[SOLVED] laptop wont connect wirelessly

lil hobo · 08-07-2010, 10:33 AM

Hi there Last night I decided to take the plunge and put ubuntu on my laptop but now I can no longer connect wirelessly. can anyone offer any help or advice? I have always relied on windows so have very little knowledge of linux. It may help to know that i "accidently" installed on the whole disk.Thanks in advance

GrapefruiTgirl · 08-07-2010, 10:36 AM

Hi there!

Depends what wireless device you have. Is it USB or built-in PCI device? Let's first find out what driver it needs, and whether you have it or not:

For USB device, please show us output from the following:

Code:

lsusb

For a PCI (built-in) device, show us the chunk of text that describes the wireless card, which will be within the output of the command here:

Code:

lspci -vnn

Sasha

lil hobo · 08-07-2010, 10:47 AM

thanks celine however im not sure how to access the commands its a built in adapter atheros I believe

lil hobo · 08-07-2010, 10:50 AM

sorry grapefruit girl doh!! im so new to this

GrapefruiTgirl · 08-07-2010, 10:52 AM

No worries

I believe atheros devices have in-kernel drivers, at least some of them do.

To run these commands, use the terminal or console. In Ubuntu, I believe you'll find "terminal" or "console" or maybe "Gnome Terminal" somewhere in your start-menu type of menu. And, while you;re running those commands, may as well run this one too:

Code:

lsmod

and post the whole output.

Note - when posting large chunks of formatted data such as these outputs, or pieces of code, please use code tags, to retain the formatting and make the stuff easier to read. Here's how code tags work: http://www.phpbb.com/community/faq.php?mode=bbcode#f2r1

Also - if any of the above commands give you errors about "permissions" or "denied" or such things, prepend each command with sudo to temporarily elevate your user privileges to root level.

lil hobo · 08-07-2010, 10:58 AM

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a00] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
Kernel modules: intel-agp

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a02] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at 34000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1M]
Memory at 20000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
I/O ports at 5110 [size=8]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: intelfb

00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a03] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: fast devsel
Memory at 38400000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=1M]
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2834] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
I/O ports at 50c0 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2835] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 21
I/O ports at 50a0 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:283a] (rev 03) (prog-if 20)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
Memory at 38304c00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
Kernel modules: ehci-hcd

00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:284b] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
Memory at 38300000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:283f] (rev 03)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=02, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00004000-00004fff
Memory behind bridge: 37300000-382fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 0000000030000000-0000000030ffffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:2841] (rev 03)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=04, subordinate=04, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00003000-00003fff
Memory behind bridge: 36300000-372fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 0000000031000000-0000000031ffffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [8086:2843] (rev 03)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=05, subordinate=05, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00002000-00002fff
Memory behind bridge: 35200000-362fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 0000000032000000-0000000032ffffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 [8086:2845] (rev 03)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=06, subordinate=06, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00001000-00001fff
Memory behind bridge: 34100000-351fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 0000000033000000-0000000033ffffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2830] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
I/O ports at 5080 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2831] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
I/O ports at 5060 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2832] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
I/O ports at 5040 [size=32]
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
Kernel modules: uhci-hcd

00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:2836] (rev 03) (prog-if 20)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
Memory at 38304800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
Kernel modules: ehci-hcd

00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev f3) (prog-if 01)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=07, subordinate=07, sec-latency=32
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller [8086:2815] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt

00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller [8086:2850] (rev 03) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
I/O ports at 01f0 [size=8]
I/O ports at 03f4 [size=1]
I/O ports at 0170 [size=8]
I/O ports at 0374 [size=1]
I/O ports at 50e0 [size=16]
Kernel driver in use: ata_piix
Kernel modules: ata_piix

00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller [8086:2829] (rev 03) (prog-if 01)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 219
I/O ports at 50f8 [size=8]
I/O ports at 511c [size=4]
I/O ports at 50f0 [size=8]
I/O ports at 5118 [size=4]
I/O ports at 5020 [size=32]
Memory at 38304000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ahci
Kernel modules: ahci

00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:283e] (rev 03)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 11
Memory at 38305000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
I/O ports at 5000 [size=32]
Kernel modules: i2c-i801

05:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5906M Fast Ethernet PCI Express [14e4:1713] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0136]
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 218
Memory at 35200000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
Expansion ROM at <ignored> [disabled]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: tg3
Kernel modules: tg3

06:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter [168c:001c] (rev 01)
Subsystem: AMBIT Microsystem Corp. Device [1468:0428]
Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 19
Memory at 34100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=64K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: ath_pci

r3sistance · 08-07-2010, 10:58 AM

I have had to deal with an atheros wireless card before. I had to find some beta drives for it that worked. I would do the lspci command as the most likely one, it should put out the model of your card so we can tell what card we are dealing with.

Only the last one was needed... the rest are information overflow... So you have a Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter.

EDIT: While I generally do not link to other forums... I believe the answer may lay on the Ubuntu Forums

lil hobo · 08-07-2010, 10:58 AM

just found it before i read about the tags sorry

lil hobo · 08-07-2010, 11:03 AM

sorry r3sistance wasnt sure what was needed as I said this is first time ever walking into linuxworld lol but yes thats the one

r3sistance · 08-07-2010, 11:04 AM

The link I put in my previous post as an Edit should lead to the information you need. If not feel free to ask for further assistance here.

lil hobo · 08-07-2010, 11:06 AM

thanks ill go try that!!once again thank you both for the help ill let you know how i get on

lil hobo · 08-07-2010, 11:13 AM

ok had a look at the link that was sent but it doesnt make much sence to me can anyone simplify it I really am very new to all this

r3sistance · 08-07-2010, 12:01 PM

Are you able to connect to the Internet in another other method? (IE through an Ethernet port). If so there is another guide here... http://ubuntumanual.org/posts/185/in...iver-in-ubuntu if you are unable to get to the Tnternet at all, might need to look at alternatives around.

lil hobo · 08-07-2010, 01:37 PM

yeh can connect via ethernet its just i want to be able to move the laptop about.think i have downloaded the driver but i cant get it to install. with windows you just hit run button but obviously i need to learn how to do it from here

schneidz · 08-07-2010, 01:38 PM

these commands are to help us to know what your system thinks is installed (not necessarily to get you connected).

Code:

lspci # will tell us the pci devices you have in your system.
lsusb # will tell us the usb devices you have in your system.
ifconfig # will tell us what network interface cards you have turned on in your system.
ifconfig -a # will tell us all the network interface cards you have in your system.
iwconfig # will tell us which of your network interface cards has wireless capability

now that we know that, this should get you connected:

Code:

sudo iwlist device scan # this will use the device interface (that from the above command, we found out has wireless capability) and scan for wireless routers that are accessible.
sudo iwconfig device essid "myssid" # assuming no security, use that device to connect to your router.
sudo dhclient # will attempt to get ip-address, subnet mask, dns server information automatically from your router assuming dhcp is turned on on your router.

also, please post the contents of cat /etc/network/interfaces
and /etc/resolv.conf should contain your dns server.
depending on if ifconfig returns the name of your device, you mite need to turn it on by doing something like: sudo ifconfig device up
you can also run lsmod to see if the wireless driver module is plugged-in.