I run Slackware v9.1 (kernel 2.4.20) on a Dell Inspiron 3000 laptop. I just recently purchased a Linksys WPC11 (v4) and found out that it has the REALTEK chipset as opposed to the old PRISM chipset it once had.

I found a REALTEK driver to get the card working (RTL8180), installed the driver, and the card is recognized when I do 'IFCONFIG' or 'IWCONFIG'. The card is named, "wlan0". The power light comes on so I know it's functioning correctly. I get no errors when setting the IP address for it, subnet, etc... through 'ifconfig'..... However....

My problem is when I try to use 'iwconfig' to setup the parameters for it they won't change. I don't get any errors once I execute the commands, however the settings stay the same. I can't change the ESSID, CHANNEL, or any other parameter. Everytime I do, 'iwconfig wlan0' it's still the default settings.

# iwconfig wlan0 essid WAP01 <<- Doesn't work/change

# iwconfig wlan0 channel 01 <<- Doesn't work/change


Anyone ever have this problem? If so, what am I doing wrong and/or how can I resolve it??

Much appreciated for the help in advance...


>> CyberJedi

Make sure the card is set to managed, or infrastructure, mode. It should pick up the correct channel on its own.
# iwconfig wlan0 mode Managed

Post the complete output of iwconfig wlan0 to see if there are any hints there.

Setting the card to MANAGED mode still doesn't do it. Here's my output after executing, "iwconfig wlan0 mode Managed" ....

root# iwconfig wlan0 mode Managed
root# iwconfig wlan0 essid WAP01
root# iwconfig wlan0

wlan0 IEEE 802.11-DS ESSID:"aptest2"
NWIDff/any Channel:0 Access Point: FF:BF:07:00:01:00
Bit Rate: 1Mb/s Tx-Power:2346 dBm Sensitivity=0/0
Retry: On RTS thr: 2346 B Fragment thr:2346 B
Encryption keyff
Power Managementn

First off, that isn't my ESSID (even after I tried setting it). Secondly, that's not my MAC ID# for my AP (even after I tried setting that too). Even trying to set the correct channel was unsuccessful. It didn't pick it up on its own.

I do have encryption on the ap "ON", but notice that with the card it's OFF. Do you think I should shutoff encryption on the ap?? Maybe it's not identifying with the ap because the ap is ON and the card is OFF???

This is my first time at trying to configure a wirelesscard under Linux. So I'm learning as I'm going along here. : )

You're picking up someone else's AP. Why it's not taking the commands, I don't understand.

Try disabling WEP on the AP and see if you can associate properly. Then, enable it with the same key at both ends.

I tried everything at this point. I disabled WEP on the AP. I even enabled SSID Broadcasting and the card still couldn't pick up my AP. Not even the MAC ID#.

I even went back and tried the previous suggestions and those didn't work as well.

At this point, I think I'm going to return my Linksys card and get a PRISM2 based card. I'll most likely get a Netgear MA401 (Prism-based). I'm a Netgear lover/user to begin with and I've never had any problems with them before. This isn't the only time I've had problems with Linksys (unrelated to *nix). I've heard nothing but rave reviews about the Netgear MA401 working under Slackware v9.1 so I'll give that a try.

I really appreciate the help. :-)

Good'ay!

I had the same problem in configuring WLAN.
Solution: you can't edit ESSID if your key encription isn't set correctly.
Try to change the key mode to "open", then again to restricted:

iwconfig wlan0 key open
iwconfig wlan0 essid MYESSID
iwconfig wlan0 key restricted


That worked!
Now I have to discover how to do this automatically at boot... guess I'll have to insert a script in init.rd,
'cause putting the above lines in /etc/network/interfaces doesn't seem to work.

Bye
the Captain