Need guidance on where to start with wireless usb not working

jobowker · 02-23-2013, 05:18 PM

Quick disclaimer:
Before anyone gets offended that I'm using Backtrack, it actually does serve a legitimate purpose. That's why I'm using it. That's what is required for many security classes. I'm at IT guy learning about security while going back to school for my master's in Information Assurance, and both my applied cypto class and network security class require the use of Backtrack. I'm not a script kiddie living in my mom's basement trying to break things.

Here's my problem, should you choose to help me:
Vmware seems to handle bridging kinda funky, so Backtrack5r3 running under vmware workstation on a windows 7 box cannot directly access the wireless card - it sees it as a regular wired connection. The workaround is to get a usb wireless, and in reading about these the alfa awus036 came up repeatedly, so I bought one. It works fine in windows, but in backtrack it cannot use it properly. I can power it on or off from bt (ifconfig wlan0 up) and I see the blue light go on and off, but it doesn't show any wireless networks.

Any suggestions on what driver to use and how to go about installing it? I did a little Unix system administration back in my dba days, but the last time I fiddled with Linux was when Slackware was becoming a popular distribution. A few things have changed since then.

I first went to the backtrack forum to see which cards were the most popular, and saw the Alfa awus036 come up.

I had no luck getting an answer to my question on that forum.

Apparently I have a newer version (alfa awus036nhr) which is based on the rtl8188ru chipset.
I ordered it from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005GQ8JR4/..._M3T1_ST1_dp_1

The card works fine in windows 7, but I've encountered mixed results in Backtrack. I followed a bunch of suggestions I found online,and over the course of a few hours still had no luck but managed to bugger up my vm enough to the point that deleting the vm and reinstalling backtrack seemed to make sense.

When my vm boots up, the light on the card comes on.
If I run an lsusb, I can see the device.
If I run iwconfig I can see the device.
If I run ifconfig wlan0 up/down I can see the light turn on and off.

If I open wicd, it finds no wireless networks. This is its current state.

At some point during my fiddling with drivers I was able to get it to show all wireless networks ONCE, but it failed to connect to my home network (citing bad password) even though my password was correct. At that point it tried to refresh the list of networks, and showed none. The only way to get the list back was to reboot, followed by the same problem: only willing to show me available networks once. I tried another driver and wasn't able to even get wicd app to work at all, at which point I decided a nuke & pave was the best option.

So at this point I'm back to BT5r3, installed to a vm (not live cd). I can see the card in lsusb, and can turn it on and off with ifconfig, but that's it.

Any hints on where to go next would be appreciated.

allend · 02-24-2013, 06:06 AM

Quote:

but the last time I fiddled with Linux was when Slackware was becoming a popular distribution. A few things have changed since then.

Like Slackware is now an established popular distribution?

(see the latest LQ poll results).

I google 'linux Alfa AWUS036NHR' and this is the top hit. Seems to be relevant. http://store.rokland.com/blogs/news/...nux-compatible

If you are having problems, try installing Backtrack so that you can dual boot. The virtual machine is an additional complication.

jobowker · 02-24-2013, 01:35 PM

Clearly my google skills are weak. I tried "wireless usb awus036nhr: and "backtrack awus036nhr" and a few others, and STILL managed to miss the site you mentioned.

One mentioned it worked out of the box with BT5R2, so I started from scratch and downloaded and install BT5R2 only to encounter the same issues.

Next I tried getting the driver from alfa's site to compile, but it couldn't find eeprom_93xx46.c, so I tried taking that line out of the makefile. It got a little further and died on digsy_mtc_eeprom.c, so I edited that one out as well. The next comile error was with util.c, but I saw that subdirectory had a util.c.orig. I did a diff and the only change was a single line which happened to be teh line it was bombing on, so I switched teh two files. After that the compile bombed on nl80211.c, and I was unable to find a way around that one.

Next I tried the steps here:
http://www.alfa.com.tw/press_c_show.php?sn=5

and then here:
http://hezik.nl/alfa-awus036nhr-chip...river-install/

Still no luck.

