# destination host unreachable

## technopenguin

[edit]: I am having errors like "destination host unreachable" and "no route to host" 99 percent of the time, if doing anything beyond pinging: wget, browsing with browser besides links or dillo, etc..  I wasn't right in saying that wpa_supplicant was the problem, this describes my problem better.

Hello, I am having issues with wpa_supplicant.  I have wireless hardware that uses the brcmsmac driver with some firmware.  The hardware is recognized and working, but wpa_supplicant works erratically.  By this, I mean that, like the flip of a coin, it will or will not work.  When it actually doesn't work, it will work for some time.  Then I go to links and try to download a stage3, for example, and pings to google no longer work; they hang for a couple minutes, then output 'unknown host'.  A ping to 127.0.0.1 always works.  Here is information about my computer and my problem that I have gathered.  If you know or see something that I haven't, please help!

```

wpa_supplicant -v

wpa_supplicant v0.7.3
```

```
07:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller (rev 01)

   Subsystem: Foxconn International, Inc. Device e042

   Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster+ SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-

   Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- <MAbort- >SERR- <PERR- INTx-

   Latency: 0, Cache Line Size: 64 bytes

   Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 19

   Region 0: Memory at f0100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]

   Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3

      Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1+ D2+ AuxCurrent=0mA PME(D0+,D1-,D2-,D3hot+,D3cold+)

      Status: D0 NoSoftRst+ PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=2 PME-

   Capabilities: [58] Vendor Specific Information: Len=78 <?>

   Capabilities: [48] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+

      Address: 0000000000000000  Data: 0000

   Capabilities: [d0] Express (v1) Endpoint, MSI 00

      DevCap:   MaxPayload 128 bytes, PhantFunc 0, Latency L0s <4us, L1 unlimited

         ExtTag+ AttnBtn- AttnInd- PwrInd- RBE+ FLReset-

      DevCtl:   Report errors: Correctable- Non-Fatal- Fatal- Unsupported-

         RlxdOrd- ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr- NoSnoop-

         MaxPayload 128 bytes, MaxReadReq 128 bytes

      DevSta:   CorrErr- UncorrErr- FatalErr- UnsuppReq- AuxPwr+ TransPend-

      LnkCap:   Port #0, Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, ASPM L1, Latency L0 <4us, L1 <64us

         ClockPM+ Surprise- LLActRep+ BwNot-

      LnkCtl:   ASPM L1 Enabled; RCB 64 bytes Disabled- Retrain- CommClk+

         ExtSynch- ClockPM+ AutWidDis- BWInt- AutBWInt-

      LnkSta:   Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, TrErr- Train- SlotClk+ DLActive+ BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-

   Capabilities: [100 v1] Advanced Error Reporting

      UESta:   DLP- SDES- TLP- FCP- CmpltTO- CmpltAbrt- UnxCmplt- RxOF- MalfTLP- ECRC- UnsupReq- ACSViol-

      UEMsk:   DLP- SDES- TLP- FCP- CmpltTO- CmpltAbrt- UnxCmplt- RxOF- MalfTLP- ECRC- UnsupReq- ACSViol-

      UESvrt:   DLP+ SDES- TLP- FCP+ CmpltTO- CmpltAbrt- UnxCmplt- RxOF+ MalfTLP+ ECRC- UnsupReq- ACSViol-

      CESta:   RxErr- BadTLP- BadDLLP- Rollover- Timeout- NonFatalErr-

      CEMsk:   RxErr- BadTLP- BadDLLP- Rollover- Timeout- NonFatalErr+

      AERCap:   First Error Pointer: 00, GenCap+ CGenEn- ChkCap+ ChkEn-

   Capabilities: [13c v1] Virtual Channel

      Caps:   LPEVC=0 RefClk=100ns PATEntryBits=1

      Arb:   Fixed- WRR32- WRR64- WRR128-

      Ctrl:   ArbSelect=Fixed

      Status:   InProgress-

      VC0:   Caps:   PATOffset=00 MaxTimeSlots=1 RejSnoopTrans-

         Arb:   Fixed- WRR32- WRR64- WRR128- TWRR128- WRR256-

         Ctrl:   Enable+ ID=0 ArbSelect=Fixed TC/VC=ff

         Status:   NegoPending- InProgress-

   Capabilities: [160 v1] Device Serial Number 00-00-19-ff-ff-56-60-d8

   Capabilities: [16c v1] Power Budgeting <?>

   Kernel driver in use: brcmsmac

   Kernel modules: brcmsmac

