My wireless woes and unusual solution

[dexter47]

Hi

I've had limited success with my wireless up until recentley. My setup is Acer Aspire 5630 (HH 8.04 & Vista) with:-

Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation Unknown device 1001
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 219
Memory at d0100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 0090
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 64, IRQ 21
Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
Capabilities: <access denied>

and a linksys rangebooster router

I'm a newbie having tried linux for very short periods over the last few years then gone back to windows anyway i was lucky to get my wireless working 4 days out of ten. i trawlled these forums and others trying everybodies different solutions but found nothing that worked successfully regularly even after re-installing i dont know how many times. I tried all the wireless programs i could find no different.

I noticed one day when switching from kde 3 to kde 4 that i kept my wireless connection that gave me an idea. I installed ubuntu-studio desktop (took up about a gig of hard drive) logged into that, found its network program entered my essid, passkey and selected automatic configuration dhcp pressed ok, it said it was setting up the configuration file and i had an internet connection. Logged into kde and still had my internet connection. the network program had written this to my interfaces file:-

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
address 127.0.0.1
netmask 255.0.0.0

iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-psk XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX
wpa-driver wext
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
wpa-proto WPA
wpa-ssid linksys

auto wlan0

great i thought cracked it. shutdown and restarted Kubuntu guess what no internet BUT i had read that if your interface file contains more than

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
address 127.0.0.1
netmask 255.0.0.0

Knetwork assumes your up and running with your wireless and does nothing. So i did "sudo kate /etc/network/interfaces" wiped out everthing below the netmask 255.0.0.0 line saved it restarted went through the above and had my internet connection back.

That was a week ago 100% success so far.

Tonight found the same Ubuntu-Studio network program in my kde menu and did the above without having to log in and out and got my internet connection so will see if that is as successful so i dont have to log in to ubuntu-studio first.

Thats my wireless story hope it helps someone.

P.S Is it possible to have a script/command file that would automatically restore the interfaces file to its original state and then shutdown or restart the laptop

Thanx

[dexter47]

Re: My wireless woes and unusual solution

Hi

yes but now using the ubuntu network tool in kde to connect to the internet this morning connected half dozen times no problem but have to wipe my interfaces file to its original state each time before i restart for it to work. kfind found no reference to linksys in /etc or in /home

also tried sudo find /etc | grep linksys & sudo find /home | grep linksys
will also try sudo find / | grep linksys (might take a while)

just wanted to know if there was a one click/command solution to wiping the interfaces file and restarting shutting down

Thanx

[Detonate]

Re: My wireless woes and unusual solution

I discovered the same thing yesterday while reading the FAQ, at the WICD site on sourceforge. It seems that if you are using a network manager, you should not have anything in your interfaces file other than the settings mentioned in the above post. Your network manager handles the rest. I have been fooling around with that file for months trying to find the right settings. And I did not even need them. One more thing that might help, if your network seems to hang up getting started, it might be trying to resolve a previous IP address. EVEN IF YOU ARE USING STATIC IP!! To solve this problem, open your /etc/dhcp3/dhclient.conf file. You'll see and entry like this:

request subnet-mask, broadcast-address, time-offset, routers, domain-name, domain-name-servers, host-name, ntp-servers

Edit the file and remove "domain-name-servers" from the file. Save the file. See if that helps next time you start the network.

You have to edit it in sudo mode, and don't forget to make a backup first.

[Detonate]

Re: My wireless woes and unusual solution

Also let me add that WICD does not change my interfaces file. So if Knetworkmanager is changing your interfaces file, remove it and install WICD.

[dexter47]

Re: My wireless woes and unusual solution

Hi

I'm on a cable network and I believe thats dynamic. Went into the dhcp file but theres nothing in it. Knetwork was not writing anything in my interfaces file the knetwork setup would not hold my settings or didn't write them to where it was supposed to (cant remember properly but I think this a bug). I had removed knetwork and have wicd installed and that was no better at achieving a connection. It is the ubuntu network tool that is writing to my interfaces file and giving me a connection. If I start wicd when connected to the internet it says no wireless networks found but at the bottom of the window it says i'm connected and gives me an ip address. I'll try removing wicd and re-install knetwork and check the dhcp file again and let you know whats in it

Thanx

[dexter47]

Re: My wireless woes and unusual solution

Hi

Uninstalled wicd put knetwork back on had a connection then re-started guess what no connection checked the dhcp file nothing in it did dmesg got:-

[ 86.429490] NET: Registered protocol family 10
[ 86.430314] lo: Disabled Privacy Extensions
[ 86.431964] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 86.432741] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

Used the ubuntu network tool got connected did dmesg got:-

[ 547.546199] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[ 552.814449] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[ 619.503964] wlan0: Initial auth_alg=0
[ 619.503973] wlan0: authenticate with AP XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[ 619.504776] wlan0: RX authentication from XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (alg=0 transaction=2 status=0)
[ 619.504782] wlan0: authenticated
[ 619.504786] wlan0: associate with AP XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[ 619.505741] wlan0: RX AssocResp from XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=3)
[ 619.505747] wlan0: associated
[ 619.509503] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[ 621.718886] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

[dexter47]

Re: My wireless woes and unusual solution

hi

Update on the /etc/dhcp3

When i opened the/etc/dhcp3 file with sudo kate it was blank. So later opened it with Konqueror in S/U mode and found the reference to domain-name-server. Removed it, but it made no difference in enabling me to get a connection with Knetwork

[Detonate]

Re: My wireless woes and unusual solution

If you were already getting connected OK, then it's not necessary to edit the file, but for some it helps clear up connection problems.

[dexter47]

Re: My wireless woes and unusual solution

Hi

Ok thanx gave it a try anyway