Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS - Randomly Requests WiFi Authentication

[Sasqui]

I have two x58 rigs at work running Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS for WCG chrunching. They are connected to our guest network via WiFi (with password), each using a Panda 300Mbps Wireless N USB Adapter

They were running fine for a month or two, but then a few weeks ago, every once in a while the connection drops and there's a dialog to Authenticate the connection. It seems random. One PC is fine, the other has dropped a connection overnight, sometimes both.

Here's the odd thing: If I click the continue button on the authentication dialog it will not reconnect. If I go to the wireless icon at the top right and select the guest network, it connects right away, no prompt for a password since it's remembered it. Checked all settings and don't see anything amiss, automatically connect is on, and the password is there in the connection settings for the guest network.

Help?

 

[Bo$$]

I've noticed this on my own ubuntu machines running Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS (was doing it on Ubuntu 16.04.2 as well)

 

[Sasqui]

I've noticed this on my own ubuntu machines running Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS (was doing it on Ubuntu 16.04.2 as well)

Nice to know I'm not alone. What WiFi adapter do you have?

Edit: May be a solution right here: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2343827

 

[Bo$$]

Nice to know I'm not alone. What WiFi adapter do you have?

mine is a 8188EE chipset, i know support for this chipset is sketchy so i dont know if it'll get fixed

 

[Sasqui]

mine is a 8188EE chipset, i know support for this chipset is sketchy so i dont know if it'll get fixed

Here's the code to fix it, doesn't sound like it's chipset specific:

Temporary (do not reboot after you run the commands or the settings will be lost):

sudo modprobe -rv iwl3945
sudo modprobe -v iwl3945 disable_hw_scan=1

This will supposedly make it permanent:

echo "options iwl3945 disable_hw_scan=1" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/iwl3945 .conf
sudo modprobe -rfv iwl3945
sudo modprobe -v  iwl3945

Edit: Just ran the permanent version. Will take a few days to see if it works.

Update: Same thing, Ubuntu is asking for network authentication only 1 hour after I "patched" it. Thankfully I caught it before BOINC stopped doing work.

This is REALLY frustrating me!

 

[jsfitz54]

What about updating to the newer UBUNTU 17.10.1. Any added support?

Sorry if this is not helpful.

 

[Sasqui]

What about updating to the newer UBUNTU 17.10.1. Any added support?

Sorry if this is not helpful.

I don't know honestly. I'm not enough of a power user to navigate a beta product, though it is only another month till it's a LTS product.

I'll probably give it a try in a month or so. I just had a system update for one of my 16 LTS rigs, so I'm hoping something there will help.

 

[silentbogo]

Here's the code to fix it, doesn't sound like it's chipset specific:

But it is chipset-specific. It's for an old Intel 3945 mini-PCIe wireless G card (the one you'll find in 10-12 year old laptops).
Basically this fix is an equivalent of opening "/etc/modprobe.d/iwl3945 .conf" as root with any text editor and adding a config line "disable_hw_scan=1".

It does not work in your case, cause your adapter is based on Ralink(now Mediatek) RT3070 chipset. Try looking for a similar option in module configuration, or blacklist the old driver and manually install a Panda driver from official website, or one of the alternative/repackaged RT3070 drivers.

 

[jsfitz54]

@Sasqui : Did this issue resolve itself? How so? Did you update to the newer Ubuntu?

 

[Sasqui]

@Sasqui : Did this issue resolve itself? How so? Did you update to the newer Ubuntu?

I've let Ubuntu update a few times and the last round seems to have helped. I haven't looked to see what version I'm up to but I have not done a 17 install.