LinuxQuestions.org - Which distro works (intel 2200BG)?

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Which distro works (intel 2200BG)?

Does anyone know if any distro will allow the Intel Pro 2200BG wireless (Centrino) networking to work out-of-the box? (without having to configure anything, just selecting a secure network from a list). I tried Ubuntu 6.06 and 6.10, and it doesn't work there.

Thanks!

Regards,
Rasmus, Copenhagen

Most will if you have the firmware files installed;
http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/

They go in the /lib/firmware directory in many cases.

so that means most distros with the exception of ubuntu?

thanks

ndiswrapper works with those pain-in-the-ass wifi card chipsets.

No, check and see if you need to download/install the firmware files.
Some distro's include them, some do not.

$ ls -hal /lib/firmware/ipw22*
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 187K Mar 7 2006 /lib/firmware/ipw2200-bss.fw
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 182K Mar 7 2006 /lib/firmware/ipw2200-ibss.fw
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 184K Mar 7 2006 /lib/firmware/ipw2200-sniffer.fw

Ubuntu may just need the newer ipw2200 firmware files.

There is definetly no need of ndiswrapper for this card, it is well supported and there is a kernel driver inside directly in the newer kernels.
The problem that could happen is:
-> You haven't put the firmwares at the good place.
-> They are not compatible with the driver, you have a wrong version
-> Rf-kill switch (the little button to activate or not the wireless)
-> There is a problem with udev (the firmware is not loaded..)

It should work on any distro. On debian etch/sid and suse10.2 I tried and it works.

Quote:

and it doesn't work there.

Any more information?
Open a shell and type these commands:

Code:

sudo rmmod ipw2200

sudo modprobe ipw2200

sudo tail /var/log/message

sudo modinfo ipw2200

Thanks for helping guys! I'm very new at this, so I don't understand much regarding the firmware etc. I have the output of those commands, though, maybe that can help?? thanks very much!!

Quote:

rasmus@rasmus-laptop:~$ sudo rmmod ipw2200
Password:
rasmus@rasmus-laptop:~$ sudo modprobe ipw2200
rasmus@rasmus-laptop:~$ sudo tail /var/log/message
tail: cannot open `/var/log/message' for reading: No such file or directory
rasmus@rasmus-laptop:~$ sudo modinfo ipw2200
filename: /lib/modules/2.6.15-23-386/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ipw2200.ko
description: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver
version: 1.1.1
author: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
license: GPL
vermagic: 2.6.15-23-386 preempt 486 gcc-4.0
depends: ieee80211
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002701bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002702bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002711bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002712bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002721bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002722bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002731bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002732bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002741bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv0000103Csd00002741bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002742bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002751bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002752bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002753bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002754bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002761bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00001043sv00008086sd00002762bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d0000104Fsv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00004220sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00004221sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00004223sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
alias: pci:v00008086d00004224sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
srcversion: DEF198F7D1E0A95BB019286
parm: roaming:enable roaming support (default on) (int)
parm: cmdlog:allocate a ring buffer for logging firmware commands (int)
parm: hwcrypto:enable hardware crypto (default off) (int)
parm: bt_coexist:enable bluetooth coexistence (default off) (int)
parm: mode:network mode (0=BSS,1=IBSS,2=Monitor) (int)
parm: channel:channel to limit associate to (default 0 [ANY]) (int)
parm: led:enable led control on some systems (default 0 off)
(int)
parm: auto_create:auto create adhoc network (default on) (int)
parm: associate:auto associate when scanning (default on) (int)
parm: disable:manually disable the radio (default 0 [radio on]) (int)

redo all (without the modinfo) but correct my mistake
sudo tail /var/log/messages
sorry :)

As Lenard said, have you put the firmwares?
ls -hal /lib/firmware/ipw22*

No, it is a clean ubuntu 6.06 install, i didn't install anything. so, i found the firmware drivers online (ver3.0), unzipped them and copied the three files to /lib/firmware/

and I ran the commands again, here are the outputs:

thanks again!!

Quote:

rasmus@rasmus-laptop:/home/wifi/ipw2200-fw-3.0$ sudo rmmod ipw2200
ERROR: Module ipw2200 does not exist in /proc/modules
rasmus@rasmus-laptop:/home/wifi/ipw2200-fw-3.0$ sudo modprobe ipw2200
rasmus@rasmus-laptop:/home/wifi/ipw2200-fw-3.0$ sudo tail /var/log/message
tail: cannot open `/var/log/message' for reading: No such file or directory
rasmus@rasmus-laptop:/home/wifi/ipw2200-fw-3.0$ sudo tail /var/log/messages
Feb 15 21:39:41 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4294740.896000] sda: sda1
Feb 15 21:39:41 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4294740.937000] sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sda
Feb 15 21:39:41 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4294740.948000] sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
Feb 15 21:41:13 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4294833.669000] ACPI: PCI interrupt for d evice 0000:02:02.0 disabled
Feb 15 21:46:30 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4295150.088000] ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wir eless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.1.1
Feb 15 21:46:30 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4295150.088000] ipw2200: Copyright(c) 200 3-2006 Intel Corporation
Feb 15 21:46:30 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4295150.088000] Warning: PCI driver ipw22 00 has a struct device_driver shutdown method, please update!
Feb 15 21:46:30 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4295150.089000] ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000: 02:02.0[A] -> Link [LNKB] -> GSI 4 (level, low) -> IRQ 4
Feb 15 21:46:30 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4295150.089000] ipw2200: Detected Intel P RO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
Feb 15 21:46:30 rasmus-laptop kernel: [4295150.230000] ipw2200: Detected geograp hy ZZM (11 802.11bg channels, 0 802.11a channels)
rasmus@rasmus-laptop:/home/wifi/ipw2200-fw-3.0$

Then it makes 1 more distribution that works
:)

iwconfig show your card right?

Sounds good! Though I still can't get online or see the networks in the area?!

The output of iwconfig is this:

Quote:

rasmus@rasmus-laptop:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

irda0 no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

eth1 IEEE 802.11b ESSID:"Victor"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:60:B3:19:0F:2D
Bit Rate=11 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm Sensitivity=8/0
Retry limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=61/100 Signal level=-64 dBm Noise level=-83 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:7 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

sit0 no wireless extensions.

rasmus@rasmus-laptop:~$

I did not choose for Ubuntu to connect to this "Victor" network. It is an unprotected network in the area, and I from Windows XP it is no problem to log on to Victor and go online. But in Ubuntu it doesn't work...

Another funny thing about the output is that all interfaces seem to be configured as wireless connections!?! I only have 1 wlan! And 1 LAN.

Any ideas?

Thanks again!

Have you tried something like; dhclient eth1

You might want to bookmark; http://easylinux.info/wiki/Ubuntu_dapper

See section 13 from the link above.

Quote:

Another funny thing about the output is that all interfaces seem to be configured as wireless connections!?! I only have 1 wlan! And 1 LAN.

Eth0 is your lan
Eth1 is your wlan.
Iwconfig tells you that wireless is only found on eth1.

Btw, you are connected at 11Mb/s only.

Ok. Do you have any idea why the wireless connection doesn't work?

Rasmus.

Yep, you didn't finish the commands. I have the exact same card in my Thinkpad T42. If you want to connect to that Victor network, then do this as root or with sudo:

Code:

iwconfig eth1 essid Victor

ifup eth1

You saw the network, but as a user you don't have enough permissions to config an interface. You need sudo/su to do that.

Peace,
JimBass