Description of problem:
By 30% probability, user can not find any nearby wireless AP in NetworkManager after OS boots up.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
OS:RHEL 5.3 SP4
Kernel: Linux osve-mv 2.6.18-124.el5 #1 SMP Mon Nov 17 16:51:32 EST 2008 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

How reproducible:
at least 30% probability

Steps to Reproduce:
1.after OS boots up, we can get wlan0 by issuing "ifconfig", but we can not see any NEARBY APs in NetworkManager, and user even fails to find a known AP by inputting its essid in NetworkManager.
2. user can see iwlagn modules by issuing "lsmod | grep "
[root@osve-mv ~]# lsmod | grep iwl                                                                                                                                       iwlagn                133977  0 
iwlcore               127045  1 iwlagn
mac80211              182857  2 iwlagn,iwlcore
cfg80211               63825  3 iwlagn,iwlcore,mac80211

3.user can only see 1 AP by issuing "iwlist wlan0 scanning":
[root@osve-mv ~]# iwlist wlan0 scanning 
Warning: Driver for device wlan0 recommend version 21 of Wireless Extension,
but has been compiled with version 20, therefore some driver features
may not be available...

wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:13:C4:78:F4:50
                    ESSID:""
                    Mode:Master
                    Channel:11
                    Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
                    Quality=84/100  Signal level=-49 dBm  Noise level=-127 dBm
                    Encryption key:off
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Extra:tsf=000000def46f3192

4. user has installed firmware in /lib/firmware folder.
  
Actual results:
User can not see any Nearby APs in NetworkManager.

Expected results:
User can see Nearby APs in NetworkManager after OS boots up.