Trouble with wireless set up (RESOLVED)

If you're setup for DHCP, grab an IP address for it. Just type this from Konsole:

dhclient ra0

Unfortunately, the MEPIS Network setup utilities don't have support for a number of wireless cards labeled something other than wlan0, even when drivers in the distro support them. Your card shows up as ra0

So, you'll want to modify a script file to grab an IP address at each bootup.

I have to do the same thing with a Belkin USB G Wireless Adapter that I use with SimplyMEPIS, even though the driver for it is in the distro.

My adapter shows up as rausb0 when I use iwconfig

Many of Belkin PCI based adapters like yours show up as ra0 (as you can see by what iwconfig is reporting for it).

What I did....

I modified this existing script file to pass my commands to it so that it's started on each bootup. If you're not logged in as root, the easy way to get to is this:

KMenu>System>File System>File Manager (Super User Mode).

Then, click this file to open it an editor as root:

/etc/rc.local

Insert any needed iwconfig and dhclient commands immediately prior to this line.

exit 0

Then, save the file.

For example, with my Belkin Wirless G USB Adapter, I insert this immediately prior to the line with exit 0. You'd do something similar with your card (only it's ra0 versus rausb0).

iwconfig rausb0 ESSID cockfield
dhclient rausb0

Wth your setup, you'll want to insert this (I noticed your ESSID was georgesnetwork) into the script file. I set a specific ESSID with my card (you may or may not want to do it that way). You may find that you don't need the iwconfig line in it with the way yours is setup.

iwconfig ra0 ESSID georgesnetwork
dhclient ra0

Jim C.

Thanks Jim
Due to this network card interfering with the enjoyment of her tv, the management has banished me to another room.
However, I carried out

dhclient ra0

and the reponse was that there were no dhcp offers, that dhcp was sleeping.
I also looked at /etc/rc.local and was immediately lost - I would not know what to do with it

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

It looked like your network ESSID was reporting as georgesnetwork (unless it picked up a neighbor's wireless network instead). lol

Try setting the ESSID first. You'll need to do it as root:

su
iwconfig ra0 ESSID georgesnetwork
dhclient ra0

If dhclient doesn't grab an IP address, then you'll need to setup your router for DHCP (or pass the parms for a static IP address). I use a Linksys router that was setup DHCP by default.

If you use a WEP ecryption key (I don't), you'd also need to pass that to it via iwconfig. Here are some of the common parameters used with iwconfig:

iwconfig needs to know the interface (ra0 in your case)

iwconfig may need to know if the network is managed.

iwconfig may need to know the essid or network name. For example: iwconfig ESSID georgesnetwork

iwconfig may need to to know the channel (channel #)

iwconfig may need a WEP key if WEP is used (enc WEP_KEY)

In my case, all I need to send to my Belkin wirless adapter is the ESSID that I've got setup in my router. On your network, that would be this step:

dhclient ra0 ESSID georgesnetwork

But, if you're trying to use WEP, you'd need to do this, too (replacing the 0123456.... with the correct key). Your router setup screens are where you tell it what type (if any) encryption to use and what key is needed.

iwconfig ra0 enc 01234577890123456

Then, if you've got the right key and the router is setup for DHCP, just use dhcient to grab an IP address:

dhclient ra0

I don't use WEP with my wireless network (although I probably should).

So, I haven't tried the step using iwconfig enc to pass a WEP key to it.

Then, once you determine what you'll need to pass to it (by trying the commands via a console to match the way you've got your router configured), just modify a script file like I mentioned above and place the appropriate commands in it so that it starts up automatically each time you reboot).

Jim C.

I sent an e-mail to suggesting that ra0 and rausb0 be added to the MEPIS Network Setup screens, so that you can enter things like ESSID and WEP key without the need to use iwconfig for these adapters.

With cards that show up as wlan0 (versus ra0 or rausb0 like the Belkin USB G adapters), it's just a matter of filling in the blanks with the correct parameters.

So, with a little luck, they'll consider adding these cards to the network setup menus for future releases (since the drivers for these cards are already in the distro).

In the interim, you'll want to use iwconfig to set up the card to match what your router is looking for (and chances are, you've got it looking for a WEP Key, since it looks like the router's encryption is turned on).

Jim C.

