Arch Linux

anirudh215

Member

Registered: 2011-03-07

Posts: 78

[SOLVED] Wireless setup problem

Hello all,

#Being curious about finding out how my computer works, and wanting to be able to tinker, I have made the switch from Ubuntu to Arch.

#I have succesfully installed Arch on my computer, a Lenovo Ideapad z560 laptop.

#I do NOT have a wired internet connection. Wireless is my only means of net connection for the moment. I have to connect to a WPA network with a password.

#While installing, I made sure I checked 'wireless_ tools' package. Then, after the installation finished, I logged in as root. When I do
"ping -c 3 www.google.com",
I get
"ping: unknown host www.google.com".

#When I do
"lscpi | grep -i net",
I find that my network card is an Intel Corporation WiFi Link 1000 series. After searching around, I now know that my card is supported.

#When I input
"iwconfig",
I get
"wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn Mode:Managed Access Point:Not-Associated
          Tx-Power=14 dBm
          Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management: off"

#When I input
"ifconfig wlan0 up",
I get
"SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory"

#When I input
"dmesg | grep firmware"
I get
"elantech.c: assuming hardware version1, firmware version 20.0
iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: firmware: requesting iwlwifi-1000-3.ucode
iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: iwlwifi-1000-3.ucode firmware file req failed: -2
iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: firmware: requesting iwlwifi-1000-2.ucode
iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: iwlwifi-1000-2.ucode firmware file req failed: -2
iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: firmware: requesting iwlwifi-1000-1.ucode
iwlagn 0000:05:00.0: iwlwifi-1000-1.ucode firmware file req failed: -2

#When I input
"pacman -S linux-firmware",
it tells me
"linux-firmware package not found, searching for group...
error:'linux-firmware': not found in sync db"

I hope I have provided you with enough information to figure out what the problem might be. If there is anything else you need to know, please tell me. When you tell me the solution, please also tell me the rationale behind it, for I have installed Arch only to learn more about all this. Thank you.

Last edited by anirudh215 (2011-03-07 14:34:42)

rickdg

Member

From: The Lowlands

Registered: 2011-01-01

Posts: 24

Re: [SOLVED] Wireless setup problem

Your wireless network card is recognised, you just haven't configured it to work with your access point. The wiki has a very good article on wireless management. Your answer should be in there ;-)

anirudh215

Member

Registered: 2011-03-07

Posts: 78

Re: [SOLVED] Wireless setup problem

Thank you for your quick reply!
I followed along and here's what happened:

#I tried
"ifconfig wlan0 up"
I get
"SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory"

#I tried
"iwlist wlan0 scan"
I get
"wlan0 Interface does not support scanning: Network is down"

Corresponding to this error, the Wiki tells me I might have not installed my firmware. However, as I already posted above, when I try installing the package through
"pacman -S linux-firmware",
I get an error. What could be wrong?

ichase

Member

Registered: 2011-02-10

Posts: 113

Re: [SOLVED] Wireless setup problem

The reason you are getting errors when you use pacman is because you do not have a link to your wireless router yet.  It's real easy to set up and considering your wireless card seems to be supported with out having to download firmware, this is real easy.  Did you select netcfg from the package selection when you installed Arch?  If you did not, I suggest you go back and load the disk and install it.   You will find it in the list of available packages to install.  Just hit the space key to select it.  You mentioned you installed wireless_tools which generates your wpa_supplicant.conf file.  Follow the guidlines in the wpa_supplicant wiki and then follow the guidlines in the netcfg wiki and you should be good to go.  I have done this before and it's a piece of cake.  You can have your wireless up and running in no time. 

All the best,

Ian

Last edited by ichase (2011-03-07 14:28:46)

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Parted Magic / CNI Radio

anirudh215

Member

Registered: 2011-03-07

Posts: 78

Re: [SOLVED] Wireless setup problem

Hi! Thanks a lot, but I gave up trying to do without wired connection. I ran around all evening trying to find a LAN cable. I just found one a few minutes back. Having got internet connection, installing the required drivers was a cinch. Now my wireless works just fine. (But just for learning's sake, I think I might uninstall and re-install Arch and when I do so, I will try what you said. )

NOTE: I did have to download the iwlwifi-1000-ucode driver for it to work. I thought it would have been loaded automatically

Last edited by anirudh215 (2011-03-07 14:33:51)

ichase

Member

Registered: 2011-02-10

Posts: 113

Re: [SOLVED] Wireless setup problem

Glad to see you got it working.  If you do re-install, the iwlwifi-1000-ucode is ALSO in the available packages to install so if you select it as well as wireless_tools and netcfg you will be able to get your wireless up and running with out having to worry about getting access to a wired network.

All the best,

Ian

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Parted Magic / CNI Radio