Fan erratically spins, and a wi-fi problem

Romanus81 · 02-26-2008, 08:51 PM

I just switched from ubuntu, and I just got settled into slackware. I just today got my wi-fi working,
I followed this guide:
http://madwifi.org/wiki/UserDocs/Distro/Slackware
and then when that didn't work I tried these as root:

Code:

iwconfig ath0 ESSID xxxxx
iwconfig ath0 key xxxxxxx
/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 ath0_start

and it works, but something I noted afterward was that my fan is a lot noisier than it was in Ubuntu, and at times it will make loud whirring noises for a second or two before going back down. I'm not entirely sure if this is connected to the wifi, because I didn't notice it before. I also installed the fglrx drivers from ATI after the wifi, I would say after that I noticed the change. What could be causing this problem?
Also, the internet fix is only temporary, after I reboot I have to type all the commands in again, I know I could create a script that will load after the system boots, but toward the end of boot the machine tries to connect to the internet and does nothing for 10 - 15 seconds before giving me an error message and going to the login prompt.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

BTW: Is slackbook.org down? I can't access it and every helpful document I get directed to is on it.

Bruce Hill · 02-27-2008, 12:28 AM

Slackbook.org is down being relocated.

The place to edit your network scripts in Slackware is /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf

Don't know why anything you mentioned would bugger your fan.

Welcome to LQ ... and Slackware!

SlackMaster · 02-28-2008, 10:30 PM

Romanus,

Likely the fan noise is merely a coincidence, which of course may mean that your fan is about to die. However, is this a desktop or laptop? With Slackware installs on laptops, I've much more fan activity than while running Windows.

The 10-15 second delay before presentation of the login prompt is due to your system, or services on it, attempting to use your network interfaces, when they haven't yet been configured. If you set them up in /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf, as Bruce suggested, this delay will be resolved.

Once you've done that and are comfortable with how that works, I recommend that you check Alien's page at:
http://www.slackware.com/~alien/
...especially his modifications to "several of the Slackware rc scripts". You'll find them particularly helpful (brilliant, even) with your WiFi card/connection. Just to be sure to read his notes thoroughly, and then read them again, to make sure you understand what you're changing by implementing his enhancements. (And save backup copies of the distribution versions of the scripts, so you can just copy them back into place to restore functionality while you work with his versions of the scripts.)

slackbook.org is indeed still down, as of this writing (2/28/2008 8:30 pm PST)