Network card is not connected

vladas · July 2, 2024, 7:36pm

I bought Bee-link’s Ser7, a new miniPC from China. And I successfully booted the latest NomadBSD 140R-20240126 from a USB live disk. Everything works fine except the network connection: “Network card is not enabled”. Not only WiFi — no connection even by an Ethernet cable. I can not even find an attempt to connect by cable in the boot log. I have put the full logs online, and here is a snippet for the network connection only:

Intel(R) Wireless WiFi based driver for FreeBSD
intsmb0: <AMD FCH SMBus Controller> at device 20.0 on pci0
intsmb0: Could not allocate I/O space
device_attach: intsmb0 attach returned 6
iwlwifi0: <iwlwifi> mem 0xdcd00000-0xdcd03fff at device 0.0 on pci3
iwlwifi0: CSR_RESET = 0x10
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x0 vector 0x0
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0x3f7f8030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 1]: 0x3f7f8c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 2]: 0x3f7f8430
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 3]: 0x3f7f8c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 4]: 0x3f7f8430
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 5]: 0x3f7f8c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 6]: 0x3f7f0430
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 7]: 0x3f7f0c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 8]: 0x3f7f0030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 9]: 0x3f7f8030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 10]: 0x3f7f8030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 11]: 0x3f7f8030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 12]: 0x3f7f8830
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 13]: 0x3f7f8030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 14]: 0x3f7f8830
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x0 vector 0x1
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 1]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 2]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 3]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 4]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 5]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 6]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 7]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 8]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 9]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 10]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 11]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 12]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 13]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 14]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x0 vector 0x6
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 1]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 2]: 0xb00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 3]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 4]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 5]: 0xb00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 6]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 7]: 0xb00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 8]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 9]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 10]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 11]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 12]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 13]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 14]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x22 vector 0x0
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0x00000000
device_attach: iwlwifi0 attach returned 60
intsmb0: <AMD FCH SMBus Controller> port 0xff00-0xff0f at device 20.0 on pci0
intsmb0: Could not allocate I/O space
device_attach: intsmb0 attach returned 6
iwlwifi0: <iwlwifi> mem 0xdcd00000-0xdcd03fff at device 0.0 on pci3
iwlwifi0: CSR_RESET = 0x10
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x0 vector 0x0
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0x3f7f8030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 1]: 0x3f7f0830
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 2]: 0x3f7f0830
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 3]: 0x3f7f8030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 4]: 0x3f7f8830
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 5]: 0x3f7f8030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 6]: 0x3f7f0830
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 7]: 0x3f7f8030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 8]: 0x3f7f0c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 9]: 0x3f7f8430
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 10]: 0x3f7f8c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 11]: 0x3f7f8c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 12]: 0x3f7f8430
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 13]: 0x3f7f8c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 14]: 0x3f7f0830
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x0 vector 0x1
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 1]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 2]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 3]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 4]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 5]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 6]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 7]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 8]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 9]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 10]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 11]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 12]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 13]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 14]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x0 vector 0x6
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 1]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 2]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 3]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 4]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 5]: 0xb00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 6]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 7]: 0xb00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 8]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 9]: 0xb00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 10]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 11]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 12]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 13]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 14]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x22 vector 0x0
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0x00000000
device_attach: iwlwifi0 attach returned 60
intsmb0: <AMD FCH SMBus Controller> port 0xff00-0xff0f at device 20.0 on pci0
intsmb0: Could not allocate I/O space
device_attach: intsmb0 attach returned 6
iwlwifi0: <iwlwifi> mem 0xdcd00000-0xdcd03fff at device 0.0 on pci3
iwlwifi0: CSR_RESET = 0x10
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x0 vector 0x0
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0x3f7f0c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 1]: 0x3f7f0430
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 2]: 0x3f7f0c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 3]: 0x3f7f0030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 4]: 0x3f7f0030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 5]: 0x3f7f0830
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 6]: 0x3f7f0030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 7]: 0x3f7f0830
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 8]: 0x3f7f0030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 9]: 0x3f7f0830
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 10]: 0x3f7f0030
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 11]: 0x3f7f0830
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 12]: 0x3f7f8430
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 13]: 0x3f7f0c30
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 14]: 0x3f7f0c30
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x0 vector 0x1
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 1]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 2]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 3]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 4]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 5]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 6]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 7]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 8]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 9]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 10]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 11]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 12]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 13]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 14]: 0x044466c2
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x0 vector 0x6
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 1]: 0xb00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 2]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 3]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 4]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 5]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 6]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 7]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 8]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 9]: 0xe00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 10]: 0xa00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 11]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 12]: 0xb00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 13]: 0xf00c4471
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 14]: 0xb00c4471
iwlwifi0: Host monitor block 0x22 vector 0x0
iwlwifi0:     value [iter 0]: 0x00000000
device_attach: iwlwifi0 attach returned 60
acpi_wmi0: <ACPI-WMI mapping> on acpi0
acpi_wmi0: Embedded MOF found
ACPI: \134AOD.WQBA: 1 arguments were passed to a non-method ACPI object (Buffer) (20221020/nsarguments-361)
driver bug: Unable to set devclass (class: ppc devname: (unknown))
lo0: link state changed to UP

