[SOLVED] net.wlp2s0 has started, but is inactive

[Torpus]

@pietinger

dnsmasq is obsolete now. It won't start until NetworkManager does as it says on boot.

@NeddySeagoon

When I changed wpa_supplicant to NetworkManager (I had them both so I removed one), I assumed that NetworkManager will find SSIDs for me and choose whichever WiFi to connect to unlike wpa_supplicant that's manually configured.

It sounds also like NetworkManager has changed the name from wlp2s0 to wlan0 even when I attempted preventing it to do so:

[pietinger]

[NeddySeagoon]

Torpus,

Your dmesg has no sign of any wlan entries at all. Bring it up in your browser and Ctl-F wlan.
Now try it on an older dmesg.

Whatever your chose to manage networking stick with it. Swapping or having multiple 'managers' in use is worse than none at all.

The wifi process startup is the same for them all ...

The kernel does its thing, loads the driver and firmware as required then advertises the interface as wlan0 (if its the first one).
udev sees wlan0 being created and renames it unless you tell it not to.

At thin point, the interface exists and can be started. That's a two step process.
First, the radio link must be established.
That requires getting authenticated and associated with an access point.
Once that step is complete, the wifi behaves tike a wired interface, so the normal wired interface tools work to complete the setup.

You had been getting authenticated and associated, then you rebuilt your kernel and wlan0 vanished. That's a step backwards.

Looking at your kernel

[Torpus]

@pietinger

Alright alright I got it. These "features" would be turned on automatically as they are all dependent on CONFIG_CRYPTO_USER. I just turned that on and saw something slightly different when I boot Gentoo up:

[NeddySeagoon]

Torpus,

Reinstalling won't fix anything. It will only give you opportunities to make different mistakes.
It will also rob us all of the learning opportunity this problem provides.

Lets sidestep this for now. Make Gentoo work the way you want, then come back to the kernel.
The sidestep is

[Torpus]

Hmm... seems like nothing really happened.

I installed the package and updated GRUB. There was a new kernel called gentoo-dist. It gave me the exact same errors as in my original kernel.

Here's the dmesg of it.

I have to give everything for this system to work.
_________________
Illegitimi non carborundum.

[NeddySeagoon]

Torpus,

That really makes my head hurt.
iwlwifi is there, it appears to start with no errors but the kernel wlan0 interface is never created.
The kernel command line contains net.ifnames=0 which prevents udev renaming the interface. That's OK.

So ... is wlan0 really missing?

What interfaces does

[Torpus]

Sorry for all of this confusion Neddy, it's probably all a naming issue:

I get this on hardware Gentoo:

[pietinger]

[pietinger]

P.S.: Haha, Neddy was faster ...

[NeddySeagoon]

Torpus

wlan0: :)))

Its there but not in dmesg. Ewww.

Choose your poison for network management. Nothing tried to start wlan0: so it didn't start.
That's expected, its a design feature.

I'm not a NetworkManager guy but point it at wlan0 and see what happens.

As I say, I do it the old way with netifrc and a net file and a hand crafted wpa_supplicant.conf file.
As the Royal Navy say ... "it was good enough for Nelson".

Now you are looking in dmesg for associated and authenticated messages.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[Torpus]

@pietinger

To be honest I had (and still have) no idea what are the differences between <*> and a <M>odule, I just choosed one and wanted to configure the kernel manually instead of genkernel (it's considered cheating by some) so that I can gain more control and remove everything I don't need. When I choosed <M>odules I had to add an initramfs to make the kernel boot up, yet it's been a while since I updated it since I believe that this thing can be made just once and keep working regardless of how the kernel changes.

I added the parameter "net.ifnames=0". specifically to stop udev from changing the interface name from wlp2s0 to wlan0, but foolishly it did that already because NetworkManager, iwd and dnsmasq qere installed before GRUB got updated.

[NeddySeagoon]

Torpus,

Configuring a kernel option as <*> means to include the code in the kernel binary that will be loaded by the boot loader.
If the same option is configured as <M> the code is stored in /lib/modules/ and can be loaded and unloaded as required.