```

```

# This blank configuration will automatically use DHCP for any net.*

# scripts in /etc/init.d.  To create a more complete configuration,

# please review /usr/share/doc/openrc*/net.example* and save your configuration

# in /etc/conf.d/net (this file :]!).

#WPA_SUPPLICANT

modules=( "wpa_supplicant" )

wpa_supplicant_wlan0="-Dwext"

config_wlan0=( "dhcp" )
```

```

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

ctrl_interface_group=wheel

ap_scan=1

network={

   ssid="Cisco11111"

   key_mgmt=NONE

   priority=5

}
```

wpa_supplicant working:

```
[   19.946372] udevd[2245]: starting version 171

[   20.412369] brcmsmac 0000:07:00.0: bus 7 slot 0 func 0 irq 11

[   20.412435] brcmsmac 0000:07:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19

[   20.412450] brcmsmac 0000:07:00.0: setting latency timer to 64

[   20.639524] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'

[   22.463160] EXT3-fs (sda3): using internal journal

[   24.801452] Adding 4095996k swap on /dev/sda2.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:4095996k 

[   25.288770] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_config: change monitor mode: false (implement)

[   25.288783] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_config: change power-save mode: false (implement)

[   25.289804] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: qos enabled: false (implement)

[   25.291190] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

[   26.751982] wlan0: authenticate with 58:6d:8f:8b:cb:d9 (try 1)

[   26.753757] wlan0: authenticated

[   26.753820] wlan0: associate with 58:6d:8f:8b:cb:d9 (try 1)

[   26.757647] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 58:6d:8f:8b:cb:d9 (capab=0x401 status=0 aid=1)

[   26.757658] wlan0: associated

[   26.758675] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: qos enabled: true (implement)

[   26.758693] ieee80211 phy0: brcmsmac: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: associated

[   26.758704] ieee80211 phy0: changing basic rates failed: -22

[   26.758712] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: arp filtering: enabled true, count 0 (implement)

[   26.760154] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready

[   32.238405] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: arp filtering: enabled true, count 1 (implement)

[   36.850300] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
```

```

Selected interface 'wlan0'

bssid=58:6d:8f:8b:cb:d9

ssid=Cisco11111

id=0

mode=station

pairwise_cipher=NONE

group_cipher=NONE

key_mgmt=NONE

wpa_state=COMPLETED

ip_address=192.168.1.102
```

wpa_supplicant not working:

```
[   19.903519] udevd[2245]: starting version 171

[   20.481473] brcmsmac 0000:07:00.0: bus 7 slot 0 func 0 irq 11

[   20.481571] brcmsmac 0000:07:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19

[   20.481587] brcmsmac 0000:07:00.0: setting latency timer to 64

[   20.674250] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'

[   21.900257] EXT3-fs (sda3): using internal journal

[   24.291872] Adding 4095996k swap on /dev/sda2.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:4095996k 

[   24.777117] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_config: change monitor mode: false (implement)

[   24.777130] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_config: change power-save mode: false (implement)

[   24.778118] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: qos enabled: false (implement)

[   24.779504] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

[   26.232519] wlan0: authenticate with 58:6d:8f:8b:cb:d9 (try 1)

[   26.234355] wlan0: authenticated

[   26.234448] wlan0: associate with 58:6d:8f:8b:cb:d9 (try 1)

[   26.237802] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 58:6d:8f:8b:cb:d9 (capab=0x401 status=0 aid=1)

[   26.237814] wlan0: associated

[   26.238401] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: qos enabled: true (implement)

[   26.238420] ieee80211 phy0: brcmsmac: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: associated

[   26.238431] ieee80211 phy0: changing basic rates failed: -22

[   26.238439] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: arp filtering: enabled true, count 0 (implement)

[   26.240597] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready

[   32.458412] ieee80211 phy0: brcms_ops_bss_info_changed: arp filtering: enabled true, count 1 (implement)

[   36.274281] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
```

```

Selected interface 'wlan0'

bssid=58:6d:8f:8b:cb:d9

ssid=Cisco11111

id=0

mode=station

pairwise_cipher=NONE

group_cipher=NONE

key_mgmt=NONE

wpa_state=COMPLETED

ip_address=192.168.1.102
```

```
lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  

*** typical lo stuff ***

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 60:d8:19:56:aa:73  

          inet addr:192.168.1.102  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0

          inet6 addr: fe80::62d8:19ff:fe56:aa73/64 Scope:Link

          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1

          RX packets:331 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

          TX packets:222 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 

          RX bytes:309535 (302.2 KiB)  TX bytes:22822 (22.2 KiB)