I'll try your suggestion now and post my results so if anyone else encounters this, maybe they won't spend as much time on it as me.

Thank you.

jobowker · 02-24-2013, 02:04 PM

So here I am, all excited, thinking that I'm on the verge of greatness with this thing. I download the driver referenced on the page you mentioned, but much to my chagrin, I noticed Chrome put a (1) after the filename - this was a driver I had already tried (unsuccessfully) a few iterations and 48 hours ago. At this point I was near tears, but I'm blaming it on the onions I just chopped up for a breakfast burrito.

On a good note, although the driver was the same, the page you referenced was different, and in the comments section it mentions two *.c files that you can edit to get past one of the many errors I've seen since I started this. I'm going to edit the files now and see if I can install the driver.

ETA:
I edited teh two files, removed the .gz file (otherwise it overwrites my hard work) and the script now completes!

jobowker · 02-24-2013, 02:42 PM

So I got the script to complete,and even rebooted for good measure since old windows habits are difficult to break.

The card powers on. I can see it when I type lsusb, ifconfig, or iwconfig. If I type "iwlist wlan0 scanning | grep ESSID", I can see my home network that I'm trying to connect to.

Here's the rub - starting the wicd network manager still won't show any wireless networks.

Am I better off scrapping everything and figuring out how to shrink down my windows partition and try dual booting?

jobowker · 02-24-2013, 02:45 PM

deleted

jobowker · 02-24-2013, 09:14 PM

So here's the next step in my saga. I figured I'd give it a try as a dual boot and see in vmware is what was causing all of my problems. I shrink my windows partition down by 40gb, burn backtrack5r3 iso to a dvd, and try to install backtrack natively. First problem I run into is that when booting off the dvd, my pc hangs every time I try to type startx. This is solved by hitting tab just as the boot menu for BT comes up, and then you can edit the startup line. I replaced what was there with "quiet splash i915.modeset=1 vga=791". That seemed to work. This wasn't my first edit to that line, but after a few dozen various permutations, that is the one that worked.

Now that I can type startx without hanging, I tried installing backtrack. It did install, but only after making a mess out of my partitions - it ignored teh 40gb partition I was trying to use, and shrunk my windows partition down by another 150gb, so now I have a windows partition 190 gb smaller than when I got up this morning, and I have a 40gb partition doing absolutely nothing.

Once installed, the startup kept bombing until I was able to edit /etc/default/grub to the same keywords I used for the livecd.

So at this point, Backtrack is running from a dual boot, and windows still works.

However, I still have a couple of problems. First, backtrack is wwaayyy slower when typing in a terminal window. When installing a package and hitting 'Y' to continue, the y key I hit took about 4-5 seconds before it shows up on the terminal window. Not sure what this is all about.

Second, I can finally see wireless networks in wicd "yay" but connecting to one (my own) still doesn't work.

On a good note, I'm slowly learning about things, and at this point I can try to get my virtual BT working with wireless, or the physical install.

Now I need to see if I can get back some partition space for windows.

Any ideas on next steps?

rokytnji · 02-24-2013, 10:35 PM

Edit: You need sudo or root in terminal to run the below commands to get all available info.

Code:

echo uname: && uname -a -m -p && echo lspci: && lspci && echo lsusb: && lsusb && echo lsmod: && lsmod && echo ifconfig: && ifconfig && echo ifconfig -a: && ifconfig -a && echo iwconfig: && iwconfig && echo resolv.conf: && cat /etc/resolv.conf && echo route: && route -n

Code:

ip addr show

Code:

ip link show

Give em a try. Google inxi. I run it and it is a pretty good info script also.

