Dell Latitude E6410 Wireless connects and disconnects continuously

This document (7007905) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 Service Pack 1

Situation

When running SLED 11 SP1 on a Dell Latitude E6410 the wireless connection will continuously connect and disconnect. This can be seen in the /var/log/NetworkManager log:

Feb  6 10:41:15 SLED11SP1-Test NetworkManager: <debug> [1291657275.669197]
periodic_update(): Roamed from BSSID (none) ((none)) to xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
(Test)
Feb  6 10:42:44 SLED11SP1-Test NetworkManager: <info>  (wlan0): device state
change: 8 -> 3
Feb  6 10:42:44 SLED11SP1-Test NetworkManager: <info>  (wlan0): deactivating
device (reason: 38).

Resolution

To resolve this issue use the following steps:

1. Download the following firmware update for the E6410 wifi adapter:

http://intellinuxwireless.org/iwlwifi/downloads/iwlwifi-6000-ucode-9.221.4.1.tgz

NOTE: At the time this Technical Information Document was created version 9.221.4.1 was available. Any version greater than 9.221.4.1 should also work.

2. Update the iwlagn-6000-4.ucode file in /lib/firmware using the update downloaded in step 1.

3. Type

modprobe -r iwlagn

To unload the currently loaded driver.

5. Create a /etc/modprobe.d/50-iwlagn.conf file that contains the following:

options iwlagn disable_hw_scan=1

6. Type

modprobe -v iwlagn

To reload the driver with the new firmware and the new option.

You can verify the new firmware is loaded in the /var/log/messages.

You may see the following error message in the /var/log/messages after making the changes:

avahi-daemon[2924]: Invalid query packet messages

They are innocuous and can be ignored.

Disclaimer

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