Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

longhornxtreme · 2004-11-18 11:04:25

I've had my wireless running successfully with ndiswrapper (self compiled) for quite some time on my dell 600m.

I saw the new wiki post on the wireless init scripts and i decided to play around with them tonight. I've gotten the wireless daemon to work only after bootup by manually as root by running "/etc/rc.d/wireless profiles MYPROFILE up"

The goal is to have it load on boot without having to type anything ever again. I've got the wireless daemon in my rc.conf and I added the WIRELESS_PROFILES section to my rc.conf with my profile added. On bootup once it enters runlevel 3 you can see that it's attempting to start up wireless using MYPROFILE as the profile... but the internet is down once I get into my WM.

Do I have my rc.conf not set up right? The wireless interface is wlan0, do I need to designate this in my rc.conf even when dhcp is set in the profile the daemon uses?

Thanks in advance for any replies! And let me know if ya'll need any more info, i easily could've left something out....

Here's my rc.conf

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

#
# Localization
#
# HARDWARECLOCK: set to "UTC" or "localtime"
# TIMEZONE: timezones are found in /usr/share/zoneinfo
# KEYMAP: keymaps are found in /usr/share/kbd/keymaps
# CONSOLEFONT: fount in /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts (only needed for non-us)
# USECOLOR: use ANSI color sequences in startup messages
#
HARDWARECLOCK="localtime"
TIMEZONE=America/Chicago
KEYMAP=us
CONSOLEFONT=
USECOLOR="yes"

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

#
# Networking
#
HOSTNAME="jtoplin"

#
# Module to load at boot-up (in this order)
#   (prefix a module with a ! to disable it)
#
MODULES=(!usbserial !ide-scsi tg3 snd-pcm-oss )

#
# Interfaces to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each interface then list in INTERFACES
#   (prefix an interface in INTERFACES with a ! to disable it)
#
# Note: to use DHCP, set your interface to be "dhcp" (eth0="dhcp")
#
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(lo eth0)

#
# Routes to start at boot-up (in this order)
# Declare each route then list in ROUTES
#   (prefix a route in ROUTES with a ! to disable it)
#
gateway="default gw 192.168.0.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)

#
# Daemons to start at boot-up (in this order)
#   (prefix a daemon with a ! to disable it)
#
DAEMONS=(syslog-ng hotplug !pcmcia network netfs crond alsamixer kdm 
lisa wireless)

WIRELESS_PROFILES=(james)

# End of file

phrakture · 2004-11-18 16:17:06

add ndiswrapper to the MODULES array, so that the interface is valid when the daemon is run

longhornxtreme · 2004-11-18 19:17:46

Hmmm... I could've sworn that ndiswrapper was in my rc.conf....

But I'm seeing that its not there in what i posted.

How does ndiswrapper work then as before I attempted to follow the wiki i would start up my wireless card by opening up a root console in KDE and then running

iwconfig wlan0 key restricted XXXXXXXXXX
iwconfig essid MYESSID
dhcpcd wlan0

and everything would be working perfectly... never typing modprobe ndiswrapper etc....

Thanks for pointing out the obvious mistake... I'll check it out when I get home from campus...

phrakture · 2004-11-18 20:16:33

well, I am assuming when you installed ndiswrapper, you ran the ndiswrapper -m command (I think it's -m) which inserts a few lines into the modprobe.conf file... this may be missing or something like that... I just manually modprobe the module myself

longhornxtreme · 2004-11-18 23:44:25

I most likely did the -m tag...

Well I added ndiswrapper to MODULES and its not working....

Do you think that the ndiswrapper -m might be interfering with it?

phrakture · 2004-11-19 19:11:24

longhornxtreme wrote:

I most likely did the -m tag...
Well I added ndiswrapper to MODULES and its not working....
Do you think that the ndiswrapper -m might be interfering with it?

I personally don't have the -m stuff in modprobe.conf, I just add it to the MODULES array. It shouldn't cause any problems, but with the -m stuff in there you may or may not need to modprobe the ndiswrapper module

longhornxtreme · 2004-11-19 19:24:36

well I went and cleared out the stuff it wrote to modprobe.conf and now I can't even use the wireless daemon once boot is over... it just fails...

I'm at my wits end now... do you think it has to do that I'm using an ndiswrapper I compiled myself? I can still bring the interface up manually with Iwconfig...

Sorry I'm being such a pain...

phrakture · 2004-11-19 19:48:44

longhornxtreme wrote:

well I went and cleared out the stuff it wrote to modprobe.conf and now I can't even use the wireless daemon once boot is over... it just fails...
I'm at my wits end now... do you think it has to do that I'm using an ndiswrapper I compiled myself? I can still bring the interface up manually with Iwconfig...
Sorry I'm being such a pain...

no worries. Let's see - put the modprobe.conf stuff back in there - I ssh-ed into my laptop from work and checked - I do have that stuff in there... go figure.

does the initscript [FAIL] or does it hit [DONE]. If you can, post your wireless profile here...

get back to the point where using "profile X up" worked and then post your "lsmod" here too....

longhornxtreme · 2004-11-19 23:26:56

I've got the daemon to where i can call it up manually as root again...

