Linux Mint 17 ASUS Vivo MiniPC WiFi Drops Intermittently

[jedi34567]

Below is the output of inxi and mintwifi (after I reset the system and got the wifi working).

I just bought an ASUS Vivo VM40B minipc and I installed Linux Mint 17 on it and proceeded to install all updates. Everything went relatively smoothly until I tried to set up remote desktop access. I eventually got vino up and running, but when I would connect, it would work for a few seconds then the wifi would go down and only a restart would get it back up. I also tried RealVNC and TightVNC with the same result. Then, it seemed to get worse. Without any other stimulus, the wifi went down overnight and the "Network Connections" showed my wifi router as "Out of Range". I tried fixing the channel to 9, but that did not change anything. Restarts did not restore the wifi. So I did a total power down and restart and that got the wifi back up and running.

I am strongly suspecting that there is something about this chipset (RTL8821AE) that is not properly supported.

Any help would be appreciated as I really do not want to have to downgrade to Windows.

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System:    Host: TVPC Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) Desktop: Gnome Distro: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Machine:   Mobo: ASUSTeK model: VM40B version: Rev 1.xx Bios: American Megatrends version: 1202 date: 03/24/2014
CPU:       Dual core Intel Celeron CPU 1007U (-MCP-) cache: 2048 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 5986.58 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 800.00 MHz 2: 900.00 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1360x768@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Ivybridge Mobile GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card: Intel 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-24-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller 
           driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: 10:c3:7b:9c:6d:5a
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8821AE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter driver: rtl8821ae port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: 54:27:1e:e6:5e:c3
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (1.2% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD5000AAKX size: 500.1GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 166G used: 5.6G (4%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 40.96GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 149 Uptime: 13 min Memory: 421.4/3854.6MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 

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wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 54:27:1e:e6:5e:c3
          inet addr:192.168.2.101  Bcast:192.168.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::5627:1eff:fee6:5ec3/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:5648 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2880 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:4622729 (4.6 MB)  TX bytes:335878 (335.8 KB)

Server:         192.168.2.2
Address:        192.168.2.2#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.40
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.30
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.49
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.24
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.35
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.45
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.29
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.25
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.34
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.39
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.55
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.50
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.59
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.44
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.20
Name:   google.com
Address: 66.185.85.54

-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
  -- Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821AE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
      ==> PCI ID = 10ec:8821
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...
-------------------------
* VI. querying nslookup google.com...

[jedi34567]

Quick update -- updated to Linux Mint Cinnamon 17.1 and installed kernel 3.16.0-25 via the Update Manager. No change -- VNC still brings the wifi down. Saw this posting that implies a working driver for the chipset will not be ready until 3.18.

Is there an alternate driver that might work for this chipset?

[jedi34567]

Some messages from kern.log. These seem to keep coming until eventually, the wifi drops and cannot be recovered.

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Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.383944] rtl8821ae: 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.383946] In process "wpa_supplicant" (pid 938):Key content :53 A1 28 F3  6D 79 EF FF  87 57 F4 25  9B C3 7E 41  
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.383957] 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384591] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_cam_add_one_entry():<0-0> end 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384723] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_op_set_key():<0-0> Using hardware based encryption for keyidx: 2, mac: ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384727] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_op_set_key():<0-0> alg:CCMP
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384729] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_op_set_key():<0-0> set group key
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384731] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_set_key():<0-0> add one entry
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384733] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_set_key():<0-0> set group key
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384735] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_cam_add_one_entry():<0-0> EntryNo:2, ulKeyId=2, ulEncAlg=4, ulUseDK=0 MacAddr ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384737] rtl8821ae: 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384739] In process "wpa_supplicant" (pid 938):Key content :0D F7 80 E6  D2 E4 E9 5C  6D 90 58 2D  AE 51 E2 61  
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.384749] 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.385382] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_cam_add_one_entry():<0-0> end 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619570] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_tx_agg_start():<0-0> on ra = bc:ee:7b:7a:28:98 tid = 0 seq:1
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619591] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_action_proc():<200-1> Tx ACT_ADDBAREQ From :54:27:1e:e6:5e:c3
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619594] rtl8821ae: 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619596] In process "kworker/u4:1" (pid 2617):req
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619599] D0 00 DA 00  BC EE 7B 7A  28 98 54 27  1E E6 5E C3  
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619608] BC EE 7B 7A  28 98 80 27  03 00 01 02  10 88 13 10  
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619617] 00 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619618] 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.621147] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_action_proc():<10000-1> Rx ACT_ADDBARSP From :bc:ee:7b:7a:28:98
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.621205] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_tx_agg_oper():<0-0> on ra = bc:ee:7b:7a:28:98 tid = 0

