Problems with network

vootpig · 2008-08-11 23:20:05

Hi, I just installed Archlinux on my computer. Once I rebooted after the installation, I tried to ping google but got an "unknown host" error.

I have gone through /etc/rs.conf and /etc/hosts to check to make sure there were no typing errors or anything like that, but I am a bit unsure of exactly how to configure my network.

I connect to a wireless signal to get internet access, and my method of doing that is with a USB plug-in connector. Is there something I should do to get my computer to recognize the USB connector, rather than just putting in the standard values for a dhcp connection?

ravster · 2008-08-11 23:23:53

what is the output of 'route'? You should have something in ROUTES in /etc/rc.conf .

vootpig · 2008-08-12 00:06:34

Route outputs 169.254.0.0 for destination, * for gateway, 255.255.0.0 for genmask, U for flags, 0 for metric ref and us, and eth0 for iface.

The value of ROUTES in /etc/rc.conf read ROUTES=(!gateway)

ralvez · 2008-08-12 01:50:05

That last post looks like you are not getting an IP address from your DHCP server... assuming you are using DHCP.

Can you post your /etc/rc.conf?

R.

vootpig · 2008-08-12 03:00:35

Under Networking...

eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0)

gateway="default gw 192.168.1.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)

l33tunderground · 2008-08-12 03:06:04

I assume that you are talking about a USB wireless card that you're using to connect to the internet? If so, could you post it's brand and model? Wireless is slightly more tricky to figure out than being hardwired, so I'm guessing that the USB card that you have needs a driver that probably doesn't come standard with Arch.

On the off-chance that it is supported by default, try getting a hardwired connection and installing wifi-radar (see the wiki here). If it is detected, then you should be able to use wifi-radar to connect. A word about wifi-radar as a program: lately it seems that there is a delay between button presses and the actual action that the button is supposed to perform. It might look like it has frozen, but just give it a few seconds.

Hope we get this figured out soon!

iphitus · 2008-08-12 03:20:32

like l33t noticed, this is a wireless connection, not a regular wired connection.

You need to associate to the network before you can even think of getting an IP.

To try and do it the other way around, is like trying to get an ip via dhcp without plugging a cable in on a wired connection - it just won't work.

vootpig: Have a look on the wiki at the page Wireless Setup.

First get your driver working
Then use a wireless tool to connect, like netcfg, wifi-radar, wicd.

vootpig · 2008-08-12 03:28:34

It is a Linksys Compact Wireless-G USB Adapter, model WUSB54GC. I had a feeling that the problem had to do with missing drivers or the like, I had a similar problem after installing openSUSE a long time ago.

I'll have a look at the Wireless Setup and see if I can figure stuff out. Thank you.

Edit: I've looked at the Wireless Setup wiki, but I am a bit confused as I am not well versed in the command line. Some assistance with the procedures listed there would be great!

Last edited by vootpig (2008-08-12 03:47:10)

l33tunderground · 2008-08-12 15:36:46

A check of the Linksys website with your model says that you're in luck! They allow you to download the driver from their website. Unfortunately (and not surprisingly), it is available for windows only. That means you'll be using ndiswrapper to install it.

pacman -Sy ndiswrapper

The first thing that I'd do is go and download the driver (DO NOT download the Vista version) to your computer. Next you'll need to install cabextract

pacman -Sy cabextract

so that you can unpack the .exe into its seperate components. So after cabextracting the driver, you should then be able to find the .inf and follow the ndiswrapper section of the wiki to install it.

To get a better understanding of what you're doing when you follow the instructions, don't have any worries about using the -h or --help option with these programs. It has always bothered me that Arch strips most of the man pages from the packages, but doing a search for man cabextract or man ndiswrapper on google might help too.

vootpig · 2008-08-12 22:06:28

Ok, I tried to extract the .exe file using cabextract but I got an error saying "no valid cabinets found". How can I extract this file's contents?

Edit: Upon closer review, I discovered that my USB adapter using a Ralink RT73 chipset. I searched the wiki a little bit and found this page, a guide to installing the drivers for my device. However, this is also a little update at the top of the page which reads:

"RT73 has support built into kernel 2.6.25, the steps below are no longer necessary."

Apparently my Arch system should already have drivers and support for my USB adapter, yet I still cannot get a connection to the wireless signal in my home. What else could be the problem?

Last edited by vootpig (2008-08-12 23:23:12)

l33tunderground · 2008-08-13 03:45:15

Could you post your entire rc.conf? I don't know exactly how much driver support compiled into the kernel is activated by default, so it might help to make sure that rt73 is added to the modules section of your rc.conf.

Interesting that cabextract cannot open that .exe . Perhaps Linksys has found a way to thwart Linux user's efforts to get wireless I don't know what's wrong with that; hopefully someone else will know.

l33tunderground · 2008-08-13 03:51:24

If that doesn't work, I got the .inf. Until someone manages to find a way to extract the files, you can use these. I scanned all their contents with clamav, so I believe they are good to go.

Edit: Also, if need be you should be able to get them off of the CD that came with the card.

Last edited by l33tunderground (2008-08-13 03:52:57)

Arch Linux

#1 2008-08-11 23:20:05

Problems with network

#2 2008-08-11 23:23:53

Re: Problems with network

#3 2008-08-12 00:06:34

Re: Problems with network

#4 2008-08-12 01:50:05

Re: Problems with network

#5 2008-08-12 03:00:35

Re: Problems with network

#6 2008-08-12 03:06:04

Re: Problems with network

#7 2008-08-12 03:20:32

Re: Problems with network

#8 2008-08-12 03:28:34

Re: Problems with network

#9 2008-08-12 15:36:46

Re: Problems with network

#10 2008-08-12 22:06:28

Re: Problems with network

#11 2008-08-13 03:45:15

Re: Problems with network

#12 2008-08-13 03:51:24

Re: Problems with network

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