Wicd doesn't see my available wireless router signal (or any). Also, the interface name in Wicd's preferences is wlan0. When I run iwlist scan, this is the result:

debian:/# iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wmaster0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0 No scan results

Any suggestions to get my wifi interface working?

Can you post the output of 'iwconfig' ?? Are you sure that your hardware is working with the proper drivers or kernel modules?

I have the same problem. But before that try running ifconfig wlan0 up. Then try dhcpcd wlan0 and see if you still don't get a signal. If you don't we're both having exactly the same problem.

iwconfig yields:

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11 ESSID:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thrff Fragment thr=2352 B
Encryption keyff
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0



When I type lspci, one of the listings yields:
AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

This device uses the ath5k driver.

I loaded the necessary kernel module:

modprobe ath5k

Thanks for the response.

I typed : ifconfig wlan0 up

Then: dhcpcd wlan0 which yields:

bash: dhcpcd: command not found

OK, I installed the dhcpcd command. It yields:

debian:/# dhcpcd wlan0
err, wlan0: timed out
warn, wlan0: using IPV4LL address 169.254.150.161
debian:/# dhcpcd.sh: interface wlan0 has been configured with new IP=169.254.150.161

And stops there. When I run wicd, still the same problem.

When I run iwlist scan, this is the result:

debian:/# iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wmaster0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0 No scan results

mrj, try
where x is the name of the essid. Then type 'iwconfig' again. You should get a printout like this:
...then try to get dhcp to work.

Your essid shouldn't appear blank when you type 'iwconfig' alone. Maybe your wireless router is not set up right? Maybe it's encrypted and you need to try out your connection without encryption first just to make sure it works?

EDIT: one other thought, what kernel are you using?

mrj, You must run sudo iwlist wlan0 scan or su -c "iwlist wlan0 scan" Otherwise it will return existing results. Try that and see if it still doesn't work.

radiodee1, Is ESSID the same network name I get while using Windows? I thought "sudo iwlist wlan0 scan" would return it, but it doesn't work for me. It never has, although I managed to get an IP from DHCPC a couple of times.
This is my thread

I just cannot get my wifi running. Something tells me I need to get iwlist wlan0 scan working before I proceed.

EDIT:
I just remembered. Even though the wifi light turns on and off with the ifconfig wlan0 up/down, the following output from dmesg always appears:
Post the result of dmesg|tail over here after you type ifconfig wlan0 up. You may also have the same problem. Please note that I do not have bluetooth, just wireless.

gregorian: Yeah, the essid is supposed to be the same as the name you get using windows. You can also look into the b43 question. IOW make sure that you don't have broadcom hardware. What do you get if you type "lspci | grep Broadcom" ??

Problem solved. I used Synaptic to load all files in kernel section, this includes the patch. Note that I installed all files listed in kernel section. Also, ESSID, from my understanding should be left blank for security reasons. Thanks for the help. You asked which kernel I was using and then I read from http://wiki.debian.org/ath5k the following (I use the AR242x chipset which uses the ath5k driver):
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Known Issues

The ath5k driver is in a constant state of development, with varying levels of support for chipsets depending on their age.

AR242x chipset

Found in the Acer eMachines D620 laptop, among others. This suffers from a "noise floor calibration timeout" bug, which means the wireless may not function after installing Lenny. The bug is fixed since kernel 2.6.28.1.

Lenny users: install a backported kernel 2.6.29 (or later) image package from Debian Backports.
---------d-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gregorian, there is an option in Wicd preferences to automatically reconnect if connection is lost.
Maybe this would help if you have a weak signal.

I don't use wicd. wlist works now. It's one of my lucky days since it works randomly for me.