Unreliable network

General system Kernel, boot, graphics & hardware
1

I recently switched from Debian-Based Zorin OS 16 Lite to Endeavour OS (Latest Version). However, I keep experiencing frequent wifi disconnections which end up disabling the wifi functionality of the PC until I restart it, and I find it extremely annoying. I am attempting to revive an old PC, so I want to make sure that wherever it goes, it works perfectly fine. Apart from the WIFI issue, things are really smooth and enjoyable!

Results of

inxi -FAZ --no-host | eos-sendlog

System:
  Kernel: 5.16.12-arch1-1 x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Budgie 10.5.3
    Distro: EndeavourOS
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: HP-Pavilion product: VS161AA-ABU s5206uk v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: PEGATRON model: EVANS v: 1.02 serial: <superuser required>
    BIOS: American Megatrends v: 5.05 date: 10/09/2009
CPU:
  Info: dual core model: Pentium E5300 bits: 64 type: MCP cache: L2: 2 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1197 min/max: 1203/2603 cores: 1: 1197 2: 1197
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 4 Series Integrated Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 driver: X: loaded: intel
    unloaded: modesetting gpu: i915 resolution: 1600x900~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel G41 (ELK) v: 2.1 Mesa 21.3.7
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel NM10/ICH7 Family High Definition Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.16.12-arch1-1 running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet driver: r8169
  IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: 90:e6:ba:ec:1d:d2
  Device-2: Gemtek WUBR-177G [Ralink RT2571W] type: USB driver: rt73usb
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: 70:1a:04:86:cc:b7
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 298.09 GiB used: 6.79 GiB (2.3%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD3200AAJS-65M0A0
    size: 298.09 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 288.24 GiB used: 6.79 GiB (2.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 4.17 GiB used: 1 MiB (0.0%)
    dev: /dev/sda2
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 174 Uptime: 8m Memory: 1.9 GiB used: 1.33 GiB (70.2%)
  Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.13

Any smart moves (commands) to get this working a little better?

2

My initial advice would be

  1. use the Ethernet adapter instead as it will be far more reliable;
  2. try an older kernel (whether linux-lts, linux-lts510, or linux-lts54) and see if any of those work better;
  3. buy a newer supported wifi adapter.
2 Likes
3

Do you have a command on how I’d be able to switch the kernel

4

I believe EnOS has a kernel manager utility. Otherwise, linux-lts is in the repo and linux-lts510 and linux-lts54 are in the AUR (and my unofficial user repo).

1 Like
5

Like jonathon said there is a kernel manager. It’s called AKM:

It’s the easy way.

1 Like
6

Alright, I’ve used AKM to install the kernel. The lts one seemed to work better overall, so I’ll stick to that kernel.

1 Like
7

Wait @jonathon… Although stability is fixed, the issue still persists. Specifically I get a device not ready error after it happens. Do you have any guidance related to that?

8

Check your journal using journalctl, and revisit points 1 and 3 above.

9

Ethernet isn’t really an option, so if all fails I’ll just buy a new adapter.

Output of journalctl when wifi is ok:

Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: microcode: microcode updated >
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: Linux version 5.16.12-arch1-1>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boo>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE fea>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: x86/fpu: Supporting XSAVE fea>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: x86/fpu: Enabled xstate featu>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: signal: max sigframe size: 15>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-provided physical RAM ma>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000000>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000001>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000007dd>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000007dd>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x000000007dd>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fee>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: BIOS-e820: [mem 0x00000000fff>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: NX (Execute Disable) protecti>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: SMBIOS 2.5 present.
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: DMI: HP-Pavilion VS161AA-ABU >
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: tsc: Fast TSC calibration usi>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: tsc: Detected 2593.397 MHz pr>
Mar 05 19:44:18 jeffrey-vs161aaabus5206uk kernel: e820: update [mem 0x00000000->
lines 1-23

I’ll update this with the wifi disconnected log when it happens again.