Network works during installation

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-28 00:32:09

Hello,

I've used various linux distro's since about '05, but decided to use Arch finally.

Install went great, everything worked fine, including my wireless card (an Intel 5100), after I did "iwconfig wlan0 essid NetworkName", and went through the automatic network configuration tool (Select Source -> net -> Setup Network -> wlan0 -> "Yes" to using DHCP -> "The network is configured") during installation. At the end of installation, I told the installer to save the network configuration.

Now, my big question is, since the network is screwed up now, what do I need to do to 'emulate' what the installer did to get the wireless working? I know it isn't, because every time I try to update pacman, I just get a bunch of transient errors.

Very respectfully
FlyingIsFun1217

tomk · 2009-09-28 00:40:42

Read the Wireless Setup page in the wiki.

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-28 00:45:18

I did. About a thousand times. Is there a hidden message or something? The installer picks up the interface automatically, and configures it to my liking. Right now though, everything is manual, and there seems to be no easy way for me to just have it automatically configure for me, like at installation.

FlyingIsFun1217

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-28 01:10:17

And also, this is what shows up when I try to start networking (it does the same thing during bootup):

# /etc/rc.d/network start
::Starting Network [BUSY]
dhcpcd: timed out
[FAIL]

Fail indeed. My networking daemon can't even start?

FlyingIsFun1217

tomk · 2009-09-28 06:20:48

According to your first post, the installer didn't configure your interface to your liking - you had to enter a manual iwconfig command. The process will continue to be manual until add the wireless connection's details - the essid, in this case - to the appropriate config file, as detailed on that wiki page.

Following on from that, your network daemon also fails because of a lack of configuration.

kgas · 2009-09-28 13:24:38

Can you post your rc.conf in particular the network part and the deamons array?. There are lot of tools available to manage your network. If you want to try a simple one give a hand to wicd.

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-28 13:42:45

I'm currently in uni classes, but when I get the chance, I'll post my rc.conf. As far as managing wireless with wicd, it's hard to get that since I have no internet, and no DE currently.

My manual iwconfig was just under my own assumption that I had to configure the interface to connect to a certain network (I didn't think that I would get the choice to choose which network to connect to during install). And I get that it would have to be done at every boot since it's a one-time thing, but the installer asked if it wanted to save the connection settings once it was done; shouldn't it have saved the network details?

Thanks again,
FlyingIsFun1217

tomk · 2009-09-28 14:23:55

The installer can only save settings that you enter using the installer's dialogs - your manual iwconfig does not qualify.

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-28 19:20:33

rc.conf (relevant parts):

#Static IP example
#wlan0="dhcp"
eth0="dhcp"
Interfaces=(wlan0)
...
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng network netfs crond)

What I did:

#iwconfig
...
wlan0 IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID=""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412GHz Access Point:Not-Associated
Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Link quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
#iwconfig wlan0 essid EagleNet
(wait a minute)
#iwconfig
...
wlan0 IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID="EagleNet"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412GHz Access Point:Not-Associated
Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Link quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0

No matter what, it seems, my Link quality stays at 0. No network connection, errors when I try and update pacman. This is after another fresh install, with no messing with files yet.

Thanks again for the help.
FlyingIsFun1217

tomk · 2009-09-29 05:44:59

Access Point:Not-Associated

means that you have not connected to the wireless access point. You might find additional info in your logs.

loafer · 2009-09-29 05:59:58

Just a thought but is this associated with the dhcpcd time out?

eth0="dhcp"
Interfaces=(wlan0)

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-29 21:13:15

I wouldn't think so since I've reinstalled and I no longer have a dhcpcd time out.

What logs might offer relevant info?

Thanks
FlyingIsFun1217

tomk · 2009-09-30 00:24:55

/var/log/everything.log

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-30 13:31:40

Various messages, following ones seemed relevant:

iwlagn: firmware: requesting iwlwif$
iwlagn: could not read microcode: -2
firmware.sh: cannot find firmware file 'iwlwifi-5$

So... it can't find the driver? How did it find the needed firmware when the installer used it? Guess that's my biggest confusion right now, is that somehow, the installer gets the driver working and downloads packages, but right after I exit the installer and go back to the command-line interface I lose the connection. Is it possible, from the network installer image, that I'm not actually downloading the packages and am just being deceived by the installer?

Thanks again!
FlyingIsFun1217

kgas · 2009-09-30 19:07:44

Hello FlyingFun1217, first check with lsmod whether all necessary modules loaded. secondly check with ifconfig -a for the cards correct description. sometimes for eg etho and eth1 will get swapped. Also ensure that proper drivers are installed for your card. (Note: Installation process need not install all your drivers automatically. (iwl..3945 etc to be selected during the installation process). Please read the wiki further If still problem persists come up with more details.

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-30 20:55:38

As far as I recall, the open-source Intel drivers were added into the kernel a few releases ago, so there should be no install problems. I'll try the other tips suggested, but I'm still at a loss with the installer working.

