[SOLVED] No IP address when connecting wirelessly through Xubuntu

youngaa · 12-01-2009, 09:14 AM

I have been using Ubuntu for a few years and never had any problems with connecting to the internet either via a wired or wireless connection, but I decided to remove Ubuntu 9.04 and installed Xubuntu 9.10. That was a baaaaad move because I now cannot get my laptop (a Toshiba Satellite Pro L10) to connect to the 'net.

I've installed the wifi card (a Linksys WPC54G) using ndiswrapper and that seems to be OK because the wicd network manager can find the wireless network. However, when I try to connect to the network, the wicd network manager gives me the error saying "Connection Failed: Unable to Get IP Address". I cannot connect using the Network Manager, either. I don't know if this is important, but I've also noticed that when I open up the ndiswrapper GUI I get the message Unable to see if hardware is present. And when I select the "Configure Network" option in the ndiswrapper GUI I get an error that says Could not find a network configuration tool.

The result of

Code:

iwlist wlan0 scanning

is:

Code:

wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:21:63:95:EA:76
                    ESSID:"Ward"
                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11g
                    Mode:Managed
                    Frequency:2.422 GHz (Channel 3)
                    Quality:81/100  Signal level:-44 dBm  Noise level:-96 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
                              9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:atim=0
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK

That seems to confirm that the laptop is seeing the network I want to connect to, but doesn't help me to figure out a solution! Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to get the wireless working? Thanks.

nimnull22 · 12-01-2009, 01:55 PM

May be that helps.

Try to use manual setup

http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Wireless_networking

youngaa · 12-01-2009, 01:59 PM

Cheers, I'll give that a go.

nimnull22 · 12-01-2009, 02:05 PM

You have associate with AP first, then ask for IP through DHCP request

youngaa · 12-01-2009, 03:25 PM

Hmm, I've noticed when trying to connect to the wireless network using the wicd connection manager, instead of displaying "ESSID NAME OF CHOICE: Obtaining IP address" I get "none: Obtaining IP address". I realise that goes to show that the connection manager isn't working properly, but is that significant in any way?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nimnull22

You have associate with AP first, then ask for IP through DHCP request

Sorry, I don't understand that statement. Could you explain more? Thanks.

nimnull22 · 12-01-2009, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngaa

Sorry, I don't understand that statement. Could you explain more? Thanks.

I meant, if you will decide to connect manually (with console), you have to associate with AP first, then ask for IP addresses.

youngaa · 12-01-2009, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nimnull22

I meant, if you will decide to connect manually (with console), you have to associate with AP first, then ask for IP addresses.

Ah OK.

I've also been working through the wireless networking guide, which linked me to the WPA guide. Trying to set the passphrase fails. I can do the first bit without problem:

Code:

wpa_passphrase YOUNGAA mypassword

gives me the expected result

Code:

network={
	ssid="YOUNGAA"
	#psk="mypassword"
	psk=blahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblahblah
}

However, when I try to do the second section

Code:

cat >/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

I get the message

Code:

bash: /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf: Permission denied

and I have noticed in the etc/wpa_supplicant folder I only have three files:
#1: action_wpa.sh
#2: functions.sh
#3: ifupdown.sh

Should there not be a .conf file in that somewhere?

Apologies for all the questions. I'm struggling here with my very limited knowledge.

youngaa · 12-01-2009, 04:32 PM

I'm now even more confused because the wifi is now working

. I've no idea what I've done to get to this stage, and I'm scared it'll stop working on a reboot, but my God it's working!

I was about to remove Xubuntu 9.10 and install Ubuntu 9.10 onto the laptop, in fact the liveCD was in the machine, and clearly that was enough to scare Xubuntu into behaving!

Thanks for your help.

nimnull22 · 12-01-2009, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngaa

I was about to remove Xubuntu 9.10 and install Ubuntu 9.10 onto the laptop, in fact the liveCD was in the machine, and clearly that was enough to scare Xubuntu into behaving!

Thanks for your help.

Good luck, Ubuntu 9.10 might not be better.

youngaa · 12-01-2009, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nimnull22

Good luck, Ubuntu 9.10 might not be better.

Good luck isn't need - the wireless is working in Xubuntu 9.10, thanks to those guides you pointed me at, I just don't know what exactly got it working

.

youngaa · 12-02-2009, 04:24 AM

And it's stopped working

. I rebooted the machine this morning and the wireless is again not working. When I try to connect using the wicd connection manager I get a message saying Connection Failed: Unable to Get IP Address, but the wicd connection manager then shows me connected to an odd IP address, which in the screenshot is 169.254.102.243 but it's also "connected" to 169.254.213.23. I can then ping that particular IP address, but I've no idea why, or where, that odd IP address is appearing. And it still means I'm not connected wireless. Arrrggghhh!

I'd be grateful for any help you can provide. Thanks.
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And breath.

youngaa · 12-03-2009, 01:26 PM

I gave up messing around with settings I don't understand, so I've reinstalled Xubuntu. Things are now working and this time Xubuntu automatically figured out what my wireless card was and I didn't need to use ndiswrapper.

Thanks for the help.