Wifi keeps disconnecting on first Manjaro install

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22

The fact that you get the same error messages using a different driver points very much into the hardware issue direction - whether that is the mainboard or the wifi care is unknown.

With a text based forum - there is no way to determine if that is correct - I would just keep the possibility open that could be hardware related.

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23

Thank you @linux-aarhus and @Aragorn . This is bad luck for me. I have to dig into ways to determine this, as this is a brand new computer that was sold with a 40% discount in the store

Thanks again. I have been able to have a first look at the capabilities of Manjaro and kde plasma anyway thanks to all of you!
Is there a place I should report this “fix” in order to improve the management of the network card by linux systems?

24

Without knowing if this is a hardware error - there would be no point in reporting the issue anywhere.

If it were my system the first step is to contact the seller - report the faulty hardware.

Next step would be to open the beast, locate the wifi card (very small PCI card with a couple of antenna connectors), then idenfity the exact type and search for a replacement.

2 Likes
25

Hi @omazeas ,
This is the output of the following terminal command:

inxi -Nazy
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: rtl8821ce v: N/A modules: rtw88_8821ce,8821ce
    port: 3000 bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:c821 class-ID: 0280

What is yours?
Regards

26

Thanks to both of you.
Here is my output @j8a :

Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    vendor: AzureWave driver: rtl8821ce v: N/A modules: rtw88_8821ce,8821ce pcie:
    gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:c821 class-ID: 0280
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27

Hi @omazeas ,
As far as I see we have the same pci card installed and I have no problem with this card after installing the AUR driver.

Regards,

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28

I am trying to clean up my system after all my testing (in order to get back to my initial config which might work as yours)

One of the things I tried initially to solve my disconnection issues was :

nmcli connection modify "TP-Link_8C68" wifi.cloned-mac-address permanent

Not sure if I should try to undo that.

Anyway, digging more into the issue, I found out I am not the only one with PCIe bus error with this wifi card : https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=432839

And I ran into this page: https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/kernel-ring-buffer-overflowing-with-aer-errors-rtl8821ce/78583
The command given to deactivate Active State Power Management did not work but I did:

nano /etc/default/grub

added pcie_aspm=off at the end of argument “GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX”
then

# update-grub
# reboot

And I don’t have any PCIe bus error anymore.
But I don’t have any power management anymore either

It seems like there is a way to disable ASPM for specific PCIe bus but not sure how


Here is some elements:

but

options rtl8192ee aspm=0

itself did not solve the PCIe bus error.

Here too is something else attempting to disable ASPM for modules but I did not quite understand: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=264364

29

If you want to test that theory, you will need the correct parameter.

So here we want:

pcei_aspm=off

But as an option, if this chipset is even supports aspm

So with kernel 6.18, I can see what the options are..

$ uname -r
6.18.12-1-MANJARO
$ cat /sys/module/pcie_aspm/parameters/policy
[default] performance powersave powersupersave

So you could also test:

pcie_aspm=performance
30

I just revisited this and I read the reference link on Arch Wiki - I really like this comment

You could update your UEFI and hope it was a known issue that your laptop vendor was able to fix in firmware.

Otherwise you know that you have broken hardware and can add the parameter. You can’t generically fix broken hardware. You can hope/report bugs so that the issue gets fixed (either by actually fixing the underlying issue or by adding your specific HW to a quirk list that unconditionally disables aspm) and no one needs to adjust things like that manually.

On a more general scope. realtek wifi cards are notorious and have been for years for a variety of issues and you are unlikely the first to experience or report issues here. If you want to avoid this altogether, you’ll need to buy different HW. If the HW works safe for this issue that requires you to do one small edit in a config file you really shouldn’t worry about it too much. If you really want to you could create your own package that sets this config up and install that whenever you do an Arch install.
– PCIe Bus Error / Kernel & Hardware / Arch Linux Forums

The first step is to look into the belly of the beast.

