wireless card module loaded

tw001_tw · 04-23-2009, 11:18 AM

Sorry for this. I'm running slack 12.2 - fresh install.
Here is some info:

Code:

:~# lspci | grep Wireless
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Atheros AR5001X+ Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

Code:

:~# lsmod | grep ath
ath5k                 101248  0
mac80211              158108  1 ath5k
led_class               7684  1 ath5k
cfg80211               27144  2 ath5k,mac80211
ath_rate_sample        17024  1
ath_pci               242232  0
wlan                  217328  4 wlan_scan_sta,ath_rate_sample,ath_pci
ath_hal               252512  3 ath_rate_sample,ath_pci

Code:

:~# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wifi0     no wireless extensions.

ath0      IEEE 802.11b  ESSID:""  Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed  Channel:0  Access Point: Not-Associated
          Bit Rate:0 kb/s   Tx-Power:0 dBm   Sensitivity=1/1
          Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=0/70  Signal level=0 dBm  Noise level=0 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

Code:

:~# ifconfig
lo        Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

I installed: madwifi-r3878_20081204_2.6.27.7_smp-i486-1alien.tgz
from: http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slac...wifi/pkg/12.2/
That is the only install that was not included in a full install from the DVD.

So... where do I go from here, and why is the card only set to 'b', and
not 'g'? Any additional info needed, ask. My intel wifi card in my other laptop setup SO much easier then this one.
Thanks.

tw001_tw · 04-23-2009, 09:07 PM

I'm sure there is a utility to do this but progress has been made. I added:

Code:

IFNAME[4]="wlan0"
IPADDR[4]=""
NETMASK[4]=""
USE_DHCP[4]="yes"
WLAN_MODE[4]=Managed
WLAN_RATE[4]="54M auto"
WLAN_CHANNEL[4]="auto"

to my /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf file.
then typed (as root) /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 restart

NOTE: I currently have a different wifi card installed as opposed to my first post. I now have a realtek chipset card, and it is detected as 'wlan0' with iwconfig. I guess if I still had the Atheros wifi card, I would have used 'ath0' instead of 'wlan0' on the 'IFNAME[4]="xxx" line above.

Then I installed wicd from /extra on the Slack DVD.

At the current time, using wicd, I can view all the available networks, and connect to the unsecure networks. In trying to connect to a secure network, I get a "this network requires encryption to be enabled" message.

The solution for enabling encryption will be my next post. I'm sharing my steps in hopes it might help someone else later one.

tommcd · 04-24-2009, 02:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tw001_tw

At the current time, using wicd, I can view all the available networks, and connect to the unsecure networks. In trying to connect to a secure network, I get a "this network requires encryption to be enabled" message.
The solution for enabling encryption will be my next post. I'm sharing my steps in hopes it might help someone else later one.

What type of encryption are you using?
For WEP encryption, see the section on WEP encryption here:
http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/...ware:network&s[]=wep&s[]=encryption
For WPA encryption, see the section on WPA here:
http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/...ware:madwifi&s[]=madwifi

wheelsg · 04-24-2009, 02:05 PM

Another thing to note is that both the madwifi and ath5k drivers are loaded. You might try blacklisting the ath5k module and just use madwifi. I use wpa_supplicant to connect to a secure network, without wicd. In my configuration, wicd has only been able to connect to unsecured nets so I have to stop it and use wpa_supplicant and dhcpcd by hand to associate and get an IP addy. I'm sure I've got something out of whack somewhere (like rc.inet1), but this is how I've been able to use my wifi card.

Regards,
Geoff.

BCarey · 04-24-2009, 04:52 PM

From wicd README.SLACKWARE

Quote:

Results have varied, but you will probably need/want to remove
any references to interfaces from /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf - in
other words, make that file look as if netconfig has never been
run.

Brian

wheelsg · 04-24-2009, 05:58 PM

Yeah, and I just noticed this from AlienBob's wiki

Quote:

If you want to use wicd, you will hav[sic] to remove any network interface configuration information from /etc/rc.drc.inet1.conf in order to prevent a struggle for power between wicd and Slackware's rc.inet1 script.

Man, just when I think I've looked everywhere...

Thanks (to Eric, too),
Geoff.