[SOLVED] iwlist scanning "Allocation failed" on working wireless device
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iwlist scanning "Allocation failed" on working wireless device
I'm Running Slackware 14.2 on a MacBook. I believe my wireless card is being loaded correctly (details below). What happens is every time I run iwlist, I get the following:
Code:
# iwlist scanning
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.
print_scanning_info: Allocation failed
eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.
I found a bug report that might be relevant, on Arch: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/15363. This claims that it's some kind of buffer issue, which might apply to me; the only two places I've tried this both have a large number of access points. And I am able to connect when I do it by hand via iwconfig and dhcpcd.
But, it says it's fixed in wireless tools version 29, which is what I'm running:
Code:
# iwlist --version
iwlist Wireless-Tools version 29
Compatible with Wireless Extension v11 to v22.
Kernel Currently compiled with Wireless Extension v22.
eth1 Recommend Wireless Extension v21 or later,
Currently compiled with Wireless Extension v22.
Of course, this says "compatible with v11-v22", does that mean I have to somehow upgrade iwlist to get to v29? Seems like probably not. This also applies to Wicd; it doesn't list any wireless networks when I scan.
Anyone have any idea why I can't see any access points, while my wireless interface seems to be functional?
Other data:
Code:
# lsmod | grep wl
wl 6436883 0
cfg80211 524168 1 wl
# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth1 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=200 dBm
Retry short limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
eth0 no wireless extensions.
Just booted back into Ubuntu to check how everything is working over there - which it does perfectly. I don't see any obvious settings which are not being set in Slackware (although I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking for).
WiFi region isn't set. WiFi handshake can't start. You can use following command to set region, USA. This is for reload. For boot-up, it is complex. You can try following command to make sure your WiFi card start working at first.
I am currently using Slackware64 14.2 with Wicd v29.
I have the same allocation failed problem sometimes, and the command does not work for me.
Code:
iw reg set US
It did show me a list of stuff but also a bunch of unknown IEs.
And by the way, I don't have the wl module on my computer.
I will add that although I marked this as "Solved", I don't consider it so. Maybe 80% of the time I have to find a wifi network, I have to do *something* else besides wicd. Occasionally "iw reg set US" works, sometimes just running "iw dev eth1 scan" works, but wicd often *first* replies with no wifi networks.
I read some things about iw being superior to iwlist and iwconfig for these kinds of things, so maybe it's just that wicd is running iwlist instead.
In any case, the problem is intermittent and fixable with a hack on my system.
Now, as it happens, I am at a museum in downtown Seattle, and the number of networks is relatively large. I'm going to try this stunt later this evening at home where the number of networks is relatively small.
Based on above information, it look like allocation has problem. But based on dmesg output, I don't see any issue. Link is up and ping can go through.
What's problem?
I'm going to take the position that Wicd is probably using iwlist rather than iw to look for wireless connections, and therefore runs into some kind of memory allocation error as discussed here: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/15363. There is a patch there for Arch, but I'd rather just use a different system to manage my wireless networks.
So I've simply switched to Network Manager on Slackware running XFCE. Remove Wicd:
When you connect to a network for the first time, you get an error, so just right click on the icon in the tray -> Edit connections first. Then you should be able to connect.
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iwlist scanning "Allocation failed" on working wireless device
