max / alloy

Ask whether the machine can see a wireless device, and which layer lost it

Author: Max Johnson <me@maxj.phd> · 2026-09-03 19:14 UTC

Signed with PGP, not checked

Commit: ce02bbc731132e44537098079be944afce50baa4

Parent: fcddf61

1 file changed, +17 insertions, -0 deletions

M build/check-host.sh +17

			@@ -143,6 +143,23 @@
143	143		row FAIL backlight "$(basename "$bl")/brightness is not writable, so the keys cannot take effect"
144	144		fi
145	145
	146	+	# -------------------------------------------------------------------- wifi ---
	147	+	# Three states wear the same face on screen, and only one of them is fine.
	148	+	# Measured on fw12 2026-09-03: the kernel had the interface and NetworkManager
	149	+	# had no plugin to present it with, so `alloy net` showed loopback alone and
	150	+	# nothing anywhere reported an error. No unit failed and the console was
	151	+	# correct, which is why this is a row rather than something a user reports.
	152	+	if nmcli -t -f DEVICE,TYPE device 2>/dev/null \| grep -q ':wifi$'; then
	153	+	seen="$(nmcli -t -f DEVICE,TYPE device 2>/dev/null \| grep ':wifi$' \| cut -d: -f1 \| tr '\n' ' ')"
	154	+	row PASS wifi "NetworkManager presents ${seen%% }"
	155	+	elif ! ls /usr/lib64/NetworkManager/*/libnm-device-plugin-wifi.so >/dev/null 2>&1; then
	156	+	row FAIL wifi "the image carries no NetworkManager wifi plugin, so no wireless device can ever appear"
	157	+	elif ls -d /sys/class/net/*/wireless >/dev/null 2>&1; then
	158	+	row FAIL wifi "the kernel has a wireless interface and NetworkManager does not present it; check wpa_supplicant and rfkill"
	159	+	else
	160	+	row SKIP wifi "no wireless interface on this machine"
	161	+	fi
	162	+
146	163		# ---------------------------------------------------------------- firewall ---
147	164		# The combination is the risk, not the firewall: tailscaled writes its own
148	165		# rules, and firewalld starting without tailscale0 in the trusted zone drops