Two Linux cannot connect, but iPhone and Windows can.

[bcostacurta]

Hello,

my two Linux systems (an Asus notebook with Ubuntu UNR and smartphone HTC Desire) cannot connect to an open wifi network.
This place contains in fact two wifi router and same problem appears on both for my both devices.
But same time two tables close to me my (the place is a public bar) can connect with their respective smartphone iPhone and Windows without any problem or issues.

So to resume, two different devices using Linux cannot connect to two open wifi, but other device using iPhone and Windows can... !?
How is this possible ?

In the past, this already used to happen once around every month, but by this time I only had my Asus with Ubuntu UNR, so I suspected my notebook .
But today I notice same problem same time with my smartphone under Linux Android.

Please note that on both device I can connect ie. to my private place (my wifi is under WPA) and are currently connected as I type this message.

I attached hereafter the log produced by wicd which is the application I'm using for network connection on the Asus.

010/10/02 10:56:29 :: wicd initializing...
2010/10/02 10:56:29 :: ---------------------------
2010/10/02 10:56:29 :: wicd is version 1.7.0 552
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: setting backend to external
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: trying to load backend external
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: successfully loaded backend external
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: trying to load backend external
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: successfully loaded backend external
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: Automatically detected wireless interface wlan0
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: setting wireless interface wlan0
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: automatically detected wired interface eth0
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: setting wired interface eth0
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: setting wpa driver wext
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: setting use global dns to False
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: setting global dns
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: global dns servers are None None None
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: domain is None
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: search domain is None
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: setting automatically reconnect when connection drops True
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: Setting dhcp client to 2
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: Wireless configuration file found...
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: Wired configuration file found...
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: chmoding configuration files 0600...
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: chowning configuration files root:root...
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: Using wireless interface...wlan0
2010/10/02 10:56:30 :: Using wired interface...eth0
2010/10/02 10:56:33 :: hidden
2010/10/02 10:56:37 :: Autoconnecting...
2010/10/02 10:56:39 :: No wired connection present, attempting to autoconnect to wireless network
2010/10/02 10:56:40 :: hidden
2010/10/02 10:56:41 :: Unable to autoconnect, you'll have to manually connect
2010/10/02 10:56:42 :: Autoconnecting...
2010/10/02 10:56:42 :: No wired connection present, attempting to autoconnect to wireless network
2010/10/02 10:56:43 :: hidden
2010/10/02 10:56:44 :: Unable to autoconnect, you'll have to manually connect
2010/10/02 10:56:47 :: Autoconnecting...
2010/10/02 10:56:47 :: No wired connection present, attempting to autoconnect to wireless network
2010/10/02 10:56:50 :: hidden
2010/10/02 10:56:51 :: Unable to autoconnect, you'll have to manually connect
2010/10/02 10:56:52 :: Autoconnecting...
2010/10/02 10:56:52 :: No wired connection present, attempting to autoconnect to wireless network
2010/10/02 10:56:55 :: hidden
2010/10/02 10:56:56 :: Unable to autoconnect, you'll have to manually connect
2010/10/02 10:57:15 :: Connecting to wireless network EXKiGARE1
2010/10/02 10:57:15 :: Putting interface down
2010/10/02 10:57:15 :: Releasing DHCP leases...
2010/10/02 10:57:15 :: Setting false IP...
2010/10/02 10:57:16 :: Stopping wpa_supplicant
2010/10/02 10:57:16 :: Flushing the routing table...
2010/10/02 10:57:16 :: Putting interface up...
2010/10/02 10:57:18 :: Running DHCP with hostname asus900
2010/10/02 10:57:38 :: err, wlan0: timed out
2010/10/02 10:57:43 :: 
2010/10/02 10:57:43 :: DHCP connection failed
2010/10/02 10:57:43 :: exiting connection thread
2010/10/02 10:57:43 :: Sending connection attempt result dhcp_failed
2010/10/02 10:58:34 :: Connecting to wireless network EXKiGARE2
2010/10/02 10:58:34 :: Putting interface down
2010/10/02 10:58:34 :: Releasing DHCP leases...
2010/10/02 10:58:34 :: Setting false IP...
2010/10/02 10:58:34 :: Stopping wpa_supplicant
2010/10/02 10:58:34 :: Flushing the routing table...
2010/10/02 10:58:34 :: Putting interface up...
2010/10/02 10:58:36 :: Running DHCP with hostname asus900
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: canceling connection attempt
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: err, wlan0: received SIGHUP, but we no have lease to release
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: 
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: running kill dhcp.
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: dhcpcd.sh: interface wlan0 has been brought down
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: 
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: 
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: DHCP connection successful
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: exiting connection thread
2010/10/02 10:59:18 :: Sending connection attempt result aborted
2010/10/02 11:02:22 :: Connecting to wireless network EXKiGARE1
2010/10/02 11:02:22 :: Putting interface down
2010/10/02 11:02:22 :: Releasing DHCP leases...
2010/10/02 11:02:22 :: Setting false IP...
2010/10/02 11:02:23 :: Stopping wpa_supplicant
2010/10/02 11:02:23 :: Flushing the routing table...
2010/10/02 11:02:23 :: Putting interface up...
2010/10/02 11:02:25 :: Running DHCP with hostname asus900
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: canceling connection attempt
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: err, wlan0: received SIGHUP, but we no have lease to release
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: 
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: running kill dhcp.
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: dhcpcd.sh: interface wlan0 has been brought down
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: 
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: 
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: DHCP connection successful
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: exiting connection thread
2010/10/02 11:03:08 :: Sending connection attempt result aborted