```

```

1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN 

    link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00

    inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo

    inet6 ::1/128 scope host 

       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever

2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000

    link/ether dc:0e:a1:09:00:54 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff[/list]

3: sit0: <NOARP> mtu 1480 qdisc noop state DOWN 

    link/sit 0.0.0.0 brd 0.0.0.0

4: wlan0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state UP qlen 1000

    link/ether 60:d8:19:56:aa:73 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

    inet 192.168.1.102/24 brd 192.168.1.255 scope global wlan0

    inet6 fe80::62d8:19ff:fe56:aa73/64 scope link 

       valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
```

Last edited by technopenguin on Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:42 pm; edited 5 times in total

----------

## khayyam

technopenguin ...

well, your "wpa_supplicant working" and "wpa_supplicant not working" are identical and so no real information about the problem can be gleened from them. In terms of your wpa_supplicant.conf of the three two are identical (and I'm not sure why your providing them) and similarly with ifconfig/ip output. So, you first need to provide good examples of the problem, and good information for us to work with. 

Currently it could be any of the following: your AP is open, so who knows who is using it, higher bandwidth use will equal greater load for the AP, and so more potencial for disconnects. You have a high level of neighbour traffic slash channel/bandwith polution. Your Cisco-Linksys is crapping out (I've had one that died after less than a year). The broadcom card/driver is at fault ... etc, etc. With all of these as possiblities you need to isolate the problem further ... at least before deciding that wpa_supplicant is at issue.

best ... khay

----------

## technopenguin

It is as you said, there is very little difference between those files for the working wireless and non.  One difference I noticed between this lack of internet functionality and normal lack of internet is this:

For normal lack, say an ipv4ll problem that I fixed, ping to 192.168.1.1 results in 'network unreachable' right away.

ping to google gets destination host unreachable right away.

For this problem, a ping to 192.168.1.1 has a long pause, then 'destination host unreachable' repeated line by line

ping to google gets a long pause, then the message 'destination host unreachable'.

The way I can recreate the error is this: I go to gentoo downloads, and go start downloading a stage3.  As soon as the download stops, the average download rates instantly starts dropping, while the estimated download time instantly starts to increase eternally.

This problem doesn't start when I'm logged in.  I can ping to google, even browse some internet pages, but if it's that 30 percent of the time, if I started a download, it would stop working, with the above ping errors.  I'm going to try browsing for much longer without downloading, and see if I can get better hold on this behavior.

The access point is open, but due to the wireless range and the lack of proximity of neighbors, only the neighbors next door (who have their own, better wireless network) could possibly even see this ssid.  I've had bad luck with the linksys routers, having to replace them every 3 years, but so far, all other wireless devices haven't had problems with this recently purchased router.  I've used this same driver and firmware on another linux distro on this netbook, with network manager (so wpa_supplicant).  I was downloading a lot of applications while using that distro, so that would also rule out the hardware.

I did some investigation when I encountered this error today.  I did killall wpa_supplicant, which removed wpa_cli as well.  Then I initiated wpa_supplicant on my own, with -dd option.  This time, when I went to download the stage3, it worked.  Then, I went ahead and started recompiling wpa_supplicant so that I could automatically log it with the -f option.  This resulted in some downloading of its own.  As I watched it work, I noticed that my internet connection went bad again.  It seems that a sudden increase in download activity will stop the internet connection.  When the internet connection dropped for the second time, no messages were displayed in wpa_supplicant's termianl.  So I aborted wpa_supplicant's operation and restarted it, and the connection returned.  This time, it did not continue to stay connected once I started the stage3 download.  Then I tried again.  It stopped at the stage3 download.  Then I restarted again.  Then it stopped at the same download.  The internet connection is also finicky for simple browsing in uzbl.  Dillo's ok, but a download only gets so far, like a file that gets to 71%.  A simultaneous ping to google gets pings up to 55 seconds, but they never seemed like they were going to stop... no 'destination host unreachable'.

I'm sorry I didn't mention the evidence that led me to rule out everything but software.  It makes more sense to include that, so you know where I'm coming from with this.

It makes sense that it is not necessarily wpa_supplicant at fault here.  I do believe that there is something software related that is causing this, though.

I appreciate any insights anyone has to offer on this.

----------

## khayyam

technopenguin ...

