20

I have a new Sager NP2650 laptop with a fresh Ubuntu 14.04LTS install. It has a Realtek RTL8723BE wireless adapter in it. Initially after installation I had no wireless, but I was able to get it working after following the instructions on this thread: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2205497 . I had to checkout an earlier version of the driver from git as the thread says in order to get it to compile on my system.

The problem is that the connection eventually is lost within an hour or so, although Network Manager still shows it as connected. If I disable and re-enable the Wi-Fi or Networking it doesn't work. The wifi just endlessly tries to connect, but fails.

If I reboot it works fine again for a while.

I ran the wireless diagnostic script found elsewhere on the forum and uploaded my results here:

http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/7355768/

I could use some help. Thanks!

Braiam
  • 67,791
  • 32
  • 179
  • 269
themaninthewoods
  • 593

1 Answers1

12

I have same problem. For me, work-around is to remove and reinsert rtl8723be module:

root@lenovob5400# rmmod rtl8723be && modprobe rtl8723be

Sure it's not a solution, but better than rebooting. What a shame Ubuntu does not work with such popular wifi card.

BTW, I tried kernel 3.15, but it has same issue (and few others).

Looking forward for better solution. Go get it hackers! ;-)

Update:

Friends, please vote on related ubuntu bug.

Update 2:

Upcoming ubuntu kernel 3.13.0-25.47 have #1240940 bug fixed, however, after installing this kernel from ppa, the rtl8723be module is there indeed, but I was not able to connect at all. Currently I am using standard 3.13.0-24-generic kernel with rtl8723be kernel module from: https://github.com/lwfinger/rtl8723be.git at 604aa9058fb9e5bb1cf571c99989d081f8fc8b9b commit.

Update 3:

I tried ndiswrapper 1.9 with winxp 64 drivers (and man others). All failed to load:

[  327.503426] ndiswrapper version 1.59 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[  327.517958] ndiswrapper: driver netrtwlane (Realtek Semiconductor Corp.,08/02/2013,2010.5.0724.2013) loaded
[  327.519049] ndiswrapper (NdisWriteErrorLogEntry:188): log: C0001388, count: 1, return_address: ffffffffa05e5d9f
[  327.519052] ndiswrapper (NdisWriteErrorLogEntry:191): code: 0x605
[  327.519143] ndiswrapper (mp_init:211): couldn't initialize device: C001001E
[  327.519146] ndiswrapper (pnp_start_device:395): Windows driver couldn't initialize the device (C0000001)
[  327.519150] ndiswrapper (mp_halt:254): device ffff8800cd747880 is not initialized - not halting
[  327.519151] ndiswrapper: device eth%d removed
[  327.519380] ndiswrapper: probe of 0000:04:00.0 failed with error -22

I tried one more trick - added fwlps=0 parameter for the rtl8723be module. So far so good. We will see...

Michał Šrajer
  • 27,999
  • Thanks for your input and sharing that 3.15 didn't help. Someone with the same problem and another realtek card suggested sudo modprobe -r [module name] && sudo modprobe [module name] so I tried that once when the WiFi went down, with no luck. I haven't tried rmmod instead, but don't they do the same thing? I'll give it a try next time it happens. I'm not on that laptop as often as my desktop. Yes, it is a shame. I guess we'll have to be patient. – themaninthewoods May 01 '14 at 05:12
  • modprobe -r rtl8723be should do same thing as rmmod rtl8723be since no other module is using it. I am not 100% sure this always works. It worked for me last time I had this problem. I will share my observations here if I find anything interesting. – Michał Šrajer May 01 '14 at 17:15
  • my wifi just dropped and yes, sudo rrmod rtl8723be && sudo modprobe rtl8723be did get it running again. Thanks! I'll try the fwlps=0 parameter next and let you know. Was that on 3.13.0-24? – themaninthewoods May 02 '14 at 05:38
  • yes module params was for regular distro kernel 3.13.0-24. BTW, for me rmmod and modprobe does not always work :-/ – Michał Šrajer May 02 '14 at 16:46
  • one more thing to try rfkill block bluetooth since this wifi adapter shares antenna with bluetooth. It's not a solution if you need BT, but I don't use it anyway. – Michał Šrajer May 02 '14 at 17:41
  • 4
    I tried the fwlps=0 parameter and so far so good! I've been up for about 24 hours now with no drops! For others who want to try this, I used the command echo "options rtl8723be fwlps=0" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723be.conf Let me give it one more day and I will accept your answer. Very helpful! After doing some digging it looks like other realtek cards have needed similar modifications. See archlinux post and ubuntuforums post – themaninthewoods May 04 '14 at 22:20
  • I also have longest run without drops, however yesterday I got one kernel panic caused by rtlwifi module. Please share if you have same problem. – Michał Šrajer May 05 '14 at 07:16
  • What do you mean a kernel panic? Have you tried ips=0 I have not, but other rtl card users have done this successfully. I'm afraid I'm not on this computer enough to rigorously test. I'll give it a try now. I know by default my computer is configured to use ips. – themaninthewoods May 06 '14 at 15:02
  • I mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kernel_panic caused by rtlwifi. It was only once so far. – Michał Šrajer May 07 '14 at 09:12
  • I know moderators think this is off-topic, but this is the place of record for this now. After an update this morning my rtl8723be didn't work again. I had to recompile the older version of driver again as linked in my first post, but I couldn't modprobe it, kept getting "invalid argument". So I deleted the /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723be.conf file (I just changed the name temporarily). Then I was able do sudo modprobe rtl8723be, put the .conf file back in place, and reboot. Works again. – themaninthewoods May 11 '14 at 16:32
  • I got also "invalid argument" issue. Removing /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723be.conf didn't help for me. I had to go back to kernel 3.11 and it works. I am done with rtl8723be. I ordered USB Wifi adapter. Shame... – Michał Šrajer May 12 '14 at 11:55
  • I just replaced my card with an Intel 6235 and it works perfectly right out of the box. problem solved. – themaninthewoods May 16 '14 at 02:46
  • I just installed Kernel 3.16rc7 and it seems to fix problem for me. http://linuxg.net/how-to-install-kernel-3-16-rc7-on-ubuntu-14-04-and-derivative-systems/ – tuxdna Jul 31 '14 at 23:22
  • 2
    Adding fwlps=0 parameter for the rtl8723be module worked for me too. Thanks for the fix. – Frank Barcenas Dec 07 '14 at 16:43
  • Adding fwlps=0 Works for me too. – user568109 Feb 18 '15 at 12:41
  • the file rtl8723.conf seems to created fresh using the working method suggested. Is that right or should that file have been present already? – Lakshmi Narayanan Aug 06 '16 at 04:21