Fun Problems with WLAN/WIFI/LAN on I7 Quad Core Laptop

Did you uninstall Win7?

Yes, I don't need it any more.

Perhaps you can "restore" from a previous restore point?

I have no idea what your comment has to do with Ubuntu......I am very new to it except for a few weeks of testing last year.....so please explain.

For the record, no Windows is on the Laptop.....NONE!

"no Windows is on the Laptop.....NONE!"

Should that be... no Windows ARE on the laptop.....NONE!

You are of course technically correct for English for plurals. But "Windows" not a plural in this example. It it a word that remains unchanged as both in singular and plural form!!

But as it was only one copy of "Windows" (blame BG!!) and because the name is not "Window" for one copy, I believe I am correct.....,singular.

"There are many windows in my house" is not what we are talking about. Frames with glass in them are not OSs....

The OS's name is "Windows" not "Window"....it is singular even with the "s".

It is like the word "sheep", which is both singular and plural, so is the OS Name " Windows" it is both singular and plural.

I have one copy of MS "Windows" or I have many copies of MS "Windows"......(MS is NOT for Merchant Ship by the way!!)

English is a language I speak probably once a year at most, sometimes not even then.....I am getting lazy, not deaf!! But I did learn it and how use it properly, in an English Grammar School.....more than 50 years ago, far more!

Americans speak American, not English!! Many forget the many differences between the languages nowadays......I am British, I still (occasionally) speak English.....remember, you don't like tea any more!!!

Two countries separated by a common language?

The harbour in Boston was coloured brown then!!! But undrinkable I suspect!!

(But you colour the Harbour Green for the Irish nowadays!!!)

I still speak "English" better than most Americans that I have met! Which isn't difficult!!! Assuming of course, if you believe that Americans speak English, which I don't by the way!!!

Well, I be glad you done cleared that up.

That was detail eh?

Windows is shutting down, and grammar are
On their last leg. So what am we to do?
A letter of complaint go just so far,
Proving the only one in step are you.

Better, perhaps, to simply let it goes.
A sentence have to be screwed pretty bad
Before they gets to where you doesnt knows
The meaning what it must of meant to had.

The meteor have hit. Extinction spread,
But evolution do not stop for that.
A mutant languages rise from the dead
And all them rules is suddenly old hat.

Too bad for we, us what has had so long
The best seat from the only game in town.
But there it am, and whom can say its wrong?
Those are the break. Windows is shutting down.

- Clive James

It appears that the problem that I fixed, without any assistance, is proving a bit more difficult than I really expected.....I thought someone would get it faster than I did!!! That time has long passed!

So I am patting myself on the back at fixing it "overnight" while sleeping, or better said, I woke up knowing where to go to fix it.....lucky or clever, probably a tiny bit of both!!

I will let it run on and see if someone gets it in the end......

Easy, you told Ubuntu to wake up and use all resources, basically just switching all possible switches in the BIOS until it worked.

The real answer is:

You never switch the laptop off again!

LOL x 2!!!

I'm guessing here. I work with Ubuntu all the time and have not seen this particular problem, but I'll take a stab at it.

You reverted back to the generic drivers instead of the proprietary drivers you installed from the chip makers.

Your logic is good, but not proven either way by me as of now. That is not a "tip" that will help by the way.....in fact it may do you more harm than good.......

Don't forget, that I installed 13.x last year for several weeks, no problems.

This time I installed 14.1x Desktop and it worked till I powered off and on. Using the standard supplied Ubuntu drivers.

I re-installed it and the same happened after a power off/on.

My Lenovo Tablet worked with the WLAN before, after and during the problems....

My Windows Laptop with WLAN worked before, after and during the problems....

The one without WLAN, just on the LAN,worked before, after and during the problems....

No real helpful logic to that, so start thinking "out of the box!"

When the problem came, the LAN connection stopped working correctly as well, but only on the Ubuntu laptop. I still have no proper explanation for that even now.

"Hint" for all interested, I changed something NOT on the (any!) laptop or OS and fixed the problem completely.....

My Ubuntu Laptop is now running properly......I am using it right now!!!

There is only a little technical logic with this problem I feel.....but it WAS technical!! Some might say no logic at all, but I did manage to get to get the problem fixed.......after "sleeping on it!"

Best of luck Guys....

You reset your router.

Several times, to no effect!!

You turned off your printer?

Wasn't on at any time.....it is also a WLAN printer, but totallyoff, mains plug was not in a socket.

You said the magic words!

