Slackware 13.37 fresh install

lkz · 08-25-2012, 09:57 AM

Hello all

Ive just finished a fresh install of Slackware 13.37 and want to get my wireless set up. I switched to Slackware from openSUSE since I want to learn linux; I seemed to only be learning about adding repos etc with SUSE.

Im running Slackware on an Thinkpad T41 and I know it its wireless card is an Atheros and as far as I know ath5k is included in the Linux kernel. Is that right?

Anyway, included with Slackware is wpa_gui but this doesnt detect any wireless device. My next step was to try to connecting with ifconfig:

iwlist wlan0 up

This found my network lets say its called "homewireless"

Code:

#iwconfig wlan0 essid homewireless key XXXXXX
#dhclient wlan0
#iwconfig
lo     no wireless extensions.
eth0   no wireless extensions.
wlan0  IEEE 802.11abg   ESSID:"homewireless"
       Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not Associated   Tx-Power=20 dBm
       Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment  thr:off
       Encryption key:xxxxxxx
       Power Management:off

I tried using firefox but I couldnt connect to anything. Im not sure where I'm going wrong.

Any help with this is much appreciated.

BTW, I had to type this out since my usb stick isnt mounting, but thats another issue which can be sorted out later.

sycamorex · 08-25-2012, 10:04 AM

The easiest way of configuring wifi on Slackware is installing wicd from /extra (your installation DVD). It's a GUI network manager which makes it very easy to connect to the internet.