Identify whether it uses 2 or 3 antennas - but from the images I could find it has two connectors.

It is also important to determine the correct size of the replacement as the cards come in different shapes.

Then look for something similar.

I have an Intel 7265NGW - you can have it for postage fee.

image
image290×368 47.8 KB

2 Likes
31

Thanks a lot to both of you.
@linux-aarhus I did indeed consider very carefully this post at the time and appreciated it. However, is it not more of a firmware issue than an hardware one, the Realtek firmware (and the rtl linux-improved driver) not handling well ASPM, or a firmware incompatibility between the wifi card and the motherboard (well, it may be the same origin: the motherboard’s firmware might control ASPM)

@Molski
ok, I am trying to remove my grub update and change the /etc/modprobe.d/ disableRealtekAspm.conf to:

options rtl8821ce pcie_aspm=off

As for modifying the policy file in /sys, I get argument error when I try to modify the

[default] performance powersave powersupersave

(which is also what is in my policy file)
Not sure how to introduce the pcie_aspm=performance (or off) there


32

“options rtl8821ce pcie_aspm=off”
in modprobe.d does not fix the issue.
log errors are back (with general ASPM active in grub)

rtl8821ce 0000:01:00.0: PCIe Bus Error: severity=Correctable, type=Physical Layer,
rtl8821ce 0000:01:00.0:   device [10ec:c821] error status/mask=00000001/0000e000
rtl8821ce 0000:01:00.0:    [ 0] RxErr                  (First)
33

One of the suggestions in the linked topic - was to disable logging of the errors.

It seems to be a quirk of the device - so instead of keep focusing on something you cannot correct - you should be suppressing the log as suggested in the linked conversation.

It’s a corrected error so technically not really worrysome. In any case for giving any useful advice you need to post the full message and maybe check lspci to know which actual bus/device is producing the errors. You can disable ASPM targeted towards a specific problematic device/bus. Alternatively if you just want to silence the logs without actually checking the problem nor taking the power drawback of disabling aspm you can use the

pci=noaer

kernel parameter

PCIe Bus Error / Kernel & Hardware / Arch Linux Forums

If you want to know which parameters the module accepts

modinfo --parameters rtl8821ce
1 Like
34

Yep, I did notice this suggestion in a topic but I was kind of reluctant as it seems to me it is ignoring something happening anyway, no?
You are saying that this is an issue that can’t be solved or that processes solve themselves and so I should not bother and just make it disappear. But it does still happen (in the back-background), no? Corrections happen anyway?
And then it could overload the system sometimes or contribute to it
, no ?
While I have the feeling that fixing the ASPM management or disabling it selectively would prevent the generation of errors at its very root, no?
Or is it better to have the errors but having ASPM for the wifi card (which might not be really managed by the card)?
Hopefully, I am making myself somewhat clear
 If it does make any sense


35

That is what I think.

As the thread indicate, it is a correctable error the system can handle, and therefore the next-best thing is to ignore the error and I have to say, I think the person is right.

Besides acquiring another wifi card there is not much you can do with such hardware error message.

1 Like
36

None of these aspm changes do anything, so far.

This is a kernel parameter, most people edit:

/etc/default/grub

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="... pcie_aspm=off`

And of course..

