Goodbye NetworkManager!

[thirdlibrea]

After a slew of updates in Feb and Mar for F8, NetworkManager suddenly stopped being reliable for the Intel 3945abg wireless card installed on my Acer Aspire laptop.

So I killed it.

The alternative is Wicd (http://wicd.net) (Wireless Interface Connection Daemon), which does what NM was supposed to do for Fedora in the first place. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it in the official repos. Despite the name, wicd supports wired connections as well.

But I found one here in the Forums (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=180512) (not the latest version, but works fine for me).

Then tweaked the install using this:


So that the wicd daemon starts automatically -> click here (http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showpost.php?p=936237&postcount=7)
So that the wicd tray icon appears on login -> Add /opt/wicd/tray.py to System > Preferences > Personal > Sessions
Removed NetworkManager and NetworkManagerDispatcher from all runlevels in System > Administration > Sessions


Then reboot!

Hope this works for all of you! Goodbye to NetworkManager and all those connection / keyring problems!

BTW - you will get a lot of SELinux issues with wicd so either disable SELinux or set it to permissive.

[stevea]

Here's a note that should answer most questions about 3945 & NetworkManager.
http://www.ces.clemson.edu/linux/f8-nm-iwl3945-B.shtml

FWIW I'nmnot having any problems w/ NM (but I'm not using a 3945).

==

It seems wicd has it's share of problems too.
http://wicd.net/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=381&sid=82cb0552b99e99d993c9f32eaa018fe1

I appreciate what wicd its trying to do . I sort of dislike the closed gnomic, "throw it over the transom" method of project development. Also Wicd unlike wifi-radar has a nice set of features for handling authentication (according to the website. It looks like a pretty green project though if I couldn't use NM it would be worth looking at.

[thirdlibrea]

Thanks, read that bit from Clemson before deciding to ditch NM. I actually installed wicd in desperation as recent updates seem to have broken some things.

Of course, I have filed bugs against NM as I still want that to work in F8 (seems to be working perfectly fine in the F9 beta). Pending the resolution of these issues, I'm going to use wicd as it is providing me the easy wireless connectivity I need.

[bbfuller]

Hello thirdlibrea

No help I afraid but just to put the other side of the picture in case anyone else stumbles over this thread.

I'm using a 3945 wireless card controlled by NetworkManager in a Lenovo laptop to post this response.

The combination worked directly I installed Fedora 8 and has continued to work with every revision of kernel and NetworkManager since. Except for the first of the 24 series of kernels which I didn't install as it had a reputation for more than its share of problems.

This message is posted using 2.6.24.3-50.fc8

[icantux]

Lucky you bbfuller.

I can't get my T61 a/b/g atheros wifi to connect to anything using NetworkManager, and it's been like that since the beginning of the installation, throughout a number of kernel/NM updates.

I've found NM to be rather problematic in the past as well. Only thing that I need to mention is that I always seem to experience problems with NM in Fedora. My wifi/NM combo work out of the box in all other distros! Go figure.

Don't get me wrong. Fedora's my favourite distro, the most polished and configurable in every way. Just the networking always seems to be big problem in Fedora (not wired, but wireless). Ever since I first started with FC5 then 6, wireless has always been an issue (at least for me and my colleagues). Most frustrating thing ever for someone with a need for a working laptop and being mobile.

[skolnick]

I am using FC8 on a Dell vostro 1400 with an intel 3945ABG, and I have to tell NetworkManager does not work for me either. It will connect to an access point, only to disconnect and reconnect every few seconds. It's impossible to browse like this. Strangely enough, if I stop the NetworkManagerDispatcher service, then the wireless connections stays reliable, but then NetworkManager will not work as expected anyway.

Regards.

[addthefandr]

Funny.. I actually ditched Ubuntu and some other distros because F8 was the only distro that worked fine with my computer. It's a Dell Precision m6300 and has the intel 3945.

Most distros are running ipw3945 which would keep on disconnecting all the time. First I thought it was NM but I turned it off under sessions. Used manual config Same issue. Used Wicd for a while, same issue. Then I started to look for issues with the ipw driver. Bingo. Several people reporting the same problems. Random disconnects.

As for the keyring issue, this doesn't really have that much to do with NM. It 's got something to do with the gnome keyring manager:
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=171466&highlight=keyring

I still like wicd though but as NM works I'm sticking with it.

[Hellclan]

or you could all way's use command line
iwconfig it work's like a charm for me