Code:

$ inxi -F -z
System:    Host: biker Kernel: 3.7.8-antix.1-amd64-smp x86_64 (64 bit) 
           Desktop: Fluxbox 1.3.2 Distro: antiX-13-beta1_x64-base Ahmad Sami 7 February 2013
Machine:   Mobo: Acer model: Aspire 5534 version: V1.10 Bios: Acer version: V1.10 date: 08/26/2009
CPU:       Dual core AMD Athlon X2 L310 (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 svm) 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 1196.965 MHz 2: 1196.965 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RS780M/RS780MN [Mobility Radeon HD 3200 Graphics] 
           X.Org: 1.12.4 drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RS780 GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.5
Audio:     Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) driver: snd_hda_intel 
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.7.8-antix.1-amd64-smp
Network:   Card-1: Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) driver: ath9k 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller driver: r8169 
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 250.1GB (0.3% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: TOSHIBA_MK2555GS size: 250.1GB 
Partition: ID: / size: 7.7G used: 2.2G (30%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 88G used: 746M (1%) fs: btrfs 
           ID: swap-1 size: 2.10GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 60.0C mobo: 0.0C 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Info:      Processes: 105 Uptime: 52 min Memory: 384.2/3703.8MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 1.8.38

Slowness on hard drive install may be graphics or something else related. Was a md5sum performed on downloaded backtrack iso before a install? You can also run

Code:

top

or

Code:

htop

to see what is gobbling up cpu or ram when you think things are running slow.

Lastly. Being a SLACKWARE forum. Leave the words Slackware and popularity out of your threads. It is probably why I
hear the crickets chirping in this thread.

Happy Trails and Good Luck with your Masters from a GED educated Tattoed Linux Biker. Rok

2nd Edit: Did you put wlan0 or whatever wireless interface shows in wicd>preferences>wireless interface box then and hit the refresh button. P.S. I am past my bedtime and beat. So play with wicd prefernces a bit like advanced setting, make sure wext and play with dbm (you can always switch it back) and make sure Backend is set on external.

jobowker · 02-26-2013, 06:43 AM

Lots to try there. I'm back at work so I'll try this stuff tonight and report back.

Slowness seems to be related to gui. When installed on a VM on my laptop, speed is fine, but when installed natively, echoes to the screen or moving a window have a very noticeable lag. Sometimes echoing characters would take 1-3 seconds to appear on the screen.

