Wireless Setup Help (modules/drivers)

BoogieTrain · 2008-07-09 10:37:54

Hello all. Linux newbie, but Arch fan here. I just setup an arch system using the lastest CORE ISO. Im currently using wired internet but I only have it for a limited time, so I need to get my wireless working. I have a Linksys WMP54G V 4 (I don;t think it has any revision number), but what I am positive of is that it uses a Ralink rt2500 chip (I'm going to want to use the "rt2x00" driver over the "RT2500" driver correct?) And the "rt2x00" driver is built into the latest kernel so I read so I didn't install anything. During the intital package install (from the install CD/ArchLive Setup) I didn't install wireless_tools, but I did so later on with pacman.

When I boot my computer i see:

iwconfig returns:

[phil@Smithson ~]$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wmaster0  no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:""  
          Mode:Managed  Channel:0  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Tx-Power=0 dBm   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2352 B   
          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

Then I did a:

[phil@Smithson ~]$ modprobe rt2500pci

and it returns:

[phil@Smithson ~]$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wmaster0  no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:""  
          Mode:Managed  Channel:0  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Tx-Power=0 dBm   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2352 B   
          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

I dont see any eth0 or wlan0 or any wireless interface name, so I assume that a module or driver isnt being loaded properly.

modprobe dosent add the module to always load with the system does it? Wouldnt i need the module to load with the system on every boot?

Thanks for any help you can offer, either the documentation is lacking or I just dont follow (I told you I was a newbie)

Cheers all.

bbs · 2008-07-09 11:16:50

No No -- it is loaded -- you have to set the essid to your essid -- see where it says ESSID:"" -- as root (or using sudo) -- try

#iwconfig wlan0 essid [insert your ssid here]
#dhcpcd wlan0

^^ this should give you a dhcp address -- replace dhcpcd with your dhcp client of choice -- hope this helps -- you can always do :

$lsmod | grep [insert module name here]

^^ to see if the module is loaded -- normally if a module is loaded incorrectly you get an error like "fatal"

bbs · 2008-07-09 15:52:45

also consider adding the proper drive to the "module" array of /etc/rc.conf

BoogieTrain · 2008-07-09 18:50:28

bbs wrote:

also consider adding the proper drive to the "module" array of /etc/rc.conf

?? Do you mean driver? How would I do that?

soo, the "FATAL: Module rt2500 not loaded" can be ignored because its using the rt2x00 module?

bbs · 2008-07-09 19:07:22

there is a module loaded because wlan0 is up and so is wmaster0 -- wmaster0 does not need wireless extentions.... -- attempt to do the above -- the x in 2x00 is a wildcard supporting the gamut of r*00 drivers -- or so it would seem -- i have no personal experience with this driver -- but this is a convention -- there is an effective driver loaded though -- try to get an ip and associate with an AP

BoogieTrain · 2008-07-09 19:18:37

im using wireless now though i had to reboot and reconnect. Should I bother with "adding the proper drive to the "module" ...."?

How can I get it to connect to the same access point every time my computer boots up? I assume its something in the rc.conf file.

When i booted without the ethernet plugged in, during boot up when it was "starting networks" It was "BUSY" for a little while then returned an error about eth0, with makes sence because it wasnt connected, should i comment out the lines about eth0 (wired connection) if I wont be using it?

Thanks for your replies so far.

bbs · 2008-07-09 19:23:05

you can add !eth0 to blacklist eth0 from the networks array -- honestly i move around so much i connect my machines manually to AP's -- at a first guess since i don't do this myself -- you can try this in rc.conf

wlan0="dhcp"
wlan_wlan0="wlan0 essid MyEssid" # Unencrypted
#wlan_wlan0="wlan0 essid MyEssid key 1234567890" # hex WEP key
#wlan_wlan0="wlan0 essid MyEssid key s:asciikey" # ascii WEP key

there is also a pretty good tutorial you can find here : http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wireless_Setup

hope this helps

BoogieTrain · 2008-07-09 23:33:08

that didn't work, but what I did was comment out the eth0 stuff in rc.conf, added wlan0 to the INTERFACES in rc.config then added a

wlan0="dhcp"
wlan_wlan0="wlan0 essid MyEssid" # Unencrypted

to /etc/conf.d/wireless and it connects to my access point upon boot up. Thanks so much for your help bbs and the ArchCommunity!

Arch Linux

#1 2008-07-09 10:37:54

Wireless Setup Help (modules/drivers)

#2 2008-07-09 11:16:50

Re: Wireless Setup Help (modules/drivers)

#3 2008-07-09 15:52:45

Re: Wireless Setup Help (modules/drivers)

#4 2008-07-09 18:50:28

Re: Wireless Setup Help (modules/drivers)

#5 2008-07-09 19:07:22

Re: Wireless Setup Help (modules/drivers)

#6 2008-07-09 19:18:37

Re: Wireless Setup Help (modules/drivers)

#7 2008-07-09 19:23:05

Re: Wireless Setup Help (modules/drivers)

#8 2008-07-09 23:33:08

Re: Wireless Setup Help (modules/drivers)

Board footer