Sorry, I do not know how to disable WiFi — to compare the boot log with just an Ethernet cable.

P. S. When the computer first boots up, NomadBSD recognises WiFi, displays the correct MAC address, lists detected neighbouring spots, accepts my WiFi password — and only then disconnects the network card.

judd · July 2, 2024, 9:35pm

@vladas

vladas · July 3, 2024, 4:09pm

Thank you for pointing me to the right place, @judd. Following the advice posted there, I tried pulling out the LAN cable and reinserting it back into the RJ45 socket - alas, no response. I even reinstalled the USB live drive with the earlier version of NomadBSD 140R-20231121 (with OpenBox instead of Xfce) - no luck either. I can not complain about this miniPC on its manufacturer’s forum, because with MS Windows the connection works flawlessly, both Ethernet and WiFi.

judd · July 3, 2024, 5:46pm

Don’t give up, it has to work out at some point.
I had a similar problem with a Dell laptop, I couldn’t install Nomad because it didn’t recognize the disk during installation and when I called Dell’s call center they told me to install Linux Ubuntu, so I did and I no longer had any problems with Linux or BSD.
In the FreeBSD forum there are many people who use this hardware and you can compare or ask your questions there.
Keep trying and you will surely succeed!

https://www.reddit.com/r/MiniPCs/comments/10by01y/dont_get_the_beelink_ser5_very_buggy_wifi/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BeelinkOfficial/comments/17reixo/fixing_beelink_wifi_on_linux/

vladas · July 6, 2024, 6:00pm

I checked the BIOS, and found nothing forbidden to connect.

gpart shows all the drives of my miniPC correctly, including USB sticks.

ifconfig, however, does not show Ethernet at all, and WiFi as maybe recognised, but supposedly unresponsive.

Then I remembered the good old bsdconfig utility, and tried to specify known connectivity data in ‘Network Management’ section, where allowed.

Hostname/Domain — NomadBSD, as it should.
Network interface — wlan0, marked as active, but unknown:

Available wireless networks:

Rescan… — ping failed to reach…

Default Router/Gateway — refuses to input manually, although this address is found as accepted after rebooting my miniPC.

DNS nameservers — addresses are accepted.

/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf is correct after rebooting, but ifconfig still does not recognise the networking devices, although the MAC and IP addresses are real, but SSID has a blank “” instead of my “hq” there.

nomad@NomadBSD ~> ifconfig
lo0: flags=1008049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST,LOWER_UP> metric 0 mtu 16384
	options=680003<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,LINKSTATE,RXCSUM_IPV6,TXCSUM_IPV6>
	inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
	inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
	inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
	groups: lo
	nd6 options=21<PERFORMNUD,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>
wlan0: flags=8c43<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,DRV_OACTIVE,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
	options=0
	ether e4:c7:67:40:34:90
	inet 192.168.1.106 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
	inet6 fe80::e6c7:67ff:fe40:3490%wlan0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x2
	groups: wlan
	ssid "" channel 11 (2462 MHz 11g)
	regdomain ETSI country LT authmode WPA1+WPA2/802.11i privacy ON
	deftxkey UNDEF txpower 30 bmiss 7 scanvalid 60 protmode CTS wme
	roaming MANUAL
	parent interface: iwlwifi0
	media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (autoselect)
	status: no carrier
	nd6 options=23<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV,AUTO_LINKLOCAL>