sudo update-grub
1 Like
37

Hi all,
I have been struggling with those wifi issues, plus “NetworkManager/kde/thunderbird/firefox” freezing from time to time since then. Which leaves me with no other option than to force-restart the computer.
So, I decided to go to the evil side and start the computer on Windows to check how the wifi card was doing: just perfectly fine.
So no real hardware issue.
Then I started the computer with Ubuntu on a USB key and it works perfectly too (I have the message errors repeatedly in logs, just like with Manjaro, but no connection issue). And it uses the driver known to have problems (rtw8821ce) instead of the rtl8821ce I had to install on Manjaro to reduce the disconnections. On Live Ubuntu it even works pretty fast from outside the house while on my Manjaro computer, not moving can create issues and going to the room next to the router is already a big challenge.
So, I decided to start my computer from a live Manjaro USB key to see if it was my install which had problems and: I have the same issues as with the system on my hard-drive. A lot of disconnections and a weak/fragile signal.
So I am sorry to say that something in Manjaro seems to be problematic with my computer/wifi module
 (something common to archlinux-based distribs ? as I see mainly Realtek wifi issues in archlinux forums
)
I am just so frustrated but tired to try fixes.
Manjaro seems great but when I see for example that there is no disk utility coming with the distro, I have a hard time refraining myself from thinking that this is anyway not the kind of distrib I want to use (although it looks cool) in order to gain experience in distribs I can advice to newcomers trying to emancipate from Windows and Mac.

38

It’s understandable to be frustrated, but this doesn’t point to a “Manjaro problem.”

All the desktop environmentss have, I admit lackluster disk utilities, like Gnome Disks or KDE Parition Manager. But why use that, when all 3 DEs have the much superior gparted.

You’ve already shown the key detail yourself: the issue follows the driver and kernel behavior, not the distribution.

Differences you’re seeing between systems (including the live Ubuntu session working “better”) are usually due to:

  • different kernel versions
  • different driver variants (in-tree vs DKMS/out-of-tree)
  • wifi card firmware versions
  • tuning defaults

Realtek wireless chipsets are have been known for inconsistent Linux support. That’s not even specific to Arch-based distributions.

Things what will have more compatibility issues than your usual devices include: Wireless, Bluebooth, WWAN (using the cell network), or any niche or uncommon device.

Many of us research before making PC purchases, since hardware support is never guaranteed with Linux (though it’s come a long way).

But when I do troubleshoot wifi, I get it connected to the LAN first. If that’s not an option, I’ll use my phone, or a USB network adapter. Then while it’s connected, you can troubleshoot.

I don’t even think your pcie_aspm=off is a valid option. When I checked 2 weeks ago, I knew pcie_aspm=performance was a valid one of the four.

At this point, troubleshooting requires actually trying the suggested changes. If you’d rather keep switching distributions instead, that’s your choice, but it won’t change how the underlying driver behaves.

1 Like
42

Working with Windows is not a sign of quality - not necessarily at least

When only working with Windows it is a hardware issue - the hardware has not been designed to work with Linux - that is a hardware issue.

When you start using Linux - there is an important rule - most hardware is created for Windows - meaning - the device and the firmware is created for use with Windows.

This is especially true for cheap consumer devices including but not limited to wifi cards.

Realtek, Ralink, Broadcom and Mediatek is all chipset vendors. They provide the wifi chip to various system vendors for implementation. This implementation varies greatly and is often tailored to work with Microsoft Windows OS - after all, it is the operating system used on the vast majority of consumer computer systems.

This is not a flaw introduced by the Linux kernel - it is a decision made by the vendor of the device.

And furthermore - wifi devices included with a computer system - may be tailored even more by the system vendor - again targeting Windows.

This is not a flaw of the Linux kernel - it is a decision made by the system vendor.

So not all hardware work with Linux - it is how it is.

This effectively means that you as the owner must learn how to make your hardware work with Linux - again - this is not a flaw of Manjaro or the Linux kernel.

The next best thing you can do is to acquire an USB wifi stick - known to work with Linux - yes those exist - below link is an example of a device which work OOB on latest Manjaro with Linux 6.18 kernel

https://alfa-network.eu/wi-fi/kali-linux-compatible/awus036acs

All live ISO comes with gparted - which may be the most important place to have it.

The KDE Plasma edition had partition manager removed due to a conflict with Calamares (which has long been resolved) and the package has never been restored to the ISO.

Since you explicitly mention this as a stumbling point for you - I have reintroduced the package in the iso-profile for building KDE Plasma.

If you really need it, you can sync it to your current Plasma installation

sudo pacman -Syu partitionmanager
1 Like