[SOLVED] wicd can't connect to wireless

r_s · 06-06-2012, 12:41 PM

I have ethernet network working on my system, but the wireless wouldn't work. So I installed wicd, but now it seems that even wicd can't connect to the wireless network. It hangs on saying "validating authentication" and after around 30 seconds quits saying "No connection".
The output of lspci -v is

Code:

04:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless WiFi Link 5100
Kernel driver in use: iwlagn
Kernel modules: iwlagn

08:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5784M Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 10)
Kernel driver in use: tg3
Kernel modules: tg3

I'm using a WEP passphrase which is definitely correct.

nixblog · 06-06-2012, 02:55 PM

It could be as simple as (but might not be) the access point not negotiating DHCP correctly with your device - this has happened to me. Try setting your IP address, subnet mask, gateway and DNS servers manually in wicd then try connecting.

Also, what distro are you using and why are you using WEP (is quite insecure)?

r_s · 06-06-2012, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nixblog

It could be as simple as (but might not be) the access point not negotiating DHCP correctly with your device - this has happened to me. Try setting your IP address, subnet mask, gateway and DNS servers manually in wicd then try connecting.

Tried, but still fails.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nixblog

so, what distro are you using and why are you using WEP (is quite insecure)?

I'm using slackware. Yeah, I know WEP is too insecure but facing the same problem with WPA.

frankbell · 06-06-2012, 09:06 PM

It's farfetched, but I sometimes have this problem and found that rebooting my wireless router fixes it. I think the router needs replaced, but I've been too lazy to get around to it.

When the problem occurs, wireless devices that are already connected remain connected, but new connection attempts throw an authentication error.

nixblog · 06-06-2012, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

When the problem occurs, wireless devices that are already connected remain connected, but new connection attempts throw an authentication error.

Yeah, just replaced a friends Dlink router as it was doing something similar. Some disconnected, some stayed connected and new connections never completed.

ceh383 · 06-06-2012, 10:53 PM

Are you sure the encryption level is set the same between the router and the computer? The symptoms are similar to what you are seeing.
I've had problems with this before(in windows) Usually 40 & 64 bit are compatible with each other, but neither of those are compatible with 128 bit.
I haven't used WEP in a long, long time... Not sure how to change the encryption level in WICD, but it should be easy to change in your routers configuration....

craigevil · 06-07-2012, 12:04 AM

Try using wpa_passphrase
for the proper usage, man wpa_passphrase

brianL · 06-07-2012, 05:19 AM

Don't know if this is relevant or helpful, but I had problems getting or maintaining a wireless connection with wicd on my laptop and netbook - so I installed Network Manager. No problems since.

r_s · 06-07-2012, 01:59 PM

I installed Network manager and it's dependencies. But when I run nm-applet it says

Code:

bash: /usr/bin/nm-applet: cannot execute binary file

the user is already in the netdev group..

brianL · 06-07-2012, 02:13 PM

When I installed it, I ran:

Code:

chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager

then:

Code:

/etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager start

And edited the wicd entry in /etc/rc.d/rc.M to read:

Code:

# Start Network Manager:
if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager ]; then
  sh /etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager start

To start it at boot-up.

r_s · 06-07-2012, 02:45 PM

I've already changed the permissions and also edited the /etc/rc.d/rc.M file, but I can't seem to run nm-applet. I was trying to figure out a way to connect using nmcli. But it seems that nmcli only connects to pre-connected connections.

Code:

nmcli -p dev wifi

shows me my the connection. But whenever I try

Code:

nmcli con up id 'connection id here'

it throws me the following error

Code:

Error: Unknown connection: connection id here.

I can't seem to figure out what the id is. Is it the SSID or just the name of the connection?

brianL · 06-07-2012, 03:06 PM

I don't know. Try your SSID. I only had to do like craigevil mentioned regarding wpa_passphrase, edit /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf, then what I said in my previous post, and everything worked OK. nm-applet showed up in my system tray on the next boot-up.

r_s · 06-07-2012, 03:28 PM

Worked. re-installed network-manager-applet 0.8.2 and it worked.

btw. nmcli can't be used to connect to networks you haven't connected before. I was able to use it to connect to my ethernet network but not my wireless.

brianL · 06-07-2012, 03:35 PM

Glad you've got it sorted out.