HOw to connect to wireless ?
 

I have Suse 10.1 and it picks up the wireless card on my Laptop. How do i connect to a wirless network? Do i need to dl other software

Have you used ndiswrapper to install it yet? (Your system can pick up the card as hardware but you can't use it unless you've used ndiswrapper to configure the drivers.) Ndiswrapper on suse should be included.

check out a program called mad-wifi. It is a frontend program that can help you setup different profiles for your adapter. If it recognizes it though just try dhclient or dhcpcd <wireless interface name>

I got wrapper installed now. BUt Suse just picks it up as hardware, when i checked network cards only one is shown, not the Wireless one

We need more technical info than just what the GUI tells you. Some points that haven't been considered so far -

What is the chipset of the wireless card? You do NOT necessarily need ndiswrapper or madwifi to connect the wireless card to your network. I am writing this response on a Thinkpad T42 using the wireless card, and have neither of those programs installed. After the card has been around for a while, the modules and drivers for it often get included into the kernel. The ipw2200 modules that power my wireless NIC have been included in the kernel since 2.6.14. In that way, having an older laptop helps you, as it increases the chances that the required componets already exist. Ndiswrapper is popular because it allows you to use windows drivers to power your card. Please give us the output of the command "lspci". Some distros require you to be root for that to work. We are looking for the info about your wireless card. For example, the last line of my lspci are Since you don't have Suse autodetecting your card, you may need to build the modules for your card, and put them into the kernel. I suggest you take a look at http://tuxmobil.org/mylaptops.html to see if your particular laptop has had a linux install with functional wireless done on it. They usually write up how to accomplish it.

Peace,
JimBass

If you can try to install your card's linux module and not use ndiswrapper.

For JimBass I suggested for him to use madwifi as a means to setup his wireless card which I thought was working.

Well in yast when i check the hardware it says i have the wirless, and when i go into network it dosent show the wireless

could you post the output of lspci -v. That way we can see what your system sees.

That lspci brought up nothing.

In Yast Control Center i click Hardware, hardware Information. Under network card there it has
BCM4401 100Base-T
[AirConn] INPROCOMM IPN 2220 Wireless LAN Adapter (rev 01)



In Yast Control Center, when i click Network Devices, Network Card it just shows

Acer Incorporated [ALI] BCM4401 100Base-T

Please do as jstephens84 asked. We need to see what your computer sees, and the Yast utilty doesn't tell us what we want to know. If lspci -v lists nothing as your regular user, than please run it as root.

Peace,
JimBass

As JimBass said you have to run lspci -v as root. That is why the nothing was shown.

Here it is


linux-cl2v:~ # lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/
O Controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Memory at <unassigned> (32-bit, prefetchable)
Capabilities: [40] Vendor Specific Information

00:00.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor
to I/O Controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0

00:00.3 System peripheral: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor
to I/O Controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Grap
hics Device (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 6
Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
I/O ports at 1800 [size=8]
Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 1

00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics De
vice (rev 02)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
Memory at e0080000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K]
Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 1

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) U
SB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 6
I/O ports at 1820 [size=32]

00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) U
SB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 6
I/O ports at 1840 [size=32]

00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) U
SB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 6
I/O ports at 1860 [size=32]

00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Co
ntroller (rev 03) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
Memory at e0100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2
Capabilities: [58] Debug port

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 83) (prog-if
00 [Normal decode])
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=64
I/O behind bridge: 00003000-00003fff
Memory behind bridge: e0200000-e05fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 30000000-32ffffff

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (re
v 03)
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 0
3) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 6
I/O ports at <unassigned>
I/O ports at <unassigned>
I/O ports at <unassigned>
I/O ports at <unassigned>
I/O ports at 1810 [size=16]
Memory at 33000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Cont
roller (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 10
I/O ports at 1880 [size=32]

00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH
4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
I/O ports at 1c00 [size=256]
I/O ports at 18c0 [size=64]
Memory at e0100c00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512]
Memory at e0100800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Mode
m Controller (rev 03) (prog-if 00 [Generic])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 10
I/O ports at 2400 [size=256]
I/O ports at 2000 [size=128]
Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2

02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401 100Base-T (rev 01)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 64, IRQ 6
Memory at e0204000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at 32000000 [disabled] [size=16K]
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2

02:04.0 Ethernet controller: Linksys, A Division of Cisco Systems [AirConn] INPR
OCOMM IPN 2220 Wireless LAN Adapter (rev 01)
Subsystem: AMBIT Microsystem Corp. Unknown device 0305
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 10
I/O ports at 3800 [size=32]
Memory at e020a000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32]
Memory at e0209000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2

