# [SOLVED] Wireless on notebook not working

## czlowieq

I just installed Gentoo on my laptop and i can't get wireless network working. I got Broadcom AirForce One G54 chipset, (BCM4318) and I'm using acer_acpi+ndiswrapper+wireless-tools. It did work once on kernel-2.6.12, but only once, and after reboot it didn't start anymore. Now i got kernel-2.6.15. I don't get any errors while loading modules (acer_acpi & ndiswrapper). Here's the output of dmesg after loading ndiswrapper:

```
ndiswrapper version 1.8 loaded (preempt=no,smp=yes)

ndiswrapper (load_pe_images:571): fixing KI_USER_SHARED_DATA address in the driver

ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,02/11/2005, 3.100.64.0) loaded

ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:06:05.0[A] -> GSI 21 (level, low) -> IRQ 169

ndiswrapper: using irq 169

wlan0: vendor: ''

wlan0: ndiswrapper ethernet device 00:14:a4:18:2b:78 using driver bcmwl5, 14E4:4318.5.conf

wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
```

I get two kinds of messages in /var/log/messages. It depends on that I set preferred_aps=( "Home" ) or essid_wlan0=( "Home" ). I get:

```
Feb 18 11:25:23 Dexter wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
```

or

```
Feb 18 11:32:07 Dexter rc-scripts: Failed to configure wireless for wlan0
```

I also noticed that I can't set essid using iwconfig.

```
#iwconfig wlan0

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:off/any

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   

          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   Tx-Power:25 dBm   

          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:off

          Power Management:off

          Link Quality:0  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

#iwconfig wlan0 essid Home

#iwconfig wlan0

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:off/any

          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   

          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   Tx-Power:25 dBm   

          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off

          Encryption key:off

          Power Management:off

          Link Quality:0  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
```

My /etc/conf.d/net:

```
config_eth1=( "192.168.0.70 netmask 255.255.255.0" )

routes_eth1=( "default gw 192.168.0.1" )

config_Home=( "dhcp" )

dhcpcd_Home=( "-t 5" )
```

My /etc/conf.d/wireless:

```
essid_wlan0=( "Home" )

key_Home=( "s:aneta enc open" )
```

or

```
preferred_aps=( "Home" )

associate_order="forcepreferred"

key_Home=( "s:aneta enc open" )
```

I tried both of them. None work. I can't get it working manually using ifconfig, iwconfig and dhcpcd. Also iwlist wlan0 scan shows no results. I will provide all the other informations if needed.Last edited by czlowieq on Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## polle

 *Quote:*   

> My /etc/conf.d/net: 
> 
> Code:	
> 
> config_eth1=( "192.168.0.70 netmask 255.255.255.0" ) 
> ...

 

You need also  this I suppose in :

/etc/conf.d/net.wlan0

```
config_wlan0=( "192.168.0.70 netmask 255.255.255.0" ) 

routes_wlan0=( "default gw 192.168.0.1" ) 

config_Home=( "dhcp" ) 

dhcpcd_Home=( "-t 5" )
```

afterwards try:

/etc/init.d/net.wlan0 start

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## czlowieq

Tried that already. I got the same thing.

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## polle

and what is the output when you try this:

iwconfig wlan0 commit

ifconfig wlan0 up 

dhcpcd wlan0

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## czlowieq

There is no output at all. Just that dhcpcd timeout when waiting for dhcp server in /var/log/messages. I cant't change my essid with commit too. Can this be some problem with 64-bit (yes, i forgot to tell that at the beginning) version of ndiswrapper? It does load with no errors but it looks like iwconfig couldn't set up the card good.

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## wah

Hi,

Looks like your ESSID entry in /etc/conf.d/wireless may be wrong...here's mine:

```

essid_wlan0="NETGEAR"

```

I use ndiswrapper and that same driver as well, and with this format entry, I've never had an issue.

HTH,

Wah

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## czlowieq

I just tried that. It doesn't work. Now I don't know what to try next. I tried all the thing I found on this forum and on google.   :Crying or Very sad: 

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## vicaya

Things that are obviously wrong in /etc/conf.d/net is:

```
config_Home=( "dhcp" )

dhcpcd_Home=( "-t 5" )
```

Should really be (in your case):

```
config_wlan0=( "dhcp" )

dhcpcd_wlan0=( "-t 5" )
```

ndiswrapper works for me on an amd64 laptop since 1.2.

Good luck.

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## czlowieq

 *vicaya wrote:*   

> Things that are obviously wrong in /etc/conf.d/net is:
> 
> ```
> config_Home=( "dhcp" )
> 
> ...

 

Just tested that. No change at all. Thanks for the luck. I think I will need it. Lots of it.

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## wah

Wait - are you making these changes in /etc/conf.d/net.wlan0 or /etc/conf.d/net?  It should be in /etc/conf.d/net, as I've never seen a net.wlan0 in the conf.d folder.

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## czlowieq

 *wahman143 wrote:*   

> Wait - are you making these changes in /etc/conf.d/net.wlan0 or /etc/conf.d/net?  It should be in /etc/conf.d/net, as I've never seen a net.wlan0 in the conf.d folder.

 

I already tried both. I'm trying all the solutions hoping that something will help.

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## vicaya

What's the output of ndiswrapper -l? Did you turn on the wireless card -- some laptop has a mechanical switch.

What's the output of iwconfig? iwlist wlan0 scan?

I noticed that you're trying to use WEP, which is useless anyway. I'd say turn off encryption on the AP first. I personally use no encryption at home with MAC whitelist and WPA at work (both are similar netgear routers.)

Your goal is to first get your card associated with an AP/router, then worry about ip address (static or dhcp) and security

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## czlowieq

I've solved this one. Just downgraded kernel to 2.5.14 and ndiswrapper to 1.2. Work great now.

----------

