Orange Pi Zero WiFi issues with AR9280 AP device cnx

[No Name]

Armbianmonitor:

http://ix.io/1HxV

Hello,

 

I think having found a WiFi issue when connecting an Orange Pi zero device to an Access Point device based on the Atheros AR9280 chip.

 

1 Armbian_5.75_Orangepizero_Ubuntu_bionic_next_4.19.20

 

1.1 After installed the last Ubuntu Armbian image 

nmtui tool doesn't detect the ssid in the list of wifi network

 

1.2 after sudo apt-get update & upgrade & reboot (-> Armbian v5.75 / Unbuntu 18.04.2LTS / v4.19.25-sunxi)

nmtui tool detect the ssid in the list of wifi network

I can well connect to this ssid WiFi channel.

But the Wifi cnx is disabled if the following case :

• The ethernet cable is not plugged.
• The ethernet cable was connected, then unplugged.

Then, after connected to an other WiFi channel :

The Wifi cnx works well (normal job) in all cases (with or without an ethernet cable plugged)

 

I'm using a "pFsense based device" with the compex WLE200NX WiFi module.

 

2 Armbian_5.75_Orangepizero_Debian_stretch_next_4.19.20

I have found the same issue.

 

Regards

 

[martinayotte]

42 minutes ago, No Name said:

The ethernet cable was connected, then unplugged.

If both wired and wireless are on the same network, you are looking for troubles !

The same problem would occur, even if it would be a normal PC :

Check "route -n" and you will see routes for IP subnet are pointing to "eth0", and when unplugged, your are loosing the network.

[Igor]

OrangePi Zero wireless chip is known for its "quality" and there is little to be done - I am not sure anyone will do any more debugging on this chip/driver combo. Check forum for topics associated with xradio, xr819, opi zero wireless. I would primarily suggest using something else, different board or something on USB. Any other wireless chip is better.

[No Name]

2 hours ago, martinayotte said:

If both wired and wireless are on the same network, you are looking for troubles !

The same problem would occur, even if it would be a normal PC :

Check "route -n" and you will see routes for IP subnet are pointing to "eth0", and when unplugged, your are loosing the network.

 

As I said, with the last ARMBIAN 5.75 stable Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS 4.19.25-sunxi, I don't loose the WiFi cnx after an ethernet cable unplug. Please see the 2 attached files. As you can see, I have well one gateway for each network (eth0 and wlan0). I have done 2 times the "route -n" : first with the ethernet cable and second without (unplug). So I think it was a bug.

armbian_ssh_cnx_ethernet.txt

armbian_ssh_cnx_wifi.txt

[No Name]

6 hours ago, martinayotte said:

If both wired and wireless are on the same network, you are looking for troubles !

The same problem would occur, even if it would be a normal PC :

Check "route -n" and you will see routes for IP subnet are pointing to "eth0", and when unplugged, your are loosing the network.

 

If I'm alone with this problem, you're probably right. But I don't have the answer at the time I write this post ! The future will say it ! Sometimes, peoples live with some problems without asking some people if we can solve it, so in this manner the problem haven't any chance to be solved.

[Igor]

57 minutes ago, No Name said:

So I think it was a bug.

 

If we can't attach this to poor drivers ... perhaps Network manager is having troubles/bugs and it would not be the first time. I will try to dig-in when possible ... do you wait for a while - how long - or wifi connection just drop? - after disconnecting the cable?

 

4 hours ago, No Name said:

nmtui tool doesn't detect the ssid in the list of wifi network

At least this is known xradio driver problem.

[martinayotte]

1 hour ago, No Name said:

If I'm alone with this problem, you're probably right.

It is quite the reverse : many people facing such issue since years, even with PC or MAC, so it is not an Armbian bug which appeared recently, so that is why I've said "you're looking for troubles" ...

BTW, what is your use-case of having both WiFi and Wired connected on the same subnet ?

[No Name]

16 minutes ago, Igor said:

 

If we can't attach this to poor drivers ... perhaps Network manager is having troubles/bugs and it would not be the first time. I will try to dig-in when possible ... do you wait for a while - how long - or wifi connection just drop? - after disconnecting the cable?

 

At least this is known xradio driver problem.

 

Loose the Wifi cnx when disconnecting the ethernet cable is one thing. But the most annoying is that I don't have any Wifi cnx if I start the opi zero without the ethernet cable.  This is like the ethernet cable plugged is required to allow the WiFi cnx starting.

I don't think that this is a WiFi cnx "drop" because it appears only when I disconnect the ethernet cable. I don't remember how long I'm waiting. I think I have tested at least one time with more than several minutes. 

[No Name]

54 minutes ago, martinayotte said:

It is quite the reverse : many people facing such issue since years, even with PC or MAC, so it is not an Armbian bug which appeared recently, so that is why I've said "you're looking for troubles" ...

BTW, what is your use-case of having both WiFi and Wired connected on the same subnet ?

 

In some cases, I need the ethernet cable and WiFi :

- first time to set up the WiFi and test it.

In some other cases, I need only the ethernet cable :

- to have a better stable network cnx.

And in some other cases, I need only the WiFi cnx :

- I don't want to link the opi with a very long cable.

- The opi should be mobile and need to be "stored" it in some particulary places. 

 

This time, the main problem is not that I have only a WiFi lost when disconnecting the ethernet cable but I can't have any WiFi cnx if the ethernet cable is not plugged. It means that if I start the device without the ethernet cable plugged, I don't have any WiFi cnx. So I can't use the opi in "WiFi only mode". And I have found after about one week of research that the problem seems to appear with my last WiFi Access Point device (that I'm using every day for about 4-6 months from now).

 

I have found this article that I have tried to follow without any success (probably because I have used the Network Manager and the IfUpDown with WiFi together). This is a workaround to manage only the ethernet plug/unplug (not the "only Wifi" case)