02:06.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx21/x515 Cardbus Controller
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 10
Memory at e0208000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Bus: primary=02, secondary=03, subordinate=06, sec-latency=176
Memory window 0: 30000000-31fff000 (prefetchable)
Memory window 1: 34000000-35fff000
I/O window 0: 00003000-000030ff
I/O window 1: 00003400-000034ff
16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001

02:06.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Co ntroller (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 10
Memory at e0209800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Memory at e0200000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

02:06.3 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Integrated FlashMedia Controller
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0064
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 10
Memory at e0206000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

That is what we were looking for. All the postings I see on google.com/linux with INPROCOMM IPN 2220 Wireless LAN Adapter show it only works under linux with ndiswrapper, where the windows driver gets loaded into the linux kernel.

In order to accomplish this, you'll need to hunt down the Suse rpm for ndiswrapper. I would guess such a thing exists, although I don't know as I avoid rpm distros as if they were diseases. You may need to get full kernel sources, change the size of the kernel stacks, and other things. The benefit of candy distros like Suse in a case like this is yast or whatever package manager you use will probably accomplish all of this for you. You'll also need the windows drivers for the card. Install ndiswrapper, and follow the instructions that google points you at.

Peace,
JimBass

I am really struggling to make the ipw2200 work on my VAIO with Slackware. Can you tell me what you had to do to make it work, or any information that might be helpful regarding this wireless card? Thanks in advance.

Sure! The easiest thing would be to make sure you have a recent kernel. Seeing that you're a current slacker means you could be anywhere from 2.4.31 up to the newest of the 2.6 series. The ipw2200 became part of the standard kernel in 2.6.14, so as long as your kernel is more recent than that, you should be most of the way there.

The first time I connected, I had to modprobe both for the ipw2200 module, along with the much more generic ieee80211 module. The order was important though, you had to modprobe the ieee80211 first, then modprobe the ipw2200.

I've also had very good luck with the wireless tools package. It provides the iwconfig utility. You can find the page about wireless tools (and downloads) here

Once that is done, you can do something like dhclient eth1 (or whatever slackware calls your card. It could be the eth1, sit0, irda0 etc. You can also modify the file where your ethernet cards are identified, and add an entry for the wireless card, then restart networking.

If that doesn't do it, I would think the kernel might need to be recompiled making sure you have all the drivers for the chip included as modules or built directly into the kernel.

Peace,
JimBass

Thanks JimBass. I really appreciate your post. I will try that. I have the 2.6.17 kernel but I wasn't able to get it working so I started following the documentation which said to remove all ipw2200 and 80211 support from the kernel. I will start over and see what happens.

You can load both ieee80211 and ipw2200 as modules, that wouldn't be a problem. Also that way if there is some problem between those modules and the rest of the kernel, you can at least get it to boot without the modules inserted. I just hardwired them into the kernel for convenience. When I want wireless up, I want it up in the fewest commands possible, so I got rid of the modprobe step.

If this is a first(ish) kernel build for you, you'll probably run across problems. I had to build several before everything just worked.

Peace,
JimBass

I have built several kernels so that's not an issue. I just can't get this ipw working. The funny thing is that it's recognized at eth1 but I can't get any connectivity and I find the standard error messages with 'dmesg' saying it couldn't load the firmware...although, that's with the kernel that has built-in support. I'm really a bit confused with the whole things. When I see support for something in the kernel, I expect that I should be able to use that support. But then I read the web pages, etc. on this ipw2200 and I'm being told to disable all kernel support first. So right now I'm between two sets of instructions.
I will reconfigure my kernel and try your advice. I just haven't had time to do it yet.

Man, you jogged my memory! You do need to download firmware for the card to work, and you have to download them manually. You can get the firmware from http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php
You'll want the newest version, version 3.

I extracted the files in the archive to /lib/hotplug/firmware, although some some sites suggest /lib/firmware. That should clear up the firmware issues, and that should get you working.

I'm sorry about that man, it has been months since I did this, and I totally forgot about the whole firmware issue. My bad. Hopefully this catches you before you recompile another kernel!

Peace,
JimBass

I tried installing the driver for Acer IPN2220 Wireless LAN Card (XP inf and 2k inf) and no joy at all, ndiswrapper just says its an invalid driver. I cant find a Win98 driver to try.

It may be a problem with ndiswrapper, or it might be some issue with the driver file. I'd google for what driver in particular works best with that card, and try that. Do you have some way of testing to see if ndiswrapper installed and works correctly?

Peace,
JimBass

It responded like it should etc, so i presumed it was working.