nomad@NomadBSD ~> dmesg
---<<BOOT>>---
…
Intel(R) Wireless WiFi based driver for FreeBSD
intsmb0: <AMD FCH SMBus Controller> at device 20.0 on pci0
intsmb0: Could not allocate I/O space
device_attach: intsmb0 attach returned 6
iwlwifi0: <iwlwifi> mem 0xdcd00000-0xdcd03fff at device 0.0 on pci3
iwlwifi0: Detected crf-id 0x3617, cnv-id 0x100530 wfpm id 0x80000000
iwlwifi0: PCI dev 2723/0084, rev=0x340, rfid=0x10a100
iwlwifi0: successfully loaded firmware image 'iwlwifi-cc-a0-77.ucode'
iwlwifi0: api flags index 2 larger than supported by driver
iwlwifi0: TLV_FW_FSEQ_VERSION: FSEQ Version: 89.3.35.37
iwlwifi0: loaded firmware version 77.2df8986f.0 cc-a0-77.ucode op_mode iwlmvm
iwlwifi0: Detected Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz, REV=0x340
iwlwifi0: Detected RF HR B3, rfid=0x10a100
iwlwifi0: base HW address: e4:c7:67:40:34:90
intsmb0: <AMD FCH SMBus Controller> port 0xff00-0xff0f at device 20.0 on pci0
intsmb0: Could not allocate I/O space
device_attach: intsmb0 attach returned 6
intsmb0: <AMD FCH SMBus Controller> port 0xff00-0xff0f at device 20.0 on pci0
intsmb0: Could not allocate I/O space
device_attach: intsmb0 attach returned 6
acpi_wmi0: <ACPI-WMI mapping> on acpi0
acpi_wmi0: Embedded MOF found
ACPI: \134AOD.WQBA: 1 arguments were passed to a non-method ACPI object (Buffer) (20221020/nsarguments-361)
driver bug: Unable to set devclass (class: ppc devname: (unknown))
wlan0: Ethernet address: e4:c7:67:40:34:90
lo0: link state changed to UP
wlan0: Ethernet address: e4:c7:67:40:34:90
wlan0: ieee80211_new_state_locked: pending SCAN -> AUTH transition lost
Invalid TXQ id
iwlwifi0: lkpi_iv_newstate: error -5 during state transition 2 (AUTH) -> 1 (SCAN)
iwlwifi0: Microcode SW error detected. Restarting 0x0.
iwlwifi0: Start IWL Error Log Dump:
iwlwifi0: Transport status: 0x0000004B, valid: 6
iwlwifi0: Loaded firmware version: 77.2df8986f.0 cc-a0-77.ucode
iwlwifi0: 0x00000071 | NMI_INTERRUPT_UMAC_FATAL    
iwlwifi0: 0x000022F0 | trm_hw_status0
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | trm_hw_status1
iwlwifi0: 0x004F8B7A | branchlink2
iwlwifi0: 0x0000BA6A | interruptlink1
iwlwifi0: 0x0000BA6A | interruptlink2
iwlwifi0: 0x000152DA | data1
iwlwifi0: 0x00001000 | data2
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | data3
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | beacon time
iwlwifi0: 0x0103FB00 | tsf low
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | tsf hi
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | time gp1
iwlwifi0: 0x010454E8 | time gp2
iwlwifi0: 0x00000001 | uCode revision type
iwlwifi0: 0x0000004D | uCode version major
iwlwifi0: 0x2DF8986F | uCode version minor
iwlwifi0: 0x00000340 | hw version
iwlwifi0: 0x00C89000 | board version
iwlwifi0: 0x80F5FD2E | hcmd
iwlwifi0: 0x00020000 | isr0
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | isr1
iwlwifi0: 0x08F00002 | isr2
iwlwifi0: 0x00C3000C | isr3
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | isr4
iwlwifi0: 0x00170103 | last cmd Id
iwlwifi0: 0x000152DA | wait_event
iwlwifi0: 0x00002FAA | l2p_control
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | l2p_duration
iwlwifi0: 0x00000003 | l2p_mhvalid
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | l2p_addr_match
iwlwifi0: 0x00000009 | lmpm_pmg_sel
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | timestamp
iwlwifi0: 0x000058AC | flow_handler
iwlwifi0: Start IWL Error Log Dump:
iwlwifi0: Transport status: 0x0000004B, valid: 7
iwlwifi0: 0x20000905 | ADVANCED_SYSASSERT
