Latest working kernel version: N/A Earliest failing kernel version: 2.6.27-rc8 (Vanilla) Distribution: Ubuntu 8.04 Hardware Environment: Gateway T-1625 Software Environment: Vanilla 2.6.27-rc8 kernel compiled on Ubuntu with available packaging tools. (Basically everything is modularized.) Using NetworkManager to configure my network access. Problem Description: When using the new RTL8187B (USB Wireless) device driver, the wireless connection seems stable for the first few minutes. After about 2-3 minutes I can't seem to connect with anything, including my gateway. This problem is present when connecting with any network, encrypted or open. Steps to reproduce: 1. Run Vanilla 2.6.27-rc8 2. Connect with any wireless AP. 3. Perform regular networking tasks. 4. After a few minutes, the connection will be dead. Additional Details: After realizing I couldn't connect with anything, I ran some ping tests (ping is possible). # ifconfig wlan1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:16:44:94:6e:dd inet addr:70.182.101.238 Bcast:70.182.101.255 Mask:255.255.254.0 inet6 addr: fe80::216:44ff:fe94:6edd/64 Scope:Link UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:26294 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:9698 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:20473002 (19.5 MB) TX bytes:1112894 (1.0 MB) wmaster0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-16-44-94-6E-DD-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00 UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B) # route Kernel IP routing table Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface 70.182.100.0 * 255.255.254.0 U 0 0 0 wlan1 link-local * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0 link-local * 255.255.0.0 U 1000 0 0 wlan1 default 70.182.100.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 wlan1 default * 0.0.0.0 U 1000 0 0 eth0 # ping 70.182.100.1 PING 70.182.100.1 (70.182.100.1) 56(84) bytes of data. From 70.182.101.238 icmp_seq=2 Destination Host Unreachable From 70.182.101.238 icmp_seq=3 Destination Host Unreachable From 70.182.101.238 icmp_seq=6 Destination Host Unreachable From 70.182.101.238 icmp_seq=7 Destination Host Unreachable ^C --- 70.182.100.1 ping statistics --- 7 packets transmitted, 0 received, +4 errors, 100% packet loss, time 6003ms, pipe 2 Downloading files seems to work fine (before the connection drops out). However, I noticed that throughout the download, the connection speed will randomly drop to about 1/4 of the regular speed every 15-30 seconds then it will return to normal. The connection will also remain active until any active downloads are complete. Perhaps the issue is related to some kind of idle magic? It is NOT possible to restore the connection after the connection "drops". Reconnecting to the AP does not help.
dmesg doesn't report anything when the dropout occurs. Everything seems to be running normally. [ 58.642322] wlan1: authenticate with AP 00:0d:67:0a:ab:37 [ 58.644705] wlan1: authenticated [ 58.644720] wlan1: associate with AP 00:0d:67:0a:ab:37 [ 58.650712] wlan1: RX AssocResp from 00:0d:67:0a:ab:37 (capab=0x421 status=0 aid=13) [ 58.650725] wlan1: associated [ 58.653829] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan1: link becomes ready [ 77.697041] wlan1: no IPv6 routers present
Created attachment 18142 [details] Realtek vendor driver I've also noticed that the driver provided by Realtek (via e-mail) does not suffer from this dropout syndrome. I am posting it for comparison. This driver only works with the previous kernels (in my case 2.6.24). While Realtek's driver, Dmesg points out a number of gain corrections: [ 589.142687] UpdateInitialGain(): InitialGain: 3 RFChipID: 6 [ 589.142692] RTL8187 + 8225 Initial Gain State 3: -78 dBm [ 589.861274] StaRateAdaptive87B(): update init_gain to index 2 for date rate 22 [ 589.861279] UpdateInitialGain(): InitialGain: 2 RFChipID: 6 [ 589.861282] RTL8187 + 8225 Initial Gain State 2: -78 dBm [ 590.819558] StaRateAdaptive87B(): update init_gain to index 3 for date rate 36 [ 590.819565] UpdateInitialGain(): InitialGain: 3 RFChipID: 6 [ 590.819567] RTL8187 + 8225 Initial Gain State 3: -78 dBm [ 596.411247] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present [ 633.545252] StaRateAdaptive87B(): update init_gain to index 2 for date rate 22 [ 633.545258] UpdateInitialGain(): InitialGain: 2 RFChipID: 6 [ 633.545260] RTL8187 + 8225 Initial Gain State 2: -78 dBm [ 633.831516] StaRateAdaptive87B(): update init_gain to index 3 for date rate 36 [ 633.831522] UpdateInitialGain(): InitialGain: 3 RFChipID: 6 [ 633.831524] RTL8187 + 8225 Initial Gain State 3: -78 dBm [ 639.774935] StaRateAdaptive87B(): update init_gain to index 2 for date rate 22
I disabled NetworkManager and wpa_supplicant in Ubuntu and connected using iwconfig. After 2-3 minutes, the connection still seems to die. I am willing to run further tests on my wifi card if asked.
I suspect that this is the same as bug 9143, and that both of them might be related to bug 11392. *** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 9143 ***