Many thanks for attention.

Bye,
Bruno

[coopstah13]

i'm no expert, but this is repeatedly output

2010/10/02 10:56:52 :: No wired connection present, attempting to autoconnect to wireless network
2010/10/02 10:56:55 :: hidden
2010/10/02 10:56:56 :: Unable to autoconnect, you'll have to manually connect

so have you tried to do a manual connection? is this ESSID hidden? if it is hidden, you need to type in essid in order to get connection, are you using network manager or wicd or something else?

[bcostacurta]

The two wifi have no hidden ESSID.
And the message about manual connection is only about selecting the wifi is the list of detected wifi. If I select auto-connect for these two open wifi the application wicd start to connect automatically but the same problem remains.
I'm using wicd, but got same problem with Network Manager under Ubuntu UNR.
Reminder : I have the same problem with my Android smartphone, but other devices can connect.

Maybe a lease problem ?

I find athe following about the lease (into /var/log/messages) :
Is it possible that lease are not available for a certain device (based on network ID card as a unique ID) by keeping previous lease for this device in the wifi router ?

...
Oct  2 17:21:31 asus900 dhcpcd[1879]: wlan0: broadcasting for a lease
Oct  2 17:21:31 asus900 dhcpcd[1879]: wlan0: received NAK: (null)
Oct  2 17:21:32 asus900 dhcpcd[1879]: wlan0: broadcasting for a lease
Oct  2 17:21:32 asus900 dhcpcd[1879]: wlan0: received NAK: (null)
Oct  2 17:21:33 asus900 dhcpcd[1879]: wlan0: broadcasting for a lease
Oct  2 17:21:33 asus900 dhcpcd[1879]: wlan0: received NAK: (null)
...

Bye,
Bruno

[jayd512]

Have you tried to get a wireless connection in a different location, like a hotspot or a friends house?
Do you have MAC filtering enabled on your router?

[bcostacurta]

Yes, I'm able to connect from other locations (even, if to be precise, I did not tried precisely today as problems described here happen today).
As I mentioned, in fact I was able to connect in the past in the current location where I got these problems.

About my own router, there are no settings dedicated to any MAC filtering.

Well, I'm really confused about these problems on my both Linux devices in the same open wifi location, especially as other devices can connect.

Bye,
Bruno

[jayd512]

Did you read the sticky that I linked to you?
Post back with the info.
We'll get it taken care of.

[jayd512]

Crap... didn't post a lik here

Look here: http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/wir...tart-here.html



Sorry about that :P

[bcostacurta]

Hello jayd512,
( well I also often do the same ... )

I wrote down the script in the link you provided.

I'm not able to popup every day in this public wifi place, but will keep this thread update next time I can re-test this wifi connection.

Bye,
Bruno

[bcostacurta]

Hello,

I ran the script wirelessSetup.sh and found following details.
Everything looks fine ... however wifi is not working (DHCP cannot grab address IP) in *some* public place.
I repeat : this problem only appears only in some public place as it works fine at home.
And meantime in the same public place other laptops can connect...

