[SOLVED] Just installed a slackbuild package for my wireless card drivers. iwconfig says the NIC doesn't exist?

700 · 07-01-2019, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulo2

No need to decompress, the slackbuild will do it, just put the tarball
side by side with the SBo files.

Better way, install sbopkg, it downloads and installs automatically
with dependencies too.

Thanks

700 · 07-01-2019, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulo2

The OP has a Broadcom cable interface that uses b44 driver, but that driver is
blacklisted by the broadcom-sta wl driver.

In this case, is there a way to both b44 and wl coexist?
Since each one will control a different card.

I have a notebook with Broadcom 4312 and the b43 driver works ok.
From SBo install both b43-firmware and b43-fwcutter, then run
'modprobe -r b43 bcma ssb' and then run 'modprobe b43 bcma ssb'
to reload. This works here.

edit-

You have to run

Code:

removepkg <pkg name>

to uninstall a package from the system.
In this case, 'removepkg broadcom-sta'

Ok, I've installed the firmware and fwcutter packages now. But I can't do the first modprobe command; it says:

Code:

modprobe: FATAL: module ssb is in use.

I could do the second one you told me though, the one without the -r argument.
I tried iwconfig and its added a wlan0. So I think it's working? Though it says encryption key is set to off.

Alien Bob · 07-01-2019, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulo2

The OP has a Broadcom cable interface that uses b44 driver, but that driver is
blacklisted by the broadcom-sta wl driver.

I think that that is a bug in the broadcom-sta.SlackBuild. The 'b44' does not support wireless devices, it is meant for PCI ethernet.
The b43 and b44 modules both depend on the ssb driver. The 'ssb' driver is also blacklisted by the broadcom-sta package which is also incorrect.

Paulo2 · 07-01-2019, 01:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 700

Ok, I've installed the firmware and fwcutter packages now. But I can't do the first modprobe command; it says:

Code:

modprobe: FATAL: module ssb is in use.

I could do the second one you told me though, the one without the -r argument.

It works here, you could try only with ssb
modprobe -r ssb

Quote:

Originally Posted by 700

I tried iwconfig and its added a wlan0. So I think it's working? Though it says encryption key is set to off.

It's some time (years) I don't setup a wireless network at command line,
I just setup Networkmanager.

Run 'netconfig' and answer the questions, choosing NetworkManager.

Make /etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager executable

Code:

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

then run it

Code:

/etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager restart

At console you can run nmtui utilities to configure the network,
and with X I think it depends on which desktop are you running.

edit- I think nmtui utilities are only in -current.

Richard Cranium · 07-01-2019, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulo2

edit- I think nmtui utilities are only in -current.

Nope, they are in 14.2 as well.

700 · 07-01-2019, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paulo2

It works here, you could try only with ssb
modprobe -r ssb

It's some time (years) I don't setup a wireless network at command line,
I just setup Networkmanager.

Run 'netconfig' and answer the questions, choosing NetworkManager.

Make /etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager executable

Code:

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

then run it

Code:

/etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager restart

At console you can run nmtui utilities to configure the network,
and with X I think it depends on which desktop are you running.

edit- I think nmtui utilities are only in -current.

But why would running it with just ssb alone make it work when it says ssb is what's stopping it from running the command?

Anyway, I ran xfce and it's working now.
Thanks for your help!

Big thanks to everyone who helped me out in this thread! Appreciate it!

Edit: well that was a premature celebration, just tried connecting to one of the listed networks and now it just says:

Connection failure
Failed to add/activate connection
(7) The access point /org/freedesktop/Network manager/Access point/8 was not in the scan list.

Lol.

Richard Cranium · 07-01-2019, 05:10 PM

You might have to configure network manager to use dhclient instead of dhcpcd.

See /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/00-dhcp-client.conf

Paulo2 · 07-01-2019, 05:11 PM

I never saw that error.

My wireless connection is pretty stable, working for months,
but sometimes it just doesn't connect and stays trying to connect.

What I do (and works) is, at console, run nmtui and delete the saved
wireless connection, and recreate it. Maybe you could try this.

edit- or what Richard Cranium said.
I just saw my dhcp client and it is the Slackware recommended (dhcpcd),
not the NetworkManager recommended (dhclient).

700 · 07-01-2019, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Cranium

You might have to configure network manager to use dhclient instead of dhcpcd.

See /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d/00-dhcp-client.conf

Ok, any likely reason why it's not working with dhcpcd?

Richard Cranium · 07-01-2019, 06:50 PM

There's little rhyme or reason why one works and the other doesn't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

700 · 07-03-2019, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Cranium

There's little rhyme or reason why one works and the other doesn't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thanks, that fixed it!
Works perfectly now.

Thought out of curiosity, if I wanted to connect to the internet through the terminal without starting X, then how would I go about doing that?

bassmadrigal · 07-03-2019, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 700

Thought out of curiosity, if I wanted to connect to the internet through the terminal without starting X, then how would I go about doing that?

nmtui is the console version of Network Manager.

allend · 07-03-2019, 07:10 PM

I usually leave the wifi interface turned off until I want to use it. To activate from the terminal, I run:

Code:

nmcli radio wifi on

before using nmtui.

Richard Cranium · 07-03-2019, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 700

Thanks, that fixed it!
Works perfectly now.

Well, I'm happy to see that you didn't think any of my posts were helpful.

700 · 07-05-2019, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Cranium

Well, I'm happy to see that you didn't think any of my posts were helpful.

sorry about that. Still fairly new to the whole forum thing so I forgot to click it a few times.
Fixed now. Your posts were extremely helpful!