MEPIS Linux and BT Home Hub (2.0) connection - UK
Having tried miserably to get some info. on other boards (inc. BT) I now resort to trying here! Postings sort of dried up on one or two, as a lot of people were seemingly having a conversation with each other, using my posting as a notice board rather than an area to help me.
I need an idiot's guide as to how to connect my v8.5 MEPIS (+ Vista) dual-boot machine to my BT Home Hub (v2.0). The hub works perfectly in Vista but, as I am a *complete* Linux novice, I need my hand to be held and guided through what I need to do so that I can connect to the Internet. I have tried various things on MEPIS but am basically fumbling about in the dark not knowing what I am supposed to be doing. Any help would be much appreciated |
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How do you connect to your Home Hub; ethernet (wired), USB (wired) or wireless (if so, which standard)? Do you know the IP address of the router (and, if you don't, probably Vista does)? does the home hub hand out IP addresses to clients via DHCP (there is probably a menu option on the home hub to control whether it does this)? Your Mepis, is it set up to use KDE, and do you run some variety of 'networkmanager' (eg, knetworkmanager)? |
salasi,
Do you have access to a running copy of MEPIS 8.5? I am still running MEPIS 8.0, & I fear the the differences between versions & the US/UK differences may make my advice bad. Are you already familiar w/ the the BT Home Hub? I'd appreciate a link so that I can follow the discussion. gsd4me, Have you found the MEPIS Network Assistant? -- The solution may be right there (w/ our help). I would normally ask: Laptop or Desktop? If a Laptop, what make & model? If a Desktop, what is your mobo? Less important, in ether case, what is your WiFi chip; or card if you don't know what the chip is? |
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Having said all that, the network assistant probably is the place to start. |
Over to you, gsd4me.
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I have tried the MEPIS network assistant but there are options to be filled in that I am not sure about - specifically areas such as the options presented for "W1 Broadcome device", "b43 Broadcome device", "ndis wrapper win device" and so on.
I have clicked on KnetworkManager but the GUI then just disappears and doesn't seem to do anything at all - I get no prompts, no message box, nothing. Is this normal? In winows I used to conect to the Home Hub via wireless as that is the whole raison d'etre of the beast - it supplies wireless connectivity to the home. I haven't yet tried connecting via ethernet cable to the telephone socket mainly because disconnecting the home hub means that it takes a long time (up to several days) to settle back down to optimal dynamic configuration (according to BT that it) What is the different between KDE and non-KDE? I *think* you are taking about the interface (KDE v Gnome?) but I am so new to Linux that I wouldn't be ablt to tell the difference I'm afraid. As for dynamic/otherwise IP addresses - I'm afraid I don't know again. The whole set up was pretty much automatic and non-user interactive in Windows - it just connected itself and away it went. The user guides mentioned and referenced I have seen but not made any real effort to follow as my machine connected very easily using Windows so I was assuming that the Linux connectivity would be as simple. If Linux was 'user friendly' then I would have assumed that a doing such a routine and basic task would be automated to the point where a simpleton such as myself would have most of the decision making taken away from me and the onus placed on the connection wizard. Sorry to be so simple minded about all this but to be mind something that should be so simple to do is turning out more complex than I envisaged - or is this what happens with Linux installations - that 'suck it and see' is what happens? Once I have established the settings etc. on my laptop I have my desktop to do next! |
Hmmmm. Probably asking for trouble/headache because of
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Not sure if above instructions are for you. Not enough info. I am just a tattooed Linux Biker home user. Self taught AntiX user. You need to post from terminal (as root) Code:
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Happy Trails, Rok Edit: Not sure if inxi script is in Mepis 8.5. You can try it as non root in terminal. will look like this. Code:
inxi -F |
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The Knetworkmanager disappearing may be a bug, or it may be an (unwanted) interaction with the network assistant. Are you sure that it doesn't start an icon on the task bar? Do you have a system tray where odd little icons go? Quote:
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Still attempting to connect - was going to try the old ethernet cable from laptop to BT socket connection just to see what happens there, and see if I can at least get onto the internet via Linux that way, but I need an RJ45 to RJ11 connector for this (my BT plate has two sockets, one for the telephone, the other for the hub/broadband connection). Of course, neither of the PC shops in town had one in stock
Been thinking about all this, and looking at other postings and bits and pieces, is ther a clue in the fact that KNetworkManager simply seems to DO NOTHING when I select it? I would assume that there has to be some sort of interaction with the user but the GUI just goes when I select the program Am (sort of) running out of time here as She Who Must Be Obeyed needs the laptop for business for about 3 weeks from this week. (Memo to self - buy another one) |
salasi, jump in if I'm wrong ...
