[Q] WiFi issue (unable to scan networks) - Vibrant Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello every body...
when I turn on the WI-FI the massage appear Unable to Scan Networks Then the wi-fi turns itself off.
Help me please guys...

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i would suggest reflashing the stock firmware with ODIN. I had an issue like this on my Nexus One. Nothing helped. I had to fully wipe the phone and start over.

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I found it :
since you're rooted, go to /data/wifi/ and delete bcm_supp.conf (back it up first just in case). Then reboot your phone.

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alsatea said:
I found it :
since you're rooted, go to /data/wifi/ and delete bcm_supp.conf (back it up first just in case). Then reboot your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! Many thanks for the tip! You've made my day! That file's gotta be deleted from time to time, as it can get quite clogged. (And when you think I could've re-flashed my phone as per the previous post...!)

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I having the same problem as this. after i removed and re entered my wifi login. also i had been on holiday and logged into a few other wifi routers.
when i re entered my home wifi it just kept turning off and saying "unable to scan networks"
its a vodafone UK contract Galaxy S (if that makes any difference)
I tried to root my phone using
[PROGRAM] One Click Root/UnRoot I9000 (Eclair and Froyo) Mac and PC
it seemed to work . i had an extra app for changing a few settings. but i still couldn't find the wifi file i need to delete? Had it not been rooted properly?
I'd really like to fix this without having to do a master reset every time?
What are my options?
Could i take an image of the mobile and remove the file from the image? then restore the image. A bit crazy if routing is not a possibility?
Can anyone help?

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Thank you, unable to scan networks solved

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How did you solve it?
with master reset?

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Latest update to DI07 fixed this issue for me
The update was DI07 for the Samsung Epic 4G, not the Vibrant.

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llamaunix said:
This weekend's update to DI07 from DG27 has fixed my "Unable to scan" Wifi issues. Since a few days ago when I would turn on Wifi it would turn itself off after about 10-20 seconds. It would also show a message saying "unable to scan for networks".. Previously I read that a factory reset would fix this problem but I held out for the new update to be pushed to my phone today (9/19) and indeed it fixed my problem. After the update rebooted, my Wifi turned on with no problem and it showed my previously added networks as well.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is this update for the galaxy S?
or is there going to be a similar update?
I haven't logged onto another WIFI since I had to reset the phone (apart from my home WIFI). so i don't have to go through setting it up again.
cheers for the extra info

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quick update
I am backing up with titanium backup manger now (free)
so hopefully it will restore the wifi it goes wrong again
(the phone needs to be ROOTED for the Titanium backup to work)
I rooted my phone with
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=742403
one click rooter ( i couldn't run the "Galaxy S I9000 One-Click Root" file. i ran "rootme" file for 2.1 android, the rootme2.2 is for 2.2 it says dont run both)
And have 'astro file manager'(Free) and can explore more of my phone by pressing the up button a few times.
in astro file manger I searched for the word 'wifi' and got about 3 results. So its probably one of these.
We'll it working for the moment but I'm posting the more info for anyone else.
(I still don't know which file to delete to reset the wifi though.) but the titanium backup should be able to restore the wifi settings

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alsatea said:
I found it :
since you're rooted, go to /data/wifi/ and delete bcm_supp.conf (back it up first just in case). Then reboot your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello alsatea,
I have the wifi problem as well, and my galaxy s is rooted by running rootme but I can't find the bcm_supp.conf file. How do I fix the problem without applying factory reset?
thanks

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chanXda said:
hello alsatea,
I have the wifi problem as well, and my galaxy s is rooted by running rootme but I can't find the bcm_supp.conf file. How do I fix the problem without applying factory reset?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
You have first to open 'adb shell' and in the shell enter 'su' (you must allow superuser access on your phone).
Next execute 'rm /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf' and finaly 'reboot'
Good luck,
Mark

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CommanderTux said:
Hi,
You have first to open 'adb shell' and in the shell enter 'su' (you must allow superuser access on your phone).
Next execute 'rm /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf' and finaly 'reboot'
Good luck,
Mark
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
I spent over an hour on the phone with AT&T and then with Samsung trying to resolve the "unable to scan networks" issue. Absolutely worthless.
I rooted my phone just to try this and avoid doing the factory reset, and it worked!
Now if only I knew how to avoid this in the future...

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thanks this actually worked for my fascinate as well.. saved me some hassle!

