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Linux Help on X24
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:15 pm
by Doctor Device
a while ago I bought a thinkpad X24 2662-MPU. I bought it specifically to learn Linux on. since I bought it, I've gone through 5 or 6 distros of Linux, with varying degrees of success, but always without Wireless. I just can't make it work. (and yes, I know the 2662-MPU was not designed for wireless, but bear with me).
on rare occasion I can get Linux to recognize that there is a wireless card, and only once, actually made a connection. of course, that turned out to be a fluke, I was never able to get it to reconnect. I'm trying to access an open AP, broadcasting it's SSID, but even with the laptop 8 inches from the antenna, most of the time I get nothing. several distributions have insisted, vehemently, that my wireless card is two wired network cards on one board.
you can understand how irritating this is, I'm sure. so my big question, is what distro would the forum recommend for the best wireless support. I'm sure I will also need help with setup and tweaking, but let's take this one step at a time.
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:47 pm
by ajkula66
How about we begin with eliminating the distros that you've already tried?
What wireless card are you using?
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:35 pm
by Harryc
...and what chipset is onboard the wireless card?
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 1:22 am
by Doctor Device
distros I have tried: X/K/Ubuntu 6.x/7.04, Xubuntu 7.10 (what I am using now), DSL, PCLinuxOS, and SAM. I think I may just have the curse of Anti-Linux... do I have the Mark of Bill Gates on my forehead?
the card is
this one
the chipset is "Intersil Corporation Prism 2.5 Wavelan chipset" (or so says lspci and lshw).
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 2:35 am
by ajkula66
I can tell you for a fact that aforementioned card works in Linspire 5.0/Freespire 2.0 with no issues.
I've had it working under Kubuntu 7.10 as well as under SuSE 9.2 Professional.
This one will need re-testing on my part, but I'm fairly certain that it works on Linux Mint (Daryna)
It may or may not work (I don't like the inconsistency of its performance) under Fedora 8.
Hope this helps.
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 6:23 pm
by Doctor Device
I neglected to mention that when I tried Linux Mint (about a week ago), it locked up hard when I tried to enable the wireless interface.
I'm actually in a live instance of freespire 2.0.8 right now, and I am running into a problem that I encountered in kubuntu 6.x. the network settings don't even acknowledge the existence of wireless capabilities in my wireless card, though knetworkmanager will happily try to activate wireless networking anyway. which means it gets to 28% in trying to connect wirelessly and hangs permanently.
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 6:39 pm
by ajkula66
Hate to tell you, but it seems to me like you have an underlying hardware issue.
I've had this card running Linspire/Freespire on at least a dozen A31p machines over the last year, never an issue.
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2008 6:46 pm
by Doctor Device
that's what makes it so weird! under windows the card works perfectly, but it refuses to co-operate under linux.
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 1:30 am
by lightweight
Since this is your learning computer for Linux, why jump to another distro instead of figuring out the problem? Post output from
Code: Select all
lsmod
sudo ifconfig
sudo iwconfig
sudo iwlist scanning
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 5:50 pm
by Doctor Device
lightweight wrote:Since this is your learning computer for Linux, why jump to another distro instead of figuring out the problem? Post output from
Code: Select all
lsmod
sudo ifconfig
sudo iwconfig
sudo iwlist scanning
it is easier for me to learn how something works if it starts out working. it is kind of hard to know if you've made a mistake when you results are either "it doesn't work" or "it still doesn't work".