Thanks for any clue.

============ iwconfig ============
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"EXKiGARE2"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:13:F7:CA:61:F6
Bit Rate=1 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=33/70 Signal level=-77 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0


In details the out put of the script is :


cat wireless_setup.txt
============ lspci ============
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML Express Processor to DRAM Controller [8086:2590] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
Kernel modules: intel-agp
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller [8086:2592] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: i915
Kernel modules: i915
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller [8086:2792] (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller [8086:2668] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:2660] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:2662] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [8086:2664] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 [8086:2658] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 [8086:2659] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 [8086:265a] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.3 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 [8086:265b] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:265c] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev d4)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:2641] (rev 04)
Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt, intel-rng
00:1f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) SATA Controller [8086:2653] (rev 04)
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
Kernel modules: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:266a] (rev 04)
Kernel modules: i2c-i801
01:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter [168c:001c] (rev 01)
Kernel driver in use: ath5k
Kernel modules: ath5k
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications L2 100 Mbit Ethernet Adapter [1969:2048] (rev a0)
Kernel driver in use: atl2
Kernel modules: atl2

============ lsusb ============
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04f2:b071 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd 2.0M UVC Webcam / CNF7129
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0951:1606 Kingston Technology
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

============ lsmod ============
Module Size Used by
binfmt_misc 6587 1
ppdev 5259 0
snd_hda_codec_realtek 203375 1
fbcon 35102 71
tileblit 2031 1 fbcon
font 7557 1 fbcon
bitblit 4707 1 fbcon
softcursor 1189 1 bitblit
vga16fb 11385 0
vgastate 8961 1 vga16fb
joydev 8708 0
arc4 1153 2
snd_hda_intel 22037 2
snd_hda_codec 74201 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 5412 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm_oss 35308 0
snd_mixer_oss 13746 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 70694 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 1338 0
snd_seq_oss 26722 0
snd_seq_midi 4557 0
snd_rawmidi 19056 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 6003 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 47263 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
snd_timer 19098 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 5700 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
ath5k 121664 0
snd 54180 16 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec, snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_se q_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
i915 286079 4
mac80211 205402 1 ath5k
ath 7611 1 ath5k
drm_kms_helper 29297 1 i915
uvcvideo 57054 0
cfg80211 126528 3 ath5k,mac80211,ath
psmouse 63245 0
soundcore 6620 1 snd
intel_agp 24119 2 i915
drm 162409 5 i915,drm_kms_helper
videodev 34361 1 uvcvideo
v4l1_compat 13251 2 uvcvideo,videodev
serio_raw 3978 0
led_class 2864 1 ath5k
snd_page_alloc 7076 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
atl2 22383 0
i2c_algo_bit 5028 1 i915
agpgart 31724 2 intel_agp,drm
video 17375 1 i915
output 1871 1 video
eeepc_laptop 14331 0
lp 7060 0
parport 32635 2 ppdev,lp
usb_storage 39553 0

============ dmesg-firmware ============
[ 10.493196] elantech.c: assuming hardware version 2, firmware version 2.48

============ kernel version ============
2.6.32-25-generic

============ ifconfig ============
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:22:15:2c:4c:13
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:2
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Memory:fbfc0000-fc000000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:480 (480.0 B) TX bytes:480 (480.0 B)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:15:af:b6:6b:6e
inet6 addr: fe80::215:afff:feb6:6b6e/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:47 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:36 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:14853 (14.8 KB) TX bytes:11376 (11.3 KB)


============ iwconfig ============
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"EXKiGARE2"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:13:F7:CA:61:F6
Bit Rate=1 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=33/70 Signal level=-77 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0


Bye,
Bruno

[bcostacurta]

It's solved and explained.

The bar where I had this problem (briefly, to remind : wifi is ok but no Internet connection) changed their configuration by limiting the number of allowed connections.
The bar owner did this in a (bad) try to avoid its wireless router to be hijacked by the neighborhood non-client of the bar.

So as I joined later, others PC already grabbed the connections and no more connections was available for my notebook.
Indeed looking the log herebefore it appears clearly that the wifi is correctly connected to the wireless network (called EXKIGAREx) but no IP address were assigned.

Now fortunately the bar gives password to their client, and so of course I can connect (even I'm late than the others...).

Bye,
Bruno