Arch Linux

fuscia

Member

Registered: 2008-04-21

Posts: 398

adding a wireless interface

when i had arch installed before, i had set up my laptop with a wired connection, without trouble. later on, i added a wireless connection (eth1) and i don't recall that being too much of a problem. now, i'm using arch again, on a wired connection, and  i need to add a wireless connection, but i've completely forgotten how i did it before. i've looked at the wireless wiki page and none of it looks at all familiar, and frankly, i don't really understand it either. i have an ipw2200.

here's my current /etc/rc.conf

#
# /etc/rc.conf - Main Configuration for Arch Linux
#

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# LOCALIZATION
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# LOCALE: available languages can be listed with the 'locale -a' command
# HARDWARECLOCK: set to "UTC" or "localtime"
# USEDIRECTISA: use direct I/O requests instead of /dev/rtc for hwclock
# TIMEZONE: timezones are found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
# KEYMAP: keymaps are found in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
# CONSOLEFONT: found in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (only needed for non-US)
# CONSOLEMAP: found in /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans
# USECOLOR: use ANSI color sequences in startup messages
#
LOCALE="en_US.utf8"
HARDWARECLOCK="UTC"
USEDIRECTISA="yes"
TIMEZONE="US/Eastern"
KEYMAP="us"
CONSOLEFONT=
CONSOLEMAP=
USECOLOR="yes"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# HARDWARE
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# MOD_AUTOLOAD: Allow autoloading of modules at boot and when needed
# MOD_BLACKLIST: Prevent udev from loading these modules
# MODULES: Modules to load at boot-up. Prefix with a ! to blacklist.
#
# NOTE: Use of 'MOD_BLACKLIST' is deprecated. Please use ! in the MODULES array.
#
MOD_AUTOLOAD="yes"
#MOD_BLACKLIST=() #deprecated
MODULES=(skge ipw2200 snd-mixer-oss snd-pcm-oss snd-hwdep snd-page-alloc snd-pcm snd-timer snd snd-hda-intel soundcore)

# Scan for LVM volume groups at startup, required if you use LVM
USELVM="no"

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# NETWORKING
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# HOSTNAME: Hostname of machine. Should also be put in /etc/hosts
#
HOSTNAME="fuscianator"

# Use 'ifconfig -a' or 'ls /sys/class/net/' to see all available interfaces.
#
# Interfaces to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each interface then list in INTERFACES
#   - prefix an entry in INTERFACES with a ! to disable it
#   - no hyphens in your interface names - Bash doesn't like it
# 
# DHCP:     Set your interface to "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
# Wireless: See network profiles below
#
eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0)

# Routes to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each route then list in ROUTES
#   - prefix an entry in ROUTES with a ! to disable it
#
gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)
 
# Enable these network profiles at boot-up.  These are only useful
# if you happen to need multiple network configurations (ie, laptop users)
#   - set to 'menu' to present a menu during boot-up (dialog package required)
#   - prefix an entry with a ! to disable it
#
# Network profiles are found in /etc/network.d
#
# This now requires the netcfg package
#
#NETWORKS=(main)

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
# DAEMONS
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------
#
# Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order)
#   - prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it
#   - prefix a daemon with a @ to start it up in the background
#
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network netfs crond alsa)

Mr Green

Forum Fellow

From: U.K.

Registered: 2003-12-21

Posts: 5,896

Website

Re: adding a wireless interface

take a look in wiki first see if that helps

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Mr Green

schivmeister

Developer/TU

From: Singapore

Registered: 2007-05-17

Posts: 971

Website

Re: adding a wireless interface

Look again, the wireless wiki tells you exactly what to do. Forget that you did anythin before, just read it as a newbie. To summarise, you have to know which device has wireless extensions by running iwconfig. To do that, you may have to carry out pre-initialising steps like loading firmware or setting up ndiswrapper. After that it's all about finding a way to connect eg. netcfg or wicd.

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I need real, proper pen and paper for this.

fuscia

Member

Registered: 2008-04-21

Posts: 398

Re: adding a wireless interface

for anyone else who comes across this, it turns out to be just a matter of adding (in bold)

eth0="dhcp"
eth1="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(!eth0 eth1)

keeping eth0 from loading seems to be a key point. i really just guessed at this from what i recall as i don't see anything similar in the wiki. it may well be there and i was just too 'deer in the headlights' to see it.