I see ... well, that clarifys things somewhat. Taking another look over the above log somethings seem a little odd, like QOS and 'arp filtering', could you pastebin your .config?

Your linksys is it a 802.11n?

Also, I can't see a PHY for the BCM4313, only for the BCM54xx ... I'm not that familar with broadcom cards but the BCM4313 has its own PHY driver? 

best ... khay

----------

## technopenguin

 *Quote:*   

> Your linksys is it a 802.11n?

 

Yes, it is a 802.11n.  A linksys E2500.

Are you referring to my kernel config?  I have it here:

http://pastebin.com/rxK0e618

About the PHY driver..

```
CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_BROADCOM=y

CONFIG_BROADCOM_PHY=m

```

Is the part of the configuration file that made my other distro have wireless.

On this system, !!!

```
# CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_BROADCOM Is not set

# Broadcom specific AMBA
```

I don't think the net_vendor is as important, since it falls under drivers/net/ETHERNET/broadcom etc. , but this broadcom PHY... could this be the problem?  I'm going to recompile an extra kernel and see.  This PHY's description is just "Drivers for Broadcom PHYs", and falls under drivers/net/phy etc.

Those two preceding outputs are the result of 'grep -i broadcom <kernel_config> '

both kernel configurations have:

```
CONFIG_BRCMSMAC=m
```

I'm not too familiar with this QOS or ARP, but I'm reading up on it.  So QOS is "Quality Of Service", and I'm still looking to see if this is related to my problem.  ARP filtering is said to be used for limiting network traffic, which seems exactly like my problem.

[edit] I did try using the command 'sysctl net.ipv4.conf.wlan0.arp_filter=0', and through the next two boots, before I changed it back to the presumed '1', I had no connection.

http://wiki.wireshark.org/AddressResolutionProtocol

----------

## khayyam

technopenguin ...

Ignore the whole question of PHY ... it is indeed for the broadcom ethernet ... and I read the phy in the log as from the driver, not ieee80211.

 *technopenguin wrote:*   

> [...] I'm not too familiar with this QOS or ARP, but I'm reading up on it.  So QOS is "Quality Of Service", and I'm still looking to see if this is related to my problem.  ARP filtering is said to be used for limiting network traffic, which seems exactly like my problem.

 

The QOS is also related to powersaving on the card (see: Documentation/power/pm_qos_interface.txt) and CONFIG_CFG80211_DEFAULT_PS=y (which you have set) enables this, the reason I pointed it out is that I never see such messages from ieee80211, nor anything related to ARP. Infact the only message logged from ieee80211 is "Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'" (which I don't see in in your dmesg ... though it may be prior to the snippet provided).

I don't have a linksys, but 11n routers often come with 'traffic shaping' (aka QOS) features intended to prioritise traffic (ie video streaming will get a higher priority than say, file transfer). You should check the AP's web interface for such things. I had a sitecom 11n router that had this and it was painfully broken. If, as you say, other clients don't seem to show similar issues then its more likely to be something specific to your machine, the above is worth checking none the less, particularly if your machine is the only client with an 11n card.

Something that stands out in your .config is you have CONFIG_FIB_RULES=y (under Packet Radio protocols) but DECNET_ROUTER=y would be needed to set this, which in your case its not. How was this .config generated, was it created via 'make oldconfig' from a previous .config?

best ... khay

----------

## technopenguin

Hmmm... the other distrobution worked just fine with the wireless connection, and I never had problems with too much data transfer on any system, wired or wireless, and not on that other distrobution.  This makes me rule out the router.

 *Quote:*   

> The QOS is also related to powersaving on the card (see: Documentation/power/pm_qos_interface.txt) and CONFIG_CFG80211_DEFAULT_PS=y (which you have set) enables this, the reason I pointed it out is that I never see such messages from ieee80211, nor anything related to ARP. Infact the only message logged from ieee80211 is "Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel_ht'" (which I don't see in in your dmesg ... though it may be prior to the snippet provided).

 

The 'selected rate control algorithm' message of 'ieee80211 phy0:' is indeed present earlier, beyond the snippet I gave.