And this snippet:

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Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619596] In process "kworker/u4:1" (pid 2617):req
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619599] D0 00 DA 00  BC EE 7B 7A  28 98 54 27  1E E6 5E C3  
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619608] BC EE 7B 7A  28 98 80 27  03 00 01 02  10 88 13 10  
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619617] 00 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.619618] 
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.621147] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_action_proc():<10000-1> Rx ACT_ADDBARSP From :bc:ee:7b:7a:28:98
Dec  8 21:58:52 TVPC kernel: [  731.621205] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_tx_agg_oper():<0-0> on ra = bc:ee:7b:7a:28:98 tid = 0

Dec  8 22:00:26 TVPC kernel: [  824.896862] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:26 TVPC kernel: [  824.951199] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:26 TVPC kernel: [  825.212607] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:26 TVPC kernel: [  825.318904] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:26 TVPC kernel: [  825.580316] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:26 TVPC kernel: [  825.686593] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:27 TVPC kernel: [  825.948010] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:27 TVPC kernel: [  826.054289] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:27 TVPC kernel: [  826.315696] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:27 TVPC kernel: [  826.421998] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:27 TVPC kernel: [  826.683421] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:27 TVPC kernel: [  826.789784] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:28 TVPC kernel: [  827.051094] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:28 TVPC kernel: [  827.157398] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:28 TVPC kernel: [  827.418789] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:28 TVPC kernel: [  827.525091] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:28 TVPC kernel: [  827.786492] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:29 TVPC kernel: [  827.892795] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:29 TVPC kernel: [  828.154192] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:29 TVPC kernel: [  828.208530] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:29 TVPC kernel: [  828.469941] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:29 TVPC kernel: [  828.576177] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:29 TVPC kernel: [  828.837641] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:30 TVPC kernel: [  828.943936] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:30 TVPC kernel: [  829.205340] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 5G
Dec  8 22:00:30 TVPC kernel: [  829.311642] rtl8821ae-0:rtl8821ae_phy_switch_wirelessband():<0-0> 2.4G
Dec  8 22:00:34 TVPC kernel: [  833.124575] rtl8821ae-0:rtl_watchdog_wq_callback():<0-0> AP off for 2 s

[jedi34567]

Updated to the 3.18 kernel, same problems with VNC, even though the wifi did stay up all night after a fresh reboot. Boot message still says driver is coming from staging.

[harry26]

you would not connect peoperly with drivers are not installed so that issue will come.

[jedi34567]

Confirmed that with 3.18, the driver is no longer coming from staging. Intermittent drops of wifi connectivity are still happening, however, and require a power-off reboot to resolve.

[JeremyB]

Confirmed that with 3.18, the driver is no longer coming from staging. Intermittent drops of wifi connectivity are still happening, however, and require a power-off reboot to resolve.

Are you using a dual-band router as it looks like the wifi card is switching from 2.4 to 5 Ghz

[jedi34567]

Thanks, Jeremy -- this is no longer happening after upgrading to the 3.18 kernel -- no more 2.4-5G flipflop logs. However, the wifi drops after 24-48 hours and drops within 5-10min when VNC'ing in to the box.

Frustrating.

[harry26]

Vivo VM40B minipc and I installed Linux Mint 17 on it and proceeded to install all updates. Everything went relatively smoothly until I tried to set up remote desktop access.

[JeremyB]

Code: Select all

echo "options rtl8821ae fwlps=N ips=N" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8821ae.conf

See if any better after a reboot

[jedi34567]

Thanks, Jeremy, that seemed to stabilize things quite a bit -- the wifi stayed up overnight and VNC isn't taking it down right away.

VNC (vino) still isn't working very well -- extremely sluggish then totally unresponsive. I tried TightVNC with the same results.

[jedi34567]

UPDATE: With the new kernel and Jeremy's config settings, the system stayed up over the holidays (uptime 15 days and counting) and I navigated successfully using VNC for 15-20 minutes without any issues. It looks like the VNC issues I am experiencing are due to XBMC -- when it runs in fullscreen mode, the mouse pointer doesn't work correctly, but in windowed mode, it worked OK.

Thanks to Larry Finger and JeremyB for all their help!