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I had the unable to scan networks problem on my Bell Canada Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant.
Have been attaching to static IP in my house using Wifi Static app. (great app, by the way. stores configurations for multiple static ips and then configures wifi and connects automatically when you're in range of one of them. no more manual fiddling with settings for every static IP)
But I guess this precipitated whatever happens to the "conf" file mentioned above.
Initially installed ES Strong file manager to see if I could see the contents of the /data folder. Showed up as empty. (apparently not a high enough level of access to see if there's anything in there)
So needed to go for "root" access.
Rooted my phone with One Click Root:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=742403
then installed the "Terminal Emulator" app from Android marketplace.
Ran the terminal emulator to get a command prompt. your soft keyboard should pop up. if not, hit the menu button on your phone and hit "toggle soft keyboard". Then typed in:
'su' and hit 'enter' (do not type quote marks)
to gain superuser access.
The superuser app will pop up to ask you if you want to grant superuser access to the terminal. hit 'yes' or 'ok' or whatever the right button is.
terminal responds with a '#' prompt.
Then I typed in:
'mv /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf /data/wifi/bcm_supp.bak' and hit 'enter'
to rename the file.
I then typed 'exit' and hit 'enter' to get out of superuser and then I hit the phone's 'back' button to shut down the terminal.
And now my wifi works again!!
The terminal procedure could probably be put into a script.
Next time it happens, I'll just do the same.
Once Bell releases Froyo in Mid-dec, maybe this will be solved. But I'll probably hold off and watch the forums for a while before jumping to Froyo just in case it buggers up something else.
Good luck!

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dietrite said:
Now if only I knew how to avoid this in the future...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
android market
titanium backup
free version
paid is very fast
titanium backup
phone menu button
batch
backup all apps and user data (look for the highest number on the right)
it backs up everything
maybe set a schedule to back up
--
if wifi goes wrong
select backup restore tab
and restore wifi settings
--

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xdacalfun said:
I had the unable to scan networks problem on my Bell Canada Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant.
Have been attaching to static IP in my house using Wifi Static app. (great app, by the way. stores configurations for multiple static ips and then configures wifi and connects automatically when you're in range of one of them. no more manual fiddling with settings for every static IP)
But I guess this precipitated whatever happens to the "conf" file mentioned above.
Initially installed ES Strong file manager to see if I could see the contents of the /data folder. Showed up as empty. (apparently not a high enough level of access to see if there's anything in there)
So needed to go for "root" access.
Rooted my phone with One Click Root:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=742403
then installed the "Terminal Emulator" app from Android marketplace.
Ran the terminal emulator to get a command prompt. your soft keyboard should pop up. if not, hit the menu button on your phone and hit "toggle soft keyboard". Then typed in:
'su' and hit 'enter' (do not type quote marks)
to gain superuser access.
The superuser app will pop up to ask you if you want to grant superuser access to the terminal. hit 'yes' or 'ok' or whatever the right button is.
terminal responds with a '#' prompt.
Then I typed in:
'mv /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf /data/wifi/bcm_supp.bak' and hit 'enter'
to rename the file.
I then typed 'exit' and hit 'enter' to get out of superuser and then I hit the phone's 'back' button to shut down the terminal.
And now my wifi works again!!
The terminal procedure could probably be put into a script.
Next time it happens, I'll just do the same.
Once Bell releases Froyo in Mid-dec, maybe this will be solved. But I'll probably hold off and watch the forums for a while before jumping to Froyo just in case it buggers up something else.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had the same problem. Then I was having problems getting Superuser to allow my ADB shell, so I followed the steps above with a terminal emulator and got my Wi-fi on my Captivate back. thx

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xdacalfun said:
then installed the "Terminal Emulator" app from Android marketplace.
Ran the terminal emulator to get a command prompt. your soft keyboard should pop up. if not, hit the menu button on your phone and hit "toggle soft keyboard". Then typed in:
'su' and hit 'enter' (do not type quote marks)
to gain superuser access.
The superuser app will pop up to ask you if you want to grant superuser access to the terminal. hit 'yes' or 'ok' or whatever the right button is.
terminal responds with a '#' prompt.
Then I typed in:
'mv /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf /data/wifi/bcm_supp.bak' and hit 'enter'
to rename the file.
I then typed 'exit' and hit 'enter' to get out of superuser and then I hit the phone's 'back' button to shut down the terminal.
And now my wifi works again!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Beautiful, works great, and I can do this with out a PC, and much more simple. Very nice when you are traveling. Thanks for the tip.

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alsatea said:
I found it :
since you're rooted, go to /data/wifi/ and delete bcm_supp.conf (back it up first just in case). Then reboot your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot alsatea. Deleting /data/wifi/bcm_supp.conf and rebooting resolved the problem and I got back wi-fi. All the networks remembered previously came back. Thanks mate.

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Just in case anyone is reading this topic but is unable to find the bcm_supp.conf file, try this instead:
> adb shell
$ su
# cd /data/misc
# chown wifi.wifi wifi
Then try enabling the wifi again. It should work.