LSMODCode: Select all
Module Size Used by
radeon 124576 0
drm 81812 1 radeon
binfmt_misc 13064 1
ipv6 274080 14
af_packet 24072 2
forward_oss 15144 2
ppdev 10116 0
lp 12548 0
tc1100_wmi 8068 0
pcc_acpi 13184 0
sony_acpi 6284 0
dev_acpi 12164 0
video 16260 0
battery 10756 0
ibm_acpi 31512 0
container 5248 0
sbs 15528 0
button 8720 0
i2c_ec 6016 1 sbs
i2c_core 23424 1 i2c_ec
dock 10424 0
ac 6020 0
asus_acpi 17308 0
backlight 6784 2 ibm_acpi,asus_acpi
ohci1394 36528 0
ieee1394 300120 1 ohci1394
usb_storage 72128 0
libusual 17936 1 usb_storage
ext3 134152 0
jbd 63528 1 ext3
ext2 67080 0
mbcache 9604 2 ext3,ext2
loop 18312 0
vfat 14208 0
fat 54044 1 vfat
sr_mod 17188 0
sd_mod 23556 0
hostap_pci 56976 0
hostap 114820 1 hostap_pci
ieee80211_crypt 7040 1 hostap
pcmcia 39596 0
orinoco_pci 8064 0
orinoco 43156 1 orinoco_pci
hermes 8448 2 orinoco_pci,orinoco
snd_intel8x0 34588 1
prism2_pci 70784 0
p80211 31884 1 prism2_pci
snd_ac97_codec 98464 1 snd_intel8x0
ac97_bus 3200 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss 45056 0
snd_mixer_oss 17920 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 80260 3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 4740 0
snd_seq_oss 33408 0
snd_seq_midi 9600 0
snd_rawmidi 25856 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 8448 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
irtty_sir 9600 0
sir_dev 17540 1 irtty_sir
nsc_ircc 24208 0
irda 201532 3 irtty_sir,sir_dev,nsc_ircc
crc_ccitt 3072 1 irda
yenta_socket 27532 2
rsrc_nonstatic 14080 1 yenta_socket
parport_pc 36644 1
parport 37576 3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc
snd_seq 53232 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
pcmcia_core 41624 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
snd_timer 24196 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 9100 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd 54788 12 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore 9440 1 snd
serio_raw 7940 0
snd_page_alloc 10888 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
pcspkr 4224 0
iTCO_wdt 12072 0
iTCO_vendor_support 4868 1 iTCO_wdt
intel_agp 26140 1
shpchp 34324 0
pci_hotplug 33608 1 shpchp
agpgart 35788 2 drm,intel_agp
tsdev 8768 0
evdev 11008 4
cpufreq_powersave 2688 0
cpufreq_conservative 8200 0
cpufreq_ondemand 9356 1
cpufreq_userspace 5408 0
speedstep_ich 6288 0
speedstep_lib 6148 1 speedstep_ich
freq_table 5792 2 cpufreq_ondemand,speedstep_ich
psmouse 38792 0
reiserfs 247680 1
ide_cd 32672 0
cdrom 37664 2 sr_mod,ide_cd
ide_disk 17024 3
floppy 59748 0
piix 11140 0 [permanent]
generic 5124 0 [permanent]
e100 36488 0
mii 6528 1 e100
ata_generic 9092 0
libata 125848 1 ata_generic
scsi_mod 143116 4 usb_storage,sr_mod,sd_mod,libata
uhci_hcd 25488 0
usbcore 135048 4 usb_storage,libusual,uhci_hcd
thermal 14856 0
processor 31560 1 thermal
fan 5636 0
capability 5896 0
commoncap 8192 1 capability
vesafb 9220 0
fbcon 43296 0
tileblit 3584 1 fbcon
font 9216 1 fbcon
bitblit 6912 1 fbcon
softcursor 3200 1 bitblit
Code: Select all
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:D0:59:CF:2B:C8
inet addr:192.168.1.103 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::2d0:59ff:fecf:2bc8/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:909 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:784 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:1058385 (1.0 MiB) TX bytes:132478 (129.3 KiB)
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:18 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:18 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1260 (1.2 KiB) TX bytes:1260 (1.2 KiB)
Code: Select all
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
irda0 no wireless extensions.
wlan0 no wireless extensions.
