Wifi only temporarily connects on Asus EEE 1000HE

**nosehat** · July 6th, 2011

the occasional understandable error.

Ha ha, not a problem at all, It happens to me all the time. And thanks again for the help!

So the new instructions worked fine through "make" and "make install" -- bunch of warnings generated but no errors.

The next two didn't work, though, because apparently the original wireless driver is now gone? It didn't load at all when I turned on the netbook this morning:

Code:

# ifconfig wlan0 down
wlan0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
# rmmod rt2860sta
ERROR: Module rt2860sta does not exist in /proc/modules

Presumably something I did yesterday removed the original rt2860sta? Or it's a fluke?

**chili555** · July 6th, 2011

When you do 'sudo make install' it installs it (not quite correctly, I might add) in /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/net/wireless. Then the 'sudo cp' step copies that driver to where the system looks for it, /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/staging/rt2860.

I think I see a copy and paste error. The sudo cp is supposed to be:

Code:

sudo cp /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rt2860sta.ko /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/staging/rt2860

Try it again and then do:

Code:

sudo modprobe rt2860sta
modinfo rt2860sta
iwconfig

Is the version now 2.4.0.0? Is it now working?

**nosehat** · July 6th, 2011

OK, this looks promising. I did the revised copy, now:

Code:

~$ sudo modprobe rt2860sta
~$ modinfo rt2860sta
filename:       /lib/modules/2.6.32-32-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rt2860sta.ko
license:        GPL
version:        2.4.0.0
srcversion:     13D46228144E2B4107ABD5C
alias:          pci:v00001432d00007768sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001432d00007748sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001432d00007738sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001432d00007727sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001432d00007758sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001432d00007728sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001432d00007708sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001A3Bd00001059sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001814d00000781sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001814d00000701sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001814d00000681sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias:          pci:v00001814d00000601sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
depends:        
vermagic:       2.6.32-32-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 586 
parm:           mac:rt28xx: wireless mac addr (charp)
nosehat@nosehat-laptop:~$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

ra0       Ralink STA  
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  invalid crypt:0  invalid misc:0

So what next?

I tried:

Code:

$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 up
wlan0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device

So I'm not quite there yet?

Does it need a reboot at this point?

**chili555** · July 6th, 2011

$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 up
wlan0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device

That's because your interface is now ra0. Please reboot and run:

Code:

dmesg | grep -e ra0 -e rt2
lsmod | grep rt2

We're close!

**nosehat** · July 6th, 2011

Rebooted.

Code:

~$ dmesg | grep -e ra0 -e rt2
[   12.649790] rt2860 0000:01:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
[   12.649848] rt2860 0000:01:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
~$ lsmod | grep rt2
rt2860sta             791605  0

I still have no wireless, though. Left clicking or right clicking on the little networking icon gives me no option to enable wireless yet.

**chili555** · July 6th, 2011

Can you confirm that, before you did make and make install, you did this from the link?

Step 3
Code:

gedit ./os/linux/config.mk

Use the find command to locate HAS_WPA_SUPPLICANT and make sure it is set to y for yes. It should look like this when finished:
HAS_WPA_SUPPLICANT=y

Use the find command to locate HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT and make sure it is set to y for yes. It should look like this when finished:
HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT=y

Close and save this file.

Please check. Also, is the needed .dat file in place?

Code:

ls /etc/Wireless/RT2860STA

Thanks.

**nosehat** · July 6th, 2011

Use the find command to locate HAS_WPA_SUPPLICANT and make sure it is set to y for yes. It should look like this when finished:
HAS_WPA_SUPPLICANT=y

Use the find command to locate HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT and make sure it is set to y for yes. It should look like this when finished:
HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT=y

Ahh, I must have been tired too! I did change the first of those, but I neglected to change the second! So, I've changed it now.

And yes, the needed .dat file is in place.

I will re-make the driver and attempt to copy it into the right folder and reboot.

**nosehat** · July 6th, 2011

<tentative cheer>

I think it might be working. I've successfully re-made, installed, and moved the driver. I also added an entry for rt2860sta to /etc/modules

I've booted a couple of times, and the wifi has connected each time.

Here's the new result of the two commands you asked for, by the way:

Code:

~$ dmesg | grep -e ra0 -e rt2
[   12.937623] rt2860 0000:01:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
[   12.937683] rt2860 0000:01:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[   14.018596] <==== rt28xx_init, Status=0
[   24.888027] ra0: no IPv6 routers present
nosehat@nosehat-laptop:~$ lsmod | grep rt2
rt2860sta             791441  1

Is there anything else I need to do?

I want to test this with a variety of battery conditions, both at home and work and on a public network, just to make sure everything is flawless. I'll mark the thread [Solved] after a day or two of testing.

Thanks again for all your help! I definitely owe you dinner if I'm ever in South Carolina!

**chili555** · July 6th, 2011

the wifi has connected each time.

You just repaid me all I could ever want! I'm glad it's working. If you feel you've tested enough to be confident, please use Thread Tools at the top and Mark Solved.

NB: When a later kernel version is installed, you'll need to rebuild the driver:

Code:

cd Desktop/2010etc.
sudo su
make clean
make
make install
modprobe rt2860sta
exit

**ahagele** · July 13th, 2011

Hi there,
I read through all this because I have exactly the same problem with my Eee. I'm just a bit reluctant to go through the whole compile from source action.
So a couple questions:
- what's the quickest way to find out if my driver is also affected, apart from the obvious effect of dropping the wireless link (I've just installed 11.04)?

- is there a way to get the driver pre-compiled and ready to run?

Thanks for your help

Andreas