At least in the US, you would never connect RJ-45 to RJ-11. The specs salasi linked to show that a regular ethernet cable is supplied, & that the Hub has 2 or 4 RJ-45 ports to plug it into. Do you have a LUG nearby, or other way to meet a fellow Linux user face to face? I am working on some MEPIS 8.0 screen shots for you. OTOH, can you make & post a screen shot (KSnapshot) of the window only of your MEPIS Network Assistant? Remember, I don't use MEPIS 8.5 yet, & it is a bit different. -- Long term a huge improvement, short term different enough to learn slowly. |
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OK folks – a summary of today (drawing together ideas from the 3 different forums that I have been in contact with over this problem)
I connected my ethernet cable to my home hub – thanks to the people who pointed out that it should plug into the hub itself and not the phone plate (even though I thought that the 'other' (non-phone) RJ11 connection was the one required). Played about with the settings using MEPIS Network Asssistant and – lo! And behold! - internet access. So connection finally done, but via ethernet. However, just what I needed – another cable trailing about the house! So I played about with the Network assistant again – and still couldn't get the wireless connection to work. On the General tab of the Assistant, the ethernet connection went green when live but the wlan0 will not move beyond grey and its status says that it “ started but failed to connect” and no matter what I did (using Konsole, GUIs) it simply wouldn't play ball. Some points to ponder that I obtained that may get the grey matter of you experienced folks: According to Network Assistant (Troubleshooting tab), “List Linux Drivers” gives: RTL8187 25058 0 R8169 26775 0 mii 2658 1 r8169 “List Windows drivers” gives: airplus bcmwl5 bcmwl5a lstinds mrv8k51 net8185 netr33x prismnic wlannic wlanuig wlipnds Mean anything to anyone? “iwconfig” from Konsole gives: l0 – no wireless extensions eth0 – no wireless extensions wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg Mode:Managed Access point:Not associated Tx-power = 0 dBm Retry long limit : 7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr: off encryption key: off Power management: off “ifconfig” gives eth0 – link encap ethernet wlan0 – link encap ethernet Up Broadcast Multicast “ifup wlan0” gives ignoring unknown interface wlan0=wlan0 So to answer some questions and points raised on the forums – apologies but I am just going to cut and paste this onto each of them: JBOMAN on the MEPIS Community forum (http://forum.mepiscommunity.org/view...258228#p258228) pointed out that he couldn't get v8.5 to connect to his wifi, where v 8.0 had worked. I too am running v8.5, obtained on a disc from an outlet. IanC on the BT Forum (http://community.bt.com/t5/BB-in-Hom...tion/m-p/99093) asked what version of MEPIS – 8.5 as per above paragraph. Chatan (http://forum.mepiscommunity.org/view...258228#p258228) – the connection security is WPA2 Personal Also thanks to everyone else who posted things for me to try. SO – I can use my ethernet cable to connect to the internet but not my Home Hub, which was the main point of the question. HOWEVER – I thought (as I mentioned elsewhere in one of the posts) – perhaps I DID make the wrong choice – how does any other Linux flavour work? So I inserted the distribution disk that I have for Ubuntu and ran it from the CD. The wireless connection wizard was SO much simpler than MEPIS and after 30 seconds – the WI FI CONNECTION WAS ESTABLISHED – no messing about, straight in. Therefore – it seems that something about MEPIS or MEPIS v8.5 does not like my BT Home Hub (or vice versa?). Once again many thanks to all the contributors – I really am most appreciative of the time and effort that you all have made to try and help this Linux Virgin and for suggesting different approaches for me to try. I am going to leave this question as now 'solved' (after a fashion) as my wife needs the laptop for business but what I shall eventually do is remove MEPIS, use its CD as a coffee coaster, and install Ubuntu. Pity because I liked the way that MEPIS was set up but wifi access is what I need. |
As I've mentioned over on the Mepis forums, I think this might be a kernel module conflict issue as I'm getting a similar 'started but failed to connect' message - as per my post about issues with 2.6.36 kernels. Again, as per on the Mepis forum, could you post the output of(Or relevant parts of...)lsmod so that if there is a conflict someone can suggest how to unload and blacklist the offending module(s).
