[SOLVED] Not booting - initrd issue?

business_kid · 07-16-2022, 02:23 PM

Back to Earth with a bump

.

OS matters aside, it appears something is rotten. The RTL8821CU driver sets up my RTL8811CU under wpa_supplicant, but craps out on dhclient/dhcpcd.The script runs wpa_supplicant followed by dhcpcd. So wpa_supplicant is up, and some talking was probably done.
Here's the output:

Code:

bash-5.1$ sudo dhcpcd -d wlan3
Password: 
dhcpcd-9.4.1 starting
chrooting as dhcpcd to /var/lib/dhcpcd
sandbox: seccomp
spawned manager process on PID 4980
spawned privileged proxy on PID 4981
spawned network proxy on PID 4982
spawned controller proxy on PID 4983
DUID 00:04:ef:ef:16:89:a4:a4:96:12:af:70:d8:bb:c1:16:e2:1e
wlan3: executing: /lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks PREINIT
wlan3: executing: /lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks NOCARRIER
wlan3: waiting for carrier
wlan3: carrier lost - roaming
wlan3: executing: /lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks NOCARRIER_ROAMING
received SIGTERM, stopping
wlan3: removing interface
wlan3: executing: /lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-run-hooks STOPPED 

##### AND ALSO DHCLIENT #####

bash-5.1$ sudo dhclient -v  wlan3
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client 4.4.2-P1
Copyright 2004-2021 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/

Listening on LPF/wlan3/1c:bf:ce:e3:a6:38
Sending on   LPF/wlan3/1c:bf:ce:e3:a6:38
Sending on   Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan3 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan3 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan3 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan3 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 17
Terminated

I'll post an issue. There wasn't a solitary warning during the driver compile. But it's a new dongle in a new box on a new driver. I'm fingering either the wifi dongle or the driver here, not the setup. The ‘iwlist’ command shows up some local stations, including mine. I tried in windows, which is on this box in case someone wants to suffer. I instantly learned better. Windows couldn’t see the driver I put on a usb with linux; Windows wouldn’t install the driver I found – “I prefer my own.” But although windows did see a few stations, mine wasn’t there

.

SlackWar · 07-16-2022, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

although windows did see a few stations, mine wasn’t there

.

Not being there I cannot tell anything more — but if neither Linux nor Windows was able to detect your DHCP server, then maybe indeed it wasn't broadcasting? The log excerpts you've pasted are suggesting, that the driver works, just the dongle was unable to connect. Maybe problem with configuration (ID, password...)?

business_kid · 07-17-2022, 04:15 AM

It sounds like you nailed it. Listening, but no broadcast.

I managed to get (spit!) M$ windows to see my AP by repositioning the aerial, but that wouldn't connect either. Don't worry about the password. So many folks have logged on here, my son & I can repeat the password in our sleep.

business_kid · 07-17-2022, 08:54 AM

Mysteriously, the #£@$&€%! thing now is working!

Exercising due diligence, I brought the dongle downstairs to my RazPi 4B and compiled the driver on that. The RazPi has an unofficial Slackware64 port, Slarm64. Dhcpcd dropped the carrier, but picked it up again. There's always a bit of fiddling for best aerial position with these and I have yet to do that, but that dongle is (temporarily at least) working. The fact that it works in a RazPi and not in a PC makes zero sense, so I am slightly suspicious of software now but refrain from any diagnosis

I can work with this setup, because the RazPi had another dongle that is now surplus. But of course because I upgraded the kernel modules hoping to get a driver for the Realtek RTL8821CU, the old modules were deleted. Among them was the driver for the RTL8812BU, which works this dongle

Back to github...

I'd be getting irritated except that I gave myself a dose of reality yesterday trying to set something up on M$ windows

EDIT:Went back to github and grabbed a driver for the RTL88X2BU from the same developer. That won't get past dhcpcd either. But I KNOW this dongle works, because it sat up in the pc before, and it's been running in the RazPi for weeks.

SlackWar · 07-17-2022, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

The fact that it works in a RazPi and not in a PC makes zero sense

Perhaps shorter „timeout” type value somewhere in that PC's software? But where exactly — driver, kernel, somewhere else — I can't tell you on remote.

business_kid · 07-17-2022, 11:14 AM

Right.

Thanks very much for all insights, help and hads up on this thread. I'm not posting here further, but opening one in hardware because that is where I think this belongs. Of the new pc, new dongle, & new driver, I'm coming down to the PC.