RPi3 WiFi issues with onboard chip

glorsplitz · 11-22-2017, 08:06 PM

@adamsimms, I have 2 rpi3 running current all up to date no connectivity issues.

What raspberry pi versions? What slackware versions?

adamsimms · 11-23-2017, 08:47 AM

@glorsplitz It's a Raspberry Pi 3 running Jessie. Latest apt-get update && apt-get upgrade & apt-get dist-upgrade have been performed.

@business_kid I'm not sure if this is possible, but would I be able to hire you to help me troubleshoot this issue further?

business_kid · 11-23-2017, 01:13 PM

There's no need to hire - this is a forum. You just need a little familiarity with this stuff. I found it a nightmare when I started. Here's a few commands to check.
<sudo iwconfig -a> lists all network devices. Presuming yours is wlan0
<sudo iwlist wlan0 scan |grep -C3 Quality> Should show you all local wifi points like this with channel numbers and quality

Code:

sudo iwlist wlan0 scan |grep -C3 Quality
    Cell 17 - Address: 14:49:E0:9E:B0:B9
                    Channel:6
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality=20/70  Signal level=-90 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"Horizon Wi-Free"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
--
          Cell 18 - Address: 5C:A3:9D:BA:B0:98
                    Channel:1
                    Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                    Quality=41/70  Signal level=-69 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"UPC242033514"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
--
          Cell 19 - Address: 58:2A:F7:E1:F4:15
                    Channel:9
                    Frequency:2.452 GHz (Channel 9)
                    Quality=22/70  Signal level=-88 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"eir_WiFi"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s[SNIP]

Post the Quality on your own service please.

I gather you're on some version of slackware? There's a DHCP_KEEPRESOLV setting in /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf which you need to uncomment and set to yes. That will stop dhcpcd overwriting resolv.conf. Look for it with grep -n, which gives you a line number. Also, the easiest way to start the wifi is

Code:

sudo /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 restart

adamsimms · 11-23-2017, 02:44 PM

@business_kid Here is the output of sudo iwlist wlan0 scan |grep -C3 Quality

Code:

Cell 01 - Address: D6:D9:19:9A:00:5A
                    Channel:1
                    Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                    Quality=55/70  Signal level=-55 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"DiscoPro"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s

business_kid · 11-23-2017, 02:50 PM

Ok. your card can see the wifi. Looks exactly like mine. That seems to clear that wifi.
If you can switch off encryption, you should be able to connect with

Code:

dhcpcd wlan0

adamsimms · 11-23-2017, 03:12 PM

@business_kid

I'm not able to disable the encryption. For a little more context, this is a remote solar powered Raspberry Pi connected with a USB LTE stick. I'm able to SSH into the Raspberry Pi via this connection.

I'm trying to connect to a GoPro AP to download images, which was working for months. The GoPro turns on, enables WiFi, takes an image, then goes to sleep every hour. Suddenly I'm not able to connect to it's WiFi. In this context, I can't change anything about the AP physically or software wise.

It could be a problem with the GoPro, but based on my Pi I can see that it still comes on and enables wifi every hour - which lead me to believe that this is still a Raspberry Pi issue. If you would like to SSH into the Pi and take a look you are welcome. The purpose of my system is not working so anything will help.

Thanks!

business_kid · 11-24-2017, 04:29 AM

I don't see how I can ssh in if you haven't got internet.
Ok. Let's presume the card is working, dhcp is working, and get down to wpa_supplicant. Humour me and copy your wpa -supplicant.conf into /etc, as that's the usual location in my Slackware anyhow. Then start wpa_supplicant. Here's what I used, and what I got.