When i'm watching it bootup it just says busy for approx 4 seconds but never shows the red fail and it just goes on to the next few daemons. If i put wireless as the last daemon in my rc.conf it very quickly flashes busy and then kdm kicks in. I'm talking like less than half a second. Its pretty quick.

Thanks again for your help phrakture... I appreciate it!

Here's my wireless profile:

#! /bin/sh
# ArchLinux wireless sample profile
# - Aaron Griffin (phrakture) -

#----
# The following sample contains the bare minimum working wireless
#  profile.  Other options are commented below.  Copy this script
#  and modify for a working profile.
#----

INTERFACE="wlan0"
#
# Interface options (same as in rc.conf) - either dhcp or paramters for ifconfig
IFOPTS="dhcp" #="wlan0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255"
#
# Wireless ESSID (extended network name)
ESSID="jame"

# This value is free-form, used for informational scripts
# INFO="Sample Wireless Profile"
#
# Network/Domain ID
# NWID=""
#
# Mode [Ad-Hoc, Auto, Managed, Master, Repeater, Secondary, Shared]
 MODE="Managed"
#
# Frequency or Channel of Wireless Radio
# FREQ=""
# CHANNEL=""
#
# Signal Sensitivity
# SENS=""
#
# TX/RX Bit Rate
# RATE="auto"
#
# Encryption Key (see `man iwconfig` for extended information
 KEY="XXXXXXXXXX"
#
# RTS Threshold
# RTS=""
#
# Fragmentation Threshold
# FRAG=""
#
# Misc Parameters for iwconfig
# PARAMS=""

There is a WEP key in my profile... I just XXXX'd it out.

Here's a result of lsmod:

[root@jtoplin ~]# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
radeon                136212  2
ohci_hcd               22660  0
snd_intel8x0m          19400  2
snd_intel8x0           36428  1
snd_ac97_codec         73808  2 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0
gameport                5120  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_mpu401_uart         8704  1 snd_intel8x0
snd_rawmidi            26276  1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device          8456  1 snd_rawmidi
ehci_hcd               31748  0
uhci_hcd               33680  0
pci_hotplug            13060  0
tsdev                   8128  0
evdev                   9984  0
ndiswrapper           108700  0
snd_pcm_oss            56488  0
snd_pcm               101508  3 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              27140  1 snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc         10248  3 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
snd_mixer_oss          21376  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd                    58980  16 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mixer_oss
soundcore              10848  1 snd
tg3                    89092  0
rtc                    13128  0

phrakture · 2004-11-20 00:10:15

Well, I always use MODE=Auto... you may want to try that. The thing is, if it takes a long time, that's most likely dhcpcd getting called - it's the longest call in the script. Managed mode may end up denying your dhcp request at the AP level - but I'm no network guru.

Also, check for /etc/dhcpc/dhcpcd-wlan0.pid or .cache - if these exist, dhcpcd tried to do something.... it just failed....

if you can, reboot and right after the reboot get the output of "ifconfig wlan0" and "iwconfig wlan0"... I'd like to see where it gets before it fails.

When we track this down, I'll make sure to modify the scripts to include more verbose outputs on errors, right now it just continues on if iwconfig settings fail....

longhornxtreme · 2004-11-24 04:06:34

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you... school is kicking in to finals time and I'm just about to graduate with my BA in bio....

I just took down the 'net with the daemon and switched the profile to Auto... and successfully brought it right back up. I'm about to reboot and hopefully it'll work this time (crosses fingers)....

EDIT:

Well I've messed around with it some more... for some reason the wireless daemon isn't even showing itself on boot anymore. Its still not wokring automatically on boot..

An immediate iwconfig immediately after reboot shows the incorrect essid and no WEPkey entered at all. Also bringing the daemon up manually fails the first time but then works the second time. (completely new behavior) No dhcpcd *.pid file is being created as far as I can tell (i've run into that problem before when I had wlan0 in my rc.conf) What I was wondering if my particular wireless card has a lag time to set the essid. Does the daemon ever issue in any form the command "iwconfig wlan0 commit" ? I've heard that sometimes resolves issues with cards being slow to uptake iwconfig settings.

EDIT2:

K... I'm a moron... I had taken the ! away from the wirelesss daemon in rc.conf but i didn't uncomment the wireless profiles setting... it now shows the normal busy then fail in bootup...

here's what an immediate ifconfig wlan0 and iwconfig wlan0 shows after bootup.

[root@jtoplin wireless-profiles]# ifconfig wlan0
wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:90:4B:72:C5:2F
          BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:1180 (1.1 Kb)
          Interrupt:7 Memory:fafee000-fafeffff

[root@jtoplin wireless-profiles]# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:off/any
          Mode:Auto  Frequency:2.462GHz  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
          Bit Rate:54Mb/s   Tx-Power:25 dBm
          RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
          Encryption key:6969-6969-69   Security mode:restricted
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:100/100  Signal level:-10 dBm  Noise level:-256 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:2637   Missed beacon:0

What's crazy is what happened next... It wouldn't set the essid right away... the key is showing correctly now... check this out...