FlyingIsFun1217

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-30 21:27:00

[root@myhost ~]#lsmod | grep iwl
iwlagn        95208      0
iwlcore      96132        1
rfkill        10640        2        iwlagn
mac80211        182976        2        iwlcore
cfg80211        67364        3        iwlagn,iwlcore,mac80211
led_class        3976        2        iwlcore,asus_laptop

[root@myhost ~]#ifconfig -a
wlan0        Link encap:Ethernet        HWaddr 00:22:FA:03:06:F8
                BROADCAST MULTICAST        MTU:1500        Metric:1
                RX packets:0        errors:0        dropped:0        overruns:0        frame:0
                TX packets:0        errors:0        dropped:0        overruns:0        frame:0
                Collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
                RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)        TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

wmaster0        Link encap:UNSPEC        HWaddr 00-22-FA-03-06-F8-00-00-00-00-...
                [NO FLAGS]        MTU:0        Metric:1
                RX packets:0        errors:0        dropped:0        overruns:0        frame:0
                TX packets:0        errors:0        dropped:0        overruns:0        frame:0
                Collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
                RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)        TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

FlyingIsFun1217

Last edited by FlyingIsFun1217 (2009-09-30 21:28:24)

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-09-30 21:58:19

And if it makes a difference at all:

[root@myhost ~]#ifconfig wlan0 up
SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory

[root@myhost ~]#dhcpcd wlan0
dhcpcd: version 5.1.0 starting
dhcpcd: wlan0: up_interface: No such file or directory
dhcpcd: wlan0: waiting for carrier
dhcpcd: wlan0: timed out

FlyingIsFun1217

Last edited by FlyingIsFun1217 (2009-09-30 22:00:22)

kgas · 2009-10-01 01:55:39

You did not mention about the wirelss card. (lspci | grep -i wireless). If I remember correct, in some countries you have to set the crada policy correctly to get the connection.

tomk · 2009-10-01 09:03:46

Once again.. all the information you need is on the Wireless Setup wiki page. Please follow the steps described there.

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-10-01 13:03:19

Once again, I have, and it only ever resulted in even more errors.

FlyingIsFun1217

tomk · 2009-10-02 06:44:06

Alright...

If you're still getting the "cannot find firmware" errors, make sure you have the correct firmware package installed.

For even more errors, the best I can suggest is to try even more solutions.

Alternatively, post the errors here.

FlyingIsFun1217 · 2009-10-02 13:54:23

But firmware, isn't that in the kernel? That's why I was thinking it should work right away, since the Intel 5100 card is supposed to be kernel-supported.

FlyingIsFun1217

tomk · 2009-10-02 20:24:51

No, firmware is not in the kernel - only the driver. This is all covered in the wiki, and if you had really followed the procedure described there, you would not be getting these errors.

raf_kig · 2009-10-03 11:20:19

If you are getting firmware errors you need to install 'iwlwifi-5000-ucode'.
Regarding your question 'firmware, isn't that in the kernel?':

Firmware is a piece of code that runs on the device itself while the driver runs on your CPU. The firmware does low level stuff and acts as an aditional layer between plain hardware and the kernel. Many hardware comes with its firmware preinstalled (like eg harddrives), but there are cases where the firmware has to be supplied to the hardware by the operating system. In the case of wireless cards this is mostly due to legal requirements, many countries have legal restrictions regarding what channels you are allowed to use, so hardware vendors (are required to) add a firmware blob that restricts what you can actually do with your device.

Regards,

raf

Arch Linux

#1 2009-09-28 00:32:09

Network works during installation

#2 2009-09-28 00:40:42

Re: Network works during installation

#3 2009-09-28 00:45:18

Re: Network works during installation

#4 2009-09-28 01:10:17

Re: Network works during installation

#5 2009-09-28 06:20:48

Re: Network works during installation

#6 2009-09-28 13:24:38

Re: Network works during installation

#7 2009-09-28 13:42:45

Re: Network works during installation

#8 2009-09-28 14:23:55

Re: Network works during installation

#9 2009-09-28 19:20:33

Re: Network works during installation

#10 2009-09-29 05:44:59

Re: Network works during installation

#11 2009-09-29 05:59:58

Re: Network works during installation

#12 2009-09-29 21:13:15

Re: Network works during installation

#13 2009-09-30 00:24:55

Re: Network works during installation

#14 2009-09-30 13:31:40

Re: Network works during installation

#15 2009-09-30 19:07:44

Re: Network works during installation

#16 2009-09-30 20:55:38

Re: Network works during installation

#17 2009-09-30 21:27:00

Re: Network works during installation

#18 2009-09-30 21:58:19

Re: Network works during installation

#19 2009-10-01 01:55:39

Re: Network works during installation

#20 2009-10-01 09:03:46

Re: Network works during installation

#21 2009-10-01 13:03:19

Re: Network works during installation

#22 2009-10-02 06:44:06

Re: Network works during installation

#23 2009-10-02 13:54:23

Re: Network works during installation

#24 2009-10-02 20:24:51

Re: Network works during installation

#25 2009-10-03 11:20:19

Re: Network works during installation

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