CorePlus/TinyCore 7.2 Wifi does not work on Inspiron 11

[newtotinycore]

Just downloaded CorePlus 7.2 for the WiFi tools. Added apps and remastered to USB.
Wifi on DVD and USB work fine on Asus X540S.

No WiFi from USB drive on Dell Inspiron 3000 series, which is several years older than the Asus (no optical drive on the Dell).

Trying to follow the "Re: Need WiFi connection" post.
However, the post  is over my head.

Added additional tools before remastering:

wifi.tcz (later added to onboot.lst)
wireless-4.2.9-tinycore64.tcz
wicd.tcz (doesn't seem to help on either machine)
firmware-rtlwifi.tcz (installed later and added  to onboot.lst)
firmware-rtlwifi.tcz.dep is recommended in the "Need Wifi..." post, but I don't see it in my Apps selection.

On the Dell, the Wifi icon will not list the available Wifi connections.
sudo wifi.sh gives no access points, just "no devices found".
iwconfig shows no wireless connections.
tce-status -i seems to show all needed files, including:
wpa_supplicant
wireless-4.2.9-tinycore64
wireless-4.2.9-tinycore
wireless_tools
wl-modules-4.2.9-tinycore
libiw
wicd
wifi
openssl
libnl

dmesg | -20 on the asus lists 7 references to ath: and 6 references to wlan0
which are not listed after running dmesg | -20 on the Dell.

If you want output from dmesg, what is the best way to copy the output from the other machine?

Thanks

[coreplayer2]

Hi newtotinycore

Code: [Select]

dmesg | tail -20
running the above dmesg will usually point towards the issue.  I'm guessing the correct firmware file is missing, so look for the file name listed in dmesg output.
If the system complains of a missing file use APPS on an internet connected pc to search for the file, download and install the extension containing the missing file then add to onboot.lst

 to copy the dmesg output to a file, use this from a command line

Code: [Select]

dmesg | tail -20 > ~/dmesgout.txt
copy the file from your home directory to a USB drive and transport to a connected PC then upload the output here

[newtotinycore]

That was a quick response coreplayer2!

The text from dmesg is attached.

The output doesn't mean much to me.
Google mentions something about a possible driver mismatch?

Thanks.

[coreplayer2]

There was no mention of any wifi driver being loaded.

So, please try again after loading the WiFi extension which should also load all required dependencies (assuming they are installed).
open a terminal at "tce/optional" directory and enter:

Code: [Select]

tce-load -i wifi

then post the ouput of dmesg again

[newtotinycore]

Not quite sure about the meaning of "after loading the WiFi extension."
Anyway after booting, (wifi.tcz has been added to onboot.lst), ran 'tce-load -i wifi'.
Got message 'wifi is already installed!'

Dmesg2 is attached.

Seems similar to first output.

Thanks.

[gerald_clark]

Seriously? That is all you get from dmesg?

[newtotinycore]

Seriously, that is it ( on the Dell. On the Asus, dmesg gives references to wlan0 and drivers).

As coreplayer2 mentioned, wifi drivers don't seem to be getting loaded on the Dell Inspiron.

Attached are outputs from iwconfig and tce-status -i.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[newtotinycore]

Update of previous attached files.

iwconfig justs gives no wireless extensions.

[Misalf]

Maybe someone can spot something if you post the output of  dmesg  without  | tail -20 .

[newtotinycore]

Hi Misalf,

Here is dmesg -500.
I couldn't figure out how to pipe all dmesg output.
Tell me if you want more.

Thanks.

[newtotinycore]

My apologies to Gerald Clark for not making it clear that I was only saving the last 20 lines of dmesg.

[gerald_clark]

No pipe necessary, just do "dmesg > dmesg.txt" and post it.

[newtotinycore]

Gerald Clark,
Thanks for the tip.

Here's dmesg in its entirety, (I think).

[Rich]

Hi newtotinycore
You don't by any chance have the wifi adapter disabled in the BIOS?

[newtotinycore]

Hi Rich,

Don't actually see a way to enable/disable wifi in Bios.

However, MX-16 (debian based) works fine with WiFi on the Dell Inspiron.

FWIW, although Tinycore on the Asus does scan the available networks, it can't directly connect to
my current hotel wifi (which has 3 names separated by spaces).
I have to use my phone to set up a wifi connection (only 1 name).

The Dell can't even scan available networks (with Tinycore).
Hope I'm not confusing the issue.
Anyway, the wifi on the Dell is working with MX-16.