[root@jtoplin wireless-profiles]# iwconfig wlan0 essid jame
[root@jtoplin wireless-profiles]# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:off/any
          Mode:Auto  Frequency:2.462GHz  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
          Bit Rate:54Mb/s   Tx-Power:25 dBm
          RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
          Encryption key:6969-6969-69   Security mode:restricted
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:100/100  Signal level:-10 dBm  Noise level:-256 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:3512   Missed beacon:0

[root@jtoplin wireless-profiles]# iwconfig wlan0 essid jame
[root@jtoplin wireless-profiles]# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"jame"
          Mode:Auto  Frequency:2.437GHz  Access Point: 00:40:05:5D:46:2B
          Bit Rate:11Mb/s   Tx-Power:25 dBm
          RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
          Encryption key:6969-6969-69   Security mode:restricted
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:100/100  Signal level:-55 dBm  Noise level:-256 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:3644   Missed beacon:0

[root@jtoplin wireless-profiles]# dhcpcd wlan0

At which point the internet is now working... I'm guessing that this is the problem... I'm now going to reboot and see if issuing

iwconfig wlan0 essid jame
iwconfig wlan0 commit
iwconfig wlan0

shows the correct settings after a reboot... That would appear to be the problem... something unique about my wlan card that keeps the essid from setting itself quickly....

EDIT3:

The iwconfig wlan0 commit command seems to take care of that problem.... I have no experience writing scripts or I'd go try and modify the daemon myself... I will add that adding

iwconfig wlan0 key restricted XXXXXXXXXXX
iwconfig wlan0 essid jame
iwconfig wlan0 commit
dhcpcd wlan0

to rc.local does NOT succesfully bring up the wlan either....

phrakture · 2004-11-30 16:14:24

I'll look into adding commit on there when I get a chance - need to check if it works on mine, but my laptop is getting it's faulty power socket repaired right now

longhornxtreme · 2004-11-30 22:04:06

phrakture... i really think its a problem with my particular laptop... dell 600m with the intel prowireless set up... i just need to buy a damn mini pci wlan card that is natively linux compatible and not through ndiswrapper....

But if you get around to the commit thingy... i'd be more than happy to help test it out...

phrakture · 2004-12-01 16:03:01

longhornxtreme wrote:

phrakture... i really think its a problem with my particular laptop... dell 600m with the intel prowireless set up... i just need to buy a damn mini pci wlan card that is natively linux compatible and not through ndiswrapper....
But if you get around to the commit thingy... i'd be more than happy to help test it out...

hey mine is broadcom and broadcom outright refuses to produce linux drivers or make development kit available to the public. I have to use ndiswrapper.

What I really want to test is if the "commit" will screw up any other cards. If it does, I'll just add a COMMIT="Y" or "N" parameter to the profile.

I also need to do some work on reporting error messages in the scripts.

All this to come when my laptop gets back from the HP service center.

longhornxtreme · 2004-12-02 01:59:29

hey man...

No rush

I really appreciate all your attempts at helping me out. This is why Arch's community is A+ in my opinion. It's not like I don't have the 'net at all... I just have to type 3 lines in a root console that's all.

Hope you HP gets back in brand new shape!

Hum · 2005-01-06 04:34:08

i found this on google for you
http://www.larsen-b.com/Article/73.html

bhrich902 · 2005-01-16 20:53:14

i have that same netgear card and ive had similar issues since i bought it around the 2.6.7 kernel release. the thing is that both the wireless card and acpi dont get along. u either have to chose acpi or no acpi. if u have acpi the card is pretty much useless, at least for me. without acpi all is well, until i recently switched to kernel 2.6.10 in wich i get the same errors u get 'pcmcia_core'..., eventhough the card works fine afterwards, i still need to get rid of that message. so to sum up:

2.6.7 - 2.6.9 means no acpi yes wireless
2.6.7 - 2.6.9 means yes acpi no wireless
2.6.10 means yes acpi no wireless
2.6.10 means no acpi yes wireless (with those pcmcia_core errors)

ive been looking to have both acpi and wireless ever since, is hoping for a solution.

p.s. when downgrading i've had to go all the way back to 2.6.7, i noticed 2.6.8 and 2.6.9 using swap agressively...

Arch Linux

#1 2004-11-18 11:04:25

Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#2 2004-11-18 16:17:06

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#3 2004-11-18 19:17:46

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#4 2004-11-18 20:16:33

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#5 2004-11-18 23:44:25

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#6 2004-11-19 19:11:24

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#7 2004-11-19 19:24:36

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#8 2004-11-19 19:48:44

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#9 2004-11-19 23:26:56

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#10 2004-11-20 00:10:15

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#11 2004-11-24 04:06:34

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#12 2004-11-30 16:14:24

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#13 2004-11-30 22:04:06

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#14 2004-12-01 16:03:01

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#15 2004-12-02 01:59:29

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#16 2005-01-06 04:34:08

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

#17 2005-01-16 20:53:14

Re: Wireless questions from the Wireless Wiki...

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