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I have a Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi adapter in my computer. Today I upgraded to 13.10 and I can't connect. Before upgrading WiFi worked just fine. I can see WiFi networks, but it just gives the error "IP configuration was unavailable" when trying to connect. Other devices work just fine. I've tried deleting the configuration and remaking it multiple times, and that doesn't work.

So, looking at syslog, it seems the DHCP request is timing out. I can connect to the network if I manually set the IP and other settings, but I don't have internet connection through Wifi yet - I think my manual configuration is a little off yet.

Here is lspci:

chrisn@Zircon:~$ lspci | grep WiFi
02:00.0 Network controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter (rev 01)

And output from lshw -C network

  *-network               
   description: Wireless interface
   product: RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
   vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
   physical id: 0
   bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
   logical name: wlan0
   version: 01
   serial: 54:04:a6:de:cb:ba
   width: 64 bits
   clock: 33MHz
   capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
   configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtl8192ce driverversion=3.11.0-12-generic firmware=N/A latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bgn
   resources: irq:16 ioport:d000(size=256) memory:fe500000-fe503fff

This is /var/log/syslog from the point I clicked the "Connect" button to when it gave up.

chrisn@Zircon:~$ sudo tail -f -n0 /var/log/syslog
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) starting connection 'Diamond'
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none') [30 40 0]
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) scheduled...
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) started...
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) scheduled...
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) complete.
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) starting...
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none') [40 50 0]
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0/wireless): access point 'Diamond' has security, but secrets are required.
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none') [50 60 0]
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) complete.
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) scheduled...
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) started...
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none') [60 40 0]
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) scheduled...
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 1 of 5 (Device Prepare) complete.
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) starting...
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none') [40 50 0]
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0/wireless): connection 'Diamond' has security, and secrets exist.  No new secrets needed.
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Config: added 'ssid' value 'Diamond'
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'NONE'
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Config: added 'auth_alg' value 'OPEN'
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Config: added 'wep_key0' value '<omitted>'
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Config: added 'wep_tx_keyidx' value '0'
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) complete.
Oct 19 14:03:05 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Config: set interface ap_scan to 1
Oct 19 14:03:06 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon wpa_supplicant[1415]: wlan0: SME: Trying to authenticate with 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a (SSID='Diamond' freq=2437 MHz)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.641635] wlan0: authenticate with 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> authenticating
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.651176] wlan0: send auth to 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a (try 1/3)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon wpa_supplicant[1415]: wlan0: Trying to associate with 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a (SSID='Diamond' freq=2437 MHz)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.654471] wlan0: authenticated
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.654701] rtl8192ce 0000:02:00.0 wlan0: disabling HT/VHT due to WEP/TKIP use
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.656855] wlan0: associate with 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a (try 1/3)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> associating
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon wpa_supplicant[1415]: wlan0: Associated with 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon wpa_supplicant[1415]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a completed (reauth) [id=0 id_str=]
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.660841] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=4)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.660951] wlan0: associated
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.661236] cfg80211: Calling CRDA for country: US
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associating -> completed
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0/wireless) Stage 2 of 5 (Device Configure) successful.  Connected to wireless network 'Diamond'.
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) scheduled.
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) started...
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: config -> ip-config (reason 'none') [50 70 0]
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Beginning DHCPv4 transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.667519] cfg80211: Regulatory domain changed to country: US
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.667525] cfg80211:   (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.667530] cfg80211:   (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2700 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.667534] cfg80211:   (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 1700 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.667538] cfg80211:   (5250000 KHz - 5330000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.667541] cfg80211:   (5490000 KHz - 5600000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.667545] cfg80211:   (5650000 KHz - 5710000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.667548] cfg80211:   (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 3000 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.667551] cfg80211:   (57240000 KHz - 63720000 KHz @ 2160000 KHz), (N/A, 4000 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> dhclient started with pid 8714
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Beginning IP6 addrconf.
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon avahi-daemon[944]: Withdrawing address record for fe80::5604:a6ff:fede:cbba on wlan0.
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon avahi-daemon[944]: Leaving mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv6 with address fe80::5604:a6ff:fede:cbba.
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon avahi-daemon[944]: Interface wlan0.IPv6 no longer relevant for mDNS.
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 3 of 5 (IP Configure Start) complete.
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon dhclient: Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client 4.2.4
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon dhclient: Copyright 2004-2012 Internet Systems Consortium.
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon dhclient: All rights reserved.
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon dhclient: For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon dhclient: 
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): DHCPv4 state changed nbi -> preinit
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon dhclient: Listening on LPF/wlan0/54:04:a6:de:cb:ba
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon dhclient: Sending on   LPF/wlan0/54:04:a6:de:cb:ba
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon dhclient: Sending on   Socket/fallback
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3 (xid=0x6713caf2)
Oct 19 14:03:07 Zircon kernel: [ 1911.918587] wlan0: Limiting TX power to 27 (27 - 0) dBm as advertised by 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a
Oct 19 14:03:08 Zircon avahi-daemon[944]: Joining mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv6 with address fe80::5604:a6ff:fede:cbba.
Oct 19 14:03:08 Zircon avahi-daemon[944]: New relevant interface wlan0.IPv6 for mDNS.
Oct 19 14:03:08 Zircon avahi-daemon[944]: Registering new address record for fe80::5604:a6ff:fede:cbba on wlan0.*.
Oct 19 14:03:10 Zircon dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7 (xid=0x6713caf2)
Oct 19 14:03:17 Zircon dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 15 (xid=0x6713caf2)
Oct 19 14:03:27 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): IP6 addrconf timed out or failed.
Oct 19 14:03:27 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) scheduled...
Oct 19 14:03:27 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) started...
Oct 19 14:03:27 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv6 Configure Timeout) complete.
Oct 19 14:03:32 Zircon dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 10 (xid=0x6713caf2)
Oct 19 14:03:42 Zircon dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 14 (xid=0x6713caf2)
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <warn> (wlan0): DHCPv4 request timed out.
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): canceled DHCP transaction, DHCP client pid 8714
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv4 Configure Timeout) scheduled...
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv4 Configure Timeout) started...
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: ip-config -> failed (reason 'ip-config-unavailable') [70 120 5]
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Marking connection 'Diamond' invalid.
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <warn> Activation (wlan0) failed for connection 'Diamond'
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IPv4 Configure Timeout) complete.
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: failed -> disconnected (reason 'none') [120 30 0]
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): deactivating device (reason 'none') [0]
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon kernel: [ 1957.444402] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:1f:33:e9:99:8a by local choice (reason=3)
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon wpa_supplicant[1415]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=00:00:00:00:00:00 reason=3
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon NetworkManager[909]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant interface state: completed -> disconnected
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon kernel: [ 1957.468579] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon kernel: [ 1957.475397] cfg80211: World regulatory domain updated:
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon kernel: [ 1957.475404] cfg80211:   (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon kernel: [ 1957.475410] cfg80211:   (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon kernel: [ 1957.475414] cfg80211:   (2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon kernel: [ 1957.475419] cfg80211:   (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon kernel: [ 1957.475423] cfg80211:   (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)
Oct 19 14:03:52 Zircon kernel: [ 1957.475427] cfg80211:   (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (300 mBi, 2000 mBm)