"Eany beany chilli beanie the spirits are about to speak!"

and viola! Internets.

Rocky and Bullwinkle knew their stuff I tell ya.

LOL!

Never heard of that before!

I am sure it would have worked if I had said it when the problems were still there......

I'll try and remember it for the future.....

Depending on what you choose to install, there may not have been a graphical interface included. There are other requirements as well, such as a minimum of 3G of ram memory.

The restore command in windows 7 will change things back to the way they were before some bad software broke your machine. It may not get rid of viruses but I don't think that is what happened.

Windows 7 WAS on this laptop. It is not on there any more. ONLY Ubuntu 14.10 Desktop is on the laptop, nothing else.....

To everyone:-

Hint to all - I did not have to change anything on the Laptop to fix the problem. The problem was external to the Laptop.

Shall I give it a further 24 hours? Longer or shorter before posting what actually happened?

Does anyone need the full facts listed again?

All most sounds like the devices were getting their IP numbers assigned by the windows DHCP service, and once windows was trashed... no IP for the router.

NO WINDOWS!!

Are you yelling at someone outside because you have no windows to open?

Thats right!!!

I re-formatted the hard disk before installing Ubuntu.... NO WINDOWS TO SHOUT THROUGH/AT!!!

I lost interest! So what is it?

Understood.

I will give everyone else 24 hours and then post the fix, which may be of interest to others now and in the future.....which of course is the reason I posted in the first place!!

Did the MAC address change and MAC filtering was turned on in the router?

Turned Off MAC Filtering......

The MAC address had previously been spoofed or otherwise changed.

Sorry no.

Hint, the router was not "adjusted" in any way, shape or form.

The problem was external to the WLAN router.

Hint. The problem could happen, I believe, to anyone using a WLAN router.....it may even be better on some days and not on others....

The problem was caused by a DECT telephone base station, that I was only using as a charger base, but of course the DECT electronics are switched on, but not in use.

I cannot explain fully why the Toshiba Laptop with Windows 7 worked fine on the WLAN before, as did my Lenovo Tablet and a WinXP laptop.

Also another WinXP laptop where the WLAN is defective, worked fine on the LAN cable before during and after.

After installing Ubuntu on the Toshiba Laptop, the WLAN worked fine after each (2x) install, but after a power down, the WLAN was seen by the Laptop, but considered too far away to be usable.

Connecting the LAN cable also gave very mixed results, mostly it did not work....

The WLAN still worked fine on the other units as did the LAN.

After "sleeping" on the problem overnight, I decided to swap the phone charger in the kitchen, with the charger/Base station that was in the lounge. Problem fully fixed. Though the frequencies (I believe) are fairly wide apart, 800MHz and 2.4 Ghz, but possibly still "related" enough to each other....

Maybe if I had used fixed channels instead of automatic, I might have got round the problem.

I checked up and I believe the problems are probably due to a poor implementation of firmware on the Aethos WLAN/LAN unit on the Toshiba Laptop under Ubuntu. Which as far as I can tell, is the same electronic unit that drives the LAN. So any interference from the DECT telephone base station, also interfered with the LAN function....but not proven. But if true, that is pretty poor firmware on the Aethos unit.....

If I had needed the DECT base station in the original position, I would have searched for a better Linux driver/firmware for the WLAN/LAN on the Toshiba.... but I didn't.

I consider the problem strange but now fixed.

It was interesting that no one here got near to guessing, inspite of a few hints. That is not meant as a criticism, just that such problems must annoy the crap out of people, who are not as well informed technically as we here all are.....

Thanks for playing my silly game (which annoyed me for more than 12 hours!!!), I hope the infos here help someone, which was my intention as well.....

Have a great weekend.

I never heard of a DECT telephone.

" I might have got round the problem"

should be "I might have gotten around the problem" even in English, I believe.

Based on my limited troubleshooting skills, I would switch the DECT phone charger station back to see if the issue returns. Thanks for the laughs.

Thats a very good idea, I will try that this week and post the results here.

Thanks.

That would have made it too easy. I considered it, but I would have needed to list all our electronic equipment.

Furthermore, it drives you to think "out of the box"......

That phone has been there for some years.....I have been using portable computers since 1979.....the ones with WLAN work here till I installed Ubuntu, same hardware that ran fine on Win7......

It was supposed to get people dusting off their brains........I think it did that!

I have a somewhat related question:

If, when I turn on the microwave oven, my ipad loses its wifi connection,

should I be worried about the microwave containment?

No.

But you should check that the food is cooked correctly.....