Issue with ipw2200 module, also request for skge in base/module

[jerramy]

I didn't have time this morning to grab the output of iwconfig, it'll have to wait until tonight.  I did see that the TX power was 20 dBm.  However all RX related levels were 0 (noise, signal).

I tried rfkill.  It said that all the switches were on.  Running the command mentioned in the Info for rfkill didn't change anything.

Is it possible I need to change channels?  The channel wasn't listed in the example for wpa_supplicant.conf.  Does the software auto-scan all channels?

If WEP doesn't require any WPA stuff, what would be the correct approach to getting wifi to work?  I saw that WEP was listed in the options for networks under wpa-gui.

[tinypoodle]

If WEP doesn't require any WPA stuff, what would be the correct approach to getting wifi to work?  I saw that WEP was listed in the options for networks under wpa-gui.

wireless tools could be enough, particularly iwconfig and iwlist (and perhaps iwpriv, according to driver).

[maro]

I appears now unlikely that the device is disabled via some sort of HW or SW switch.

Nevertheless it would be best to supply us (e.g. via attaching some files) with the (full) output of dmesg ; ifconfig -a ; iwconfig ; iwlist wlan0 scan (and maybe still 'rfkill') after all activation steps had been done (this assumes that 'wlan0' is the device in question).

[jerramy]

I've attached the output of those commands.  Hope it helps you help me!   

[tinypoodle]

try

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sudo iwlist eth1 sinstead.

In general a good idea when configuring network to work with a root console.
Also first start

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syslogdand then leave a console with

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tail -f /var/log/messagesopen and in view, to get instant feedback on each event.

[jerramy]

Here are a couple of my config files.

I'll try what you say tinypoodle, maybe in the morning.  I've got to get to bed.  Thanks for your help!

[jerramy]

Okay, I got good info back from "sudo iwlist eth1 s", showing that I have data from my router.  Yay!  I'll get the results of the other commands for you tomorrow, my wife's screamin' for me to come to bed...

-----------------
eth1      Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:1A:70:E3:ED:BD
                    ESSID:"DarkTower"
                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11g
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Quality=97/100  Signal level=-28 dBm 
                    Extra: Last beacon: 23ms ago

[maro]

One more thing: What is the result of lsmod ??

I had a few weeks ago some problem with an old notebook which I wanted to connect to an AP with WPA: Initially the wireless device was also showing up as 'eth1'. As it turned out there were two kernel modules competing with each other. This became obvious when I used lspci -v (which requires the 'pci-utils.tcz' extension). In the end I needed to blacklist one of the modules and the device ended up being 'wlan0'.

What was confusing was the fact that prior to the blacklisting sudo iwlist eth1 scan produced some meaningful output. Likewise sudo wpa_supplicant -B -i eth1 -c CONFIG-FILE seemed to work at least to some degree, but then things "turned to custard".

After the backlisting the scanning (with 'iwlist') would not show any result. After a fair amount of trial and error I came up with the following command sequence:
    sudo wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -C /tmp & WPA_PID=$! ; sleep 5 ; sudo wpa_cli -i wlan0 -p /tmp scan ; sudo kill $WPA_PID
Afterwards I had no more problems with running iwlist wlan0 scan (even when not using 'sudo').

[tinypoodle]

The output may differ if sudo is used for 'iwlist s' or not.

[jerramy]

I'm currently typing this via WiFi! (woo hoo!)  tinypoodle mentioned that I shouldn't need anything except iwconfig to do WEP, and apparently you're right.

I'd say the sequence goes (and I'm sure y'all knew this, but no one told me...):
rmmod ipw2200; modprobe ipw2200
iwconfig eth1 channel 7
iwconfig eth1 essid DarkTower
iwconfig eth1 key NNNN..NNNN
pkill udhcpc; udhcpc -H box -b-i eth1

Thanks for your help.  Sorry I was too stupid to realize I would have to fiddle with iwconfig, instead of following the script for enabling WPA-PSK.

[tinypoodle]

KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) 

(setting channel might be redundant)

[Juanito]

also for interest, this device:

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$ lspci
01:0a.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter (rev 04)
..works with wpa2-personal encryption as well as wep