Just installed Slack 13, a couple of wireless questions.

Twister512 · 03-27-2010, 11:25 PM

Just got my rig running Slack again after a long break. Version 13. I have a wireless card to connect to the internet. Every time I start the computer, I have to manually set the SSID using:

Code:

iwconfig wlan0 essid Lollerskates-house

and then doing

Code:

dhcpcd wlan0

to make it functional.

Not to terrible of a task for me to do, but the other users seem to not like it so much.

Is there a section I can just edit to set this in stone so it doesn't have to be done manually all the time?

Another issue I am having is with wicd. It keeps giving me this strange dbus error saying to make sure my user is in the netdev group. How is this accomplished?

I have read that some people have had this same issue and a reboot fixed the problem, not the case here.

I am also not using ETH0 at all, so is there a way I can get the annoying "Polling for DHCP server on interface eth0" to go away upon startup and shutdown?

Thanks a bunch guys for any help or direction.

--Paul--

sycamorex · 03-27-2010, 11:32 PM

You can add your user to netdev by:

Code:

usermod -a -G netdev your_user_name

which will let you use wicd. In wicd there's an option to connect to a given network automatically on boot, which will solve your first problem.

Mind you, it is also useful to add your user to the following groups:
audio cdrom floppy plugdev video power

GrapefruiTgirl · 03-27-2010, 11:38 PM

Quote:

I am also not using ETH0 at all, so is there a way I can get the annoying "Polling for DHCP server on interface eth0" to go away upon startup and shutdown?

As for the above, putting an entry into the /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf file, something like so:

Code:

IFNAME[0]="eth0"
USE_DHCP[0]="no"

..and that should solve the DHCP issue for eth0.
NOTE: The [0] should be optional if this is the only interface defined in this file.
Probably also wouldn't hurt to add your wireless interface in this file as well (I'm not sure how wicd and rc.inet1.conf play together, if at all, since I am not currently using any wireless myself.)

Twister512 · 03-27-2010, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sycamorex

You can add your user to netdev by:

Code:

usermod -a -G netdev your_user_name

which will let you use wicd. In wicd there's an option to connect to a given network automatically on boot, which will solve your first problem.

Mind you, it is also useful to add your user to the following groups:
audio cdrom floppy plugdev video power

I tried

Code:

usermod -a -G netdev user_name

and got this:

Quote:

usermod: invalid option -- 'a'

if I leave the -a out and just use -G and add users to the netdev group, it adds, but I still get the same d-bus errors.

sycamorex · 03-27-2010, 11:56 PM

Try adding them to the groups I mentioned above.

Twister512 · 03-28-2010, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sycamorex

Try adding them to the groups I mentioned above.

I added the users to the groups listed above, along with the netdev group but without using the -a option and only the -G option.

When I tried -a it said it was an invalid option.

sycamorex · 03-28-2010, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twister512

I added the users to the groups listed above, along with the netdev group but without using the -a option and only the -G option.

When I tried -a it said it was an invalid option.

That's weird, it works on my slackware. That's the excerpt from the manual:

Code:

 -a, --append
           Add the user to the supplementary group(s). Use only with the -G
           option.

Anyway, has it got rid of the error message?

Twister512 · 03-28-2010, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sycamorex

That's weird, it works on my slackware. That's the excerpt from the manual:

Code:

 -a, --append
           Add the user to the supplementary group(s). Use only with the -G
           option.

Anyway, has it got rid of the error message?

Just for giggles I tried just the -g option, and bada bing, it worked! No more d-bus errors and my wireless starts upon starting X now

Thanks for the help sycamorex and GrapefruiTGirl!

--Paul--

Rodrin · 03-28-2010, 01:00 AM

To answer your first question, yes, anything you want to run each time you boot your computer you can add to the rc.local script. However, as sycamorex said, in this case if you get wicd running correctly (by putting yourself in the netdev group), you would probably be better off using it to connect to your wireless. The version of wicd that Slackware packages in extras is a bit buggy, at least when it comes to encrypted networks, so if you want to use encryption, you may want to acquire a newer version.

You should realize that if you use the -G option without the -a option in usermod, then it will remove you from all other groups. Without the -a option, you have to list every group you want to be a member of.

Richard Cranium · 03-28-2010, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sycamorex

You can add your user to netdev by:

Code:

usermod -a -G netdev your_user_name

Or

Code:

gpasswd -a your_user_name netdev

GazL · 03-28-2010, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sycamorex

That's weird, it works on my slackware. That's the excerpt from the manual:

Code:

 -a, --append
           Add the user to the supplementary group(s). Use only with the -G
           option.

I think '-a' is a new addition. I can remember replying to a similar post recently that the slackware usermod didn't have a '-a' option.
Are you perhaps using current?

sycamorex · 03-28-2010, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GazL

I think '-a' is a new addition. I can remember replying to a similar post recently that the slackware usermod didn't have a '-a' option.
Are you perhaps using current?

Indeed, I am. That might explain it