Can't establish connection

[jotabe]

Hi all...

2 days ago i installed VL 7.0 Standard Gold, since then i managed to make all of my hardware to work, included my wireless card, an old Encore ENLIW-G 802.11 B/G (this card its so old that does not support WPA2, just WPA1)

i managed to install it with ndiswrapper, in fact i had to download the last driver, since with the driver that i had with the installation CD it failed to work.

now the 2 subjects:

1) I can't get the mod to boot as a module of the Kernel at the machine startup.
  Every time i reboot my PC i have to "#modprobe ndiswrapper" in order to load the driver. i have done the "ndiswrapper -m" and in /etc/modules.conf there is a line "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper".
  I tried out to fill /etc/modprobe.d/network.cfg with a line "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper" but nothing happened
how can i make the mod to boot at the PC startup? and if it's possible to add the command "#ifconfig wlan0 up" in order to have it loaded for ifconfig at the very beginning

2)  I can't connect with my family network.

(MY FAMILY NETWORK ITS POWERED BY A DIR-600, Hardware Version : Bx Firmware Version : 2.02 (some friends have updated theirs and they had no good results, so i keep the factory one) it has a WEP (yea i know about the poor security WEP means, but my PC's wireless card can't take any WPA2 config, i tried  ) 128Bit type: "open" (the other option is Shared) and there is an option to put 13 ASCII characters or 26 HEX, in wich i have a 13 ASCII key

With iwscan i can see every network avaiable, including my house's one, and with iwconfig i can configure the ESSID, channel and network type. But when i get to the WEP key, i put it with "#iwconfig wlan0 key s:xxxxxxxxxxxxx" , but afterthat all of the other entrys i have made gets erased. i read iwconfig man, and in the key page it says that "phrasse type pass are not allowed". The key ends up like if it where "closed" type and i dunno how to change it (maybe that's the problem0)

trying it at the XFCE i use wicd wich is quite more easy than iwconfig. i manage to detect the Network, and i even put the key, wich seems to work, but it fails to give me an IP address. I set all the IP option as auto

I also tried VASM but its kinda hard and my home network appears as 2 different networks (the ESSID consist in 2 separated words)

I have played along with many wicd configs (i have changed almost every possible config in the program, one by one to be honest) but no results (in some cases it will not connect, and in the best ones it connects but does not get to recieve an IP address)

whats the problem? what should i change? i really have no clue about this...

thanks for any advice you guys can give me

greetz

[MarkGrieveson]

and if it's possible to add the command "#ifconfig wlan0 up" in order to have it loaded for ifconfig at the very beginning

If you're running xfce, then Menu/Settings/Session and Startup/Application Autostart/Add would be a way to add commands to your start up.

[jotabe]

and if it's possible to add the command "#ifconfig wlan0 up" in order to have it loaded for ifconfig at the very beginning

If you're running xfce, then Menu/Settings/Session and Startup/Application Autostart/Add would be a way to add commands to your start up.

thanks, that solved the first issue, i entered 2 separated commands... the "sudo modprobe ndiswrapper" and the "sudo ifconfig wlan0 up" they both worked just fine. but the wicd does not detect the networks up until i open it and order a new scan. thats not an issue at all but i just wanted to point it for future generations to come 

any advice on the second (and most important) issue?

[retired1af]

Are there enough IP addresses to go around on the home network? I tend to limit the amount of in-house IPs that the router will give out. If there are 5 machines that regularly connect, I'll usually allow 7-8 IP addresses total.

[rbistolfi]

Hola Jotabe,

Check the wicd preferences, be sure the wireless interface setting reads "wlan0" instead "eth1", which is a common issue with wicd.
About the commands, the proper location would be /etc/rc.d/rc.local imho, since this is a system resource and not a user level setting. The rc.local script is ran as root and you dont need to use sudo in it.
In any case, if this is a problem with the inteface setting, you sholdnt need to initialize the card by hand.

HTH, Rodrigo

[jotabe]

Are there enough IP addresses to go around on the home network? I tend to limit the amount of in-house IPs that the router will give out. If there are 5 machines that regularly connect, I'll usually allow 7-8 IP addresses total.

hi retired1af, thanks for helping!
already checked! the router its configured to give numbers from .0.2 to .0.200 (yes, thats too much i know) but the main issue is that there are 1 wired connected PC, 1 notebook, 1 netbook, 2 smartphones and my wireless PC.
This PC connects with no problem on WIN XP. I do not use MAC check

Hola Jotabe,

Check the wicd preferences, be sure the wireless interface setting reads "wlan0" instead "eth1", which is a common issue with wicd.
About the commands, the proper location would be /etc/rc.d/rc.local imho, since this is a system resource and not a user level setting. The rc.local script is ran as root and you dont need to use sudo in it.
In any case, if this is a problem with the inteface setting, you sholdnt need to initialize the card by hand.

