Damn Small Linux - Not!

JonMikelV · Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 6

Hi,

I've been fiddling with DSL (and other distros) for a few years but am just now getting around to doing an actual for daily use. I got a laptop w/a bad HDD so figured I could run DSL off of CD or USB drive (both work) and use it for web surfing & stuff.

Anyway, I have DSL 1.5 running (had to turn acpi off) but my networking is MIA. I don't know enough about Linux to be able to tell if the card isn't recognized, the config is bad, a DSL firewall is in the way, or if something else is going on. (I live in an XP world, sorry).

I've tried netconfig w/DHCP (which I have) and it works but I can't ping anything and nothing can ping me, I've tried netconfig with manual setup but I get the same result. I've even tried manual ifconfig and route commands.

Any help would be greatly appreciated [ and I'll apologize now if I missed something in a read-me...I really did read them, but I do have a bad memory. Smile

]

Thanks!

JonMikelV

jhenn5 · Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Maryland

You know this is the Damn Small Linux - NOT forums, not the DSL forums, right? They have their own forums.

JonMikelV · Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 6

jhenn5,

OK. So THAT'S how much of a newbie I am! Embarassed

Thanks for setting me straight!

(Could somebody please kill this thread and make the evidence of my stupidity go away? pleeeaaseee???)

Jon-Mikel

JonMikelV · Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 6

Well, since I can't get my ignorance erased perhaps I can overshadow it with some learning.

I got DSL-N working through USB on my laptop. Wired connection works just fine BUT I can't seem to get the wireless going.

I've got the driver installed, iwconfig lists wlan0 and a MAC for the Access point, and ifconfig reports RX bytes (but no TX bytes)

I have an inet addr, Bcast and Mask...but I STILL can't ping my wireless router over the wireless - even with encryption turned off.

What am I missing?

Thanks.

Jon-Mikel

roberts · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Posts: 320 Location: OC CA USA

I would have removed your post as requested, but I don't have that power.

As for this Q...

Please post the output of iwconfig and ifconfig and /etc/resolv.conf
Is the IP you are getting your's or perhaps your neighbor's? Often times that happens.

JonMikelV · Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 6

roberts - thanks for thinking about it.

As for the IP I know it's mine as it's a fixed IP (set with ifconfig). And I know I'm seeing my router 'cause the ESSID is mine (and I can verify the MAC as well).

iwconfig:
wlan0
IEE 802.11g ESSID:"VDW-WLAN54"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: <withheld, but there>
Bit Rate: 11Mb/s Tx-Power: 13 dBm
RTS thr:2347 B Fragment thr:2346 B
Encryption key: off <I'll be turning it one once I get stuff working>
Power Management max timeout:0us mode:All packets recieved
Link Quality:97/100 Signal level:-53 dBm Noise level:-256 dBm
RX invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retires:59 Invalid misc:2695 Missed beacon:0

ifconfig:
wlan0
Link encap: Ethernet Hwaddr <withheld, but there>
inet addr:192.168.1.204 Bcase:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:1312 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:26078 (25.4 KiB) TX bytes:2520 (2.4 KiB)
Memory:d0000000-d00012fff

/etc/resolve.conf is all commented out:
# Insert nameserver shere
# nameserver 127.0.0.1

I tried adding:
nameserver 192.168.1.1

But even after bringing wlan0 down then up I still can't ping even an IP. Though now that I think about it I'm getting ahead of myself as I can't even ping anything (including the route which iwconfig claims I'm connected to).

Don't tell anybody, but I tried PuppyLinx 2.0 and was able to get ping working (though not DNS stuff) so I know it's possible to get as far as ping. But since PuppyLinux uses a 'wizard' type thing for setting up wireless I don't know what it did that I'm NOT doing in DSL-N.

Again a bit ahead of myself but I even tried adding a default gatewar to no avail:
route add default gw 192.168.1.1 wlan0

There's gotta be one simple thing I'm missing...

Thanks for all your help!

Jon-Mikel

Winter Knight · Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 65

What is the brand and model of your card? It isn't always necessary to say, but it often helps, and never hurts.

I was having a hell of a time getting my card to work a while ago; when I discovered the scripts (ndiswrapper script from control panel), it just magically, all of a sudden worked. Computers statistically make less errors than humans.

So, how are you setting up your card? Are you using one of the DSL scripts, or downloading and manually configuring a driver?

Winter Knight · Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 65

I was rereading your post, and I think I noticed something. You assigned yourself a static IP, and mentioned resolv.conf, but made no mention of a route.

What is the output of "route"?

If you don't have a gateway, type:

[code:1]route add default gw 192.168.1.1[/code:1]

Change 192.168.1.1 to the address of your wireless router, if necessary.

This is what I noticed when I stopped using a dynamic IP and started using a static IP. In addition to assigning myself an IP, I need to add a route and some info to /etc/dhcpc/resolv.conf