I did this
root@1[george]# iwconfig ra0 enc < >
root@1[george]# dhclient ra0
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.3
Copyright 2004-2005 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/products/DHCP

Listening on LPF/ra0/00:17:3f:28:bd:7b
Sending on LPF/ra0/00:17:3f:28:bd:7b
Sending on Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on ra0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 5
DHCPDISCOVER on ra0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11
DHCPDISCOVER on ra0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 5
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.

the router is configued with dhcp enabled

Status of router

System
Product Model : Sitecom WL-173
Firmware Version : 1.23
Firmware Date : 2006/07/07 17:17:02
Loader Version : 0.0.20
NAT : Enable
L4 Switching : Enable

LAN
IP Address : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask : 255.255.255.0
MAC Address : 00:0C:F6:25:09:3C
DHCP Server : Enable
LAN 1 : Link is Up. 100Mbps, half- duplex
LAN 2 : Link is down. No cable detected
LAN 3 : Link is down. No cable detected
LAN 4 : Link is Up. 100Mbps, full- duplex
Received : 14302 packets, 2003611 bytes
Transmitted : 16770 packets, 13830693 bytes
Dropped : 2 packets

Wireless
SSID : georgesnetwork
BSSID : 00:0C:F6:25:09:3C

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

You've got to plug in the key that the router is looking for when you use iwconfig ra0 enc

You can't leave it blank if it needs a key.

Your router's setup screens would have let you select an encryption type and set the WEP Key it's looking for. Some routers also support more than one type of encryption (WEP is commonly used).

IOW, you're going to need to know what key you set in your router, so that you can tell mepis what key to send to it using iwconfig ra0 enc insert_correct_key_here

If it's setup for a hex versus ascii WEP key, perhaps it needs to be surrounded by <> (I don't use WEP, so I don't know much about that part)

How did you setup the router? Did you use utilities that came with it, or can you access it via a browser? With my Linksys, I use a browser (Firefox, Konquerer, etc.) to log in and configure it by going to this address:

http://192.168.1.1/

But, you can't do that unless you have a connection to it (which requires that you know the key if you set it to use encryption).

Then, the router prompts me for a userid and password to get to it's setup screens. Of course, you'll need to have a good network connection to the router and know the username and password you set to configure it.

Your router probably works in a similar manner. So, you'd need to connect to it the same way you did when initially configuring it, and make note of the WEP Key you set if you set one (so that you can pass the same key using iwconfig ra0 enc

You may just want to turn off encryption in your router until you make sure it all works. Then, once you get it working, set a WEP Key and make sure you pass the same key using iwconfig.

iwconfig ra0 enc insert_the_key_you_set_here

then, this to grab an IP address:

dhclient ra0

Jim C.

Well I finally got there for a short time. I managed to set up the F5D7000UK ver 6000uk
Not knowing exactly how I got there, I shut down the connection, examined my previous commands, typed in what I thought were the the correct commands, and, after a few hiccups the connection was re-established. Having a short term memory problem, I shut down again so that I could write down the steps as I restarted the connection. DISASTER!!! after a few attempts to restart, I gave up, then a few minutes later the system appeared to restart on its own but using eth0 instead of ra0. After a few minutes of switching itself off and on with no input from me, it restarted as eth1, and continued to switch off and on on its own.
I shut down Mepis, restarted it and started to go through the installation. This time when I did iwconfig ra0 the system froze with a message "segmentation fault" and on typing "dhclient" Konsole froze.
I think I now know how to set up this card BUT I am taking this opportunity to set up Mepis 6.0.4, as an attempt to re-install 6.0 produced some errors that I cannot handle.
I will let you know soon how things worked out

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

Hi all

I am back after 2 re-installations of mepis and a lot of grief.
I have re-installed my wireless network to the point where the output is

ra0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:0C:F6:25:09:3C
Mode:Managed
ESSID:"georgesnetwork"
Encryption key:off
Channel:11

root@1[Module]# iwconfig ra0
ra0 RT61 Wireless ESSID:"georgesnetwork"
Mode:Managed Frequency:11 MHz Access Point: 00:0C:F6:25:09:3C
Bit Rate=54 Mb/s
RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Link Quality=89/70 Signal level:-50 dBm Noise level:-79 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

I would now expect to be able to ping the router but it cannot be connected.
/etc/wireless/interfaces produces

# /etc/network/interfaces -- configuration file for ifup( 8 ), ifdown( 8 )
#
# If you are using the MEPIS network configuration for kernel 2.6.15 and above
# DO NOT use this file to define wireless options
#

#mapping hotplug
#script echo

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# DO NOT EDIT BELOW THIS LINE
auto eth0
allow-hotplug eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
address 192.168.79.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 192.168.79.255
gateway 192.168.79.1
auto eth1
allow-hotplug eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp
address 192.168.79.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 192.168.79.255
gateway 192.168.79.1
#auto eth2
allow-hotplug eth2
iface eth2 inet dhcp
address 192.168.79.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 192.168.79.255
gateway 192.168.79.1
#auto ath0
allow-hotplug ath0
iface ath0 inet dhcp
address 192.168.79.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 192.168.79.255
gateway 192.168.79.1
#auto wlan0
allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
address 192.168.79.1
netmask 255.255.255.0
broadcast 192.168.79.255
gateway 192.168.79.1
# DO NOT EDIT ABOVE THIS LINE

which I think means that ra0 has not been set up.
any suggestions about what I have done wrong or not done at all?

