Wireless not connecting...

[Robert Heller]

At Fri, 31 May 2019 11:58:28 +0200 "Ubuntu user technical support,  not for general discussions" <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> wrote:

> 
> On Thu, 30 May 2019 at 19:58, Robert Heller <heller at deepsoft.com> wrote:
> 
> > Well all of my *past* experience with wireless NICs not working are usually of
> > the sort where the O/S does not see the device because it does not have a
> > driver that recognizes it.
> 
> Yes, same here.
> 
> > In this case, there is a driver, rtl8188ee, that sees the device, a Realtex
> > RT8188ee.  The device *sees* the AP and displays the SSID.  The AP sees and
> > logs connection attempts.
> 
> Which is one reason I keep asking about the firmware.
> 
> > Note: this is an *older* laptop (6 *years* old).  It is not bleeding edge
> > hardware.  Actually the driver in question is actually available on my CentOS
> > 6 machine, with a *2.6.32* kernel and is in the 3.13.0 kernel of a Ubuntu
> > 14.04 VM I have.  It looks like this is anything other than a bleeding edge
> > NIC with a still evolving driver.  I realize, that 99% of "Wireless is not
> > working" problems are usually with some newbie with a fresh off the boat from
> > China laptop with a NIC that was designed only the day before and the Linux
> > kernel people are still scratching their collective heads trying to deduce
> > what the designer design looks like.  This is most certainly not the case
> > here.
> 
> Yes, we're aware of that. OTOH sometimes older drivers get bitrot, or
> firmware updates on either end cause problems.
> 
> (Which gives me another thought: as well as updating the main board
> firmware on the laptop, have you checked that the router's firmware is
> current, as well?)

The AP's firmware is pretty up-to-date. (It does have an update, which I will
do this afternoon.) (Note: it is NOT running in "router mode", but it is in
"bridge mode". All of the "router" logic (firewall, network routing, DHCP,
etc.) is handled by CentOS 6 on the Dell server box. The AP is a pure wireless
AP.

> 
> > I will scrounge a USB stick
> 
> Really?
> 
> You said you just installed the machine in the original thread. How?

Network install using Ethernet / PXE.  The hardwired NIC is working just fine 
(also a Realtex chip).

> 
> >  and download Ubuntu 19.04, but I doubt it
> > will make the least difference. (I could also fire up 16.04 or even CentOS
> > 6.9 or CentOS 7.5, so see if that makes any difference -- I have the PXE boot
> > kernels for these and I think I can fire the up in "rescue" mode and can try
> > to fire up the wireless from there.)
> 
> *Definitely* worth a try with another distro.

OK.

> 
> A few years ago I went through this exercise. Just before I got a
> contract with SUSE, I thought I should try out openSUSE for the first
> time in a few years. I used my then-more-than-decade-old testbed
> desktop: Core 2 Extreme, 8GB RAM, nVidia graphics, plus a Tenda USB
> wifi stick that was bought by my former startup specifically because
> it has native FOSS drivers.
> 
> openSUSE: no wifi; unrecognised device. There was a driver on
> software.opensuse.org but it's only installable from a openSUSE OS
> with an Internet connection. D'oh.
> Fedora: no wifi -- non-free firmware required for this device.
> Ubuntu: just worked.
> PC-BSD: wifi, what wifi?
> 
> > The more I look at it, the more I am thinking that the wireless is broken,
> > maybe the antenna is disconnected or broken or something like that.
> 
> Then it wouldn't see the network at all, I think.
> 
> I was using wifi in the test above because I was 10+ metres from the
> nearest network port, in another room. I had to run a cable in the
> end.
> 
> My PowerMac G5 couldn't see the wifi either. I discovered this was
> because it needed an external wifi antenna and I did not get one with
> it. Replacements were US$75 + shipping.
> 
> I straightened out a paperclip and inserted in the central hole in the
> antenna socket, and lo, I got 4/5 bars and a fast link.
> 

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