slackware 10.2 giving me wifi hell

AnoobiS · 11-13-2005, 07:01 PM

Hi everybody,

I been a slackware user for a while now, but usually on old standard hardware. So usually, everything was mass easy to setup.
I just bought an Acer Travelmate 4402 which comes with a
Code:
06:05.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)

as per lspci.
I tried a bunch of things with NdisWrapper and it didn't work. I mean, it would say hardware present etc , but then it wouldn't let me even change the ESSID and dhcpcd wlan0 wouldn't get it up.
So i went out and bought a cheap D-Link Airplus XtremeG (DWL-g650) rev B5.
but for some reason it doesn't seem to get detected.
lspci doesn't show anything different after inserting the card, and cardctl ident doesn't show anything either.

Can anyone please tell me what else to try to get either of the cards working?
Maybe I'm missing some kernel module? any help at all will be greatly appreciated. Just throw ideas at me!!

Thanks a bunch!!!!!!!!

SeekAndDestroy · 11-13-2005, 08:20 PM

i have the same problem, i can get everything fine right to the point where you change the ESSID, then nothing works after that

AnoobiS · 11-13-2005, 08:56 PM

I'm using the drivers I got from Acer's ftp site for WinXP and for my laptop.
Some1 suggested I could use drivers for win9x , but i have no idea where to get those from , so can't really try.
And I'm also stuck with this PCMCIA card, which for some reason I can't even tell if it's being recognized...
How can I know if the PCMCIA card is recognized ?

AnoobiS · 11-13-2005, 10:10 PM

C'mon guys, somebody has to have had this problem (not being able to set the essid) and solved it ><

I'm going crazy, The only thing i can think off is the card not being powered... in which case . How can i turn it on?

HELP!!!!!!!!!

Hangdog42 · 11-14-2005, 07:14 AM

I've noticed occaisional problems setting the ssid from the console, but for some strange reason, it almost always works from a script running either at boot time or using sudo and the console.

As for the PCMCIA card not showing up in lspci, well, it shouldn't because it isn't a PCI card. Not showing up in cardctl is a bit more serious since that should show things connected via PCMCIA. Do you have hotplug operating? Also, are you using one of the stock Slackware kernels or have you rolled your own?

AnoobiS · 11-14-2005, 12:11 PM

It's a custom 2.6.14
If you have any clue as to what modules I might be missing, shoot. I'll check it out asap.

Other than that I'm up against a wall. Ndiswrapper goes almost all the way, just can't scan for APs or change essid ><
and the yeah, I agree, the PCMCIA situation is pretty strange, but It's my first pcmcia card ever, so I'm not familiar with the subsystem...

Thanks guys

PS: forgot to mention, i tried with the stock 2.4.31 kernel too but it still wouldn't work. Maybe I was trying the wrong stock one. Keep the suggestions coming

Hangdog42 · 11-14-2005, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Ndiswrapper goes almost all the way, just can't scan for APs or change essid

Well, the scanning bit at least is a symptom of the 2.6.14 kernel. Starting with 2.6.13, the kernel included a new version of wireless extensions. The problem is that the wireless tools software doesn't support it yet and the version that does is still in beta testing. The end result is that the Slackware package for wireless tools doesn't really work with 2.6.13 or later kernels. I think there are a couple people making Slackware packages with the beta wireless tools so you can either hunt one of those down, or download the wireless tools beta and modify the slackBuild script and roll your own. Of course you can always drop back to a 2.6.12 or earlier kernel as well (I'm running 2.6.12.6 on my laptop for exactly this reason). I haven't seen the ssid problem with the newer kernels, but given that iwconfig is part of wireless tools, I wouldn't be surprised. By the way, you are root when trying to set the ssid, right? Oh, and the only thing that ndiswrapper needs in the kernel is the wireless extensions, so as long as you have that enabled (and most, if not all, the stock Slackware kernels do) you should be good to go.

Another tack to take would be to try some different Windows drivers. Start with the one suggested by the ndiswrapper wiki. If that doesn't work, try one from the manufacturers web site. If that STILL doesn't work, try one off of the CD the card/computer came with. Sometimes getting ndiswrapper to work can be kind of hit or miss.

Finally, if you are using an ndiswrapper rc version, dont. They simply aren't worth the hassle. Try an earlier stable version first.

Quote:

I agree, the PCMCIA situation is pretty strange, but It's my first pcmcia card ever, so I'm not familiar with the subsystem.

I'm not very familiar with it either, but if you put a card in, at very least you should see something in the logs. If you don't, then I would suspect you may have missed something in the PCMCIA section of the kernel config. But that is just a guess. You also might want to check that /etc/rc.d/rc.hotplug is executable and have a look through the logs to see if hotplug is complaining about something.

Hangdog42 · 11-14-2005, 05:01 PM

I'm going to add a little addendum to this because after reading a security alert about kernels prior to 2.6.13, I figured I better mess around with the wireless tools beta.

What ended up working is I created a copy of the source wireless tools folder from the Slackware CD4. I replaced the existing wireless tools tarball with this beta tarball.

I then opened up the wireless Slackbuild script and made two changes. First, in the header of the file I changed the VERSION to 28.pre10.

The second change needed was to change this line:

Code:

cd wireless_tools.$VERSION

to this:

Code:

cd wireless_tools.28

I then ran the wirless_tools.SlackBuild script and used upgradepkg to install the new package. I'm now running a 2.6.14.2 kernel and the various wireless tools do seem to work properly (at least on my rig).

Alien Bob · 11-15-2005, 02:25 PM

Here's a Slackware 10.2 package for wireless-tools-28.pre10-i486-1.tgz for the people who do not want to build from source. You can also find a build script there if you do want to build from source.

Download and run

Code:

upgradepkg wireless-tools-28.pre10-i486-1.tgz

Eric

AnoobiS · 11-15-2005, 05:34 PM

ok, I'm kicking myself in the nuts while I write this, but take a look at the output of iwconfig -v

Code:

iwconfig Wireless-Tools version 27
              Compatible with Wireless Extension v11 to v17

Kernel    Currently compiled with Wireless Extension v19

That would make me the dumbass of the month.

Let's just hope it works when i update to the latest wireless tools.
Will keep ya posted

Hangdog42 · 11-15-2005, 05:43 PM

Actually, I don't think you need to kick yourself in any anatomically sensitive areas..... Lots of people are getting tripped up by this, particularly anyone who doesn't trust the bleeding (or at least beta) edge.

AnoobiS · 11-15-2005, 05:48 PM

well i just upgraded the latest wireless tools
still no game... still can't scan using ndiswrapper 1.5 and the drivers recommended by the Wiki List ><
I'm lost, again

AnoobiS · 11-15-2005, 07:39 PM

Ok guys, Here's the deal...
The card was off!!!!!!!!

To anyone with an acer laptop...
get this:
http://www.archernar.co.uk/acer_acp..._acpi_main.html
that way you can turn your card on.

Cheers and happy surfing

AnoobiS · 11-15-2005, 07:52 PM

mmm, ok. so i can now scan. but still can't change essid ><
wth is going on now?

I mean, if I can scan, i should be able to do the rest? right?

AnoobiS · 11-15-2005, 08:15 PM

Arite then,

This message is coming to you via the wireless connection.
So, now all i gotta do is do the wpa thing. but thanks everybody for the help and suggestions.
I've already also thanked the person who mentioned acer_acpi on the other thread

Cya arounD