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | umac branchlink1
iwlwifi0: 0x80455D1E | umac branchlink2
iwlwifi0: 0x010469D4 | umac interruptlink1
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | umac interruptlink2
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | umac data1
iwlwifi0: 0xDEADBEEF | umac data2
iwlwifi0: 0xDEADBEEF | umac data3
iwlwifi0: 0x0000004D | umac major
iwlwifi0: 0x2DF8986F | umac minor
iwlwifi0: 0x010454E2 | frame pointer
iwlwifi0: 0xC0885ECC | stack pointer
iwlwifi0: 0x00350108 | last host cmd
iwlwifi0: 0x00000000 | isr status reg
iwlwifi0: IML/ROM dump:
iwlwifi0: 0x00000003 | IML/ROM error/state
iwlwifi0: 0x000058AF | IML/ROM data1
iwlwifi0: 0x00000080 | IML/ROM WFPM_AUTH_KEY_0
iwlwifi0: Fseq Registers:
iwlwifi0: 0x60000000 | FSEQ_ERROR_CODE
iwlwifi0: 0x80290021 | FSEQ_TOP_INIT_VERSION
iwlwifi0: 0x00050008 | FSEQ_CNVIO_INIT_VERSION
iwlwifi0: 0x0000A503 | FSEQ_OTP_VERSION
iwlwifi0: 0x80000003 | FSEQ_TOP_CONTENT_VERSION
iwlwifi0: 0x4552414E | FSEQ_ALIVE_TOKEN
iwlwifi0: 0x00100530 | FSEQ_CNVI_ID
iwlwifi0: 0x00000532 | FSEQ_CNVR_ID
iwlwifi0: 0x00100530 | CNVI_AUX_MISC_CHIP
iwlwifi0: 0x00000532 | CNVR_AUX_MISC_CHIP
iwlwifi0: 0x05B0905B | CNVR_SCU_SD_REGS_SD_REG_DIG_DCDC_VTRIM
iwlwifi0: 0x0000025B | CNVR_SCU_SD_REGS_SD_REG_ACTIVE_VDIG_MIRROR
iwlwifi0: 0x00050008 | FSEQ_PREV_CNVIO_INIT_VERSION
iwlwifi0: 0x00290021 | FSEQ_WIFI_FSEQ_VERSION
iwlwifi0: 0x00290021 | FSEQ_BT_FSEQ_VERSION
iwlwifi0: 0x00000104 | FSEQ_CLASS_TP_VERSION
iwlwifi0: UMAC CURRENT PC: 0x80472744
iwlwifi0: LMAC1 CURRENT PC: 0xd0
iwlwifi0: WRT: Collecting data: ini trigger 4 fired (delay=0ms).
iwlwifi0: FW error in SYNC CMD PHY_CONTEXT_CMD
#0 0xffffffff80da4a0b at linux_dump_stack+0x1b
#1 0xffffffff83ca27a3 at iwl_trans_txq_send_hcmd+0x3f3
#2 0xffffffff83c3e29e at iwl_trans_send_cmd+0xce
#3 0xffffffff83c81349 at iwl_mvm_send_cmd_pdu+0x49
#4 0xffffffff83c602f5 at iwl_mvm_phy_ctxt_apply+0x325
#5 0xffffffff83c6066b at iwl_mvm_phy_ctxt_changed+0xbb
#6 0xffffffff83c57057 at iwl_mvm_change_chanctx+0x107
#7 0xffffffff80d96c09 at lkpi_sta_scan_to_auth+0x319
#8 0xffffffff80d9e5aa at lkpi_iv_newstate+0x39a
#9 0xffffffff80ccec8a at ieee80211_newstate_cb+0x17a
#10 0xffffffff80ba1a12 at taskqueue_run_locked+0x182
#11 0xffffffff80ba2ca2 at taskqueue_thread_loop+0xc2
#12 0xffffffff80afae9f at fork_exit+0x7f
#13 0xffffffff80fdee8e at fork_trampoline+0xe
iwlwifi0: PHY ctxt cmd error. ret=-5
iwlwifi0: Failed to send MAC_CONFIG_CMD (action:2): -5
iwlwifi0: failed to update MAC 0xfffffe016d193c9eM
iwlwifi0: STA_CONFIG_CMD send failed, ret=0xfffffffb
iwlwifi0: Failed to update sta link 0
iwlwifi0: STA_CONFIG_CMD send failed, ret=0xfffffffb
iwlwifi0: Couldn't send the SESSION_PROTECTION_CMD
WARNING sta != mvmvif->ap_sta && !sta->tdls failed at /usr/src/sys/contrib/dev/iwlwifi/mvm/mac80211.c:5659
iwlwifi0: Failed to send flush command (-5)
iwlwifi0: flush request fail
WARNING trans->state != IWL_TRANS_FW_ALIVE failed at /usr/src/sys/contrib/dev/iwlwifi/iwl-trans.h:1446
iwlwifi0: iwl_trans_wait_txq_empty bad state = 0
iwlwifi0: Failed to trigger RX queues sync (-5)
WARNING !mvm_link_sta failed at /usr/src/sys/contrib/dev/iwlwifi/mvm/mld-sta.c:816
iwlwifi0: Failed to send LINK_CONFIG_CMD (action:2): -5
iwlwifi0: PHY ctxt cmd error. ret=-5
iwlwifi0: Scan failed! ret -5
iwlwifi0: ERROR: lkpi_ic_scan_start: hw_scan returned -5
iwlwifi0: Scan failed! ret -5
iwlwifi0: ERROR: lkpi_ic_scan_start: hw_scan returned -5
iwlwifi0: Scan failed! ret -5
iwlwifi0: ERROR: lkpi_ic_scan_start: hw_scan returned -5
…

