# Kernel is cool, but I still can't do wireless

## PeteyG

I just got a Netgear WG511 PCMCIA 802.11g card for my laptop (Dell Inspiron 8200).  I've got a fresh 2.6.9 dev-sources kernel running, the prism54 driver module is loading perfect, and I am just on the very tip of getting this whole wireless thing working.

But I'm stuck.

I've got my wireless showing up as eth2.  iwconfig reports that I can see one of the local wireless networks.  So I know that I am just a few pesky configs away from wireless Linux.

The problem is, I can't seem to get eth2 to do the whole "get an IP address" thing, which is pretty important.

I've followed the instructions in this Netgear wg511 install guide, and I've followed (or tried to) this Wireless configuration the Gentoo way...  but the second was not helpful AT ALL.

So pretty much, I have no clue what to do.

Here's what I know I've done, configuration-wise:

I've symlinked /etc/init.d/net.eth2 to net.eth0

I've added eth2="dhcp" to /etc/conf.d/net

But when I take down eth0, and try and ./net.eth2 start...  it chokes for 10 seconds, and then fails to get an IP address.

Here's what my iwconfig spits out:

```

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      no wireless extensions.

eth2      IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"linksys"

          Mode:Master  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 00:09:5B:E9:4A:60

          Bit Rate:54 Mb/s   Tx-Power=31 dBm   Sensitivity=20/200

          Retry min limit:8   RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B

          Encryption key:off

          Link Quality:114  Signal level:0  Noise level:0

          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0

          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

```

Can anyone help a bewildered n00b through the final yard, here?

----------

## Bharain

does your access point have encryption enabled? if so run:

```

iwconfig eth2 key <key>

```

then try bring up the interface

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## PeteyG

The particular access point that I was using, "linksys", belongs to some other guy who doesn't have encryption enabled.  I can access it fine in Windows.

One of the problems is that I cannot figure out, even after poring over man files for hours, how to find a list of local access points and whether or not they require an encryption key.

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## UberLord

 *PeteyG wrote:*   

> The particular access point that I was using, "linksys", belongs to some other guy who doesn't have encryption enabled.  I can access it fine in Windows.

 

If you use baselayout-1.11.6-r1 or newer, it should connect to AP's broadcasting their ESSID without any encryption by default.

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> One of the problems is that I cannot figure out, even after poring over man files for hours, how to find a list of local access points and whether or not they require an encryption key.

 

iwlist eth1 scan

```

eth1      Scan completed :

          Cell 01 - Address: 00:0C:76:70:79:B0

                    ESSID:"Uber NET"

                    Mode:Master

                    Encryption key:on

                    Channel:11

                    Quality:6/0  Signal level:-44 dBm  Noise level:-50 dBm

```

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## PeteyG

I do have that version of baselayout installed.  Is there anything that I need to do beyond just having it installed?  

re:  iwlist eth1 scan

Awesome!!  That is exactly one of the things that I need to know.  Is there a simple walkthrough that walks a person through how to connect to a wireless network using the command line?  I've poked around, but everything I find has to do with hardware+drivers, or is a man page.

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## PeteyG

OK, I've commented out a line from my /etc/conf.d/wireless file which I added thinking that was the proper way to configure it. 

I had previously had the line "essid_eth2="any", but I commented that out and I was able to get an ip address from a local unsecured network.

```

abraxas init.d # ./net.eth2 start

 * Starting eth2

 *    Configuring wireless network for eth2

 *       eth2 connected to "linksys" at 00:0C:41:A8:C7:A8

 *       in managed mode on channel 6 (WEP disabled)

 *    Bringing up eth2

 *       eth2 dhcp

 *          Running dhcpcd ...                                            [ ok ]

 *          eth2 received address 192.168.1.103

abraxas init.d #   

```

But!!  When I ping http://www.google.com, or try to access any web sites, I do not seem to be able to access anything.  The same wireless networks work fine on my Windows XP install.

It feels like I'm getting really close here!

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## paladin-zero

Here is a script I run to get wireless working:

```
iwconfig wlan0 mode managed

iwconfig wlan0 essid ether

iwconfig wlan0 key s:12345 #Thats amazing, I have the same combination on my luggage

iwlist wlan0 scan

dhcpcd wlan0
```

I have an Inspiron 8500, with a dell truemobile 1400 card. I run the following modules:

pcmcia_core

ds

yenta_socket

ndiswrapper

ndiswrapper interfaces with the windows based driver for my card, you dont need it. Maybe this will give you some fresh ideas.

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## UberLord

 *PeteyG wrote:*   

> 
> 
> ```
> 
>  *          Running dhcpcd ...                                            [ ok ]
> ...

 

Excellent - we are configured!

 *Quote:*   

> 
> 
> But!!  When I ping http://www.google.com, or try to access any web sites, I do not seem to be able to access anything.  The same wireless networks work fine on my Windows XP install.
> 
> It feels like I'm getting really close here!

 

Boooo!

It maybe a routing issue or something. Are any other network cards active?

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## PeteyG

Nothing else is active.  I can ping 192.168.1.1, but nothing else.

Also, there is some weirdness with my wireless card...  it seems to take over eth0 when I start with it in the computer, and it doesn't seem to work anymore on eth2.  But that's not such a huge problem, really, I guess.  I can worry about that once I can sip coffee in some shop with my laptop, and post questions to the forums here.

```

abraxas init.d # iwconfig

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth1      no wireless extensions.

eth2      no wireless extensions.

eth0      IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"linksys"

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 00:0C:41:A8:C7:A8

          Bit Rate:2 Mb/s   Tx-Power=31 dBm   Sensitivity=20/200

          Retry min limit:8   RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B

          Encryption key:off

          Link Quality=176/0  Signal level=-80 dBm  Noise level=-48 dBm

          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0

          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

     

     

abraxas init.d # ifconfig

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:09:5B:E9:4A:60

          inet addr:192.168.1.106  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0

          UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1

          RX packets:29 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

          TX packets:55 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000

          RX bytes:9462 (9.2 Kb)  TX bytes:8478 (8.2 Kb)

          Interrupt:11

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback

          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0

          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1

          RX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

          TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0

          RX bytes:200 (200.0 b)  TX bytes:200 (200.0 b)

```

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## UberLord

 *PeteyG wrote:*   

> Also, there is some weirdness with my wireless card...  it seems to take over eth0 when I start with it in the computer, and it doesn't seem to work anymore on eth2.  But that's not such a huge problem, really, I guess.  I can worry about that once I can sip coffee in some shop with my laptop, and post questions to the forums here.

 

If it's connecting to the same network (or even the same network-ip style) then you're correct.

I think the wireless is working exactly how it's should - and possibly the networking as well. I also think you're abit unsure about routing issues - I'm not too hot on routing myself, so hopefully someone can jump in here.

As an idea, shut down ALL network cards and then start wireless. If wireless works AND you can ping something via wireless. If the internet is "not working" then it's NOT a wireless issue.

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## PeteyG

Well awesome.  I guess I'll dive into some general Gentoo docs on network connections, and maybe something will turn up.

Thanks for your guys's help!

----------

