Hi Guys ,
I bought a new Asus a6b00vc laptop a couple of weeks ago.I am runnning ubuntu 5.04 on it (could not install 5.10 because of hot plug problem - doesnt matter)

Anyways , after installing it , i figured that i could not hear sound (which really sucks by the way , right? )After a while of googling i learned that i needed to compile my kernel because the kernel with ubuntu 5.04 (2.6.10-x) did not supporrt the module for my sound card - which is intel HD audio.

I said thats ok , and downloaded the lateset kernel (2.6.14-3)and compiled it after enabling the module.I can now hear the sounds - which is a good progress.

But the problem is , i can NOT see my wireless interface (which was "eth1" on old kernel -> this is important )and i am sure i compiled it right.To be sure i gave the lspci command and saw the Intel Corp. Pro/wireless 2200BG (rev 05) which means it is loaded.

I tried the iwconfig command and saw
lo
eth
sit0 =>all of them saying no wireless extensions (which is still ok)

than tried to load the module with modprobe :

modprobe ipw2200

and i guesss it is installed because i got no errors.
But i could still not see my eth1 interface after giving the iwconfig command.

What am i doing wrong? What should i do to make it work?

Thanks...

After running modprobe, run lsmod to make sure that the module actually loaded. Since ipw2200 is not part of the kernel, I'm guessing that you will have to recompile that driver in order for it to work again. However, if lsmod shows the module is loaded, have a look through your logs and see if ipw2200 is complaining about anything.


Actually, all that means is that the system can see the PCI card. It doesn't really say anything about whether or not it has the drivers needed to use the card.

Here is a part of my lsmod commands out:

asus_acpi 12180 0
ac 4996 0
ipw2200 67496 0
firmware_class 10496 2 pcmcia,ipw2200
ieee80211 20936 1 ipw2200

I think ipw2200 is loaded , but still i cant see the interface..


Do u have any idea where are the logs of ipw2200 ?

I agree that the ipw2200 module is loaded. The logs are /var/log/messages and /var/log/syslog. The logs are likely to be long, but ipw2200 should be identifying itself and leaving a trail of what it is doing.

Here is a part of my /var/log/syslog

Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.0.0
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2004 Intel Corporation
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:01:03.0[A] -> GSI 22 (level, low) -> IRQ 22
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: ipw-2.2-boot.fw load failed: Reason -2
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: Unable to load firmware: 0xFFFFFFFE
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: failed to register network device
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ACPI: PCI interrupt for device 0000:01:03.0 disabled
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: probe of 0000:01:03.0 failed with error -5
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ieee1394: Host added: ID:BUS[0-00:1023] GUID[00e01800033d771e]

Do u have any idea about "reason-2" that failed ipw boot?

And here is the part of /var/log/messages :

Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:01:01.1[B] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ohci1394: fw-host0: OHCI-1394 1.0 (PCI): IRQ=[18] MMIO=[fa9fe000-fa9fe7ff] Max Packet=[2048]
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.0.0
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2004 Intel Corporation
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:01:03.0[A] -> GSI 22 (level, low) -> IRQ 22
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ACPI: PCI interrupt for device 0000:01:03.0 disabled
Dec 8 16:10:26 localhost kernel: ipw2200: probe of 0000:01:03.0 failed with error -5
Dec 8 16:10:27 localhost kernel: ACPI: AC Adapter [AC0] (off-line)

As you can see again ,it says it failed.

Thanks alot by the way , but still need some more help ..

The main problem is this:
The card is either not finding the firmware or is not able to load the firmware that is there. What you need to do is visit the ipw2200 site and download the firmware for ipw200 version 1.0.0 (which is the version you have according to your messages log). Then have a read through the INSTALL file and pay attention to section 10 which explains how to set up the firmware to download to the card.

Before you do try to install new firmware, you may have a look and see if the firmware is already installed on your machine. That error message may also suggest a permissions problem with the firmware files.