connecting to a smartphone hotspot

archerixi · Yesterday 10:34:52

Hi,

I use my Lenovo T400s to connect to the internet via my smartphone’s hotspot. It works automatically, but it sometimes takes quite a few attempts before the connection is finally established.

I’ve no real idea where to start looking for the problem.

[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$ inxi -MS
System:
  Host: t400s-arch Kernel: 7.1.4-arch1-1 arch: x86_64 bits: 64
  Desktop: MATE v: 1.28.2 Distro: Arch Linux

Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 28153TG v: ThinkPad T400s
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 28153TG serial: <superuser required> Firmware: BIOS
    vendor: LENOVO v: 6HET36WW (1.21 ) date: 12/19/2011
[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$

[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$ lsusb
[...]
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
[...]

[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$ lsmod | grep wifi
iwlwifi               622592  1 iwldvm
cfg80211             1568768  3 iwldvm,iwlwifi,mac80211
[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$

[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$ lsmod | grep wifi
iwlwifi               622592  1 iwldvm
cfg80211             1568768  3 iwldvm,iwlwifi,mac80211
[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$

[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$ journalctl -u NetworkManager -f
Jul 27 11:03:10 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785142990.2076] policy: set 'X1i4a' (wlan0) as default for IPv4 routing and DNS
Jul 27 11:03:10 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785142990.2324] device (wlan0): state change: ip-config -> ip-check (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 11:03:10 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785142990.2714] device (wlan0): state change: ip-check -> secondaries (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 11:03:10 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785142990.2717] device (wlan0): state change: secondaries -> activated (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 11:03:10 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785142990.2720] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_SITE
Jul 27 11:03:10 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785142990.2724] device (wlan0): Activation: successful, device activated.
Jul 27 11:03:10 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785142990.4825] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTED_GLOBAL
Jul 27 11:03:11 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785142991.2963] dhcp6 (wlan0): activation: beginning transaction (timeout in 45 seconds)
Jul 27 11:33:09 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785144789.2127] dhcp4 (wlan0): state changed new lease, address=10.136.48.197
Jul 27 12:03:08 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785146588.0250] dhcp4 (wlan0): state changed new lease, address=10.136.48.197

The laptop also runs Debian Trixie and Windows 11. I haven’t experienced anything like this with either of those operating systems.
If you need any further information, please let me know.
I’m not really familiar with the ins and outs of this problem.

Archerixi

-thc · Yesterday 10:53:14

Please make sure Windows "Fast start" is disabled - see http://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Dual_bo … ibernation.

If the problem persists try to capture a journal when the error occured and post a link here.

