Ubuntu
network-manager package

Cannot establish existing hidden wireless connection through GUI

Bug #450097 reported by Mahesh Asolkar on 2009-10-13

This bug report is a duplicate of: Bug #446394: Connect to Hidden...select Saved Secure Connection; Connect not possible. Edit Remove

This bug affects 10 people

Affects		Status	Importance	Assigned to	Milestone
	network-manager (Ubuntu)	Confirmed	Undecided	Unassigned

Bug Description

Binary package hint: network-manager

Since a day or two, the default wireless connection does not establish automatically.

If I create a new connection (to a hidden access point with WPA2 personal security), the connection fails. I've attached the log when the wireless connection fails.

If I select an existing connection from the 'Connect to Hidden Wireless Network...' menu, the 'connect' button is greyed out (will attach a screenshot).

Looking at the log, it seems as if authentication occurs correctly and my laptop is connected to the access point, but DHCP fails.

Not sure how to go about this.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Date: Mon Oct 12 21:20:42 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
IfupdownConfig:
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
IpRoute:
192.168.0.0/24 dev eth0 proto kernel scope link src 192.168.0.101 metric 1
169.254.0.0/16 dev eth0 scope link metric 1000
default via 192.168.0.1 dev eth0 proto static
Package: network-manager 0.8~a~git.20091005t192303.1d28ad1-0ubuntu2
ProcEnviron:
PATH=(custom, user)
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SHELL=/usr/bin/tcsh
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-13.44-generic
RfKill:
0: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: network-manager
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-13-generic i686

Tags:

Revision history for this message

Mahesh Asolkar (asolkar) wrote on 2009-10-13:

Log when wireless connection fails Edit (7.8 KiB, text/plain)
Dependencies.txt Edit (2.1 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Gconf.txt Edit (500 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
IpAddr.txt Edit (902 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
IwConfig.txt Edit (548 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
NetDevice.eth0.txt Edit (1.1 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
NetDevice.eth1.txt Edit (1.1 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
NetDevice.lo.txt Edit (3.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
NetDevice.pan0.txt Edit (3.0 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
PciNetwork.txt Edit (1.3 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
WifiSyslog.txt Edit (213.6 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
XsessionErrors.txt Edit (900 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
nm-system-settings.conf.txt Edit (313 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")

Revision history for this message

Mahesh Asolkar (asolkar) wrote on 2009-10-13:

Greyed 'connect' button when selecting an existing hidden network Edit (48.9 KiB, image/png)

Revision history for this message

Mahesh Asolkar (asolkar) wrote on 2009-10-14:

This happens with the daily Live CD (as of last night) as well.

Revision history for this message

Mahesh Asolkar (asolkar) wrote on 2009-10-23:

Password prompt with 'connect' button greyed! Edit (99.9 KiB, image/png)

Today I changed the router settings to enable SSID broadcast. When I select my network from the nm-applet dropdown, I again get a password prompt with 'connect' button greyed out! I am baffled. I've never seen this happen before.. and now it's happening so consistently. Attached is the screenshot.

Isn't there any log/permissions etc. I can check to debug this? There must be only finite number of reasons why the connect button would be greyed. Where can I look to find out what the conditions are?

Revision history for this message

Mahesh Asolkar (asolkar) wrote on 2009-10-26:

The root cause - from what I understand - was that DHCP failed when negotiating with the router. I enabled static IP for my laptop's MAC and it now connects.

Why that should cause weird behavior in network-manager (like 'connect' button greyed out, as pointed in the bug) is beyond my understanding.

Just as a data point, when dynamic IP was enabled, the laptop would not connect to the router with wicd too.

Could it be a router problem? DHCP works just fine on wired ports.

Revision history for this message

meist3r (meist3r) wrote on 2009-11-09:

I've got the same problem since I installed Karmic on my Thinkpad. The hidden WLAN usually connects by itself but every now and then it doesn't. Usually it happens when I take the machine to a place that doesn't have wireless and to save battery power I hardware toggle the wireless function (I got a switch for that on the front). I select my hidden WPA2 access point from the list of existing "hidden wireless networks" but the connect button is greyed out and no activity seems to take place. I have assigned a static IP4 address for this network and have no trouble using it once it automatically connects. I can work around this bug by entering my wireless details as a "New" connection in the menu since it doesn't overwrite the old settings but connects. If there is any log output or additional information I can provide to help please let me know. This should be fixed since it basically breaks the wireless functionality for hidden SSIDs in some cases.

@Mahesh: I don't think it's a router related issue since the network auth works just fine when it automatically connects. There must be something wrong with the way the connection process is initiated through the GUI. At least that is what I assume.

I'm wondering, what machine do you use and do you hardware toggle wireless before this happens? If it's a ThinkPad as well maybe we can narrow it down a bit in that regard.

summary:

- Cannot establish wireless connection
+ Cannot establish existing hidden wireless connection through GUI

Revision history for this message

gidantribal (aedo999) wrote on 2009-11-13:

network manager and grayed out button Edit (22.7 KiB, image/jpeg)

the same here guys... Can't connect because 'connect' button is grayed out for saved hidden connections. maybe it's a rights problem, i.e.: NetworkManager can't properly connect to key manager or something like that. Screenshots attached.

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gidantribal (aedo999) wrote on 2009-11-13:

i was forgetting: koala karmic x64

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_VZ_ (formatc-meta) wrote on 2009-11-23:

HiddenWiFi.png Edit (60.7 KiB, image/png)

I have the same problem, after upgrading to 9.10

Mathieu Marquer (slasher-fun) on 2009-11-26

Changed in network-manager (Ubuntu):
status:	New → Confirmed

Revision history for this message

Jas (redct2) wrote on 2009-12-02:

#10

I am experiencing the same problem ('Connect' button greyed out for my hidden wireless network connection) with my Ubuntu 9.10 install on a Dell Vostro 1320 laptop. Only after I alter the key, save it, then restore the correct key, and save it (through 'Network Connections'), does it connect to my wireless network.

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Stephan Heuser (stephan-heuser) wrote on 2009-12-05:

#11

I have the exact same issue on karmic x86 / Intel 5100 (iwlagn).. This is really annoying.

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Sotomajor (miccots) wrote on 2009-12-09:

#12

One more report of this issue: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-applet/+bug/461385

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Nick Porter (nick-porter) wrote on 2009-12-09:

#13

I have the same with x64 Karmic on a Dell XPS M1530 (iwlagn). I find that connections to hidden wireless will start after waiting for a while - the time span varies - or sometimes using the hardware switch to disable and re-enable the wireless a couple of times will prompt it to connect, but using the "Connect to Hidden Wireless Network" option and then selecting an existing network always comes up with a greyed out "Connect" button after you select the network you want.

Revision history for this message

fontinalis (sfontinalis) wrote on 2009-12-10:

#14

Hello,

I am experiencing this in Karmic 32 bit on three machines with all the current updates. This bug seems like it has been duped with others here:

This looks like the original:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-applet/+bug/446394

Duped in these:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-applet/+bug/449287
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager/+bug/455161
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/network-manager-applet/+bug/461385

If this is indeed a dup of #446394 it should be marked as so and folks should post comments on the 446394 thread.

Cheers,
brook

Revision history for this message

Andrew Lyman-Buttler (andrewlymanbuttler) wrote on 2010-03-23:

#15

I have Karmic 9.10 and the exact same issue. I'm using a Thinkpad, but I never use the hardware toggle. I know it's not a router problem because I dual boot XP and Windows connects just fine. Also, my network is WEP (since ndiswrapper still won't support WPA) and I get the same problem. Thanks for your help!