/lib/modules is on the root filesystem, so cannot be read until root is mounted.
Its a verybadthing to need to read /lib/modules to load a module to mount the root filesystem to be able read /lib/modules.
We have all done it, several times :)
If you need a kernel module to mount root, it can go in the initrd. To reduce the initrd to user space tools only, it must not contain any kernel modules.
In turn, that means the kernel code to be able to mount root must be configured as <*>, so that its all in the kernel binary.

Back to Wifi

Make up your mind if you will use net.ifnames=0 or not. It will affect the names you use later. It makes no functional difference.

ip is a replacement for some of the older ethernet tools. I tend to use the old tools for IPv4 and the new tools for IPv6.
The new tools make IPv6 easier but both work.

If you want dhcpcd, wpa_supplicant and netifrc, install them now and we will make it work like that.
As long as NetworkManager is not started, it can stay installed but remove it if you like.

iwd was championed by Intel but its a general purpose tool. Its not Intel only.

Post back with your decisions. They affect what comes next.
No chopping and changing after your next post please.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[pietinger]

[Torpus]

@NeddySeagoon

I just installed all these three and reconfigured them again, yet Gentoo didn't recognize the wlp2s0 and said it doesn't exist. Probably because of the naming issue udev has caused when it changed it to wlan0.

When I tried to turn on "net.wlan0" it said that the service is not found (on Gentoo hardware)

Regarding reinstalling Gentoo again because of stupid reasons like putting more lightweight GRUB or whatever, you're right about that. It doesn't make sense to cause more potential issues just to save up a few hundred kilobytes AND wait for hours to compile everything once again. But really, maybe my WiFi configuration got messed up, especially when Gentoo calls my interface by wlan0 instead of wlp2s0.

Here's the new dmesg btw.

@pietinger

I was just scrolling on the wiki and chose randomly one (the bloated one) and then deleted the other I didn't even remember seeing netifrc there but it is!

And yep, I had the standalone USE flag anebled too.

Wait, do you mean that dhcpcd and wpa_supplicant are "useless" if netifrc and iwd are used??
_________________
Illegitimi non carborundum.

[pietinger]

[pietinger]

P.P.S.: Here is something wrong:

[Torpus]

Well, I did removed NetworkManager, wpa_supplicant and dhcpcd wanting only netifrc and iwd to work. But when I try to start net.wlan0 it just automatically start wpa_supplicant when I want iwd instead and wlan0 gives by itself these couple errors:

[NeddySeagoon]

Torpus,

[Torpus]

Here are:

/etc/conf.d/net
/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
dmesg (after trying to start net.wlan0)

Yeah, nl80211 wasn't set as a USE flag. I just set it up on make.conf.

That's what it says after changing the USE flag (on chroot of course)

[NeddySeagoon]

Moved from Dustbin to Networking & Security.
I must be tired, I clicked the dustbin button instead of reply,

Abnormality is restored ... I think.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[NeddySeagoon]

Torpus,

Your /etc/conf.d/net ... are you sure?

[Torpus]

It's pretty normal for me messing everything up when I'm trying to fix an issue, that's just a part of my learning process.

Yes Neddy, that's my etc/conf.d/net. I wanted only for iwd and netifrc to work, but when I start net.wlan0 wpa_supplicant starts instead when I don't want to.

Yeah, debugs they're just bloat I forgot about them.

I do know that chroot and hardware are different in testing WiFi. All I was giving you was from me testing on hardware.

USE flags... that's another learning obstacle that I know almost nothing about. But I'll try following your suggestions.

iwconfig should not be there? If it's related to iwlwifi it MUST because that's the module connecting my interface.

If this possibly gave even other errors then it's probably best to start building Gentoo from scratch again while being careful in configuring the kernel and wlp2s0 (or as this faulty Gentoo claims it to be "wlan0") interface, just like how in the last time I messed things up even more when I was trying to fic the screen stuck at GRUB -until I started all over and it finally worked, I might have to reinstall ANOTHER time if I encountered issues with ficing the touchpad or knowing what USE flags do and handling its file collisions, then comes the ricing part and finally get comfy with my Gentoo.

Again, I didn't mean to confuse you. wpa_supplicant starts but I want iwd, I don't know why does it do that. iwd can also play the role of dhcpcd, that's why it is also pointless to exist there.
_________________
Illegitimi non carborundum.

[pietinger]

[NeddySeagoon]

Torpus,

Doesn't wireless-tools own iwconfig ?

It does here ...