Ubuntu
network-manager-applet package

wlan problems after upgrade from 10.04 to 12.01

Asked by Terry Jones

I have just upgraded from 10.04 to 12.01 on my laptop.

There appears to be a strange problem with network-manager

 If I don't have a wired connection when the system boots it displays a message "waiting for network configuration" and the network manager panel does not appear. I can't access my wlan.

If I boot with a wired connection in place the network manager panel appears as normal. If the wired connection is removed after I have booted and logged in the wlan connection is established automatically as normal.

I have tried reinstalling network-manager, but the problem is still there.

I have previously done a clean install of 12.01 on another laptop and it works perfectly so it looks like a problems with the upgrade.

Any suggestions for how to resolve this problem would be appreciated.

Thanks

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Ubuntu network-manager-applet Edit question
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Terry Jones
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N1ck 7h0m4d4k15 (nicktux) said : 		#1

Hi ,

please open a terminal with [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[t] combo keys and paste this command

cat /etc/network/interfaces

post the results back here.

Thanks

Revision history for this message
Warren Hill (warren-hill) said : 		#2

Ubuntu 12.01 does not exist!. Do you mean 12.04.1 or 12.10?

Note 12.10 is not yet an official release; though its only days away

If you mean 12.10 then I suggest you wait till its officially released and do a clean install.

If you mean 12.04.1 then Open a terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) and give us the output of the following

sudo lshw -C network; lsb_release -a; uname -a; sudo rfkill list; dmesg | grep -i firm; sudo iwlist scan

Copy and paste the entire output back here

Revision history for this message
Étienne Beaulé (betienne) said : 		#3

Get the Ubuntu 12.10 and try the command.

Revision history for this message
Terry Jones (terry-taralga) said : 		#4

Thanks for your suggestions. I must apologise for the confusion. The upgrade was from 10.04 to 12.04.1.

I don't have the laptop with me at the moment but will get the additional information you have suggested, examine it and post it back.

Revision history for this message
Terry Jones (terry-taralga) said : 		#5

I have now entered the command string suggested by Warren Hill and the results are as follows:

1: When the system is booted without a wired ethernet connection

terry@laptop:~$ sudo lshw -C network; lsb_release -a; uname -a; sudo rfkill list; dmesg | grep -i firm ; sudo iwlist scan
  *-network:0 DISABLED
       description: Wireless interface
       product: PRO/Wireless 2915ABG [Calexico2] Network Connection
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:02:02.0
       logical name: eth1
       version: 05
       serial: 00:16:6f:c5:0a:cf
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ipw2200 driverversion=1.2.2kmprq firmware=ABG:9.0.5.27 (Dec 12 2007) latency=64 link=no maxlatency=24 mingnt=3 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abg
       resources: irq:11 memory:c0200000-c0200fff
  *-network:1
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: 82801DB PRO/100 VE (MOB) Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 8
       bus info: pci@0000:02:08.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 81
       serial: 00:0d:60:12:22:79
       size: 10Mbit/s
       capacity: 100Mbit/s
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e100 driverversion=3.5.24-k2-NAPI duplex=half firmware=N/A latency=66 link=no maxlatency=56 mingnt=8 multicast=yes port=MII speed=10Mbit/s
       resources: irq:11 memory:c0201000-c0201fff ioport:8000(size=64)
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS
Release: 12.04
Codename: precise
Linux laptop 3.2.0-31-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Fri Sep 7 16:17:36 UTC 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
 Soft blocked: no
 Hard blocked: no
[ 0.136206] pci 0000:02:08.0: Firmware left e100 interrupts enabled; disabling
[ 33.509349] IBM TrackPoint firmware: 0x0e, buttons: 3/3
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth1 No scan results

irda0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

terry@laptop:~$

2: When booted with a wired connection

terry@laptop:~$ sudo lshw -C network; lsb_release -a; uname -a; sudo rfkill list; dmesg | grep -i firm ; sudo iwlist scan
[sudo] password for terry:
  *-network:0
       description: Wireless interface
       product: PRO/Wireless 2915ABG [Calexico2] Network Connection
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:02:02.0
       logical name: eth1
       version: 05
       serial: 00:16:6f:c5:0a:cf
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ipw2200 driverversion=1.2.2kmprq firmware=ABG:9.0.5.27 (Dec 12 2007) ip=10.126.126.199 latency=64 link=yes maxlatency=24 mingnt=3 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abg
       resources: irq:11 memory:c0200000-c0200fff
  *-network:1
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: 82801DB PRO/100 VE (MOB) Ethernet Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 8
       bus info: pci@0000:02:08.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 81
       serial: 00:0d:60:12:22:79
       size: 100Mbit/s
       capacity: 100Mbit/s
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=e100 driverversion=3.5.24-k2-NAPI duplex=full firmware=N/A ip=10.126.126.200 latency=66 link=yes maxlatency=56 mingnt=8 multicast=yes port=MII speed=100Mbit/s
       resources: irq:11 memory:c0201000-c0201fff ioport:8000(size=64)
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS
Release: 12.04
Codename: precise
Linux laptop 3.2.0-31-generic #50-Ubuntu SMP Fri Sep 7 16:17:36 UTC 2012 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
 Soft blocked: no
 Hard blocked: no
[ 0.136225] pci 0000:02:08.0: Firmware left e100 interrupts enabled; disabling
[ 37.117124] IBM TrackPoint firmware: 0x0e, buttons: 3/3
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth1 Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: B4:82:FE:93:A5:ED
                    ESSID:"RTA1046VW-93A5ED"
                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11g
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Quality=59/100 Signal level=-65 dBm
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : CCMP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    Extra: Last beacon: 32ms ago

irda0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

terry@laptop:~$

When there is no wired connection at boot, network manager does not seem to start at all. Even if I plug in a wired connection after boot time it does not autoconfigure as it should.

Revision history for this message
Terry Jones (terry-taralga) said : 		#6

I have now had time to take another look at this and found the problem.

The /etc/network/interfaces file had configuration information for the wired interface to configure it for DHCP as follows:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Presumably this was there in 10.04 and didn't cause a problem for network manager, but with the upgrade to 12.04 it seems that network manager doesn't become active if this information is there unless the wired interface is connected.

This seems like strange behaviour, but if these lines are deleted or commented out everything works as it should.

So the lesson is when upgrading from 10.04 to 12.04 make sure you comment out or delete any config information for the physical interfaces in /etc/network/interfaces. Make sure you leave the stuff for the loopback interface there though.

Revision history for this message
N1ck 7h0m4d4k15 (nicktux) said : 		#7

On 10/19/2012 04:56 AM, Terry Jones wrote:
> Question #210639 on network-manager-applet in Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-applet/+question/210639
>
> Status: Open => Solved
>
> Terry Jones confirmed that the question is solved:
> I have now had time to take another look at this and found the problem.
>
> The /etc/network/interfaces file had configuration information for the
> wired interface to configure it for DHCP as follows:
>
> auto eth0
> iface eth0 inet dhcp
>
> Presumably this was there in 10.04 and didn't cause a problem for
> network manager, but with the upgrade to 12.04 it seems that network
> manager doesn't become active if this information is there unless the
> wired interface is connected.
>
> This seems like strange behaviour, but if these lines are deleted or
> commented out everything works as it should.
>
> So the lesson is when upgrading from 10.04 to 12.04 make sure you
> comment out or delete any config information for the physical interfaces
> in /etc/network/interfaces. Make sure you leave the stuff for the
> loopback interface there though.
>
 I told you in the first-first answer.
:-)