archerixi · Yesterday 11:18:35

Hi,

enforced

...
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.0192] device (wlan0): Activation: starting connection 'X1i4a' (a6e3c085-6452-4f2b-a426-6c21695c06e3)
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.0195] audit: op="connection-activate" uuid="a6e3c085-6452-4f2b-a426-6c21695c06e3" name="X1i4a" pid=2244 uid=1000 result="success"
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.0196] device (wlan0): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.0199] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTING
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.0620] device (wlan0): set-hw-addr: reset MAC address to 00:21:6A:6F:61:6A (preserve)
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2447] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2460] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) access point 'X1i4a' has security, but secrets are required.
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2460] device (wlan0): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2525] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> interface_disabled
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2537] device (wlan0): state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2541] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2551] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) connection 'X1i4a' has security, and secrets exist.  No new secrets needed.
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2555] Config: added 'ssid' value 'X1i4a'
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2556] Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2557] Config: added 'bgscan' value 'simple:30:-65:300'
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2558] Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'WPA-PSK WPA-PSK-SHA256'
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2558] Config: added 'psk' value '<hidden>'
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.2564] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: interface_disabled -> disconnected
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.7645] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> authenticating
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.8322] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> disconnected
Jul 27 13:05:21 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150321.9324] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jul 27 13:05:24 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150324.9890] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> authenticating
Jul 27 13:05:25 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150325.0021] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> disconnected
Jul 27 13:05:25 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150325.0588] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> associated
Jul 27 13:05:35 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150335.0605] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associated -> disconnected
Jul 27 13:05:35 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150335.1604] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jul 27 13:05:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150340.3188] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> disconnected
Jul 27 13:05:45 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150345.3228] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <warn>  [1785150346.7812] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) association took too long
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150346.7812] device (wlan0): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <warn>  [1785150346.7834] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) asking for new secrets
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150346.7861] device (wlan0): state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150346.7868] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150346.7880] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) connection 'X1i4a' has security, and secrets exist.  No new secrets needed.
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150346.7880] Config: added 'ssid' value 'X1i4a'
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150346.7880] Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150346.7881] Config: added 'bgscan' value 'simple:30:-65:300'
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150346.7881] Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'WPA-PSK WPA-PSK-SHA256'
Jul 27 13:05:46 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150346.7881] Config: added 'psk' value '<hidden>'
Jul 27 13:05:50 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150350.5716] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> disconnected
Jul 27 13:06:00 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150360.5779] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jul 27 13:06:05 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150365.9547] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: scanning -> disconnected
Jul 27 13:06:11 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <warn>  [1785150371.7823] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) association took too long, failing activation
Jul 27 13:06:11 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150371.7824] device (wlan0): state change: config -> failed (reason 'ssid-not-found', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:11 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150371.7832] manager: NetworkManager state is now DISCONNECTED
Jul 27 13:06:11 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150371.8114] device (wlan0): set-hw-addr: set MAC address to E6:48:D2:A8:E5:BB (scanning)
Jul 27 13:06:11 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <warn>  [1785150371.9930] device (wlan0): Activation: failed for connection 'X1i4a'
Jul 27 13:06:11 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150371.9945] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> interface_disabled
Jul 27 13:06:11 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150371.9982] device (wlan0): state change: failed -> disconnected (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:12 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150372.0012] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: interface_disabled -> inactive
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.1639] policy: auto-activating connection 'X1i4a' (a6e3c085-6452-4f2b-a426-6c21695c06e3)
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.1645] device (wlan0): Activation: starting connection 'X1i4a' (a6e3c085-6452-4f2b-a426-6c21695c06e3)
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.1646] device (wlan0): state change: disconnected -> prepare (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.1648] manager: NetworkManager state is now CONNECTING
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.1886] device (wlan0): set-hw-addr: reset MAC address to 00:21:6A:6F:61:6A (preserve)
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3706] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3711] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) access point 'X1i4a' has security, but secrets are required.
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3712] device (wlan0): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3772] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: inactive -> interface_disabled
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3797] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: interface_disabled -> inactive
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3798] device (wlan0): state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3801] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3814] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) connection 'X1i4a' has security, and secrets exist.  No new secrets needed.
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3814] Config: added 'ssid' value 'X1i4a'
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3815] Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3815] Config: added 'bgscan' value 'simple:30:-65:300'
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3815] Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'WPA-PSK WPA-PSK-SHA256'
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.3815] Config: added 'psk' value '<hidden>'
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.8999] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: inactive -> authenticating
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.9050] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: authenticating -> disconnected
Jul 27 13:06:15 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150375.9574] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> associated
Jul 27 13:06:25 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150385.9597] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: associated -> disconnected
Jul 27 13:06:26 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150386.0592] device (wlan0): supplicant interface state: disconnected -> scanning
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <warn>  [1785150400.7814] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) association took too long
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150400.7815] device (wlan0): state change: config -> need-auth (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <warn>  [1785150400.7846] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) asking for new secrets
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150400.7872] device (wlan0): state change: need-auth -> prepare (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150400.7876] device (wlan0): state change: prepare -> config (reason 'none', managed-type: 'full')
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150400.7883] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) connection 'X1i4a' has security, and secrets exist.  No new secrets needed.
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150400.7885] Config: added 'ssid' value 'X1i4a'
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150400.7887] Config: added 'scan_ssid' value '1'
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150400.7888] Config: added 'bgscan' value 'simple:30:-65:300'
Jul 27 13:06:40 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150400.7889] Config: added 'key_mgmt' value 'WPA-PSK WPA-PSK-SHA256'
...repeating

I can see <warn> [1785150371.7823] device (wlan0): Activation: (wifi) association took too long, failing activation
The question is, why not in Debian as well? Where to set another "timeout"?
(and, of course, fastboot is disabled on Windows)

Archerixi

EDIT.: I’m very surprised that, when I check the ‘Connected Devices’ section on my smartphone whilst Arch is booting up, the ‘t400s-arch’ appears as a connected device, even though NetworkManager is still working on establishing the connection. This notification disappears and reappears; it only stabilises once the connection has been successfully established.
I’ve now added the following to /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf:

[main]

dhcp-timeout=60

without any visible change in behaviour

Last edited by archerixi (Yesterday 14:15:38)

seth · Yesterday 15:11:14

Don't filter the journal, the association is done by wpa_supplicant or iwd and will fail there or the kernel modules.

