Wireless Card and Ubuntu

reh_42 · 05-06-2006, 01:19 PM

I am using an HP Pavilion ze4300, Ubuntu 5.10, and a D-Link Airplus 2.4 GHz Wireless Cardbus Adapter (DWL-650+).

I am trying to access the wireless network at my parent's house and am having some troubles.

To begin with, I insert the wireless card into my PC slot and the green lcd light does not turn on. I assume that if I am able to get my computer to recognize the card then I will be able to connect with ease, but I am not sure.

Does anyone have any idea what I can do to make the computer recognize the card? Thank you very much.

Ruth

master · 05-06-2006, 02:09 PM

Are you using ndiswrapper?
have you downloaded a driver for that card?

svarmido · 05-06-2006, 02:41 PM

Ruth.

Are you a new Linux user? I suggest you login as root and open the program that enables you to control which services start when the computer is booted. Make sure "pcmcia" is selected. Make sure "network" is selected. Highlight "pcmcia" with your cursor and press on "start". Wait until you get a message indicating "pcmcia" has successfully started. The card LED light may come on. Do the same with "network". If you made any changes, "save" them and exit the "services" program.

Open a "root console" from "System" in the "main menu". At the root prompt which should look something like this [root@localhost@localdomain ~]#, type "dmesg|less". Scroll down using the down page button on your keyboard, or with the cursor on the scroll bar looking for any comment referencing "pcmcia" and your network card. Also, look for any comment regarding drivers being "loaded" or "installed" and their name. If you are in luck, you will see this kind of comment and you may be able to get on the internet with only a few more steps.

At the root prompt, type "lsmod|less" The module or driver name you saw in the "dmesg|less" output should appear as being "loaded" in the "lsmod|less" output.

If not. At the root prompt type "modprobe (and name of your card's driver)" There should be no error message. Type "lsmod|less" again. Do you see the module or driver in the output?

Yes? At the root prompt type "ifcfg wlan0" You should get output related to your card. If the output says "no such file" you probably do not have "wireless tools" installed... If not, come back and we will do some more stuff...

If you do get output related to your card, next at the root prompt type "ifup wlan0" You should not get an error message. At the root prompt type "iwconfig wlan0". There should be output similar to this:

[root@localhost@localdomain ~]# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0 IEEE 802.11b/g ESSID:"Mod Coffeehouse" Nickname:"localhost@localdomain"
Mode:Managed Frequency=2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:11:50:12:AA:9F
Bit Rate=11 Mb/s Tx-Power=15 dBm
RTS thr

ff Fragment thr

ff
Encryption key

ff

Start your browser. You should be able to get on the net.

If not, come back - we'll work on it some more.

Good luck.

reh_42 · 05-07-2006, 04:05 PM

Code:

dmesg|less
wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
FIXME: most likely needs refinement, first implementation version...

lsmod|less 
pcmcia	24584(size)	2(used by)

When I ran the command "ifcfg wlan0" I received the message back "ifcfg: command not found"

I continued on and ran the commands "iwconfig wlan0" and did receive some information back:

Code:

wlan0 	IEEE 802.11b+	ESSID:"NETGEAR"	Nickname:"acx100 v0.2.0pre8"
	Mode:Auto	Frequency:2.412 Ghz	Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00
	Bit Rate=22Mb/s	Tx-Power=18 dBm	Sensitivity=187/255
	Retry min limit:7	RTS thr:off
	Encryption Key:off
	Power management:off
	Link quality:0	Signal level:0	Noise level:0
	Rx invalid nwid:0	Rxvalid crypt:0	Rx invalid frag:0
	Tx excessive retries:0	Invalid misc:0	Missed beacon:0

I'm not sure what else to do. I completely reinstalled my OS because I figured it couldn't hurt and I had some time to waste. Now I see that the computer recognizes my wireless card because the little lcd lights on it have gone on.

As for the newbie question: I've been lightly digging into linux for the past year and half. I'm shaky, obviously.

Thanks for all your help - my little brother is getting tired of my using his laptop to access the wireless internet.

Ruth

svarmido · 05-15-2006, 12:48 PM

If you have a GUI for controlling your network devices, and you probably do, open the program. You want to "edit" the device "wlan0" to make sure the "hardware address" has been properly probed. Also, if you need to use a WEP key make sure you have entered that.

You should be able to use the "ifcfg" command if you are able to use the "iwconfig" command. Try "/sbin/ifcfg wlan0" and make sure of your typing.

Also, try "iwlist" and you should see output indicating which devices are present. I don't know the capabilities of your card, but you may also try "iwlist scanning" to see if your card is able to obtain information for your wireless interface(s).

Finally, make sure you indicate the device should automatically obtain IP address settings with dhcp and DNS information from provider.

svarmido