[SOLVED] Msi Wind: can't find wifi or networkmanager

lilou_b · 04-14-2010, 04:02 PM

i recently got an msi wind U100x running on linux suse enterprise 10 sp1.

i am totally new to linux and i believe that msi wind is not helping. i remember at some point seeing an icon in my toolbar to indicate available wifi networks, but it disappeared a few weeks ago, and i was never able to locate it again. out of dispair i reset the computer to factory settings.
all i have is "no network connection" icon, and when you click on it you have both enable networking and enable wireless.

i read somewhere in help that i should have a knetworkmanager, but i can't find it anywhere. all i see in my control center is network card, and when i go in there, i go to 'user controlled with networkmanager' and i see 'micro-star international ethernet controller not configured'.
before i reset to factory settings i used to have a wireless card as well.

in a word: i am totally lost and don't know where to start. any step by step to help me connect again?

grail · 04-15-2010, 01:01 AM

I am not a 100% clear on what you mean by:

Quote:

i reset to factory settings

hda7 · 04-15-2010, 07:34 AM

If you're not concerned about user friendliness, there are several command line tools for configuring wireless and wired controllers. See man pages for `iwconfig' and `ip(8)'.

lilou_b · 04-16-2010, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grail

I am not a 100% clear on what you mean by:

factory settings, i mean when i reboot, i choose option: "recovery to factory setting".

i am kind of into userfriendliness very much, because i am not a developer and i struggle with line commands and such like. i like the ethos of linux, but i need accessibility!

is it the case i need to download some wireless software?
do i have to configure and add a new wifi network card??

grail · 04-16-2010, 07:12 AM

Hmmm ... you still have me lost, i must have my thick hat on, when you say,

Quote:

i mean when i reboot, i choose option: "recovery to factory setting"

Is this part of the original BIOS screen or is this one of the choices from your grub list (this is where you pick which
kernel you want to boot into <kinda>)?

I only ask as I have never heard of a Linux distro which resets anything in this way??

schneidz · 04-16-2010, 10:29 AM

^ some pc manufacturers include a hidden partition instead of an install cd (useful for netbooks without a cd-rom drive).
with these you can reboot hold down f12 or something and select 'return to factory default' -- it basically deletes everything on the hard drive and make it seem as if the day you bought it.

hda7 · 04-17-2010, 05:22 AM

Quote:

i am kind of into userfriendliness very much, because i am not a developer and i struggle with line commands and such like.

If you're willing to try something, type

Code:

iwlist scan

on a command line and post the result. If that gives a usage error, try

Code:

for iface in `ip link | grep '<*>' | cut -f 2 -d :`; do iwlist $iface scan; done

One of those should give a list of network "connections", and if your wireless card is working properly, one of those "connections" should give a list of wireless networks in range. The others should just say something like "This interface does not support scanning."

lilou_b · 04-19-2010, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hda7

If you're willing to try something, type

Code:

iwlist scan

on a command line and post the result. If that gives a usage error, try

Code:

for iface in `ip link | grep '<*>' | cut -f 2 -d :`; do iwlist $iface scan; done

One of those should give a list of network "connections", and if your wireless card is working properly, one of those "connections" should give a list of wireless networks in range. The others should just say something like "This interface does not support scanning."

Code:

iwlist scan

"interface doesn't support scanning"

Code:

for iface in `ip link | grep '<*>' | cut -f 2 -d :`; do iwlist $iface scan; done

cut: you must specify a list of bytes, characters, or fields
Try `cut --help' for more information

schneidz · 04-19-2010, 09:39 AM

please post the output to:

Code:

lspci # will tell us the pci devices you have in your system.
lsusb # will tell us the usb devices you have in your system.
ifconfig # will tell us what network interface cards that are turned on you have on your system.
ifconfig -a # will list all network interface cards you have on your 
iwconfig # will tell us which of your network interface cards has wireless capability 
lsmod # will list the modules that are loaded on your system.

once we know the above information; these commands usually get people conected to their wireless routers:

Code:

sudo iwlist <network-card> scan # this will use the <network-card> interface (that from the iwconfig command above) and scan for wireless routers that are accessible.
sudo iwconfig <network-card> essid <your-router-name> # assuming no security (the access point names will be provided by the previous iwlist command).
sudo dhclient # will attempt to get ip-address, subnet mask, dns server information automatically from your router assuming dhcp is turned on on your router.

there are, of course, gui ways of accomplishing this but you would not be able to copy-paste gui windows for us to identify your set-up (i hear wicd is a good network manager gui program). it would be easier for us to read if it is in [code] tags.

lilou_b · 04-21-2010, 10:57 AM

thanks for that,

here it is

Code:

~> lspci
bash: lspci: command not found
~> lsusb
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 0bda:0158 Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
~> ifconfig
bash: ifconfig: command not found
~> ifconfig -a
bash: ifconfig: command not found
~> iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

ra0       RT2860 Wireless  ESSID:""  Nickname:"RT2860STA"
          Mode:Auto  Frequency=2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated
          Bit Rate=1 Mb/s
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Link Quality=10/100  Signal level:-256 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

eth0      no wireless extensions.

~> lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
rfcomm                 41364  2
l2cap                  30848  3 rfcomm
bluetooth              51300  2 rfcomm,l2cap
wlan_scan_sta          18308  0
ath_pktlog             17160  0
wlan_xauth              5760  0
wlan_wep               10880  0
wlan_tkip              16256  0
wlan_ccmp              12800  0
wlan_acl                8704  0
ath_pci                57856  0
ath_dev               115924  2 ath_pktlog,ath_pci
ath_rate_atheros       58248  2 ath_pktlog,ath_dev
ath_dfs                37320  1 ath_dev
wlan                  234240  9 wlan_scan_sta,ath_pktlog,wlan_xauth,wlan_wep,wlan_tkip,wlan_ccmp,wlan_acl,ath_pci,ath_dev
ath_hal               346368  3 ath_pktlog,ath_pci,ath_dev
r8180                 141840  0
ieee80211_rtl          96904  1 r8180
ieee80211_crypt_tkip_rtl    14592  1 ieee80211_rtl
ieee80211_crypt_wep_rtl     9600  1 ieee80211_rtl
ieee80211_crypt_ccmp_rtl    12032  1 ieee80211_rtl
ieee80211_crypt_rtl    10116  4 ieee80211_rtl,ieee80211_crypt_tkip_rtl,ieee80211_crypt_wep_rtl,ieee80211_crypt_ccmp_rtl
cpufreq_ondemand       11020  2
cpufreq_userspace       8448  0
cpufreq_powersave       5760  0
speedstep_centrino     11184  0
freq_table              8448  1 speedstep_centrino
snd_pcm_oss            42272  0
snd_mixer_oss          20352  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq                50512  0
snd_seq_device         11532  1 snd_seq
button                 10640  0
battery                12164  0
ac                      8964  0
loop                   19592  0
usb_storage            76480  0
ide_core              123468  1 usb_storage
i915                   23040  2
snd_hda_intel         339992  1
snd_pcm                71428  2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel
snd_timer              24964  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc         14088  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_hwdep              12676  1 snd_hda_intel
drm                    69400  3 i915
snd                    60228  10 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_hwdep
soundcore              13024  1 snd
r8101                  31376  0
intel_agp              26260  1
rt2860sta             435160  1
i8xx_tco               11032  0
agpgart                33352  3 drm,intel_agp
ehci_hcd               31880  0
hw_random               9496  0
uhci_hcd               32272  0
usbcore               115460  4 usb_storage,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
i2c_i801               12044  0
i2c_core               23680  1 i2c_i801
ext3                  123656  2
jbd                    62496  1 ext3
edd                    12484  0
fan                     8580  0
thermal                17544  0
processor              31208  2 speedstep_centrino,thermal
sg                     35356  0
ata_piix               18436  3
ahci                   25608  0
libata                116508  2 ata_piix,ahci
sd_mod                 23040  4
scsi_mod              131468  5 usb_storage,sg,ahci,libata,sd_mod

hda7 · 04-21-2010, 11:11 AM

OK, here is a breakdown:

Quote:

Code:

ra0       RT2860 Wireless  ESSID:""  Nickname:"RT2860STA"
          Mode:Auto  Frequency=2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated
          Bit Rate=1 Mb/s
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Link Quality=10/100  Signal level:-256 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

means that interface ra0 is (of appears to be) a wireless controller. That means you can try:

Code:

iwconfig ra0 essid your-network-id
dhcpcd ra0

The first command should set your wireless card to your network. The second will get an address from your router. If the second command fails, you may have to set the network channel:

Code:

iwconfig ra0 channel your-network-channel

or

Code:

iwconfig ra0 freq your-network-frequency

Cancel the failed request:

Code:

kill `cat /var/run/dhcpcd-ra0.pid`

And then repeat the second command again.

lilou_b · 04-21-2010, 05:19 PM

ok, got a problem with the first command

Code:

iwconfig ra0 essid your-network-id

i get the error

Code:

Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) :
    SET failed on device ra0 ; Operation not permitted.

grail · 04-21-2010, 10:15 PM

I think the issue here is as you are new you have typed exactly:

Quote:

iwconfig ra0 essid your-network-id

Which is cool as it means you follow instructions to the letter

What hda7 meant is that where you see the words "your-network-id" you are supposed to put in what you
have called your wireless network, ie at home one of my wireless routers has a name (essid) = LANplan,
so for me the entry would look like:

Code:

iwconfig ra0 essid LANplan

Let us know how you go?

lilou_b · 04-22-2010, 04:39 PM

doh that was funny! unix is very much like german to me, i.e. very logical, yet wonderfully obscure.

so if i put the name of my wireless network as i renamed it, what happens if it's hidden? do i have to unhide it? what about the WPA personal security/password? will i get prompted in the terminal to enter it in order to connect?
i didn't think we had reached that stage yet.

schneidz · 04-22-2010, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilou_b

ok, got a problem with the first command

Code:

iwconfig ra0 essid your-network-id

i get the error

Code:

Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) :
    SET failed on device ra0 ; Operation not permitted.

well it should've incorrectly bind your wireless adapter to the ssid your-network-id. in order to get around the operation not permitted error try running the command with sudo.

sudo iwconfig ra0 essid your-network-id
if that doesnt work then try switching to root (su - then enter your root passwd)and running the program.

i am still concerned that some of the programs you are running are returning command not found.
maybe you need to be root to run them or your system is fubar.