Realtek Wireless PCIe - Not working / Constant disconnects

[meebix]

Varun,

Excellent work - Wireless is still running smooth! Appreciate the help!

Moving this to solved.

-Meeibx

[varunendra]

This better work otherwise this is me --->

I'm really glad your head is intact...

Excellent work - Wireless is still running smooth!

..And I found a new parameter to play with

[meebix]

Hi All,

I am sad to report that I am starting to have stability issues again :/. The internet definitely works well, when it's working, but the stability is poor. It doesn't ever disconnect from the network, but I can tell a lot of times it just pauses or has a mental lapse where it forgets to work. I usually then have to manually disconnect and reconnect using WICD.

If I still use my Windows machine as a comparison, Linux is no where close :S

Does anyone have additional ideas to improve the stability?

Thanks!
Meebix

[varunendra]

Does anyone have additional ideas to improve the stability?

Let's do some diagnostics. Please post outputs of :

uname -mr
ifconfig
iwconfig
grep -R [0-9a-zA-Z] /sys/module/rtl8192ce/parameters/
dmesg | grep 8192

[zrdc28]

Switching from wicd to networkmanager solved this same problem for me. an easy way to do it is go to "/etc/" "chmod -x wicd" the -x will make wicd
non executable. You might have a wicd folder, if so go into that folder and chmod -x wicd . now go into /etc/NetworkManager and chmod +x networkmanager
that will make networkmanager executable. It will be executed the next time you reboot.

[meebix]

I did try switching back to NetworkManager and it is not any better.

Very sorry for the delay - should have waited to post until after my vacation, but here are the command outputs:

 ~ $ uname -mr
3.5.0-17-generic x86_64
 ~ $ ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 80:ee:73:53:f8:eb  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:576 (576.0 B)  TX bytes:576 (576.0 B)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 68:1c:a2:16:14:25  
          inet addr:192.168.1.101  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::6a1c:a2ff:fe16:1425/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:12380 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:9662 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:14450172 (14.4 MB)  TX bytes:1495350 (1.4 MB)

 ~ $ iwconfig
eth0      no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"BLANK"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 58:6D:8F:01:5A:80   
          Bit Rate=144.4 Mb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr=2347 B   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=57/70  Signal level=-53 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:278   Missed beacon:0

 ~ $ grep -R [0-9a-zA-Z] /sys/module/rtl8192ce/parameters/
/sys/module/rtl8192ce/parameters/ips:Y
/sys/module/rtl8192ce/parameters/debug:0
/sys/module/rtl8192ce/parameters/fwlps:N
/sys/module/rtl8192ce/parameters/swenc:Y
/sys/module/rtl8192ce/parameters/swlps:N
 ~ $ dmesg | grep 8192
[    0.000000] PERCPU: Embedded 28 pages/cpu @ffff88021f200000 s83584 r8192 d22912 u524288
[    0.000000] pcpu-alloc: s83584 r8192 d22912 u524288 alloc=1*2097152
[    9.217812] rtl8192ce: rtl8192ce: FW Power Save off (module option)
[    9.217820] rtl8192ce: Using firmware rtlwifi/rtl8192cfw.bin

Again, it feels like the wireless adapter just forgets that it should be on. Seems like it goes to sleep or something.

Thanks very much for your help,
Meebix

[varunendra]

Hello meebix,
Right now I'm super busy and can't focus with my tired mind. So just as a blind attempt, maybe even a stupid one, please try -

sudo modprobe -rfv rtl8192ce
sudo modprobe -v rtl8192ce ips=N

I am assuming the previous configuration file we created is already effective. The above new parameter will also ensure that the adapter will not use "Link power save", thus offering a better and steady link, hopefully..

As earlier, this change will be temporary and will be lost on reboot. If it works, we can make it permanent as earlier.

However, if it doesn't work, please follow the "wireless script" link in my signature, follow the instructions in the linked post and post back the contents of result file (or its pastebin link).

[meebix]

Hi Varun,

Thanks again for the suggestion. I've been trying it out and it does seem to make the connection better at times, but for instance, right now my Linux connection is hanging really bad, while I am typing this message perfectly fine on my Windows laptop.

Something is really wrong with the Linux connection. It has its brief moments of greatness, where at times it seems faster than the Windows connection. However, 90% of the time the Linux connection is unusable. It is really horrible and frustrating

Might there be anything else I could try?

Thanks,
Meebix

[varunendra]

Might there be anything else I could try?

Yup! Indeed there is something entirely different we may try. The proprietary driver from realtek. While you are connected to internet -

1. Download it from here : http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...Downloads=true
2. Copy the downloaded .tar.bz2 file to your desktop
3. Right-click the file > "Extract here". This will create a folder and extract all the source files in it.
4. Open a terminal and do -

(TIP : type a few initial characters, then press 'Tab' key to auto-complete the name.)

cd ~/Desktop/rtl_92ce_92se_92de_8723ae_88ee_linux_mac80211_0012.0207.2013
sudo su
apt-get install build-essential linux-headers-generic
make
make install
exit

Reboot and try to connect. Post back how it behaves.

[meebix]

Thanks Varun!

I made the changes. It constantly disconnects from the internet. However, I think we are on the right track, because while it IS connected to the internet, the signal strength is much more representative of what it actually should be (given the location I am to the router). Before, it kept telling me I was at 98%, which isn't even possible.

If we can get it to stay connected, this may work.

Thanks,
Meebix