Dear all,
I have installed Fedora 8 in a laptop.in the installation i have checked the installation of the firmware for iw3945 but i have no wireless.
do i have to install sth or enable the firmware somehow in order for my wireless adapter to work?when i type iwconfig i get this
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
virbr0 no wireless extensions.
tmpbridge no wireless extensions.

i really don't know what to do (newb) so please help!

Lets take this one from the top. Check the output of lsmod and see if either iwl3945 or ipw3945 is there.

hi,thaks for the quick reply.
well i have typed lsmod and here is the output:
(i can't judge the importance of every line so i paste all of it)
thanks!

Module Size Used by
ipt_MASQUERADE 7680 1
iptable_nat 11396 1
nf_nat 21804 2 ipt_MASQUERADE,iptable_nat
bridge 51864 0
rfcomm 43416 0
l2cap 30080 9 rfcomm
autofs4 24324 2
sunrpc 158428 1
nf_conntrack_ipv4 14856 9 iptable_nat
ipt_REJECT 8448 4
iptable_filter 6784 1
ip_tables 16324 2 iptable_nat,iptable_filter
nf_conntrack_ftp 13696 0
nf_conntrack_ipv6 23440 6
xt_state 6400 13
nf_conntrack 60552 7 ipt_MASQUERADE,iptable_nat,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_i
pv4,nf_conntrack_ftp,nf_conntrack_ipv6,xt_state
nfnetlink 10648 4 nf_nat,nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conntrack_ipv6,nf_co
nntrack
xt_tcpudp 7168 20
ip6t_ipv6header 6400 2
ip6t_REJECT 9472 2
ip6table_filter 6784 1
ip6_tables 17348 2 ip6t_ipv6header,ip6table_filter
x_tables 18564 9 ipt_MASQUERADE,iptable_nat,ipt_REJECT,ip_tables,
xt_state,xt_tcpudp,ip6t_ipv6header,ip6t_REJECT,ip6_tables
loop 19976 0
dm_multipath 21512 0
ipv6 275712 16 nf_conntrack_ipv6,ip6t_REJECT
xenblktap 118788 2 [permanent]
netbk 78784 0 [permanent]
blkbk 23456 0 [permanent]
snd_hda_intel 23064 4
snd_hda_codec 200192 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_dummy 7812 0
snd_seq_oss 33024 0
snd_seq_midi_event 10880 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 50160 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 11788 3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss 43392 0
snd_mixer_oss 19328 2 snd_pcm_oss
hci_usb 20508 2
8250_pnp 13184 0
snd_pcm 73604 4 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
sdhci 19852 0
mmc_core 30340 1 sdhci
iTCO_wdt 14628 0
iTCO_vendor_support 7812 1 iTCO_wdt
tifm_7xx1 11520 0
snd_timer 25092 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 52228 14 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
tifm_core 12416 1 tifm_7xx1
soundcore 11488 2 snd
snd_page_alloc 13704 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
iwl3945 156900 0
bluetooth 57060 7 rfcomm,l2cap,hci_usb
tpm_infineon 11928 0
tpm 19488 1 tpm_infineon
tpm_bios 11008 1 tpm
mac80211 145288 1 iwl3945
cfg80211 11912 1 mac80211
parport_pc 29732 0
parport 38088 1 parport_pc
pcspkr 7040 0
8250 36260 1 8250_pnp
serial_core 24320 1 8250
serio_raw 10756 0
tg3 106244 0
joydev 13376 0
sg 37148 0
sr_mod 20132 0
cdrom 37024 1 sr_mod
ata_piix 18308 0
dm_snapshot 20644 0
dm_zero 6144 0
dm_mirror 24724 0
dm_mod 57164 9 dm_multipath,dm_snapshot,dm_zero,dm_mirror
ahci 22916 2
libata 112368 2 ata_piix,ahci
sd_mod 28928 3
scsi_mod 139020 4 sg,sr_mod,libata,sd_mod
ext3 125192 2
jbd 59688 1 ext3
mbcache 12292 1 ext3
uhci_hcd 25360 0
ohci_hcd 21508 0
ehci_hcd 34188 0

what is the next step?
thanks again

OK, according to lsmod, you've got iwl3945 loaded, which is good. You said that the firmware is loaded but you might want to check that again. You should have a filed named iwlwifi-3946-1.ucode in /lib/firmware (and it should be owned by root). If you don't, that is the problem. If you do, you need to look in your log files (/var/log/syslog, /var/log/messages and the dmesg output) and see if there are any clues as to what is going wrong.

well i have iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode and iwlwifi-3945.ucode in lib/firmware.

dmesg output has these relative entries:

iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 0.0.25kd
iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2007 Intel Corporation
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:10:00.0[A] -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:10:00.0 to 64
iwl3945: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
parport: PnPBIOS parport detected.

and the messsages output has:
Jun 26 13:12:16 localhost kernel: iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 0.0.25kd
Jun 26 13:12:16 localhost kernel: iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2007 Intel Corporation
Jun 26 14:44:15 localhost kernel: iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 0.0.25kd
Jun 26 14:44:15 localhost kernel: iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2007 Intel Corporation

i have not found a syslog though in /var/log

i don't know what to do
when i go to networks only the eth0 is displayed
and when i press new no 3945 device is detected

OK, this is odd. Is the card actually on? Most laptops have a key combo that turns them on and off, you might check to make sure it is on. If that isn't it, then I'm at a loss because everything sure looks like it should be working. Can I ask what kind (make/model) of laptop this is?