Code: Select all
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.
eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.
irda0 Interface doesn't support scanning.
wlan0 No scan results
it looks to me like freespire did not even install the driver for the card, but I am definitely not an expert.
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:15 pm
by lightweight
It looks like the driver is found (these are the orinoco modules in your lsmod) but that the nic is down. So, let's make connection as easy as possible by turning off any encryption/key needed at the access point. Then let's try to be logical about points of failure.
Open two terminals and put them beside one another on the same screen. In #1 you're going to do this:
So you can see the system logs.
in #2, you're going to run the following commands. If you get an error in terminal #2, you're going to post it and the new stuff from term #1.
first bring up wlan0 using Linux' default networking configuration tool, ifconfig.
then see if it will let you scan.
Get a list? If yes, you can configure using
Code: Select all
sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid [your access point name]
replace your access point name with the actual access point name. Exclude the brackets.
Then do another iwconfig to see if you are actually seeing packets transmitted and received.
And if you do, let's get a dhcp lease.
If anything hiccups, remember to post the output of /var/log/messages (terminal 1) from the time of the error as well. We also want to check dmesg but may as well filter our output using grep, our handy cli searcher. (grep -e/egrep allows regular expressions.)
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dmesg |egrep -i "orinoco|prism|hermes|ath|net"
Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:44 am
by Doctor Device
error right out of the gate. "sudo ifconfig wlan0 up" resulted in
no change in the system logs.
Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:22 pm
by Doctor Device
so is it safe to assume that something is wrong with the hardware itself? or is the issue just requiring very deep research?
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:39 am
by lightweight
What's the dmesg output?
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dmesg |egrep -i "orinoco|prism|hermes|ath|net"
Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:42 pm
by Doctor Device
gah! I always forget to read all of the instructions.
dmesg |egrep -i "orinoco|prism|hermes|ath|net"Code: Select all
[ 5.004336] NET: Registered protocol family 16
[ 5.055185] NET: Registered protocol family 8
[ 5.055189] NET: Registered protocol family 20
[ 5.058173] NET: Registered protocol family 2
[ 6.055985] audit: initializing netlink socket (disabled)
[ 6.480978] NET: Registered protocol family 1
[ 8.944108] e100: Intel(R) PRO/100 Network Driver, 3.5.17-k2-NAPI
[ 19.072000] prism2pci_init: prism2_pci.o: 0.2.5 Loaded
[ 19.072000] A Prism2.5 PCI device found, phymem:0xf0000000, irq:11, mem:0xd0a58000
[ 20.600000] NET: Registered protocol family 23
[ 20.823000] orinoco 0.15 (David Gibson <hermes@gibson.dropbear.id.au>, Pavel Roskin <proski@gnu.org>, et al)
[ 20.826000] orinoco_pci 0.15 (Pavel Roskin <proski@gnu.org>, David Gibson <hermes@gibson.dropbear.id.au> & Jean Tourrilhes <jt@hpl.hp.com>)
[ 31.457000] ibm_acpi: http://ibm-acpi.sf.net/
[ 71.449000] NET: Registered protocol family 17
[ 74.865000] NET: Registered protocol family 10
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:02 pm
by lightweight
Sidetracked from the internets by work + drinking
Poking around, Freespire reports a problem with their Prism/Orinoco modules on their wiki. See the hardware section:
http://wiki.freespire.org/index.php/Freespire_2_Bugs It appears unloading, renaming, and reloading the modules works. Weaksauce, but their forums or some digging should have more info.
Or, try the steps above with one of your other distros. It's not a big deal if the wireless interface comes up as eth1 with some distro -- you can still move forward.