jobowker · 02-26-2013, 08:17 PM

Results of 1st command:
uname:
Linux bt 3.2.6 #1 SMP Fri Feb 17 10:34:20 EST 2012 x86_64 GNU/Linux
lspci:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor DRAM Controller (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset HECI Controller (rev 06)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 05)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset High Definition Audio (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 05)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 05)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev 05)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (rev 05)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev a5)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 5 Series Chipset LPC Interface Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset 6 port SATA AHCI Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Thermal Subsystem (rev 05)
43:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (rev 35)
44:06.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 06)
44:06.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 25)
44:06.2 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev bb)
ff:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture Generic Non-core Registers (rev 02)
ff:00.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QuickPath Architecture System Address Decoder (rev 02)
ff:02.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Link 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.1 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor QPI Physical 0 (rev 02)
ff:02.2 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
ff:02.3 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Core Processor Reserved (rev 02)
lsusb:
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:817f Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
lsmod:
Module Size Used by
btrfs 635466 0
zlib_deflate 26551 1 btrfs
libcrc32c 12574 1 btrfs
ufs 74510 0
qnx4 13432 0
hfsplus 84252 0
hfs 54426 0
minix 35993 0
ntfs 101138 0
vfat 17382 0
msdos 17325 0
fat 60034 2 vfat,msdos
jfs 180812 0
xfs 812252 0
reiserfs 245116 0
ext2 72640 0
i915 452905 7
drm_kms_helper 40041 1 i915
drm 225891 3 i915,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit 13156 1 i915
dm_crypt 22668 0
snd_hda_codec_hdmi 31994 1
snd_hda_codec_idt 69962 1
snd_hda_intel 33175 0
snd_hda_codec 110336 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
arc4 12529 4
pata_pcmcia 17074 1
snd_hwdep 13554 1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm 92879 3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi 13324 0
snd_rawmidi 29179 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 14436 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 60549 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
rtl8192cu 98059 0
rtl8192c_common 72094 1 rtl8192cu
rtlwifi 108142 1 rtl8192cu
pcmcia 47828 1 pata_pcmcia
iwlwifi 315094 0
mac80211 478885 4 rtl8192cu,rtl8192c_common,rtlwifi,iwlwifi
tpm_infineon 17403 0
joydev 17457 0
snd_timer 28838 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
psmouse 72820 0
sdhci_pci 18683 0
hp_accel 25976 0
sdhci 31728 1 sdhci_pci
lis3lv02d 19401 1 hp_accel
ppdev 17104 0
snd_seq_device 14129 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
serio_raw 13211 0
parport_pc 32571 1
yenta_socket 27655 0
lp 17789 0
snd 64384 10 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_s eq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
pcmcia_rsrc 18190 1 yenta_socket
hp_wmi 18048 0
parport 44368 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
cfg80211 190023 3 rtlwifi,iwlwifi,mac80211
mei 40623 0
soundcore 12598 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 18101 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
intel_ips 17943 0
tpm_tis 18681 0
pcmcia_core 21862 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,pcmcia_rsrc
sparse_keymap 13526 1 hp_wmi
input_polldev 13646 1 lis3lv02d
dm_mirror 21906 0
dm_region_hash 19667 1 dm_mirror
dm_log 18215 2 dm_mirror,dm_region_hash
aufs 183689 0
wmi 18697 1 hp_wmi
video 18858 1 i915
e1000e 152955 0
ifconfig:
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr b4:99:ba:e1:2a:56
inet addr:192.168.2.2 Bcast:192.168.2.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::b699:baff:fee1:2a56/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:7992 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:4364 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:10933176 (10.9 MB) TX bytes:408758 (408.7 KB)
Interrupt:20 Memory:d4700000-d4720000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:54 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:54 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:13121 (13.1 KB) TX bytes:13121 (13.1 KB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:c0:ca:66:17:f3
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

ifconfig -a:
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr b4:99:ba:e1:2a:56
inet addr:192.168.2.2 Bcast:192.168.2.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::b699:baff:fee1:2a56/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:7992 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:4364 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:10933176 (10.9 MB) TX bytes:408758 (408.7 KB)
Interrupt:20 Memory:d4700000-d4720000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:54 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:54 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:13121 (13.1 KB) TX bytes:13121 (13.1 KB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:c0:ca:66:17:f3
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

wlan1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:24:d7:a3:7b:ac
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

iwconfig:
lo no wireless extensions.

wlan1 IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=off
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr=2347 B Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off

eth0 no wireless extensions.

resolv.conf:
nameserver 192.168.2.1
route:
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
0.0.0.0 192.168.2.1 0.0.0.0 UG 100 0 0 eth0
192.168.2.0 0.0.0.0 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0

jobowker · 02-26-2013, 10:53 PM

I switched to Gnome which is marginally better speedwise, but not by much. Something is taking up cpu related to x windows. Laptop is quad core with 8gb of memory, so it shouldn't be this slow with nothing running.

To compare, when I'm running windows 7, I can have a windows 7vm plus a backtrack vm both running at the same time, and the backtrack vm is far faster than just BT running natively.

ot@bt:~#
root@bt:~#
root@bt:~# ip addr show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP qlen 1000
link/ether b4:99:ba:e1:2a:56 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.2.2/24 brd 192.168.2.255 scope global eth0
inet6 fe80::b699:baff:fee1:2a56/64 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: wlan1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether 00:24:d7:a3:7b:ac brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether 00:c0:ca:66:17:f3 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
root@bt:~# ip link show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP qlen 1000
link/ether b4:99:ba:e1:2a:56 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
3: wlan1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether 00:24:d7:a3:7b:ac brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether 00:c0:ca:66:17:f3 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