Jul 27 13:06:11 t400s-arch NetworkManager[449]: <info>  [1785150371.7824] device (wlan0): state change: config -> failed (reason 'ssid-not-found', managed-type: 'full')

‘t400s-arch’ appears as a connected device, even though NetworkManager is still working on establishing the connection

… or you're simply running concurrent network services.

find /etc/systemd -type l -exec test -f {} \; -print | awk -F'/' '{ printf ("%-40s | %s\n", $(NF-0), $(NF-1)) }' | sort -f

archerixi · Yesterday 15:50:38

Hi,

[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$ find /etc/systemd -type l -exec test -f {} \; -print | awk -F'/' '{ printf ("%-40s | %s\n", $(NF-0), $(NF-1)) }' | sort -f
80-wifi-station.network                  | network
acpid.service                            | multi-user.target.wants
autovt@.service                          | system
avahi-daemon.service                     | multi-user.target.wants
avahi-daemon.socket                      | sockets.target.wants
cups.path                                | multi-user.target.wants
cups.service                             | multi-user.target.wants
cups.service                             | printer.target.wants
cups.socket                              | sockets.target.wants
dbus-org.freedesktop.Avahi.service       | system
dbus-org.freedesktop.nm-dispatcher.service | system
dbus-org.freedesktop.timesync1.service   | system
getty@tty1.service                       | getty.target.wants
iwd.service                              | multi-user.target.wants
NetworkManager.service                   | multi-user.target.wants
NetworkManager-wait-online.service       | network-online.target.wants
nmb.service                              | multi-user.target.wants
p11-kit-server.socket                    | sockets.target.wants
pipewire.socket                          | sockets.target.wants
remote-fs.target                         | multi-user.target.wants
smb.service                              | multi-user.target.wants
systemd-timesyncd.service                | sysinit.target.wants
systemd-userdbd.socket                   | sockets.target.wants
ufw.service                              | multi-user.target.wants
vboxadd.service                          | multi-user.target.wants
vboxadd-service.service                  | multi-user.target.wants
xdg-user-dirs.service                    | graphical-session-pre.target.wants
[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$

Archerixi

seth · Yesterday 15:54:05

Yeah… disable iwd and probably 80-wifi-station.network (what is that specifically?)
If you want to use iwd as NM backend see https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Networ … Fi_backend

archerixi · Yesterday 16:15:11

Hi,

seth wrote:

Yeah… disable iwd

oh, if I do so, there is no longer a connection to the hotspot? (!)

and probably 80-wifi-station.network (what is that specifically?)

I don’t know, and I can’t remember whether I took any action in that regard either – sorry. Here’s the content

[archerix@t400s-arch network]$ cat 80-wifi-station.network
# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT-0
#
# This example config file is installed as part of systemd.
# It may be freely copied and edited (following the MIT No Attribution license).
#
# To use the file, one of the following methods may be used:
# 1. add a symlink from /etc/systemd/network to the current location of this file,
# 2. copy the file into /etc/systemd/network or one of the other paths checked
#    by systemd-networkd and edit it there.
# This file should not be edited in place, because it'll be overwritten on upgrades.

[Match]
Type=wlan
WLANInterfaceType=station
SSID=*

[Network]
DHCP=yes
[archerix@t400s-arch network]$

If you want to use iwd as NM backend see https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Networ … Fi_backend

I’ll probably have to give that some thought; I’m not at all familiar with it (the network).

Archerixi

seth · Yesterday 16:19:22

Disable iwd and 80-wifi-station.network, reboot and post the complete journal after failing to connect to the hotspot, you can in doubt use https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Tethering

archerixi · Yesterday 17:01:42

Hi,
Please be patient – I’ll probably need a bit longer to sort this out.

Archerixi

archerixi · Today 13:27:14

Hi,

So… I’ve just had a look at USB tethering – it was actually quite straightforward.
Then I ran

[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$ sudo mv /etc/systemd/network/80-wifi-station.network /etc/systemd/network/80-wifi-station.network.disabled
[sudo] Password for archerix:
[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$ sudo systemctl disable iwd.service
Removed “/etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/iwd.service”.
[archerix@t400s-arch ~]$

Reboot and

journal --boot > journal

and quickly install pastebinit. (It’s not working at the moment, <urlopen error [Errno 32] Broken pipe>, I’ll probably have to try other options first)

I’ve noticed something else: before I disabled ‘iwd’ and ‘80-wifi-station.network’, the USB tethering connection worked perfectly; but after disabling them and rebooting, it stopped working altogether. I’ve now restarted ‘iwd’ for the time being, but the old connection problem has returned.

Archerixi

PS.: seems to been very tricky with USB tethering (disconnect and connect again or so?!)

Last edited by archerixi (Today 13:29:28)

Arch Linux

#1 Yesterday 10:34:52

connecting to a smartphone hotspot

#2 Yesterday 10:53:14

Re: connecting to a smartphone hotspot

#3 Yesterday 11:18:35

Re: connecting to a smartphone hotspot

#4 Yesterday 15:11:14

Re: connecting to a smartphone hotspot

#5 Yesterday 15:50:38

Re: connecting to a smartphone hotspot

#6 Yesterday 15:54:05

Re: connecting to a smartphone hotspot

#7 Yesterday 16:15:11

Re: connecting to a smartphone hotspot

#8 Yesterday 16:19:22

Re: connecting to a smartphone hotspot

#9 Yesterday 17:01:42

Re: connecting to a smartphone hotspot

#10 Today 13:27:14

Re: connecting to a smartphone hotspot

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