Hello, about 3 weeks after installing Debian Lenny my wireless would not start about 1 in 3 boots. Problem seems to be getting worse. When booting Debian Etch and WinXP it always is picked up with no issues. I am rather new to Linux and do not know when the wireless is initiated, before log in or after. I susspect is is after because there is a small pop up icon that reports wireless is up and running when the desktop is started. IF I switch users when network didn't start it is also not working on the other users. Is there a way to initialise the wireless after login if it does not get picked up? Here is some basic info, please request any other and I will provide.

Card is linksys wireless -G PCI which I believe is just RaLink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI.

Thanks, Jon

dmesg can help you to review when the driver is load.

Save two diferent outputs, 1 - working, 2 - not working.

Also drivers sometimes fails because another module is running save alog you dmesg the output of lsmod command and we can review it.

For example when my bluetooth device starts I saw:

Bluetooth: HCI device and connection manager initialized
[ 71.554470] Bluetooth: HCI socket layer initialized
[ 71.590745] Bluetooth: L2CAP ver 2.13
[ 71.590748] Bluetooth: L2CAP socket layer initialized
[ 71.636442] Bluetooth: RFCOMM socket layer initialized
[ 71.636449] Bluetooth: RFCOMM TTY layer initialized
[ 71.636451] Bluetooth: RFCOMM ver 1.11

So its the same, reviewing dmesg will tell you what's wrong, then you may can create an startup script to remove non required modules and load your driver.

Ok, Didn't know of "dmesg" till now. (I don't know much about linux yet either). I don't understand what you mean by save 2 difrent outputs, 1 and 2. Anyway, when I run dmesg it reports about 250 lines of data. Near the end of the report it has something to do with wlan. Here is the last portion of the report that has the wlan stuff in it.I am making an assumtion this report is for the boot I am currently in. The network did start this time, the prevoius boot it failed.

Looks like we can see some trouble starting on the second line after rt2561.bin which is the firmware for the card it reports wlan0: link is not ready. I realy do not know what to make of all this.



[ 17.523771] firmware: requesting rt2561s.bin
[ 17.673364] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 17.993791] eth0: link down
[ 17.994036] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 20.199329] nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.
[ 20.454139] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:01:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 20.454152] PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:01:00.0 to 64
[ 20.454354] NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86 Kernel Module 190.53 Tue Dec 8 18:51:41 PST 2009
[ 48.856817] wlan0: Initial auth_alg=0
[ 48.856825] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1f:33:c3:73:48
[ 48.858225] wlan0: RX authentication from 00:1f:33:c3:73:48 (alg=0 transaction=2 status=0)
[ 48.858231] wlan0: authenticated
[ 48.858235] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1f:33:c3:73:48
[ 48.860756] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1f:33:c3:73:48 (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=15)
[ 48.860762] wlan0: associated
[ 48.860773] wlan0: switched to short barker preamble (BSSID=00:1f:33:c3:73:48)
[ 48.860990] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[ 66.424009] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
debianlenny:/home/jon#

Thanks, Jon

From you dmesg output there is no problem at all.

You have link not ready because you have not AP associated:

[ 17.673364] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 17.993791] eth0: link down
[ 17.994036] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready

After you associate:

[ 48.860762] wlan0: associated
[ 48.860773] wlan0: switched to short barker preamble (BSSID=00:1f:33:c3:73:48)
[ 48.860990] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready

I guess that dmesg output its from the time when you wireless was working right?, run lsmod and save it.

We need a dmesg and lsmod output when your wireless is not working.

