WLAN interface vanishes!!

Hi,

I am finding a strange phenomenon with my USB Wireless adapter, and was
wondering if anyone out there has experienced this or has an opinion.

My SuSE 9.3 laptop has a Belkin FD6050 USB Wireless adapter attached. Now,
after attaching, I configured the interface wlan0, and I could surf the net.

However, erratically, I would lose connectivity to the internet, and on
doing "ifconfig", I would notice that the interface "wlan0" has vanished!!
The only way I get it back is if I unplug the USB adapter and re-plug it
back. You would think if the signal went low (which is probably not the case
here since I'm literally 20 feet away from the access point), the
communication would be broken - it should not wipe out the interface,
without it coming back at all!

Anyone familiar with this, or has an expert opinion?

Thanks!
SB

On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 13:48:44 GMT
"Spare Brain" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Anyone familiar with this, or has an expert opinion?

No, i haven't seen that but I have a suggestion that might be easier
than popping out the card. Try (as root):

rcnetwork restart


--
Kevin Nathan (Arizona, USA)
Linux Potpourri and a.o.l.s. FAQ -- http://www.project54.com/linux/

Open standards. Open source. Open minds.
The command line is the front line.
Linux 2.6.8-24.18-default
10:49am up 2 days 11:34, 14 users, load average: 0.12, 0.12, 0.09

On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 10:51:09 -0700, Kevin Nathan pretented somebody gave a
rat's ass and spewed forth:

> On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 13:48:44 GMT
> "Spare Brain" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> Anyone familiar with this, or has an expert opinion?
>
> No, i haven't seen that but I have a suggestion that might be easier
> than popping out the card. Try (as root):
>
> rcnetwork restart

Not sure how one would pop out a NIC but okay. :P

I have my wireless just set to eth0, if that makes any difference. The
laptop has been connected (if occasionaly suspended) to the same access
point since Thursday, which would make it four days.

--
kai
www.perfectreign.com

linux - because a computer is a terrible thing to waste

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 04:55:56 -0700, PerfectReign pretented somebody gave a
rat's ass and spewed forth:

> On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 10:51:09 -0700, Kevin Nathan pretented somebody gave a
> rat's ass and spewed forth:
>
>> On Sun, 04 Sep 2005 13:48:44 GMT
>> "Spare Brain" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>> Anyone familiar with this, or has an expert opinion?
>>
>> No, i haven't seen that but I have a suggestion that might be easier
>> than popping out the card. Try (as root):
>>
>> rcnetwork restart
>
> Not sure how one would pop out a NIC but okay. :P
>
> I have my wireless just set to eth0, if that makes any difference. The
> laptop has been connected (if occasionaly suspended) to the same access
> point since Thursday, which would make it four days.

Correction - I rebooted yesterday after doing a SuSE update, which
included a new kernel. Sorry about that.

--
kai
www.perfectreign.com

linux - because a computer is a terrible thing to waste

Spare Brain wrote:
>
> However, erratically, I would lose connectivity to the internet, and on
> doing "ifconfig", I would notice that the interface "wlan0" has vanished!!
>

It may be beneficial for you to do some reading on the UNIX tools that
are used for networking. The ifconfig program will show interfaces that
are *up*. As we are talking about a wireless network interface here,
you must keep in mind that there are many things about it that aren't
accessible from running the ifconfig program; iwconfig is your friend.

If you want to check to see if it is still "connected" you can lsusb, or
simply check iwconfig and see if it is listed there.

Also, if the interface is registered with the kernel, but it is not in
the "UP" state, you can view it with ifconfig by:

$ /sbin/ifconfig -a

To display all interfaces.

HTH,
Mike