 *Quote:*   

> Something that stands out in your .config is you have CONFIG_FIB_RULES=y (under Packet Radio protocols) but DECNET_ROUTER=y would be needed to set this, which in your case its not. How was this .config generated, was it created via 'make oldconfig' from a previous .config?
> 
> 

 

For this, I did have the same configurations on the kernel configuration for the working distro.

```
grep -i decnet debian_config-3.3.1 # DECnet: Netfilter Configuration

CONFIG_DECNET_NF_GRABULATOR=m

CONFIG_DECNET=m

# CONFIG_DECNET_ROUTER is not set

grep -i fib debian_config-3.3.1 

# CONFIG_IP_FIB_TRIE_STATS is not set

CONFIG_FIB_RULES=y

```

This config was generated from myself and lspci -vv, so there is certainly a possbility of user error   :Shocked: 

One thing I could try is to compile a kernel with similar configurations, I'll take a closer look at the differences for the net-related configurations, and will look for gentoo sources for a newer kernel..

I want to confirm one more thing.. so the path the data takes would be <bcm4313 hardware> --- <kernel driver(s) + firmware> --- <wpa_supplicant> --- <any applications e.g. links, dillo, uzbl, wget, etc. etc.>  right?  If there's nothing between wpa_supplicant and any internet application, I wouldn't have to consider any non-kernel software on the system besides wpa_supplicant..

[edit]: there is much more strangeness to this issue.  I went to kernel.org for source, and, of course, the connection instantly dropped.  But while it did that, I started pinging to google continuously, and the download was somehow able to recover, and the internet connection was saved..   :Shocked: 

----------

## khayyam

 *technopenguin wrote:*   

> This config was generated from myself and lspci -vv, so there is certainly a possbility of user error.
> 
> One thing I could try is to compile a kernel with similar configurations, I'll take a closer look at the differences for the net-related configurations, and will look for gentoo sources for a newer kernel.

 

technopenguin ... OK, thats odd, becuase the FIB is only enabled if DECNET is, but in your case DECNET isn't, so I can't really explain why it might be enabled. It may not be important though, I just pointed it out as it stood out as an oddity.

 *technopenguin wrote:*   

> I want to confirm one more thing.. so the path the data takes would be <bcm4313 hardware> --- <kernel driver(s) + firmware> --- <wpa_supplicant> --- <any applications e.g. links, dillo, uzbl, wget, etc. etc.>  right?  If there's nothing between wpa_supplicant and any internet application, I wouldn't have to consider any non-kernel software on the system besides wpa_supplicant..

 

Well, no, wpa_supplicant is not handling the traffic, that happens on the TCP/IP layer, all it does it negociate the connection and bring  ieee80211 into play. ieee80211 is handling the link, or physical, layer (hence "phy"), on top of this is the internet layer (IP), transport layer (TCP), and application layer (eg, ftp, http, etc).

 *technopenguin wrote:*   

> [edit]: there is much more strangeness to this issue.  I went to kernel.org for source, and, of course, the connection instantly dropped.  But while it did that, I started pinging to google continuously, and the download was somehow able to recover, and the internet connection was saved.

 

OK ... this sounds familiar ... can you post the output of 'iwconfig wlan0' ...

best ... khay

----------

## technopenguin

 *Quote:*   

> OK ... this sounds familiar ... can you post the output of 'iwconfig wlan0' ... 

 

```
wlan0  IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"Cisco11111"

       Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 58:6D:8F:8B:CB:D9

       Bit Rate=1 Mb/s  Tx-Power=19 dBm

       Retry long limit:7  RTS thr:off  Fragment thr:off

       Encryption key:off

       Power Management:off

       Link Quality=34/70  Signal level=-76 dBm

       Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0

       Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:276  MIssed beacon:0
```

I'm continuing to use the internet...I opened up uzbl, and entered google.com.  I was running a simultaneous wget.   The rate for the wget stopped, went back up, and stopped again.  The invalid misc count went to 404.

----------

## khayyam

technopenguin ...

well, the iwconfig didn't return what I was expecting.  As for the 'Invalid misc' this denotes packet loss on the wireless (ie non TCP/IP) layer ... it can be expected as wireless signals (unlike ethernet) are radio and so prone to interference (turn on any radio reciever and you'll hear signal degredation). So, after some reading through various bug reports, etc, I'm more and more inclined to think your problem is with the brcmsmac driver. The Arch linux broadcom miscellaneous_user_notes seem to bare this out. It may be an idea to try the wl driver, if the problem persists then it at least rules out the driver, and other possible factors could be considered, but its looking more and more likely the driver is at issue.

best ... khay

----------

## technopenguin

So, I did the kernel configurations necessary to install the broadcom-sta (wl) driver.  lsmod showed that the wl module was loaded.  However, ifconfig -a didn't show a wlan0, and iwconfig didn't show wireless extensions.  However, it does say that bcma-pci-bridge driver is in use, and wl module is in use.  There's a supposed fix from

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=82613 where, by using mkinitcpio, a person on that page was able to fix the issue of wl not working.  But this requires all sorts of config changes, including uninstalling 'module-init-tools-3.16-r1' and there are other sort of issues.  Not sure whether to keep pursuing the wl driver.