ot@bt:~#
root@bt:~#
root@bt:~# ip addr show
1: lo: <LOOPBACK,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 16436 qdisc noqueue state UNKNOWN
link/loopback 00:00:00:00:00:00 brd 00:00:00:00:00:00
inet 127.0.0.1/8 scope host lo
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 qdisc pfifo_fast state UP qlen 1000
link/ether b4:99:ba:e1:2a:56 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
inet 192.168.2.2/24 brd 192.168.2.255 scope global eth0
inet6 fe80::b699:baff:fee1:2a56/64 scope link
valid_lft forever preferred_lft forever
3: wlan1: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 qdisc noop state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether 00:24:d7:a3:7b:ac brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff
4: wlan0: <NO-CARRIER,BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP> mtu 1500 qdisc mq state DOWN qlen 1000
link/ether 00:c0:ca:66:17:f3 brd ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff

root@bt:~# iwlist wlan0 scanning | grep -i ESSID
ESSID:"NETGEAR91"
ESSID:"HP-Print-08-Photosmart 5520"
ESSID:"Cosenza"
ESSID:"linksys"
ESSID:"Sacramone"
ESSID:"BCD"
ESSID:"BAN"
ESSID:"wirelesscomputer"
ESSID:"linksys"

You can see all of the wireless networks that it sees.

Excessive cpu seems to be xorg any time a window moves or I'm typing in a terminal window.

rokytnji · 02-27-2013, 03:19 AM

Do You have 2 wireless devices. One internal and 1 usb?
Usb wifi?

Code:

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:817f Realtek Semiconductor Corp.

using

Code:

rtl8192cu 98059 0
rtl8192c_common 72094 1 rtl8192cu
rtlwifi 108142 1 rtl8192cu

internal wifi card?

Code:

43:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 (rev 35)

using

Code:

iwlwifi 315094 0
mac80211 478885 4 rtl8192cu,rtl8192c_common,rtlwifi,iwlwifi

I might get a better idea of what is going on with a

Code:

$ inxi -n -z
Network:   Card-1: RaLink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI driver: rt61pci 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Intel 82566DM-2 Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e 
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>

Plus I am confused by 2 wireless interface reports. wlan1 and wlan0.
Seems like you have duplicate wireless hardware on your gear which between backtrack and mutiple hardware interfaces is beyond my skillset.
Either that or it is just friggin late and I am only up because of Windows SP1 fubar updates. Which is screwing up my attitude.

Shadow_7 · 02-27-2013, 03:36 AM

Oddly I have to bring my wlan0 up with ifconfig by assigning it an ip and such before I can use dhclient on wlan0 to connect to a network. Probably power management related.

Oddly I cannot bridge ethernet to wireless in 3+ kernels, but I can in 2.6 kernels. Or it could be some other difference between debian squeeze and debian sid.

As far as drivers for a given device, googling on the vendor id and product id normally narrows the list down pretty fast. lsusb shows that by default, and lspci -n for pci devices shows that.

You don't need to do anything with your windows drive to dual boot linux. You can put linux on a usb stick and boot it from there. $20 gets you a 32GB stick these days. Although a more expensive class 6 or better sdhc card + reader might feel less laborious. You could probably do most of that install in the vm to avoid excessive writes to the usb stick and clone it to the stick.

http://www.debian.org/releases/stabl...apds03.html.en

Although that guide lacks a few admin steps that most of the other install methods tend to help out with. Like setting a root password so you can log into that new install when you do boot it. I'm tending to do all my installs this way these days as you can apt-get install all the network drivers before you ever boot your install.

Shadow_7 · 02-27-2013, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jobowker

Excessive cpu seems to be xorg any time a window moves or I'm typing in a terminal window.

You're probably running a non-accelerated video driver like vesa. Or haven't gotten the DRI component working right.

$ xvidtune -show
$ glxinfo | grep -i "direct rendering"
$ cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep -i "dri" | grep -v -i "driver"

jobowker · 03-02-2013, 06:23 PM

I give up. I tried just about everything posted to no avail. I'm returning the card and trying one with the 8187 chipset.