Networking menu from the tray:

Network icon — disabled (black with small x in a bottom right corner);
pop-up title while hover — “Network card is not enabled”.
Ethernet Network — greyed out;
WiFi 1 Disconnected — greyed out, too;
Available Connections ‣ hq, TP-Link_B5D2, and a few of others — my and neighboring spots, active entries;
Disable WiFi 1 — also an active item;
Close Network Manager — the last item of its menu (active).

My old laptop is dying, I have to move to this miniPC. I regret having to leave our much-loved NomadBSD, sorry.

vladas · July 9, 2024, 4:48pm

I am not giving up, I still have some hope. Thanks to the advice of kind masters in the FreeBSD forum, some progress has been made.

ifconfig_re0="DHCP" added to /etc/rc.conf;
if_re_load="YES" appended with if_re_name="/boot/modules/if_re.ko" in /boot/loader.conf;
WiFi disabled manually.

After a reboot still “Network card is not enabled”, but ifconfig eventually notices Ethernet, albeit unnamed as “Ethernet autoselect” (instead of RTL8125), although with correct MAC and IP addresses.

However, after switching off WiFi, the network icon finally lit up — unfortunately, for just a minute, without any message in syslog.

After commenting out WiFi directives in /etc/rc.conf and following service netif restart, my miniPC is finally online!

Unfortunately, until the next reboot. Rebooting brings back all my removed WiFi entries in rc.conf, and “Network card is not enabled” again.

How to disable WiFi permanently? When there is no such hardware switch. According to the manual, iwlwifi is a kernel driver and it will auto-load without any user interaction and despite of /boot/loader.conf, if it is not explicitly disabled in /etc/rc.conf.

# service netif stop — drops both connections, without a choice of WiFi or Ethernet.

# ifconfig -n wlan0 — does not disable WiFi, because it is meant to be disabled only when loading. But when rebooting, iwlwifi listens to rc.conf — which tells it to enable WiFi again.