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

What happens if you open a console (as root) and try to grab an IP address with dhclient? Is your router setup for dhcp (most are by default)?

Judging by the output of iwconfig ra0, the card should be working. It may just need an IP address assigned.

su
dhclient ra0

BTW, Warren has now updated the network setup utilities in SimplyMEPIS 6.0-4 beta to include ra0 and rausb0 (so that you can configure them by going to Kmenu>System Configuration (Settings)>Internet and Network>Mepis Network

After installing the 6.0-4 beta 2, you'll need to update packages to see the changes. If you load Synaptic, click on the Reload Button, Click on the Mark all Upgrades button, then click Apply, the new network utility updates will be installed that allow you to select ra0

When asked questions about configuration during the updates, just press Enter to keep the defaults for everything and you'll see ra0 in the new list when configuring your network. But, if it doesn't work from a console using dhclient ra0, something else is probably wrong.

Jim C.

Thanks Jim

For a while after running dhclient there was no connection then it happened. I am sending this over a non encrypted wireless link. I have to go shopping now, it will be interesting to see what happens when I next boot up and try to use encryption.

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

Mine is a bit slow grabbing an IP address using dhclient with SimplyMEPIS 6.0 (and from time to time, I have to run it again to grab one). I can always get one though.

For some reason, it's very snappy getting one with the new 6.0-4 Beta 2 with my Belkin USB Wireless Adapter.

So, if you're not running the latest 6.0-4 beta, you may want to give it a try to see if it's more consistent with your Belkin PCI adapter. As mentioned in my previous post, Warren has also updated the Network Configuration utilities in the beta to include both ra0 and rausb0 (after you upgrade all packages with Synaptic using the new beta, the new choices will appear).

Added:

It looks like Beta 3 is now out. So, all of the updates are probably in it:

http://www.mepis.org/node/12316

Jim C.

Hi Jim;

Glad you're still here Jim!
I thought you were about giving up, in this** node, and now you're one of the "TOP-posters" (again?), helping and aiding others.

Thanks for that!
Good to still have you with us!

Hope beta3 will do the job for you...

Ruud

** Jim's comments

I have been known to get a little temperamental from time to time. Sorry about that.

I appreciate the hard work you guys are putting in to this distro.

SimplyMEPIS 6.0-4 is looking better every day.

Jim C.

Hey Ruud, I just noticed that you changed your avatar. Lookin' good

Jon

SimplyMEPIS Value CD: $17.95
Amount saved not buying Windows Vista Ultimate: $399
Experience gained learning Mepis and helping others: Priceless

Hi Jon

Have you come up with a personal one yourself?
I can make one for you if you like...
One with your parrot on a beachchair or surfboard*, heheh

Ruud

*Is this a part of California where people surf much?
Or are people from San Diego only surfing the web?

Hey Ruud, sounds like a plan!

Yes, there's a whole lotta surfing going on down here. Next to Hawaii, this area has some of the nicest surfing weather and waves. Of course, I don't surf, but I bodysurfed when I was younger.

I'd like to take you up on an idea for an avatar. Please contact me at my email address and I can let you know what I have in mind

Jon

SimplyMEPIS Value CD: $17.95
Amount saved not buying Windows Vista Ultimate: $399
Experience gained learning Mepis and helping others: Priceless

Thanks Jim

I have tried beta 1 with the same reults as I was getting with 6.0.
My grandchildren are visiting and I cannot get on either of my pcs until they go home about 2100 tomorrow
I have yet to confirm that I have succeded in running Wireless but I will certainly be trying with both tomorrow

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

Hi again
I have managed to get ra0 up and running but have to do it manually at the moment
I have tried to install the scripts to load everything at startup but my current problem is:
I have located the scripts for wlan.up and wlan.down but how do I insert them into /etc/Wireless/ ?
I have not dealt with scripts yet.

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

Are you running one of the betas?

