Hi everyone!
I've got a ralink 2400 card and a rt2400 driver for it. Using Slackware 12.1

When running iwlist wlan0 scan (as root) it returns

iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0 No scan results

Sometimes if I run

ifconfig wlan0 down
ifconfig wlan0 up

iwlist wlan0 scan would return results of 2-3 networks, but when i run it again it would return No scan results.

I found many topics on this problem, though haven't seen a single solution to it.


Anybody knows how to deal with it?

Thanks

Chaves

If I remember correctly, it doesn't actually do the scanning when you run the command iwlist scan, but it scans as soon as the interface is up. Also, it takes time for your card to pick up the broadcast packets from all available networks. So don't expect all the networks to be listed the moment you bring up the interface. Give it 15 - 30 seconds before running iwlist scan. If you have no results then wait 15 - 30 seconds and try again. If after a minute or two of this you still have nothing, then you either you can't pick up any networks, or your system is improperly configured. That is the limit of my knowledge on the subject. Hope it helps.

An interface has to be 'up' in order to report scan results, that is why you do see networks after you have run 'ifconfig wlan0 up' first.

Eric

Thanks for the replies.
AlienBob: I know that iwlist only works with the interface up.
what I was saying is that it won't find any networks UNLESS it is run right after i bring wlan0 up.

Examle:
1)
wlan0 down
wlan0 up (in Managed mode)
iwlist wlan0 scan
Results: 0-3 networks. however, there should be at least 5 available.

NOTE:
If wait 10 seconds after these commands and iwlist scan again, thaen no network would be listed!!!

2)
wlan0 down
wlan0 up
wait 1 minute
iwlist wlan0 scan
Results: no scan results

Any ideas?

I had a pretty fair mileage with a "rt2500" card
"rt61" (RaLink rt2561) are fine too
in both cases i use the CVS snapshot
Sometimes it's broken, sometimes not.
I'm a member on the serialmonkey forum (it helps)
The guys are doing a tremendous job without any help, except few user's feedback...

so,
RTFM You did RTFM didn't ya?
I would check/try iwpriv,
I would compare the stable against the CVS
I would give the 2x00 a shot too ;-)

did You know that 2x00 has hit the main kernel tree (not sure if still in mm or already in stable branch)?
May be it's time to run a 'own' kernel? I wish You luck and recommend oldconfig with pat's settings, then customize.

please do report as You go...

rtfm is alway the best solution=))) Though i think the problem is in drivers.
Here is a little update:

I just did an exactly the same installation of Slack 12.1 smp on another computer (sony vaio using iwl3945 driver for its intel card).

after configuring the essid in my iwconfig, the iwconfig looked fine (i.e it found the right mac for my ap). iwlist returns 7 networks.
When i tried runnig dhcpcd wlan0, it wouldn't work and just would bring the wlan0 down.
after a quick search i found that i had a
message in my /var/log/messages file.
The solution was to run iwconfig wlan0 essid again 0_0
then there was the message that link is found.
dhcpcd wlan0 worked fine.

So the problem is in my card's driver.
It looks like the ralink rt2500 and rt61 are the cards which work fine, but there are problems with rt2400 ones.

If i list all loaded modules, a get the

output for my wifi card.

lsmod returns

Testerday i've downloaded a serialmonkey driver and installed it (following the manual). The only problem was that i kept being redirected from their download page to their main, so in order to download it i had to find a direct link to tarball (found it in one of gentoo forums) and then wget it.

Am I using the 2x00 serialmonkey driver or the initial rt2400 one?

update:

Just ran slax. it loaded the serialmonkey driver, however the card would behave in the same way. I doubt that this is hardware problems, as i used this card under windows a year ago=))

Though i think that the easies solution would be to just buy another wifi card =\

Chaves, pretty serious work You'we done there,

Can You test the card on a windowsPC? That way You would know for sure if the OEM driver works or the card is broken (they kind of 'fade' sometimes)?

If You go for a new card, consult the HCL, and get Yourself that most supported one for those (...most wise spent...) extra few bucks ;-)

please, do provide feedback :-)

can't test it in windows now((
Only have Slackware installed on my fujitsu, and sony's wifi card has a different connector=\

The card seems to work fine in MONITOR mode (i.e. kismet catches packets from around 11 networks).

I do remember using it a year ago, and it was working. After that i just took it out of my laptop and put it in only a couple of weeks ago.

If the card works in monitor mode, chances are its working.

Tyr to find any comment about the driver having a 'stable' release, may be its broken for an feature to be added?

Meanwhile the 2x00 project has undergone major changes since merged in kernel ...

I feel like in vacuum for this few months. :-(

I would try to skim the documentation again, for a life-saver tip (few times had bullseye this way )

I whish You luck, all I could find was this link:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...roup_id=107832
Take for what it's worth

It's not easy to be as stupid as I am -
- it takes (alot of) practice!

the other links (for CVS code)
http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/wiki/...itle=Downloads
I do apologize

found an old d-link pcmcia card and downloaded the drivers for it (MadWifi).
Using it now.

thanks for the links. I would have a look at them when have some free time=)

Cheers

I assure You, once dealing with ralink You will be pleased

I certainly was

Sorry, I deleted my reply, because I thought there was a mistake in it.