HTH, Rodrigo

Hola rbistolfi, como andas chabon, todo bien? hablas español, castellano o porteño? o te estas volviendo loco con un traductor para leer esto? es dificil mangiarse el lunfardo porteño, estos pebetes que diseñan los traductores son unos gomas barbaros, seguro que nunca le vieron la cara a dios 

very nice tip this one. I mchammer...  i mean mcedit the /etc/rc.d/rc.local    and now it works just fine. I like this more than the XFCE config, since now i get to autoboot the ndiswrapper and the ifconfig wlan0 up even if i boot on TUI or with another user

on the other hand...
wireless interface was/is correctly setted up as "wlan0" first there was no set up for this setting, and no wireless network was detected at the time. but now, every network in the block (or at least at range) gets detected. "It seems to work just fine", except that little detail of not getting connected. I also use "ndiswrapper" as driver and mostly "auto" in every aspect i can (like DHCP, Sudo programs etc.)
The IP setup... i tried both full auto and full manual. When trying full manual (IP and DNS setted manually) my connection "falls" while trying to connect to AP. When i use full auto (IP and DNS setted auto) the wicd never gets to retrieve IP. I have even tried on a root XFCE session, with same exact results

[rbistolfi]

Porteño

Ok I think we advanced a little, you can see the network. I would try a ping to the router now.
In a terminal you can use:

Code:

# ping <router ip>

This will check that a network connection can be stablished with the router. Router IP depends on your network setup, in a typical setup it would be like 192.168.0.1 or 10.0.0.1. Let me know you find troubles finding out your router IP.
If ping works, this is more likely an authentication issue. What kind of encryption are you using?
You may want to check the logs also:

Code:

# cat /var/log/messages
# dmesg

You are interested in messages related to firmware and dhcpcd.

[rokytnji]

I don't jump through hoops or use ndiswrapper but I always check the box that says

"always connect to this network"

in Wicd. Even if I travel. It does not hurt to check that box.

[jotabe]

Porteño

Ok I think we advanced a little, you can see the network. I would try a ping to the router now.
In a terminal you can use:

Code:

# ping <router ip>

This will check that a network connection can be stablished with the router. Router IP depends on your network setup, in a typical setup it would be like 192.168.0.1 or 10.0.0.1. Let me know you find troubles finding out your router IP.
If ping works, this is more likely an authentication issue. What kind of encryption are you using?
You may want to check the logs also:

Code:

# cat /var/log/messages
# dmesg

You are interested in messages related to firmware and dhcpcd.

hi there, morocho del abasto  

mmm i think my english its not so god lol, what i was trying to say is that i did entered the "wlan0" config and get to this point before even start this post.

I know (my guts tell me lol) that this is an authentification issue. i get to see all the networks (my home's included) but when i try to connect it just wont give me an IP address. If y try  to go "manual" it will not connect to the access point. So there is an auth problem somewhere, but i just don't find any "visible" issue

when i tried to ping the obvious answer was "network unreachable"  

i will look that log and see if there's anything useful there

I don't jump through hoops or use ndiswrapper but I always check the box that says

"always connect to this network"

in Wicd. Even if I travel. It does not hurt to check that box.

thanks for the tip... already tried... no changes...

------------------
i was thinking:

I could try to remove the WEP key form my router and then try to connect, but there are many wireless networks in the area so therefore there are many people that will see this.  

I could try to change to a WPA key, but my wireless card in WIN. had issues in the past with this type of protocol so there is no shure anwser.

I could try to go to an SHARED, HEX, WEP key, that might work, since i read in the iwconfig "man" that passphrase WEP where not supported. Besides, back in the time when i had Slack12, i had it running with a WEP HEX key and it worked just fine.
BUT!!!!!!!! an HEX key its not excactly the easyest choice for anyone to type in, and in these days any guest to your house will have a Smartphone, so i really don't want to change the pass to an HEX code

But in this 3 cases that means i must change the configuration of every device in my house. and even after that i might not get connected

anyway this options are just going around the problem, wich i should be able to fix, but i have no clue how   and im starting to get a little bit frustrated

thanks everybody for your anwsers, keep 'em comming  

[retired1af]

For the few minutes required to test without any encryption at all, it's not going to affect your network. No more than running in WEP mode (which I can break in a matter of seconds). Turn off the encryption and see if the machine connects.

