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I forgot to mention that I tried again to install ndiswrapper from source and also a version available on the apt repositories. Both attempts failed.
So, I decided to use the bcm43xx driver and I just cut the firmware following the instructions on your page, Hangdog42. It seems to be able to scan for networks (all of them encrypted, though, including mine). At this time I cannot disable wpa on my router for fear of messing up the stuff other people are doing in my household.
I've just installed wpa_supplicant through apt-get. On your web page you say:
Quote:
wpa_supplicant isn't the easiest program to compile, largely because you need to write your own .config file.
I didn't have to write any .config file because apt did it all. I don't know if that is a problem in the first place, because whatever defaults might not be what I need.
I see there are several examples of wpa_supplicant.conf. I can write mine. Is it supposed to be placed under /etc/wpa_supplicant/ ? Seems like the logical location.
As usual, I'm ready to take my chances here. I'll keep posting.
I didn't have to write any .config file because apt did it all. I don't know if that is a problem in the first place, because whatever defaults might not be what I need.
The part you really need from wpa_supplicant is the wext driver, and I would be highly surprised if that wasn't in a binary package. I believe it is used by a number of drivers, not just bcm43xx, so I'm betting its there. If not, the .config example I give on my website does compile wext, so you could just use that and compile yourself.
Quote:
I see there are several examples of wpa_supplicant.conf. I can write mine. Is it supposed to be placed under /etc/wpa_supplicant/ ? Seems like the logical location.
You can have your conf file anywhere, namely because you have to supply the path when you start it. If you look at the bottom of the wpa_supplicant page on my site, you'll see that the -c flag is used to specify the config file. If you just use -c/etc/wpa_supplicant/config_filename, it should work.
In your commands, you never use -B (which starts daemon mode and might be necessary) and you have a colon ( at the end of your command. If that isn't a typo, then that could be causing trouble. Also, how are you trying to get an IP address once you've run wpa_supplicant? I don't know if this makes any difference, but in my wpa_supplicant.conf I don't have the ctrl_interface line.
sit0: unknown hardware address type 776
sit0: unknown hardware address type 776
Listening on LPF/eth1/00:14:a5:10:08:87
Sending on LPF/eth1/00:14:a5:10:08:87
Sending on Socket/fallback/fallback-net
DHCPREQUEST on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
DHCPREQUEST on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 4
DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 5
DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13
DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 19
DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 19
DHCPDISCOVER on eth1 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1
No DHCPOFFERS received.
Trying recorded lease 192.168.0.103
PING 192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1): 56 data bytes
--- 192.168.0.1 ping statistics ---
1 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss
No working leases in persistent database.
OK, I'm not sure what the ping problem is about, but it looks as if dhclient isn't receiving a response. Just to check, is your router set up as a DHCP server? You could also set up a static IP address, just to see if the driver is working. You need to do three things:
1) Assign an IP address to the card:
ifconfig eth1 192.168.0.x (just use a free IP address)
2) Set your router as the gateway:
route add default gw 192.168.0.3
3) Edit your /etc/resolv.conf to contain your ISP's DNS servers. For each DNS, add a line like this:
nameserver xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx Where xxx is the IP address of the server. You can usually find out what the IP addresses are from your router's configuration pages.
It looks as if you are close. The card appears to be configured correctly and associating with the access point. The IP address appears to be the last problem (I hope!).
I followed the 3 steps you suggested. It didn't work. Then I decided to configure /etc/network/interfaces, to get my static IP. It didn't work, either.
It is ironic, but I'm about to spend the next few weeks in a place with a public, unencrypted AP; no LANs for me there. On my return, I will go about this problem again, and I'll post.
Thanks to all the folks who have been helping here, especially to Hangdog42. This is a great community.
From the output of iwconfig, you're good to go. What does ifconfig and route -n look like? Can you access any sites? One test that might help narrow things down a bit is try connecting to http://www.linuxquestions.org. If that works, then you're set. However if it doesn't, try connecting to http://64.179.4.146. If that gets you to LQ then we have a DNS problem.
Here is the reason why it didn't work on my last post:
After setting up my static IP as shown above, I proceeded to
remove the driver, load it again and then call wpa_supplicant, as described on my last post. I did this to make sure I didn't miss the short time window mentioned above on this thread before the driver turns off the radio.
For some reason, by doing (2) I lost the IP and route settings I had defined before. What I just did is invert the order(i.e. (2) first and then (1)). That way, the IP settings remain in function.
Now all I have to do is to work on my .bashrc to make sure I am connected at boot time.
Special thanks to Hangdog42, whose kindness, talents and excellent web site saved the day once more.
By removing the driver, you are essentially removing the device and all information associated with it. So when you load it again, you have a brand-new situation.
Hi folks. About 1.5 year have elapsed on this thread.
I just wanted to point out that for newer installations on my laptop, the use of wicd has made my life much easier. All you have to do is installing the firmware and using the native driver that comes with the current kernels.
Believe me. It's a cinch. Linux is definitely getting better.
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I'm getting close
ff Fragment thr
at the end of your command. If that isn't a typo, then that could be causing trouble. Also, how are you trying to get an IP address once you've run wpa_supplicant? I don't know if this makes any difference, but in my wpa_supplicant.conf I don't have the ctrl_interface line.