Who is rewriting rc.conf on every reboot? How to prevent that? How to disable WiFi permanently?

judd · July 9, 2024, 7:23pm

After doing:
# /etc/rc.d/netif restart

I usually also do:
# /etc/rc.d/routing restart

and then apply:
# dhclient wlan0 or the one you are using…

judd · July 9, 2024, 7:32pm

I understand that the modules written in the kernel cause rc.conf to be rewritten at each reboot.
I would try putting a prompt (#) in front of that iwlwifi line or if it says “YES” put “NO”

vladas · July 11, 2024, 5:19am

Finally, I manage to keep my Ethernet connection from going down after a minute. I do not know why, maybe because I enterd ifconfig_re0="inet 192.168.1.107 netmask 255.255.255.0" instead of ifconfig_re0="DHCP" in rc.conf.

Unfortunately, until the reboot. No means prevent a non-working WiFi from being loaded and turned on instead of Ethernet. Here is the network part from my rc.conf:

if_wlan_load="NO"
if_re_load="YES"
if_re_name="/boot/modules/if_re.ko"
ifconfig_wlan0="NOAUTO"
# wlans_iwlwifi0="wlan0"
# create_args_wlan0="down country LT"
# ifconfig_wlan0="up scan WPA DHCP"
# ifconfig_wlan0_ipv6="inet6 accept_rtadv"
ifconfig_re0_ipv6="inet6 accept_rtadv"
ifconfig_re0="inet 192.168.1.107 netmask 255.255.255.0"
defaultrouter="192.168.1.1"

I have thoroughly read the network and advanced networking chapters in the handbook, ifconfig, iwlwifi, re, dhclient, loader.conf and rc.conf manuals, but I have not found an explanation of what prevents loading RTL8125, why WiFi is preferred to Ethernet, and why my directives to disable a non-working WiFi are ignored and even overwritten.

Interestingly, my instructions in rc.conf are executed on boot, but cancelled and rc.conf is overwritten later, after Xorg has been loaded, with no explanation in the syslog.

grahamperrin · July 13, 2024, 6:41pm

280145 – bsdconfig(8) BUGS section should mention Wi-Fi

grahamperrin · July 13, 2024, 7:04pm

I thought of dsbdriverd, although (at a glance) I can’t see how it might affect rc.conf …

https://github.com/nomadbsd/NomadBSD/blob/master/config/usr/local/etc/dsbdriverd/config.lua

ludensen · July 13, 2024, 7:53pm

Hi @vladas,

(edit: irrelevant question)
just to be sure; wich kernel-modules do you have in your kld_list in the rc.conf?
Hopefully no Intel-wifi-module…

I’m stumped that your rc.conf gets rewritten! -can’t remember that ever happend to me…

Here’s to you finding a solution

ludensen · July 13, 2024, 10:35pm

OK, I got curious.

Normally I configure everything from the CLI and have not actively used NomadBSD’s ‘Network Manager’ (NM).

Turns out, NM write changes to rc.conf, every time network-settings get changed within NM.
Except when disabling a device with NM, then nothing gets changed in rc.conf - and as a logical consequence the disable-state doesn’t survive a reboot.

I can see why NomadBSD has chosen NM. Making it easier for newcomers to use a random laptop and be relatively sure to have internet-connectivity.
I’m actually impressed with how resilient and successful NM is in getting a connection under a multitude of scenarios/conditions!

Some years ago it was tricky to configure a laptop to have a lagg-network, that could switch without problems between lan and wifi (and share it with my jails).

@vladas
My low-level logic: How about having a copy of your rc.conf stored as ie. rc-wo-wifi.conf and keep your mouse away from the Network Manager icon . If something goes sideways, you can allways go to the terminal and copy rc-wo-wifi.conf to rc.conf.

Have a nice evening

vladas · July 14, 2024, 5:26am

I don’t see much need for it. Disabling former instructions with # sign is sufficient instead of a backup (comments are not automatically being removed).

and keep your mouse away from the Network Manager icon

I only use this Network Manager (networkmgr) as a visual indicator of network status. I have tried connecting to my “hq” in the past, then disabling WiFi altogether, but I have not done that for a quite long time.

vladas · July 15, 2024, 1:37pm

Yesterday I tested NomadBSD 14.1R-20240711 from USB live drive — WiFi was up and running straight away, without any intervention from me, hooray!

Unfortunately, after reinstalling from USB to an internal SSD, the wireless connection was not accepted for some reason. Ethernet was invisible already before, from USB. So I had to do a bit of digging before I could get online.

The problem is negligible, so I just need to find a way to keep the networking after a reboot. Relogin does not break the connection.