[rokytnji]

Just to be sure we are on the same page here.

but the wicd does not detect the networks up until i open it and order a new scan

This is the only problem you have left, right?

Because the Windows driver supplied by ndiswrapper may be the culprit in this thread now and not wireless security. Maybe Windows driver and Wicd don't play well together
is my Cave Man Biker thinking.

Edit: I have not tried ndis-gtk in like forever. My wireless buying habits and the Linux kernel are in tune with each other now. I do remember though the inf. files available in Windows drivers had a choice like Windows 98,Me,XP,Vista. etc.......

Which one did you choose in case lets say a 98 driver won't have wpa support?

[jotabe]

For the few minutes required to test without any encryption at all, it's not going to affect your network. No more than running in WEP mode (which I can break in a matter of seconds). Turn off the encryption and see if the machine connects.

I know that WEP sucks, but its quite better than anything. Anybody who knows a little about wireless or networking, and have access to some software can crack up a WEP key in no-time... but a majority of population can't or won't do that

Just to be sure we are on the same page here.

but the wicd does not detect the networks up until i open it and order a new scan

This is the only problem you have left, right?

Because the Windows driver supplied by ndiswrapper may be the culprit in this thread now and not wireless security. Maybe Windows driver and Wicd don't play well together
is my Cave Man Biker thinking.

Edit: I have not tried ndis-gtk in like forever. My wireless buying habits and the Linux kernel are in tune with each other now. I do remember though the inf. files available in Windows drivers had a choice like Windows 98,Me,XP,Vista. etc.......

Which one did you choose in case lets say a 98 driver won't have wpa support?

If the only problem remaining was that wicd needs to be manually scanned... that wouldn't be a problem at all, that would be just a little inconvenience and i could live with it.

NOPE, the problem right now is that i can't get connected to my home network, when i use wicd to scan for networks, every network in my block its showed, but when i try to connect to my family's network it won't connect. its seems that there's something missing and i can't get an IP number from the wireless router. And i'm using (as far as i can tell) the same router, the same wireless pci card and the same configuration that gets me connected using windows XP.

I could be a Driver issue, i have considered that, but back in 2008 or 2009 i had a Slack 12 with this same computer, and ndiswrapper worked just fine. but to be honest the driver used was the one provided with the CD, not the one i'm using wright now (also of course it was another kernel version and i'm pretty shure it was another ndiswrapper version)

As far as i see it its an authentication issue or a driver one. but in the end i'm running out of time, im starting my studyes, so the next week and up to december i will have to go to work and afterthat go to the university, so i think i will have no time to repair this and set up all the soft i need/want before my free time gets reduced to zero...

the next week i will give a last couple of shots.
I will try with no-WEP, with Shared key and with WAP/WAP2
I will reinstall the old CD driver that came with the wireless card (right now i'm using a later version downloaded from the official website)

if none of this ones work i will burn my pc stay in Win XP up until the semester ends

[rokytnji]

Just to show that some Windows drivers are not infallible. A thread of mine. LOL. And I said earlier I don't jump through hoops. I forgot Windows hoop jumping.

http://www.smartestcomputing.us.com/topic/61960-acer-aspire-zg5-aoa101-wireless-wpa2/

The driver was included in the recovery partition. That is legit as one could get. I still had to out think Acer,Redmond, and Atheros. Funny part of that whole Story. If I ran Linux (wife is a die hard windows user) on that Acer. Wireless would be no problemo with the .ko in the kernel.

http://antix.freeforums.org/post20692.html#p20692

As ath5k supports that wireless chip on that Acer ZG5 out of the box.

[jotabe]

just to bring a final update:

i tried a hex WEP key and it didn't work. I also tried with an older driver (the one i had installed and worked just fine a couple of year ago with slack) and nothing changed.
With no security i was able to get connected. so i asume i was doing something wrong.

Anyway i moved away from my parents and in my new home im wired-connected to the router so i have connection.

Technically speaking i didnt solve the problem but it does not matter at this point

thanks a lot to you all for the replys, i do learned a few things in the process