Here is a dmesg report when it does not start, got this today



4.067537] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[ 14.068090] lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
[ 14.239249] lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).
[ 14.256425] ppdev: user-space parallel port driver
[ 17.462217] firmware: requesting rt2561s.bin
[ 17.573374] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 17.694992] eth0: link down
[ 17.695239] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 20.138248] nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.
[ 20.393179] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:01:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 20.393191] PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:01:00.0 to 64
[ 20.393393] NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86 Kernel Module 190.53 Tue Dec 8 18:51:41 PST 2009
[ 77.710965] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
jon@debianlenny:~$


Problem seems to be most provalent when starting cold after machine has been off for some time

Thanks, Jon

Does anyone have any suggestions? Problem seems to be getting worse only when booting Debian Lenny. Xandros 4.5 and WinXP Pro starts wireless with no issues. If anyone feels the card is the problem I will purchase a new one perhaps a difrent modle. I have an open PCI slot, any suggestions on most compatable cards that hopefully will not require firmware as this card does?

Is there an issue that Debian lenny does not give enough time for the card to start up?

If so perhaps a manual way to start it up after log in?

Some direction greatly welcome, Jon

For your post: Here is a dmesg report when it does not start, got this today.

Dmesg says everything is perfect, what is exactly the problem? the wireless configuration does not start at all or the card does not appear if you run iwconfig ?

Last line in dmesg report when it does not start is "77.710965] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready". I assume this is where the OS give up trying.
If I stall the boot manager by not imediatly selecting an OS to boot and let the machine wait at least 4 miniuts before selecting Debian Linux OS to boot the wireless works and dmeseg report generated show it starts as in these lines at the end of the report " 49.400735] wlan0: Initial auth_alg=0
[ 49.400743] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:1f:33:c3:73:48
[ 49.402150] wlan0: RX authentication from 00:1f:33:c3:73:48 (alg=0 transaction=2 status=0)
[ 49.402156] wlan0: authenticated
[ 49.402160] wlan0: associate with AP 00:1f:33:c3:73:48
[ 49.404564] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1f:33:c3:73:48 (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=15)
[ 49.404569] wlan0: associated
[ 49.404581] wlan0: switched to short barker preamble (BSSID=00:1f:33:c3:73:48)
[ 49.404767] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[ 69.776007] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
jon@debianlenny:~$ "

oddly if I start Xandros 4.5 or Win XP Pro I do not need to wait a few miniuts when I boot up for Wlan to start and work.

Any ideas? Jon

I assume you wireless card stops working, when the issue happens what gives you the iwconfig command? can you please post the output here.

Also the link ready means the authentication to the access point not the wireless card drivers working it self.

You're using Ralink drivers or ndiswrapper's drivers ? please save the output of lsmod on both cases, wireless working and not working.

I have been away for a few days, sorry for the delay.

Wireless card does not stop working once it starts up, it just does not start when the machine is cold or has been off for some time. If I delay the boot by stalling Grub for 3 miniuts or more it usualy will start fine. The odd thing is that Win XP Pro and Xandros 4.5 OCE have no trouble starting wireless when macine is cold or has been off for some time. NeitherWinXP or Xandros4.5OCE (based on Debian Etch) systems seem to hang when booting cold machine either.

I will get lsmod report tomorrow when machine is cold and forward both working and not working shortly. Thanks for the guidance and help so far. Jon

I just ran in to the same problem with my Atheros wireless card, I was trying to test a new driver ath5k and it shows the same error, I can configure the wireless but it does never gets connected to the AP.

If I return to my old madwifi driver, everything works smooth except for the master mode feature .....


I guess you will have to update your driver to make this work without a problem, maybe you will have to upgrade your kernel as well btw what kernel version do you have ?

Hello jvaldivia

It has been about a week and the problem has not occured again. I have not made any changes and have no idea why it has gone. The only 2 things I have done is made lsmod reports and dmesg reports, no changes. I would not be supprised if it reoccurs again, if it does within a week or so I will post a reply along with the lsmod and dmesg reports otherwise I will start a new thread regarding this. Is there any other information you would like regarding this if the problem re-occurs? Thanks so much your time. Jon

