iwconfig not showing wireless extensions

[SummerIsComing]

Hi all,

First off: I'm new at Gentoo so don't kill me (for now).

I am having a issue with iwconfig since it does not show the wireless extensions for my wireless device.
However, with a combination of wpa_supplicant and dhcpcd I do have a working wireless internet connection.
I have tried a bunch of stuff, but no success. I'll try to list all relevant information below:

My wireless devices:

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laptop-gentoo ~ # lspci | grep -i net
03:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 06)

Starting with ifconfig:

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laptop-gentoo ~ # ifconfig
enp5s0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet6 fe80::7a5e:e0ef:41b6:46d3  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether f4:6d:04:35:7a:28  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 0  (Local Loopback)
        RX packets 56  bytes 4088 (3.9 KiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 56  bytes 4088 (3.9 KiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlp3s0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        inet 192.168.0.103  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.0.255
        inet6 fe80::6c4a:680d:f5a2:1779  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>
        ether e0:b9:a5:9c:e6:ed  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
        RX packets 9157  bytes 9106970 (8.6 MiB)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 6982  bytes 1116788 (1.0 MiB)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

iw shows wireless device.

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laptop-gentoo ~ # iw wlp3s0 info
Interface wlp3s0
	ifindex 3
	wdev 0x1
	addr e0:b9:a5:9c:e6:ed
	type managed
	wiphy 0
	channel 11 (2462 MHz), width: 40 MHz, center1: 2452 MHz

iwconfig says it isn't a wireless device.

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laptop-gentoo ~ # iwconfig
enp5s0    no wireless extensions.

sit0      no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlp3s0    no wireless extensions.

Driver does not provide wireless file.

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laptop-gentoo ~ # cat /proc/net/wireless
cat: /proc/net/wireless: No such file or directory

lsmod doesn't show that it's loaded.

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laptop-gentoo ~ # lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
configs                23159  0 
x86_pkg_temp_thermal     4535  0 

But yet it is running.

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laptop-gentoo ~ # dmesg | grep ath
[    1.799944] ath: phy0: Set BT/WLAN RX diversity capability
[    1.851917] ath: phy0: ASPM enabled: 0x42
[    1.853579] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x60
[    1.853580] ath: EEPROM indicates we should expect a direct regpair map
[    1.853582] ath: Country alpha2 being used: 00
[    1.853583] ath: Regpair used: 0x60
[    3.458924] ath9k 0000:03:00.0 wlp3s0: renamed from wlan0

My kernel options:

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laptop-gentoo ~ # zgrep 'WIRELESS\|WEXT\|_ATH\|80211' /proc/config.gz 
CONFIG_WIRELESS=y
CONFIG_WEXT_CORE=y
CONFIG_WEXT_PROC=y
CONFIG_CFG80211=y
# CONFIG_NL80211_TESTMODE is not set
# CONFIG_CFG80211_DEVELOPER_WARNINGS is not set
# CONFIG_CFG80211_REG_DEBUG is not set
CONFIG_CFG80211_DEFAULT_PS=y
# CONFIG_CFG80211_DEBUGFS is not set
# CONFIG_CFG80211_INTERNAL_REGDB is not set
CONFIG_CFG80211_WEXT=y
# CONFIG_LIB80211 is not set
CONFIG_MAC80211=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_HAS_RC=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_RC_MINSTREL=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_RC_MINSTREL_HT=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_RC_DEFAULT_MINSTREL=y
CONFIG_MAC80211_RC_DEFAULT="minstrel_ht"
# CONFIG_MAC80211_MESH is not set
CONFIG_MAC80211_LEDS=y
# CONFIG_MAC80211_DEBUGFS is not set
# CONFIG_MAC80211_MESSAGE_TRACING is not set
# CONFIG_MAC80211_DEBUG_MENU is not set
CONFIG_NET_VENDOR_ATHEROS=y
# CONFIG_MAC80211_HWSIM is not set
CONFIG_ATH_COMMON=m
CONFIG_ATH_CARDS=m
# CONFIG_ATH_DEBUG is not set
# CONFIG_ATH5K is not set
# CONFIG_ATH5K_PCI is not set
CONFIG_ATH9K_HW=m
CONFIG_ATH9K_COMMON=m
CONFIG_ATH9K_BTCOEX_SUPPORT=y
CONFIG_ATH9K=m
CONFIG_ATH9K_PCI=y
# CONFIG_ATH9K_AHB is not set
# CONFIG_ATH9K_DEBUGFS is not set
# CONFIG_ATH9K_WOW is not set
CONFIG_ATH9K_RFKILL=y
# CONFIG_ATH9K_HTC is not set
# CONFIG_ATH6KL is not set
# CONFIG_ATH10K is not set
# CONFIG_IPWIRELESS is not set
# CONFIG_HP_WIRELESS is not set

So, to be clear, I am writing this from my gentoo laptop with a working wireless connection.
The reason I'm so keen on getting the (outdated) iwconfig working is that applications such as conky and i3status tend to use it.
I can't stand looking at 'W: down' while browsing the internet.

Thanks for any help.

[DawgG]

i've had the same issue recently: some (newer) drivers just don't work with iwconfig, only with iw (took me some time to figure that out since "it has always worked" with iwconfig).
if some applications depend on iwconfig then they can't be used with these drivers, i guess.

lsmod doesn't show that it's loaded

then it's just not a module, but compiled directly into the kernel. if you configure the drivers as modules it will be shown and you can (un)load as needed.
GOOD LUCK!

[charles17]

I am having a issue with iwconfig

Use net-wireless/iw instead. iwconfig is deprecated. So also the WEXT kernel option may be unselected.

[khayyam]

i've had the same issue recently: some (newer) drivers just don't work with iwconfig, only with iw (took me some time to figure that out since "it has always worked" with iwconfig). if some applications depend on iwconfig then they can't be used with these drivers, i guess.

DawgG ... there is a compatibility layer for NL80211 based drivers to support WEXT (which wireless-tools uses exclusively) in the form of CONFIG_CFG80211_WEXT. Enabling this (which, last I checked, isn't by default) should allow iwconfig, iwlist, etc, to function. The OP has this enabled so I'm not sure what is happening in their case ... unless, your "recently" actually means "very recently".

best ... khay

[DawgG]

@khayyam
thx for the hint!
but since i don't have any special needs for iwconfig, iwlist, etc i'm satisfied that it works with iw just as well.

[SummerIsComing]

I am having a issue with iwconfig

Use net-wireless/iw instead. iwconfig is deprecated. So also the WEXT kernel option may be unselected.

Are you saying I should not try to fix this problem?


Anyone knows anything else I could try?

[khayyam]

Anyone knows anything else I could try?

SummerIsComing ... I've gone over the info provided above and it doesn't make sense, I see CONFIG_ATH9K=m (from /proc/config.gz ... so, the booted kernel), I see the (ath9k) device renamed by udev, iw/ifconfig shows the interface, yet no module is loaded ... I can't suggest anything because I simply don't know how to interpret what is essentially conflicting data.

Now, when you say "I am writing this from my gentoo laptop with a working wireless connection" you mean the same machine/kernel from which the above info is provided ("laptop-gentoo")? That would seem to be the case because iw shows the channel set to 2462 MHz ... so, something just seems plain wrong with that.

best ... khay

[SummerIsComing]

Thanks khay. I will keep trying things. If I do find a solution, I'll report back.