Anyone have any ideas?

ChrisN
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5 Answers5

1

I had exactly the same problem and I found a rather contrived fix: remastering the live CD. On a working Ubuntu install I installed Ubuntu Customization Kit (UCK) and I used to customize the original ISO of Kubuntu 13.10. Basically, UCK chroots in the ISO and allows you to customize it. I started UCK and asked it to give me access to a console, then I modified /etc/apt/sources.list and I added this line:

deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-proposed main restricted universe multiverse

to enable the download of newest (unstable) packages. Then I ran apt-get update and apt-get dist-upgrade, which installed, among the others, plasma-nm and other networking-related packages. Then I ended the UCK session and built a new ISO. If I start my system using this customized ISO then DHCP does not timeout and apparently everything works fine.

I can put my ISO online if anyone is interested (just leave a comment, I don't want to upload 1GB if nobody is going to use it), however I urge you to create your own ISO because its simple and you don't have to trust me and assume that I didn't tamper the ISO.

Be aware that I only tested the live system and I did not run a full install. YMMV.

Giuseppe Cardone
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0

I had the same problem while installing 13.10 from a daily build ISO. Completely upgrading the system fixed the issue for me.

The steps I followed were:

  • Use an ethernet connection (because manually configuring wireless is a pain)
  • Run dhclient eth0 to configure it and make sure the interface is up
  • Do the apt-get update / apt-get dist-upgrade routine
  • Delete any previously stored wireless connections
  • Reboot

That fixed the issue for me. However, every so often Network Manager was trying to take over and de-configured the connection, thus the download stopped. I had to cancel the download, run dhclient eth0 again, and then resume the dist-upgrade.

I hope it works for you!

Rohan Dhruva
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  • I have the machine connected to the internet via my laptop's Wifi connection. Everything is updated. – ChrisN Oct 19 '13 at 18:29
  • Could you try deleting the stored configurations by clicking the spanner icon in the network applet? Deleting it and reconnecting seemed to work for me.

    If that doesn't work, I'd try asking in #kubuntu or #kubuntu-devel on Freenode IRC. I know that shadeslayer was working on this issue.

     – Rohan Dhruva Oct 19 '13 at 18:34
  • Tried that already... (I'll add that to the main question.) – ChrisN Oct 19 '13 at 18:34
0

There are some problems with the driver that is included with 13.10. It seems to be getting worse and worse.

If you feel adventurous, I took the driver source code and fixed it up for myself. I posted it on Github: https://github.com/FreedomBen/rtl8188ce-linux-driver

So far this is the only version of the driver that I know of (besides the pre-packaged one) that compiles and works on Ubuntu 13.10. There are installation instructions in the README.md file.

Freedom_Ben
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  • I tried to compile and install it, but it didn't work. The make commands worked fine, but the instructions said you may have to modprobe some of the drivers back into the kernel. I don't think I successfully accomplished that. I might try some more, but right now I switched kernel versions, and my wifi is working properly. – ChrisN Nov 04 '13 at 23:03
  • @ChrisN You may want to "practice" doing it in a virtual box so that when the kernel is updated next time you will have a way out. If you want to post the info of what failed I can try to help you – Freedom_Ben Nov 05 '13 at 16:56
0

This is not really an answer, it is a work-around. It seems like, as was noted already, the driver included with the kernel in 13.10 is defective. I installed kernel version 3.8.13-03081312-generic from http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/ and booted from it. My wireless is working fine now.

Edit: The driver in kernel 3.9.11-030911-generic also works, and that is what I am using now.

And yet another update: Kernel 3.12.0-031200-generic has fixed the problem.

ChrisN
  • 209
-1

You could try to use this script i made lay it in network:

bin/sh

Case ![%] in .bin/sh nmcli nm sleep=false 'network' End case

and it might work fine this way.

Michael
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