Also I want to add how this computer's been using ipv6 tunneling, which surprised me and made me wonder about this problem.  I had just learned about two ways to get ipv6: ask your ISP, or tunnel.  I will attach my messages log - grepping for tunneling shows it.

http://pastebin.com/D9vuKWmb

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## khayyam

 *technopenguin wrote:*   

> So, I did the kernel configurations necessary to install the broadcom-sta (wl) driver.  lsmod showed that the wl module was loaded.  However, ifconfig -a didn't show a wlan0, and iwconfig didn't show wireless extensions.  However, it does say that bcma-pci-bridge driver is in use, and wl module is in use.  There's a supposed fix from
> 
> https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=82613 where, by using mkinitcpio, a person on that page was able to fix the issue of wl not working.  But this requires all sorts of config changes, including uninstalling 'module-init-tools-3.16-r1' and there are other sort of issues.  Not sure whether to keep pursuing the wl driver.

 

technopenguin ... please do not follow the mkinitcpio route, it'll mean unmasking udev-182 and you will get all kind of addtional problems (like re-emerging eveything currently built against the current udev ... and some of these, like lvm2, won't compile). So, such a fix will probably break things, and unless your familar with dealing with dependencies, package breakage, etc, then I'd advise against it.

I should ask, did you follow the instructions given with the wl driver, like blacklisting bcrm, etc? (see README.txt) ... there are also two API options for compiling, "make API=WEXT" or "make API=CFG80211" ... so you may have not installed it correctly. I can't see from the log what exactly the issue is, but there is one error related to the modules loading, it may be trivial, but it seems like its calling some depreciated method of registering the device. The driver seems to be for 2.6 and no mention of 3.x is given, so it may not work.

 *technopenguin wrote:*   

> Also I want to add how this computer's been using ipv6 tunneling, which surprised me and made me wonder about this problem.  I had just learned about two ways to get ipv6: ask your ISP, or tunnel.  I will attach my messages log - grepping for tunneling shows it.

 

No, this is the netfilter ipv6 over ipv4 driver, you would have to explicitly set up a tunnel. However, this stuff should be disabled in the kernel if you don't need it.

best ... khay

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## technopenguin

So I was originally just emerging the broadcom-sta driver, y'know, doing it through portage.. but went to the broadcom site after your suggestion to compile it.  I downloaded and compiled kernel 3.3.8, and for building from the 'hybrid_wl' folder, I got two issues, that Wext is the only possible API for this kernel version, and that 'struct net_device' has no member named 'wireless_handlers'.  Most of the hits on google are bug reports and issues with much older kernels., and the last release of this broadcom-sta was november '11.  I already had to do one patch to get rid of a 'symvers' error, but this the major wireless_handlers one is still here (and kernel version issue).

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## technopenguin

So I was originally just emerging the broadcom-sta driver, y'know, doing it through portage.. but went to the broadcom site after your suggestion to compile it.  I downloaded and compiled kernel 3.3.8, and for building from the 'hybrid_wl' folder, I got two issues, that Wext is the only possible API for this kernel version, and that 'struct net_device' has no member named 'wireless_handlers'.  Most of the hits on google are bug reports and issues with much older kernels., and the last release of this broadcom-sta was november '11.  Hm.  Should I use an older kernel, such as 3.1 or earlier??.  I already had to do one patch to get rid of a 'symvers' error, but this the major wireless_handlers one is still here (and kernel version issue).

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## khayyam

technopenguin ... 

looking at the changelog, net-wireless/broadcom-sta-5.100.82.112-r2 has a patch to compile with linux-3.4. It's currently 'stable' (but requires licence changes and manual fetch), is this the version you previously emerged and had issues with? The ebuild suggests that CONFIG_SSB, CONFIG_B43, and MAC80211 should be =n and CFG80211 and LIB80211 should be =y or =m. Its targeting a 3.4 kernel, so you will need to update from 3.2. Perhaps one or other of these is the reason you had issues ...

Other than the above I'm not sure what to suggest ... if you update to say 3.4.5 you try the above, and if you have the same issue, you could unmerge broadcom-sta and try with the in kernel driver (as there may have been changes since 3.2.x).

best ... khay

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