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:34 pm
by Doctor Device
under SAM I get the following:
TERMINAL 1Code: Select all
Feb 3 21:23:06 localhost kernel: netfilter PSD loaded - (c) astaro AG
Feb 3 21:23:06 localhost kernel: IFWLOG: register target
Feb 3 21:23:06 localhost logger: Shorewall started
Feb 3 21:24:07 localhost gconfd (doc-5332): starting (version 2.14.0), pid 5332 user 'doc'
Feb 3 21:24:07 localhost gconfd (doc-5332): Resolved address "xml:readonly:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.mandatory" to a read-only configuration source at position 0
Feb 3 21:24:07 localhost gconfd (doc-5332): Resolved address "xml:readonly:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.local-mandatory" to a read-only configuration source at position 1
Feb 3 21:24:07 localhost gconfd (doc-5332): Resolved address "xml:readwrite:/home/doc/.gconf" to a writable configuration source at position 2
Feb 3 21:24:07 localhost gconfd (doc-5332): Resolved address "xml:readonly:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.local-defaults" to a read-only configuration source at position 3
Feb 3 21:24:07 localhost gconfd (doc-5332): Resolved address "xml:readonly:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.defaults" to a read-only configuration source at position 4
Feb 3 21:24:08 localhost net_applet[5321]: ### Program is starting ###
Feb 3 21:26:07 localhost ntpd[3142]: synchronized to LOCAL(0), stratum=10
Feb 3 21:30:26 localhost ntpd[3142]: synchronized to LOCAL(0), stratum=10
Feb 3 21:31:14 localhost tp-fancontrol[1577]: Changing fan level: 0->4 (temps: 42 46 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 , _ )
Feb 3 21:35:45 localhost ntpd[3142]: synchronized to 208.75.88.4, stratum=2
Code: Select all
[root@localhost doc]# ifconfig wlan0 up
wlan0: unknown interface: No such device
clearly this presents a problem.
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:29 am
by lightweight
Your errors related to gconfd (Gnome) and in your log output do not appear to be related to networking. Better to use ifconfig, iwconfig, dmesg, and lspci to find your device information, so you are not dependent on the gui frontends (and whatever limitations they have) of whichever desktop/manager you use.
I had to google to find out what SAM is. While all Linux is Linux, I would suggest starting with something stable and widely supported, like Debian or it's derivatives (Ubuntu, Knoppix, Mepis, [censored] Small, etc) or Redhat/Fedora or Slackware derivative (SLAX, for example). I understand this goes against earlier posts of not changing distros, but I see your point now. Modern releases of stable and old school distributions with reasonable hardware support are often easiest, despite that being intuitively incorrect. Orinoco/Prism/Hermes hardware support is reasonable -- these were the chipsets most used when wireless support in Linux was more limited.
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:23 pm
by Doctor Device
it just got more confusing.
I decided to try reinstalling xubuntu 7.10, until I remembered that it takes almost 3 minutes to boot on my X24 (I don't know how that's possible, windows XP doesn't even take that long).
so now I'm sitting on a live OEM session of Ubuntu 7.10... and wireless networking just works. I can't think of a reason why it would, though.
I knew it wouldn't be that easy. it only successfully connected once. once I tried to change AP's, it not only lost it's original connection, it was unable to establish a new connection OR recover the original. apparently I have to be VERY sure of what wireless network I connect to, because I'm not allowed to change my mind.
EDIT: SAM is PCLinuxOS with xfce as it's front end. it is based on Mandrake/Mandriva. I chose it because it boots fairly quickly, and one of the first things it does during live boot is ask how you want networking configured.
and bizarrely enough, wireless is working here as well, though I did have to input the network name manually, so it will probably crash and burn hardcore when I try to change networks, but we'll see/
Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:45 pm
by whizkid
This may not be related at all, but I hope it helps.
I recently bought a T41p on eBay from user ibmfactoryoutlet. It has a 90 day warranty. The WiFi (Atheros a/b/g card) worked fine until I plugged in the wired network. After that, it could see networks, get their names, and associate with them, but it never got an IP address, or did so maybe one in 20 tries.
IBM sent me a new card and it works great. If the card is always seen, it could be bad in a subtle way. If it's not always seen, you could have a problem with the MiniPCI slot.