wireless radio not turning on

invader44 · 11-24-2009, 12:49 PM

Hello,
I have slackware 13.0 installed on a dell latitude laptop. I am trying to get the wireless radio to turn on. But when I press the fn + f2 nothing happens( is anything suppose to happen) I tried to edit the rc.inet1.conf file to match my network settings, and then restarted it still nothing. Maybe someone could shed some light my way. I will keep reading through forums to see if I find answer. I also installed the wicd package from the slackware cd, it starts up but shows no networks. Guess the fact that my wireless radio isn't started, that is why I don't see any networks.
Thanks for shedding light

onebuck · 11-24-2009, 01:17 PM

Hi,

Which Dell Latitude? Machine specifications? Wireless specs?

Look at 'Configuring your network in Slackware' to aid in setup.

Which kernel? Post your '/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf'.

What's the output of;

Code:

~#ifconfig -a
~#route -n

BTW, if you are wanting to use 'wicd' you will need to revert the '/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf' to original state.

invader44 · 11-30-2009, 01:33 PM

Hi onebuck,
Thanks for the response, it is a dell latitude d600 laptop, not sure the specs on the wireless card. (I can get them though) I installed the wicd and didn't change any settings to the rc.inet1.conf. Loaded into the gui, wicd not showing any wireless networks. Maybe I am missing something, I did a iwconfig and see the wireless network card. I did skim through that article you mentioned. I will check the specs also with the commands you showed in your last post.
thanks
vader

2Gnu · 11-30-2009, 02:56 PM

Fn + F2 will toggle the wireless function on that laptop. There's no physical status indicator, though. If you jump into the BIOS at boot, you can see the status or run iwconfig to see if it's working.

In all likelihood, you have a Broadcom card. lspci -v to see for sure. There are plenty of threads already on how to set up a Broadcom card, so I won't repeat. NDISwrapper or b43 are your options.

onebuck · 11-30-2009, 05:15 PM

Hi,

The 'Dell Latitude D600_Arch_Wiki' page states that either Intel Pro Wireless 2200 or a Broadcom BCM43xx.

You will need to do a 'lspci -vv' to see which.

animeresistance · 12-02-2009, 05:20 PM

I understand that to use wicd the users need to be in the "netdev" group, in order to use the wicd.

onebuck · 12-02-2009, 05:32 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by animeresistance

I understand that to use wicd the users need to be in the "netdev" group, in order to use the wicd.

Most users should be included when created in the groups;

Code:

users floppy audio video cdrom plugdev power netdev

animeresistance · 12-03-2009, 03:21 AM

Hi. LoL, my mistake, i'm not good at expressing myself ...

I meant, as root, a person must add users to the netdev group to use wicd.

Sorry for not expressing myself correctly.

Greetings

roystonlodge · 02-26-2010, 11:56 AM

It took me a long time to figure out how to get the wireless working on my d600 (I use Debian and LXDE). Here's what I finally did:

1) Installed WICD from apt-get.
2) Installed bcm43xx-fwcutter from apt-get.
3) Installed ndisgtk from apt-get.
4) Installed gnome-device-manager to find out precisely which wireless was installed. It turned out to be the Dell Wireless 1450 mini PCI card.
5) Downloaded and extracted the 1450 driver from Dell's website.
6) Used ndisgtk to install the 1450 driver.
7) Pressed FN-F2 to turn on the wireless.

After that, WICD was able to find my network.

(The funny thing is, the step that was alluding me was the requirement to press FN-F2. I had all the software configured properly, but it didn't dawn on me that I still had to press the proverbial power button. I felt very stupid when I figured that bit out.)