds to scan, whereas with ipw3945 the scan was pretty instant.
The router is broadcasting.

     zorael@sunspire:~$ iwconfig wlan0
     wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"lappskole"  Nickname:""
               Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated
               Tx-Power=27 dBm
               Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2346 B
               Power Management:off
               Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
               Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
               Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

     zorael@sunspire:~$ sudo iwlist wlan0 scan
     wlan0     No scan results
     (takes 10 seconds)

At this point the interface is in its "broken" state. While it can connect to
the AP in its working state, even then scanning ends up with no results 18
times out of 20; I've actually had it find it once.

The module didn't work at all for me in Gutsy, at which point I followed the
guide at http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Download, which got it working
again. I'm not using the interface currently so I thought I'd leave it broken
to be of use for diagnosis. I haven't tried this now in Hardy.

Any advice?
------- Comment #15 From 2008-05-03 06:56:08 -------
Creating /etc/modprobe.d/iwl3945 with the following contents makes it work,
though still takes exactly 10 seconds to scan for networks.

            alias wlan0 iwl3945
            options iwl3945 disable_hw_scan=1
------- Comment #16 From 2008-06-15 22:47:27 -------
Change status to "fixed" according to comment #15
------- Comment #17 From 2008-06-16 19:43:48 -------
Verified with latest snapshot. iwl3945 can detect most APs. And NetworkManager
also works well on it, though sometimes it fails to connect with AP which has
signal quality less than 50%.