Ok, didn't start this evening. here is the lsmod and dmesg reports

jon@debianlenny:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
nvidia 8869964 28
ppdev 6468 0
lp 8164 0
ipv6 235396 18
speedstep_lib 4516 0
cpufreq_ondemand 6476 0
cpufreq_userspace 3172 0
cpufreq_conservative 5960 0
cpufreq_powersave 1856 0
cpufreq_stats 3776 0
freq_table 4224 2 cpufreq_ondemand,cpufreq_stats
nls_utf8 1760 1
ntfs 185952 1
nls_base 6820 2 nls_utf8,ntfs
loop 12748 0
arc4 1824 2
ecb 2624 2
crypto_blkcipher 15236 1 ecb
snd_intel8x0 26268 1
snd_ac97_codec 88452 1 snd_intel8x0
ac97_bus 1728 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss 32800 0
snd_mixer_oss 12320 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 62660 3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
parport_pc 22500 1
parport 30988 3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc
rt61pci 20960 0
crc_itu_t 2080 1 rt61pci
snd_seq_dummy 2660 0
rt2x00pci 7648 1 rt61pci
rt2x00lib 22432 2 rt61pci,rt2x00pci
i2c_i801 7920 0
firmware_class 6816 1 rt2x00lib
rfkill 5652 1 rt2x00lib
i2c_core 19828 2 nvidia,i2c_i801
led_class 3908 1 rt2x00lib
pcspkr 2432 0
input_polldev 3752 1 rt2x00lib
mac80211 139808 2 rt2x00pci,rt2x00lib
snd_seq_oss 24992 0
cfg80211 21608 2 rt2x00lib,mac80211
snd_seq_midi 5728 0
eeprom_93cx6 2144 1 rt61pci
snd_rawmidi 18496 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 6432 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 41456 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer 17800 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 6380 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
rng_core 3940 0
snd 45636 12 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_ti mer,snd_seq_device
soundcore 6368 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 7816 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
button 6096 0
intel_agp 22524 0
agpgart 28808 2 nvidia,intel_agp
evdev 8000 3
ext3 105576 2
jbd 39476 1 ext3
mbcache 7108 1 ext3
usbhid 35904 0
hid 33184 1 usbhid
ff_memless 4392 1 usbhid
sg 26964 0
sr_mod 13316 0
cdrom 30176 1 sr_mod
sd_mod 22200 6
piix 6568 0 [permanent]
ide_pci_generic 3908 0 [permanent]
ide_core 96168 2 piix,ide_pci_generic
8139cp 16800 0
floppy 47844 0
ata_generic 4676 0
ata_piix 14180 4
libata 140448 2 ata_generic,ata_piix
scsi_mod 129548 4 sg,sr_mod,sd_mod,libata
dock 8304 1 libata
8139too 20384 0
mii 4896 2 8139cp,8139too
ehci_hcd 28428 0
uhci_hcd 18672 0
usbcore 118192 4 usbhid,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
thermal 15228 0
processor 32576 1 thermal
fan 4196 0
thermal_sys 10856 3 thermal,processor,fan
jon@debianlenny:~$





















and the last portion of dmesg that pertains to wireless


[ 13.985404] lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
[ 14.154482] lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).
[ 14.172997] ppdev: user-space parallel port driver
[ 17.415678] firmware: requesting rt2561s.bin
[ 17.549361] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 17.694921] eth0: link down
[ 17.695169] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 20.279830] nvidia: module license 'NVIDIA' taints kernel.
[ 20.534638] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:01:00.0[A] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
[ 20.534651] PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:01:00.0 to 64
[ 20.534854] NVRM: loading NVIDIA UNIX x86 Kernel Module 190.53 Tue Dec 8 18:51:41 PST 2009
[ 78.227258] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
jon@debianlenny:~$



Hopefully this will help, Jon

Problem is still persistant. It seems not as cold cold start sensitive as a few times this week it fired up perfectly when cold. sure would like to fix this problem so I do not have to reboot the computer 2 times or more when I want to use it, (most of the time). By looking at dmesg report one would imagine thet there is just not enough time allowed for the lan card to be reconized as it clearly reports "ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready" Thanks, Jon