Internet connection fickle with 11.10, fine with 10.04 live CD

Question

I am having trouble connecting to my wireless network with 11.10. But when I boot up with my 10.04 live CD, everything works just fine.

Does anybody have a clue what the problem might be?

What follows is a rather long exposition explaining the things I've done so far:

I installed Ubuntu 10.04 from a CD 2 days ago. I entered the password for my network, and connected flawlessly. I then went through the process of upgrading to 11.10, one version at a time. My internet was still okay for the rest of the day.

Next day I boot up. I am prompted for my network password. I enter it, then wait. I'm prompted again, and again and again. After a while I decide to reboot with my 10.04 disc. I enter my password, everything is fine. I reboot to 11.10, and things are working again, no problems for the rest of the day.

Today, same story. I boot up 11.10, enter password, again, again, again. Try out a Kubuntu 11.10 disc, no dice. Then back to my 10.04 disc and I'm good. Now I try going back to 11.10, not working. Back to 10.04, working. Back to 11.10, not working. Back to 10.04, working. And that's where I am now, running 10.04 from a live CD.

In case you are wondering, yes I am absolutely certain that I am entering the correct password.

Details about my system:

Here is my pci info: http://www.pasteall.org/27577/text

I assume the Network card is most relevant here:

01:09.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5008 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

Here's my usb info, though I don't believe there's anything relevant there: http://www.pasteall.org/27578/text

The following is the results of dmesg with a filter of grep -i network: http://www.pasteall.org/27579/text

This is udev with the same filter: http://www.pasteall.org/27580/text

sudo lshw -class network gives: http://www.pasteall.org/27581/text

Welcome to Ask Ubuntu! We need more hardware information to help you, can you look at this question and then edit your question adding the information. — Jorge Castro, Dec 21 '11 at 03:45
@JorgeCastro: I've added info about my system, is it sufficient? — Benjamin Lindley, Dec 21 '11 at 04:16
Update: I thought this behavior might be a random fluke, but after over a week of doing the exact same thing, every single time, it cannot be. — Benjamin Lindley, Dec 26 '11 at 15:58

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 26 '11 at 16:07

Atheros AR5008's have seen numerous problem reports. On versions before Oneiric the following was one method to resolve connection issues - give it a try to see if the same solution works for oneiric.

sudo -s
echo "options ath9k nohwcrypt=1" > /etc/modprobe.d/ath9k.conf

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 21 '11 at 02:35

0

Sounds like some package is stopping the wireless authentication - maybe try clicking the wifi icon in the top bar and choosing 'edit connections'. Then select 'wireless' and your current profile (if it's there, if not, add it) then fill in the details manually.

Otherwise, did you install any drivers for another wifi device? When I first installed ubuntu, I installed drivers for my Wifi USB dongle which actually stopped it from working, when I uninstalled them the native drivers were more than sufficient to run it.

answered Dec 21 '11 at 02:35

cortices

151

re the first: I have the details there already. Afterall, it is connecting sometimes. In fact, I rebooted while I was waiting for an answer, and it is now working again. It's set up to connect automatically, and it didn't even prompt me for a password.
re the second: I haven't installed any drivers whatsoever.
– Benjamin Lindley Dec 21 '11 at 02:45

Internet connection fickle with 11.10, fine with 10.04 live CD

2 Answers2