Howto: Wifi on HP Mini Netbook (210-1077)

[Clicky]

I installed Karmic on a HP Mini netbook (I believe it's an Atheros wifi chipset), tried various things I found here, still could not get it to connect at all to my WPA wireless network.

But I installed KDE3 by following http://apt.pearsoncomputing.net/install.html - set up my connection in KDE3 - and it works first time, every time.

So rather than wasting many more hours getting nowhere with this, does anybody know if its possible to copy the settings from KDE3 to KDE4?

I am not new to computers by any means, but I have no clue when it comes to Linux, so any help appreciated

[lmilano]

Re: Wireless settings KDE3 -> KDE4

I don't really know if that's possible. Another possibility is to try to use wicd as a network manager, that might do the trick!

[arist]

Re: Wireless settings KDE3 -> KDE4

My HP Mini (1035NR) has a Broadcom 4312 wireless chipset (find yours with lshw). It worked with Hardy (KDE 3.5), using wicd. Didn't work with Karmic (KDE 4.3.2). As far as I could determine, it's the kernel that no longer supports the open-source driver with this chipset. I installed ndiswrapper and the Windows driver, and now with wicd it works fine.

[lmilano]

Re: Wireless settings KDE3 -> KDE4

Interesting! I thought, though, that Clicky is running both KDE4 and KDE3 with the same kernel and software stack (in the same distro really).

[arist]

Re: Wireless settings KDE3 -> KDE4

Yes, it does sound as though he installed KDE 3.5 in Karmic. The page at Linux Wireless that lists the chipsets supported by the b43 driver says that mine is "supported 2.6.32 and later", and since my netbook runs 2.6.31, I concluded that the kernel was the problem. But my understanding of these things is so limited that it could just as well be a KDE problem. In any case, using ndiswrapper fixed it.

Anyone experiencing wireless problems with this chipset would do well to visit this page.

[Clicky]

Re: Wireless settings KDE3 -> KDE4

I tried wicd, that didn't help in my case.

Interesting! I thought, though, that Clicky is running both KDE4 and KDE3 with the same kernel and software stack (in the same distro really).

Correct. The only reason I installed KDE3 was because I played around with Hardy previously on an old laptop, and remember having no trouble at all with the networking. Since this also worked in Karmic under KDE3, I figured it was probably using the same back-end and there should be a way to get KDE4 to use the same settings...

Through much searching and experimenting I've now managed to solve the problem myself, though, so I'll post my complete linux n00b guide here (and edit the thread title) incase it helps anybody else I formatted and reinstalled so now I have a clean KDE4 system.

For reference: it's a HP Mini 210-1077. Comes with Windows 7 which I've left on there in the first partition, and am dual booting Kubuntu. I removed the other partitions (HP restore stuff and the weird little mini-OS.)

It also has an atheros wifi chipset which is fully supported/detected by Kubuntu with no modification required. If you have a different model you might want to follow what arist says above.

I installed using 9.10 x86 desktop (I'm not a fan of the netbook remix UI) from USB Key (using http://www.pendrivelinux.com/create-...sb-in-windows/). The Atom n450 in this thing will run 64 bit, but since the machine only supports 2GB of RAM, and most of the stuff I need is 32 bit, I chose x86.

Once it's installed you need a wired internet connection. I started Konsole and did the following:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome
sudo apt-get remove plasma-widget-networkmanagement
sudo su
echo options psmouse proto=exps > /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.modprobe

Answer Y if asked, let it do it's thing. The last part fixes the trackpad buttons, which you're going to need soon.

Now find system settings in the K menu, select the advanced tab, and click autostart. add a program, type nm-applet, and hit OK. Now reboot.

It should come back up and reconnect to your wired connection. Konsole again:

sudo apt-get upgrade

You need this or your wireless settings will not stick. Took me a while to figure that out...
Once it's done unplug your wired connection, and reboot again.

When it comes back up, you can left click the network icon. Setting up wifi from here is pretty self explanatory. You will be asked for a password, type one. Once you're done, right click the icon and 'edit connection'. Find your wifi connection and select EDIT. You might be asked for the password again, enter it. Now make sure 'connect automatically' and 'enable for all users' are selected and hit APPLY. Type the password again, your settings should be stored.

That's it. Reboot and see if it connects automatically. You now have a fully functional system