Hello, sorry for posting this in a DEV list, but I tried elsewhere and people are generally kind, but unhelpfull. I am NOT a kernel programer, so I will impose on the list´s good will somewhat ;) I have a Laptop witch uses the Realtek rtl8187b chip in a USB internal conection. The chip WORKS in kernel Debian 2.6.32-3 , but is has an odd behavior: It works, connects and gives me ADSL speed as long as I am no more than 3 meters from the router. Beyond that I get a "wrong password" message in NetworkManager or Wicd (tried them both with similar results) The bug is reproductible in Debian 2.6.32 Kernels i386 and amd64 and in Ubuntu 9.10 64bit too, I had it working successfully on a Mandriva 2010.0 with the -12 kernel, but did not test it to it´s fullest. If needed I can do this. logs: This is when it works: # dmesg | grep -e rtl -e wlan -e DEV -eth --- (if you want I can post the hole thing ... just ask) [ 0.000000] AMD AuthenticAMD [ 0.022299] using mwait in idle threads. [ 0.022317] ... bit width: 40 [ 0.427181] Driver 'rtc_cmos' needs updating - please use bus_type methods [ 0.429174] Write protecting the kernel read-only data: 4096k [ 0.611824] thermal LNXTHERM:01: registered as thermal_zone0 [ 1.468372] ata1.00: 625142448 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32) [ 2.336632] EXT4-fs (sda1): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode [ 5.132551] (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp) [ 5.153072] sis190 Gigabit Ethernet driver 1.3 loaded. [ 5.767461] phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'minstrel' [ 5.768058] phy0: hwaddr 00:25:d3:8d:c0:c9, RTL8187BvE V0 + rtl8225z2, rfkill mask 2 [ 5.789720] rtl8187: Customer ID is 0x00 [ 5.789768] Registered led device: rtl8187-phy0::tx [ 5.789794] Registered led device: rtl8187-phy0::rx [ 5.790585] rtl8187: wireless switch is on [ 5.790627] usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8187 [ 5.796669] 0000:00:04.0: SiS 191 PCI Gigabit Ethernet adapter at ffffc9000067c000 (IRQ: 19), 00:90:f5:7f:c5:fa [ 5.796672] eth0: GMII mode. [ 5.796677] eth0: Enabling Auto-negotiation. [ 7.184634] EXT4-fs (sda4): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode [ 7.272950] EXT4-fs (sda3): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode [ 8.155997] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready [ 18.176032] eth0: auto-negotiating... [ 25.895222] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready [ 28.200040] eth0: auto-negotiating... [ 33.591014] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready [ 33.753871] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready [ 37.743070] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready [ 42.301501] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 42.500045] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 2) [ 42.503133] wlan0: direct probe responded [ 42.503138] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 42.504765] wlan0: authenticated [ 42.504796] wlan0: associate with AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 42.704049] wlan0: associate with AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 2) [ 42.710391] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=2) [ 42.710397] wlan0: associated [ 42.716805] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready [ 43.776030] eth0: auto-negotiating... [ 53.132025] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present [ 53.800034] eth0: auto-negotiating... #iwconfig lo no wireless extensions. wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"ascencao" Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:21:04:1A:21:F6 Bit Rate=11 Mb/s Tx-Power=27 dBm Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off Encryption key:off Power Management:off Link Quality=70/70 Signal level=-24 dBm Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0 Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0 eth0 no wireless extensions. ------------------------------ ------------------------ After I lose my connection : [ 986.760041] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 by local choice (reason=3) [ 990.634925] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready [ 990.709238] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 990.709283] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 by local choice (reason=3) [ 990.709336] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 by local choice (reason=3) [ 996.231091] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready [ 996.252218] eth0: auto-negotiating... [ 1000.138939] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready [ 1000.281959] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready [ 1004.258965] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready [ 1006.393244] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 1006.393291] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 by local choice (reason=3) [ 1006.394229] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 1006.421352] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 by local choice (reason=3) [ 1006.490373] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 1006.688038] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 2) [ 1006.888040] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 3) [ 1007.088036] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 timed out [ 1010.304034] eth0: auto-negotiating... [ 1018.321348] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 1018.324471] wlan0: direct probe responded [ 1018.324475] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 1018.524034] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 2) [ 1018.724051] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 3) [ 1018.924046] wlan0: authentication with AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 timed out [ 1020.328034] eth0: auto-negotiating... [ 1030.085319] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 1030.284047] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 2) [ 1030.352032] eth0: auto-negotiating... [ 1030.484045] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 3) [ 1030.684045] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 timed out [ 1040.376032] eth0: auto-negotiating... [ 1041.853285] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 1041.962037] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 by local choice (reason=3) [ 1045.847791] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready [ 1045.917326] wlan0: direct probe to AP 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 (try 1) [ 1045.917369] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 by local choice (reason=3) [ 1045.917419] wlan0: deauthenticating from 00:21:04:1a:21:f6 by local choice (reason=3) [ 1046.034116] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready # iwconfig lo no wireless extensions. wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:off/any Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=27 dBm Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off Encryption key:off Power Management:off eth0 no wireless extensions. Here are some observations: 1) eth0 keeps auto-negotiating forever, as long as the box is powered it still tries to negotiate even though no cable is connected. 2) see that when the deect occurs the probe was SUCCESSFULL the authentication that failed Anybody got a clue? Thanks in advance Rogerio -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-wireless" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html