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RICH_C As per your request for the lsmod ouput
[root@mepis1 ~]# lsmod Module Size Used by uinput 4668 1 binfmt_misc 4847 1 rfcomm 24983 0 hidp 8436 2 l2cap 21673 10 rfcomm,hidp bluetooth 36035 5 rfcomm,hidp,l2cap ppdev 3974 0 lp 5490 0 parport 21766 2 ppdev,lp cpufreq_userspace 1416 0 cpufreq_stats 1928 0 cpufreq_powersave 578 0 cpufreq_conservative 3994 0 fuse 43423 1 dm_crypt 9027 0 arc4 950 2 ecb 1381 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek 163094 1 snd_hda_intel 15353 2 joydev 6724 0 snd_hda_codec 44409 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel rtl8187 25058 0 snd_hwdep 3930 1 snd_hda_codec snd_pcm_oss 27745 0 snd_mixer_oss 10241 1 snd_pcm_oss mac80211 122668 1 rtl8187 led_class 1717 1 rtl8187 snd_pcm 45612 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss snd_seq_midi 3288 0 snd_rawmidi 12033 1 snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event 3564 1 snd_seq_midi cfg80211 86249 2 rtl8187,mac80211 snd_seq 34783 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event snd_timer 12034 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq i2c_i801 6310 0 rfkill 9976 2 bluetooth,cfg80211 snd_seq_device 3625 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq pcspkr 1183 0 wmi 3523 0 psmouse 31971 0 eeprom_93cx6 931 1 rtl8187 evdev 5573 13 i2c_core 12449 1 i2c_i801 processor 26435 2 battery 3698 0 ac 1552 0 usblp 7579 0 serio_raw 2884 0 snd 32475 15 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_ra wmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device soundcore 3350 1 snd snd_page_alloc 4773 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm dm_mirror 9587 0 dm_region_hash 5363 1 dm_mirror dm_log 6273 2 dm_mirror,dm_region_hash dm_snapshot 17646 0 dm_mod 45302 4 dm_crypt,dm_mirror,dm_log,dm_snapshot raid10 16701 0 raid456 42140 0 async_raid6_recov 3946 1 raid456 async_pq 2563 2 raid456,async_raid6_recov raid6_pq 77787 2 async_raid6_recov,async_pq async_xor 1846 3 raid456,async_raid6_recov,async_pq xor 12493 1 async_xor async_memcpy 810 2 raid456,async_raid6_recov async_tx 1246 5 raid456,async_raid6_recov,async_pq,async_xor,async_memcpy raid1 16019 0 usbhid 26344 0 raid0 5609 0 hid 50289 2 hidp,usbhid multipath 5077 0 linear 3195 0 md_mod 66541 6 raid10,raid456,raid1,raid0,multipath,linear video 14589 0 output 1116 1 video r8169 26775 0 mii 2658 1 r8169 uhci_hcd 15885 0 intel_agp 20141 1 button 3506 0 thermal 9118 0 fan 2566 0 thermal_sys 9326 4 processor,video,thermal,fan |
Well, nothing stands out there I'm afraid. At least, not to me...
I don't know if it'll help any, but try doing more /var/log/messages | grep -i wlan0. This results in the following on my system: Code:
Jan 11 20:56:07 bumblebee kernel: [ 19.459500] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready |
rich_c,
MEPIS 8.0 or MEPIS 8.5? |
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