Code:

root@RoseViolet:~# wpa_supplicant  -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
Successfully initialized wpa_supplicant
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=BEACON_HINT type=UNKNOWN
wlan0: SME: Trying to authenticate with 34:81:c4:e0:4b:88 (SSID='MY_ESSID' freq=2437 MHz)
wlan0: Trying to associate with 34:81:c4:e0:4b:88 (SSID='MY_ESSID' freq=2437 MHz)
wlan0: Associated with 34:81:c4:e0:4b:88
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-REGDOM-CHANGE init=COUNTRY_IE type=COUNTRY alpha2=IE
wlan0: WPA: Key negotiation completed with 34:81:c4:e0:4b:88 [PTK=CCMP GTK=TKIP]
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 34:81:c4:e0:4b:88 completed [id=0 id_str=]

And the Network looks like this

Code:

bash-4.3$ iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:"MY_ESSID"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 34:81:C4:E0:4B:88   
          Bit Rate=135 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   
          Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=62/70  Signal level=-48 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:17   Missed beacon:0

Now I would have to start dhcpcd to get myself an IP & route. If wpa_supplicant fails, reinstall that, retry, and add '-d' to the command shown. Paste the output to pastebin, and we'll have to grok it for clues. What's your kernel? Distro, or home built?

adamsimms · 11-24-2017, 11:53 AM

wpa_supplicant -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf outputs:

Code:

Successfully initialized wpa_supplicant
wlan0: Trying to associate with d6:d9:19:9a:00:5a (SSID='DiscoPro' freq=2412 MHz)
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-ASSOC-REJECT status_code=16
wlan0: Trying to associate with d6:d9:19:9a:00:5a (SSID='DiscoPro' freq=2412 MHz)
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-ASSOC-REJECT status_code=16
wlan0: Trying to associate with d6:d9:19:9a:00:5a (SSID='DiscoPro' freq=2412 MHz)
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-ASSOC-REJECT status_code=16
wlan0: Trying to associate with d6:d9:19:9a:00:5a (SSID='DiscoPro' freq=2412 MHz)
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-ASSOC-REJECT status_code=16
wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-SSID-TEMP-DISABLED id=0 ssid="DiscoPro" auth_failures=1 duration=10 reason=CONN_FAILED

wpa_supplicant v2.3

Linux version 4.9.64-v7+ (dc4@dc4-XPS13-9333) (gcc version 4.9.3 (crosstool-NG crosstool-ng-1.22.0-88-g8460611) ) #1053 SMP Tue Nov 21 14:56:27 GMT 2017

PRETTY_NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie)"
NAME="Raspbian GNU/Linux"
VERSION_ID="8"
VERSION="8 (jessie)"

business_kid · 11-24-2017, 03:18 PM

If everything's correct, and wpa has been reinstalled, you've one last option, which is to check it's loading firmware and that the firmware is good. Also the manufacturer's site for downloads. Errors of that sort are SSID/PSK, firmware, reception, or occasionally hardware.I've asked about all of them, but haven't always been answered. Check for a driver bug also. I would next suggest a usb wifi from ebay which can stay under the 100mA. The one I got had some weirdo realtek chip but I was able to compile a driver for the early ras-pi I had. You mightn't get that with 802.11n, but you can make the choices. If you have the wpa config, the wpa package, or anything else wrong, of course, it won't work.

SCerovec · 11-25-2017, 01:36 AM

There are Atheros USB WiFi dongles out there - buy, compile the (mainline) kernel module (if not already present) and off You go.
They do cost a bit more than the realtek ones, but it pays off later, in the setup.

my 2c

business_kid · 11-25-2017, 03:59 AM

Just thinking, if you don't like this and have another box on hand, you can set up a wifi & dhcp server on that, and try logging in with your raspi. You may even go to setting up wpa_supplicant in server mode and completely duplicate your own setup. That way,you'll be able to fool around and gradually narrow things down. If you keep coming up against wpa_supplicant, and have reinstalled it, it could be hardware. But you eliminate everything else first. It's unusual for hardware to fail that way; Not impossible, but unusual.

Penthux · 11-26-2017, 01:33 PM

There's a "Setting up a wireless network connection on Slackware ARM on a Raspberry Pi 1, 2 or 3" guide/tutorial on the SARPi website if it helps at all.