[SOLVED] Network interface card is not listed in Debian 7

parviz · 01-16-2014, 12:02 PM

I have a wireless device on my computer. The operating system is Debian 7.
The file /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules
recognizes the presence of the wireless device because two of the lines in the file read as follows:

# PCI device 0x8086:0x4236 (iwlagn)
SUBSYSTEM=="net", ACTION=="add", DRIVERS=="?*", ATTR{address}=="00:21:6a:b2:fd:42", ATTR{dev_id}=="0x0", ATTR{type}=="1", KERNEL=="wlan*", NAME="wlan0"

Also, I used other means to verify that the wireless device is recognized:

lspci | grep -i wireless
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300

dmesg | grep -i wireless
[ 47.624265] Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link AGN driver for Linux, in-tree:

So, the system recognizes the wireless device.
However, when I entered the command: ifconfig -a
The wireless interface card (wlan0) was not listed.

These are the steps that I have taken so far:
Following the link https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi and other links therein,
I downloaded and installed the firmware iwlwifi.
Next, loaded the related modules:
# modprobe -r iwlwifi ; modprobe iwlwifi
Next, logged out and logged in.

The problem still prevails. When, issuing the command "ifconfig -a", the interface wlan0 is not listed.

It is noteworthy that Debian 6 is installed on another partition, but there is no problem, regarding the wireless, with that version of Debian.

Any idea what is happening?

ukiuki · 01-16-2014, 12:51 PM

First things firt, please could you post the result of:

Code:

$ lspci -k | grep -A2 -i net

Also do you have installed the packages: wpasupplicant and wireless-tools?

Regards

parviz · 01-17-2014, 12:25 PM

Reply is below:

parviz · 01-17-2014, 12:31 PM

I am now using a live DVD (live debian 7) to experiment this.
As mentioned previously, I have also debian 6 installed on a separate partition.
The wireless is working perfectly with the debian 6.
I am presenting below, the results of my experiments on both debian 6 and the live debian 7.

Experiments with debian live 7 (on which both wpasupplicant and wireless-tools are installed):

$ lspci -k | -A2 -i net
bash: -A2: command not found

$ lspci -k
Selexcted output:
Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011

It seems that there were no drivers installed.

Next, I installed iwlwifi, and ran the command again. The result was the same.

Experiments with the debian 6 (on which wpasupplicant is installed but not wireless-tools):

$ lspci -k | -A2 -i net
bash: -A2: command not found

$ lspci -k
Selected output:
Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011
Kernel driver in use: iwlagn

Having made the experiments, there are now too many questions in my head. For example:
Could it be that the presence of both wpasupplicant and wireles-tools on the live debian 7 makes a contradiction?
Should iwlagn be installed on the live debian 7? (it might be an old driver after all)

Regards

ukiuki · 01-17-2014, 02:48 PM

Im so sorry i missed the grep, the original post is fixed with the proper command.
Now you are able to do that.

Regards

ukiuki · 01-17-2014, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parviz

Debian 6
$ lspci -k
Selected output:
Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011
Kernel driver in use: iwlagn

Ok this is the information i was looking for, now does Debian 7 uses the same driver?

Regards

parviz · 01-17-2014, 03:09 PM

Experiment with debian live 7:

user@debian:~$ lspci -k | grep -A2 -i net
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
Subsystem: Lenovo Device 20ee
Kernel driver in use: e1000e
--
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011
15:00.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ba)

Next, installed iwlwifi.

user@debian:~$ lspci -k | grep -A2 -i net
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
Subsystem: Lenovo Device 20ee
Kernel driver in use: e1000e
--
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011
15:00.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ba)

Experiment with debian 6:

parviz@localhost:~$ lspci -k | grep -A2 -i net
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
Subsystem: Lenovo Device 20ee
Kernel driver in use: e1000e
--
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011
Kernel driver in use: iwlagn

It seems that debian live 7 is not using iwlagn.

ukiuki · 01-17-2014, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parviz

...It seems that debian live 7 is not using iwlagn.

please post the output for this under Debian 7:

Code:

lspci -k | grep -A2 -i wifi

By the way use the BBcodes and the code code to post the outputs for better readability.

Regards

parviz · 01-18-2014, 09:25 AM

Code:

user@debian:~$ lspci -k | grep -A2 -i wifi
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011
15:00.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ba)

The same computer, with debian 6:

Code:

parviz@localhost:~$ lspci -k | grep -A2 -i wifi
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011
	Kernel driver in use: iwlagn

gdr · 01-18-2014, 11:07 AM

Try typing `modprobe iwlagn`. See if the network card appears. If not, most likely there are some relevant entries in syslog which you could paste here.

smeezekitty · 01-18-2014, 12:42 PM

What is the output of iwconfig?

parviz · 01-18-2014, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdr

Try typing `modprobe iwlagn`. See if the network card appears. If not, most likely there are some relevant entries in syslog which you could paste here.

I have already tried "modprobe iwlagn". It does not change the scenario. The wireless interface would still not show up.
Do you mean /var/log/syslog ? What should I do with it?

parviz · 01-18-2014, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smeezekitty

What is the output of iwconfig?

Code:

root@debian:/home/user# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

Next, I installed iwlwifi (firmware-iwlwifi_0.36+wheezy.1_all.deb) as suggested by https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi

Code:

root@debian:/home/user# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

root@debian:/home/user# modprobe iwlagn
root@debian:/home/user# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

root@debian:/home/user# # modprobe -r iwl3945 iwl4965
root@debian:/home/user# # modprobe iwl3945 ; modprobe iwl4965
root@debian:/home/user# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

root@debian:/home/user# ifconfig wlan0 up
wlan0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device

My wireless works fine with debian 6, and I guess the reason is because of the presence of iwlagn.
Now the page https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi says that iwlagn is in iwlwifi (it says this somehow).
But after installing iwlwifi, I cannot still see the presence of iwlagn as a driver because:

Code:

user@debian:~$ lspci -k | grep -A2 -i wifi
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011
15:00.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ba)

This is while debian 6 shows the presence of iwlagn because:

Code:

parviz@localhost:~$ lspci -k | grep -A2 -i wifi
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device 1011
Kernel driver in use: iwlagn

Is there really a file by the name of iwlagn so I install it directly? How can I get it?

Thanks to all who contributed to this article.
The problem is solved now.
The problem was that after installing iwlwifi, I could not take advantage of rebooting
because I was using a live DVD.
Apparently, after installing iwlwifi, I needed to reboot. But rebooting with a live DVD would not make much sense.
So, I decided to install debian 7.
After installing iwlwifi on the installed system, I faced the same problems. But rebooting fixed the issue.
Now wireless is working.

Does anyone have any idea as to how the solution could extend to a live environment.
Mind you, in a live environment, logging out and logging in did not work.

ukiuki · 01-18-2014, 04:06 PM

So in Debian 7 there is no driver and/or firmware installed, you'll have to do it manualy.
Install the package firmware-iwlwifi
type in the terminal as root (or the way you are used to install packages):

Code:

# apt-get install firmware-iwlwifi

Regards

jlinkels · 01-18-2014, 05:26 PM

Some thing in Debian have been changed regarding firmware etc. Do you have contrib and non-free added to you repositories? Installing firmware ukiuki proposed might be needed if Debian skipped this during installation.

jlinkels