Arch Linux

shapacko

Member

Registered: 2010-08-10

Posts: 3

Wireless connection problems [SOLVED]

Hi, first post in the forum.

This week i installed arch for the first time (been using ubuntu for 3 years). I didn't find any problems during installation. Now i'm trying to get my wireless and it's been quite complicated. I have a broadcom network card, i followed the tutorials in arch's pages and managed to download and install the firmware. I don't really know what should i do next...

I put b43 module in my rc.conf, rebooted and then try to

ifconfig wlan0 up

but i got an error: SIOCSIFFLAGS: Permission denied

and then again with sudo, this time worked. i think since nothing happened...

at this point i'm not sure if i got it to work or not, how can i test it?

If it's working, what's the best method to connect to a wireless network? i'm using openbox, is there a graphical tool i can use?

Thanks a lot, and sorry if i don't make myself clear, english is not my first language and i'm not sure if i'm going in the right direction.

Last edited by shapacko (2010-08-10 19:34:32)

lifeafter2am

Member

From: 127.0.0.1

Registered: 2009-06-10

Posts: 1,332

Re: Wireless connection problems [SOLVED]

Easiest way to see if the card is working is to use iwconfig

If you want some kind of graphical tool, you could use wicd.  I use that on one of my boxes, pretty easy to set up. 

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hokasch

Member

Registered: 2007-09-23

Posts: 1,461

Re: Wireless connection problems [SOLVED]

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=102212

shapacko

Member

Registered: 2010-08-10

Posts: 3

Re: Wireless connection problems [SOLVED]

thanks for the answers!

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=102212

my kernel is 2.6.33-ARCH, so it's older than the one they're talkin in the post

Easiest way to see if the card is working is to use iwconfig

this is waht i get but i don't know how to interpret it:

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  Mode:Managed  Access point: Not-associated
             Tx-power=20 dBm
             Retry long limit: 7  RTS thr:off  Fragment thr:off
             Power management:off

Does this mean it's working? if so, what should i do next?

Last edited by shapacko (2010-08-10 17:30:19)

hokasch

Member

Registered: 2007-09-23

Posts: 1,461

Re: Wireless connection problems [SOLVED]

Hmm, you should update then

Did you run the command as root? (ifconfig wlan0 up, I meant)

Last edited by hokasch (2010-08-10 17:32:49)

aetherfly

Member

From: The SWAMP

Registered: 2010-08-01

Posts: 14

Website

Re: Wireless connection problems [SOLVED]

Definitely update your kernel. I too have a broadcom with b43, for a manual connection the following works for me.

$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 up
$ sudo iwconfig essid $ESSID key $KEY # key only if applicable
$ sudo dhcpcd
$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 channel auto

I used to have the channel auto part before the dhcpcd, but dhcpcd still gives a "no interfaces have a carrier" then in the logs "wlan0 waiting for carrier" until I do the "iwconfig wlan0 channel auto, then it "finds" the carrier. Anyway, see if the above commands work for you.

shapacko

Member

Registered: 2010-08-10

Posts: 3

Re: Wireless connection problems [SOLVED]

Solved!

thanks aetherfly!

it worked, but i had to put the interface wlan0 in the 2nd command:

$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid $ESSID key $KEY # key only if applicable

aetherfly

Member

From: The SWAMP

Registered: 2010-08-01

Posts: 14

Website

Re: Wireless connection problems [SOLVED]

Solved!

thanks aetherfly!

it worked, but i had to put the interface wlan0 in the 2nd command:

$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid $ESSID key $KEY # key only if applicable

Oops, yeah... typo xD, glad it worked.

schen

Member

Registered: 2009-06-06

Posts: 468

Re: Wireless connection problems [SOLVED]

Remember to mark as solved.