Thinkpads Forum

...I've tried both Ubuntu (Hardy) and Fedora 9. Both of them give me the same issues:

1) They load the ipw2200 driver without any noticeable error
2) They show up under iwconfig and ifconfig as eth1
3) They both respond to the "kill switch" and I can make sure they turn on
4) They both can use network manager to list wireless networks in the area (with signal strength)
5) NEITHER can actually connect.

I did connect with Ubuntu for about 10 glorious seconds, and then it went away. I'm using an unsecured network, just to keep things simple as possible. This laptop used to be able to connect, and a friend brought their Mac over and it connected, so I don't suspect an AP problem.

It's fantastically frustrating. I don't mind installing something new, but what I want is some assurance that it will actually work, after going through two full installs so far. I'd love to run this old beast on Linux, but this is frustrating--and from searching, I'm not the only person having this exact same problem (can see networks but not connect)--but no one seems to have an answer. Anyone here have this?

-->VPutz

Welcome to the forum!

I had a similar problem with a T41. IBM replaced the wireless card under warranty and it worked fine ever since. Of course, I had to get the same behavior under Windows for them to support it, but that wasn't awful.

I have a T42 with the Intel 2200BG card. Works fine in Mandriva. Worked out of the box with 2008.1 Powerpack and 2008.1 Live CD. It also worked out of the box with the openSUSE 11 Live CD.

For Mandriva 2007.1 Free I had to download the drivers to the /lib/firmware directory. Of course you have to extract the drivers from the tarball. IIRC I used the latest stable release.

http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/#downloads

Thanks, Whiz!

My problem is a bit more peculiar--I've now tried Ubuntu, Fedora, and OpenSUSE, and I was really excited when I got OpenSUSE to connect wirelessly for about ten minutes last night...

...and then this morning, same problem: can't associate. (and the AP is working, as I was able to connect with my handheld).

So maybe there's something more confused going on with it. In all three cases I had the right (ie most current) firmware in /lib/firmware, and was able to see other networks but not associate.

To recap even more:

1) "iwlist eth0 scan" will show all networks in the vicinity including mine (the one I'm trying to associate with) at strong signal level. This makes me think that firmware is loaded and power is on to the antenna.

2) "iwconfig eth0 essid mynetwork" will set the ssid of the card correctly, as confirmed with "iwconfig"

However, at that point I can't proceed, because "iwconfig" still says "unassociated" (so there's no point in trying dhcp requests, although I have to no gain). I just can't get it to associate. Any suggestions?

Further addendum:

1) The LED flashes periodically, although I have loaded the driver with "associate=0" to prevent random scans (it does this either way).

2) When trying to associate using WPA_SUPPLICANT, I keep getting the following:

Trying to associate with 00:90:d0:ef:0e:de (SSID='mynetwork' freq=2412 MHz)
CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED - Disconnect event - remove keys

...now, this sounds at first like we have the wrong authentication, but the AP is running with NO authentication, and wpa_supplicant.conf just has (for this network) :

network={
ssid="mynetwork"
key_mgmt=NONE
}

So that should be unsecured, I think.

EXTREMELY puzzling and frustrating. I almost suspect that it is scanning in the background and that scanning is forcing it to not associate, but I could be way off.

I just wan to add that I installed Ubuntu 8.04 on my T42P and so far it seems everything is okay. I am connected wirelessly (intel card) and on an ethernet as well. I'll report back if I have any other issues to share here.

Typing this on a T42p (2373-KTU, modified, 2200BG) with Mandriva, wireless worked out of the box. Same thing with Mint.

Hope this helps.

OpenSuSE 10.3 will work fine.

I have a T42 2373 and it runs OpenSuSE very well.

HTH

Good luck

hmm, i've been using linux as my primary os for over 2 years now and i've never had problems with support for my intel 2100/2200/2915 cards. they work fine on my compaq presario 2135, asus z71v, thinkpad x41, and shuttle xpc sd11-g5. i've tried fedora 5,6,7,8,9, suse 10.0,10.1,10.2,11, foresight 1.2, ubuntu dapper and edgy. i have never ever had problems with intel wifi not working on any linux distro i've tried. i've had linksys and dlink wifi routers (never had a netgear or belkin) and the only times i had problems with connectivity, it always ended up being some router setting that i didn't understand and had set incorrectly (or stupid dlink firmware bugs like mac filter allow/deny lists being swapped... yeah, that was fun).

maybe try resetting the router to default?

vputz,
all of my Thinkpads (Intel and Atheros) did work out of the
box with all recent versions of Kubuntu.

There could be an incompatibility with the access point:
The symptoms you describe I've seen connecting a new
HP Pavillion with a Broadcom wireless under Vista not
connecting to a Zyxel P335WT.

Other reasons of connection failure from my experience:
- weak signal
- another router on the same frequency
- wrong password (happend often to me, and then Ubuntu Networkmanger caching wrong connection data)
- your Wireless Card might be damaged

HTH