T2 "forgets" network settings

[aidianshide]

I'm running a newish barebones T2 with a USB external disk, + a stick tuner and a wifi dongle. I have been able to connect the machine to my WLAN, and it works fine for about half an hour, but then the networking stops, even to the point that scanning for networks shows nothing. However, if I then reboot the machine, everything is fine again - for another half hour or so. Any suggestions?

[Grumpy_Geoff]

What firmware are you running?

You've 3 x USB devices connected, so I assume a USB hub is being used.
Is the hub powered?
Are all devices connected to the hub, or only some (and which ones)?
Have you tried the WiFi dongle directly connected to the T2?

What adapter are you using? The hapless RTL8192CU chipped dongle (that chip is in the Beyonwiz shop's 'WiFi USB Antenna (Wireless N 300Mbps) T2 – T3 – T4' adapter)?

Have you recently changed the wireless setup on your router/access point (bandwidth, channels et. al.)?

[aidianshide]

What firmware are you running?
- version 17.5

You've 3 x USB devices connected, so I assume a USB hub is being used. Is the hub powered?
- No.

Are all devices connected to the hub, or only some (and which ones)?
- I had the Tuner stick and the Wifi dongle connected to the hub, which was in the rear USB socket. (The external hard-disk was in the front USB socket.)

Have you tried the WiFi dongle directly connected to the T2?
- I've just tried it in the front USB socket (with the external disk in the USB hub). In that configuration the link drops out after about 10 minutes. But still, all is restored if I reboot the T2 - so it's not in fact the network settings that are forgotten, but the Wifi link that drops out.

What adapter are you using? The hapless RTL8192CU chipped dongle (that chip is in the Beyonwiz shop's 'WiFi USB Antenna (Wireless N 300Mbps) T2 – T3 – T4' adapter)?
- Yes.

Have you recently changed the wireless setup on your router/access point (bandwidth, channels et. al.)?
- Yes - I've just changed from ADSL to NBN FTTN with a new modem, but the behaviour is the same.

[MrQuade]

- Yes - I've just changed from ADSL to NBN FTTN with a new modem, but the behaviour is the same.

I think Grumpy Geoff was under the impression that the WLAN connection was working and then stopped perhaps as a result of some change in the WiFi environment at your location.


I wonder if it'd be worth seeing a copy of the T2's /var/log/messages log to see if there are any dongle related errors in there. It sounds like something is getting jammed up and perhaps the driver encounters an error it can't deal with.

It's also worth trying with only the WiFi plugged in to see what happens.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

I was wondering if there is not enough power to run all of the USB devices.
Try without the external drive for a while and see if the wireless network holds. If it does, perhaps get a powered USB hub to use.

[aidianshide]

Thanks for your comment - but I could find no error messages at all.

However, in chasing up "RTL8192CU" in this forum, I picked up a hint that that chip or its drivers conflict in some way with firmware update 17.5. So I decided to reinstall the previous version beyonwizt2-20160419.

Some interesting contrasts emerge:
Under 17.5 the Network Information page shows:
- Link Quality: 44/70
- Bitrate: 72.2 Mb/s (fluctuating to 7.2 Mb/s every couple of minutes)
- Signal Strength: -55 dBm

Under 20160419:
- Link Quality: 100/100
- Bitrate: 144.4 Mb/s
- Signal Strength: 50 dBm

Furthermore, the link appears now to be quite stable.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

'17.5' isn't a firmware version, it's the naming for a series of firmwares. The firmware version is detailed in MENU->Information->About->OK, in the 'Revision' field.
I'll assume your T2 is running 20180417 since you said it's 'newish'.
That firmware apparently introduced a performance degradation for the RTL8192CU chipset dongles. Perhaps there are other issues too.
Assuming you were running 20180417 in your old T3, did it have issues?

I had prepared the above earlier but decided not to post it at the time until you had performed the suggested tests.

[aidianshide]

I bought my T2 in September, but the zip-file for 20180417 on my iMac is dated November 6, when I installed it to remedy a software crash that had incapacitated the T2. It was only after this that I encountered this network fault. It never occurred with the T3 I had before.

[Grumpy_Geoff]

Okay, I'll assume the T3 was on 16.1's 20170310 or the later online update which had picon changes (from memory), and your T2 initially had this firmware too.
I don't think the RTL8192CU situation is going to get better, so my suggestions to you are:
Buy a different adapter that doesn't contain an RTL8192CU chip.
Buy a wireless-to-ethernet bridge - I'll get that in before IanSav does If you have an old wireless router handy that has an ethernet bridge/wireless client mode then try that.

Buy an EDUP EP-AC1619 USB Dual Band WI-FI adapter from eBay, or others listed in the below link from shops such as MSY.
See this thread for suggestions - "Wifi Antenna T3 vs U4"

[IanSav]

Hi Grumpy_Geoff,

...
Buy a wireless-to-ethernet bridge - I'll get that in before IanSav does If you have an old wireless router handy that has an ethernet bridge/wireless client mode then try that.
...

I have no problems with your passing on my good advice.

Regards,
Ian.

[aidianshide]

Okay, I'll assume the T3 was on 16.1's 20170310 or the later online update which had picon changes (from memory), and your T2 initially had this firmware too.
I don't think the RTL8192CU situation is going to get better, so my suggestions to you are:
Buy a different adapter that doesn't contain an RTL8192CU chip.
Buy a wireless-to-ethernet bridge - I'll get that in before IanSav does If you have an old wireless router handy that has an ethernet bridge/wireless client mode then try that.

Buy an EDUP EP-AC1619 USB Dual Band WI-FI adapter from eBay, or others listed in the below link from shops such as MSY.
See this thread for suggestions - "Wifi Antenna T3 vs U4"

[prl]

Did you want to reply to something that Grumpy_Geoff wrote?

[aidianshide]

Sorry - yes.

I wanted to thank him (and IanSav) for their advice, and I wondered whether it was worth asking why Grumpy Geoff should feel that "I don't think the RTL8192CU situation is going to get better" - particularly given that the chip is in a product that Beyonwiz sells (or sold).

[prl]

It's a perfectly good question to ask, but perhaps it's better to ask it of Beyonwiz or peteru rather than of Grumpy_Geoff.

The issue seems to be with changes to the Linux drivers for the RTL8192 chipsets. Peteru manages the builds of the firmware and may know whether a driver fix is likely. And as you say, it's a device that Beyonwiz sells for use with their PVRs.

[aidianshide]

It's a perfectly good question to ask, but perhaps it's better to ask it of Beyonwiz or peteru rather than of Grumpy_Geoff.

The issue seems to be with changes to the Linux drivers for the RTL8192 chipsets. Peteru manages the builds of the firmware and may know whether a driver fix is likely. And as you say, it's a device that Beyonwiz sells for use with their PVRs.

Peteru - any comment?

[peteru]

It's a perfectly good question to ask, but perhaps it's better to ask it of Beyonwiz or peteru rather than of Grumpy_Geoff.

The issue seems to be with changes to the Linux drivers for the RTL8192 chipsets. Peteru manages the builds of the firmware and may know whether a driver fix is likely. And as you say, it's a device that Beyonwiz sells for use with their PVRs.

Peteru - any comment?

In theory it can probably be fixed, but in practice the problem is finding the time. Identifying the change that caused the regression, figuring out what that change was fixing and then finding a solution that still delivers the intended fixes without causing a regression is the time consuming part. The source code is available to anyone, so it does not have to be me fixing this...

At this stage I am not in a position to build a new firmware release due to some hardware issues. Hopefully I can do something about that in the near future.