If so, you shouldn't need to start it manually if you do all of the updates (since Warren added ra0 to the list of supported adapters under Kemnu>Syhstem Configuration(Settings)>Internet and Network>MEPIS Network.

Just load Synaptic, click on the Reload Button, click on Mark all Upgrades, and click Apply to install them.

See my first post in this thread for the script that I modify to start my adapter using SimplyMEPIS 6.0 (but, this shouldn't be necessary with the latest beta with all updates).

Jim C.

Hi Jim
thanks for the info. Until now I have been working with 6.0 but this morning I downloaded 6.0.4 beta3 and will be installing it tonight

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

Hi Jim
This comes to you compliments of Mepis 6.0.4-beta 3 and a wireless connection.
Thanks for all your help. I am going to shut down now to test whether the wireless connection will come up at boot

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

Hi again
ra0 did not load so I need to configure my network to load at boot

For anyone new installing a wireless connection in Mepis 6.0.4-beta 3 This is how I did it.
To manually install Belkin Wireless G F5D7000UK vers 6000 in Mepis 6.0.4-beta 3

Note Before installing, load tofrodos, sysutils and linux-headers-2.6.15-27-desktop with Synaptic

george@1[~]$ su
Password:
root@1[george]# wget http://www.ralinktech.com/drivers/Linux/RT61_Linux_STA_Drv1.1.0.0.tar.gz
(I download to /home/george/downloads/ )
root@1[george]# cd downloads
root@1[downloads]# dir
RT61_Linux_STA_Drv1.1.0.0.tar.gz

root@1[downloads]# tar -zxvf RT61_Linux_STA_Drv1.1.0.0.tar.gz

root@1[downloads]# cd RT61_Linux_STA_Drv1.1.0.0/Module
root@1[Module]# cp Makefile.6 Makefile
root@1[Module]# make

root@1[Module]# mkdir -p /etc/Wireless/RT61STA/
root@1[Module]# cp rt2561.bin /etc/Wireless/RT61STA/
root@1[Module]# cp rt2561s.bin /etc/Wireless/RT61STA/
root@1[Module]# cp rt2661.bin /etc/Wireless/RT61STA/
root@1[Module]# dos2unix rt61sta.dat
root@1[Module]# cp rt61sta.dat /etc/Wireless/RT61STA/rt61sta.dat

root@1[Module]# ifconfig eth0 down
root@1[Module]# ifconfig eth1 down
root@1[Module]# modprobe rt61

root@1[Module]# /sbin/ifconfig ra0 inet dynamic up (if using DHCP )
root@1[Module]# ifconfig ra0

ra0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:17:3F:28:BD:7B
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST DYNAMIC MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:117 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:286 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:13455 (13.1 KiB) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:185

root@1[Module]# iwconfig ra0 essid georgesnetwork
root@1[Module]# iwconfig ra0 freq 2.4 channel 11
root@1[Module]# iwconfig ra0

ra0 RT61 Wireless ESSID:"georgesnetwork"
Mode:Managed Frequency:11 MHz Access Point: 00:0C:F6:25:09:3C
Bit Rate=54 Mb/s
RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Link Quality=79/70 Signal level:-60 dBm Noise level:-95 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

root@1[Module]# dhclient ra0

Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.3
Copyright 2004-2005 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/products/DHCP

Listening on LPF/ra0/00:17:3f:28:bd:7b
Sending on LPF/ra0/00:17:3f:28:bd:7b
Sending on Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on ra0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 4
DHCPOFFER from 192.168.0.1
DHCPREQUEST on ra0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
DHCPACK from 192.168.0.1
bound to 192.168.0.100 -- renewal in 343223 seconds.
root@1[Module]#

This results in a wireless connection being set up.
I now need to configure the wireless network to load at boot.

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

Many thanks to JimCockfield for guiding me through this installation.
I now have a wireless network loading automatically at boot.
I solved the problem of tv interference by reducing the Tx power to 25%. Unfortunately I have been unable to use wpa encryption but I will raise that in another thread.
Thanks again Jim

Regards George

The Devil is in the detail.

I'm glad you got it working. But, it doesn't sound like I helped very much (you ended up doing a lot more than what I'd know how to tell you).

Thank Warren for the distro.

He's the one developing it and making the changes to help support these types of cards.

I'm just a Mepis user (and one that's pretty ignorant about Linux, too). lol

The only reason I jumped in was because I've got a simlar adapter (only mine is USB versus PCI). So, I figured that some of the solutions I found may be of help (but, it looks like you ended up needing to do more to get yours working).

Jim C.