Where to config wifi card?Forum: System Topic: Where to config wifi card? started by: hseaver Posted by hseaver on Mar. 26 2006,15:14
I've got a prism2 wifi pcmcia card that works great in other linux systems, with both hostap and linux-wlan-ng drivers. I put it in my laptop running the latest DSL, however, and although the card light comes on, and DSL immediately loads drivers (the wrong ones, however, orinoco_cs, orinoco, and hermes) but wlcardconfig says there is no wifi card. Cardctl ident correctly identifies the card as an Intersil network card. If I try to manually run ifconfig wlan0 up or iwconfig or ifup wlan0, it always answers "no device". I rmmod the orinoco and hermes drives, and modprobe either prism2_cs or hostap_cs, both load fine with no errors, but still no joy, whether I try to run the DSL menu thing for prism2, or wlcardconfig or do it manually with ifconfig, etc. So what is the problem? I've even tried editing the /etc/pcmcia files to correctly load the prism2 drivers or the hostap drivers instead of the orinoco ones, and that then works correctly -- but still no joy. Where is this being configured incorrectly? Also, how do you restart pcmcia in DSL since there isn't any /etc/init.d/pcmcia? I'm really mystified by this, I've been running linux and unix systems since 1988 and have never before been unable to get a device to work if I had the correct drivers. Posted by hseaver on April 14 2006,20:23
So there is nobody on here knowledgable enough to even know what to look for in a misconfigured wifi card? Who are the developers for DSL anyway? Don't they ever look at these forums to try to see what needs fixing? The wifi stuff on DSL has got to be the most badly designed of any linux distro ever, you'd sure think somebody would want to fix it. Posted by roberts on April 15 2006,00:57
I guess you expect that we have every possible wifi card that comes on the market. That would be like trying to catch the last train out of Philadelphia. There are extra and newer drivers in the repository. Then there is ndiswrapper. Those will have to be the catch all for now. Posted by hseaver on April 15 2006,01:30
I guess you really didn't read my original post. This is a prism2 card. On any other distro, it works just fine with either prism2 or hostap drivers. Why in the world would you need ndswrapper? Why wouldn't the stock prism2 driver in dsl not work? This is not a very new card, and that, actually, is totally irrelevant, since it is a prism2, and works with that driver elsewhere. And with hostap. Not only that, but cardctl identifies this card correctly, but then DSL loads orinoco drivers. Duh! So then I rmmod them and modprobe either prism2 or hostap -- still doesn't work, although both of those drivers load okay, meaning they see the card and like it. Still, DSL doesn't see it. So the question is --- where is the problem? Doesn't anyone here actually know how to manually configure a network card? I'm a long time unix admin, been running linux ever since the first release, started before that with solaris, xenix, irix, and others --- why is dsl so hard to configure? Graphic config is great for windoze weenies, but where is the command line config? Simple stuff, eh? Posted by roberts on April 15 2006,03:38
Being such an experienced sysadmin, then I would think you might know the module(s) required for your particular chipset. If not maybe google it? Any experienced admin would know how to do an insmod. Pretty easy so far? Then try the wlanctl-ng commands.Need an example? Try looking at the /usr/local/bin/prism2.sh Without actually having this card, I would be shooting in the dark. I do use a prism2 based netgear card that I used to create these scripts and GUI. It works great! Posted by hseaver on April 15 2006,15:04
Boy, you know, instead of just trying to make sarcastic remarks, you might try actually reading what I write. Posted by roberts on April 15 2006,16:30
I was only responding in like terms of your posts.Do you really think it necessary to ask for help by making disparaging remarks. Does doing so give anyone imptetus to even respond? I think not. I am only sorry that I did respond in like terms. Posted by green on April 15 2006,16:47
hseaver,I have only been playing around with linux for a couple of years now and have never messed with unix, aix, hpux, etc. So, I supose this makes me a retard compared to you and your skill level. However, I have never had a problem getting prism2 stuff to work using DSL. They way your questions are percieved will not get you any help. Perhaps the "other" OSes that you mention are what you know and maybe you should stick with them if that is what works for you. Did you perform a search of the forum? There are many things in the forums regarding prism, pcmcia, wlan, etc. I just did a quick search and found some info that may be relevant to your questions. But I am not going to do the search for you because you have so much experience, I am sure that you can do it better than I can. Best of luck of to you. P.S. No, I am not be sarcastic. I am serious. Posted by hseaver on April 15 2006,18:16
No, you did not respond "in like terms". There was nothing like that in either of my first two posts -- and you also responded without ever even really reading my post, or you wouldn't have said what you said. Posted by hseaver on April 15 2006,18:35
Really? What exactly in my first posts was a problem? Did you actually read them? I simply was asking for information on how dsl is configured, since it is, for some reason, done quite differently than most distros. > Perhaps the "other" OSes that you mention are what you know >and maybe you should stick with them if that is what works for >you. Yeah, that's what I seem to hear a lot in the DSL forums. "we really don't know how any of it works, just click on a menu, and if that doesn't work, you don't belong with us so just go away." And yes, I have done many searches on this issue. I'm trying to find someone who actually has a clue about the way dsl is set up, and these forums, unfortunately, are about all there is, since no one has bothered to document anything. Maybe dsl is really "linux for dyslexics" judging from the response I've gotten so far. Posted by doobit on April 15 2006,18:52
You have made some disparaging statement, like this one, in every one of your posts. That's what everyone is refering to, and it's pretty hard getting by the fact that you start off insulting everyone while asking for help. If you want help, then be nice. Posted by hseaver on April 15 2006,20:25
What the hell are you talking about? Please read my first post and tell me exactly what in that you find diparaging. And then, please, read my second one, and tell me what exactly you are offended by in that one. The only thing I can possibly think of in the second one was that I actually (gasp!) said dsl seemed to be broken and wasn't anyone interested in fixing it. Do you really feel that pointing out a flaw is "disparaging"? Oh, my goodness, look -- the emporer wears no clothes. Shhh, we can't talk about that. Posted by clacker on April 16 2006,00:23
hseaver, since your so into having everyone carefully re-reading you posts, I did. Your first post was fine. Unfortunately, no one knew the answer to your query and rather than posting something pointless or incorrect, no one responded to it.You second post was the really bad one. You were obviously upset that no one responded. Did you think we were holding back? You tried to let that out and goad people into giving you any kind of response at all by saying
I certainly am not knowledgeable enough. Thanks for throwing it in my face. I don't have a wireless network so I never played around with this stuff. What is insulting is the use of a negative to change the meaning of a positive and by doing so amplifying the effect. "nobody knowledgeable" is the same as "everyone is stupid." I believe it's called a litotes. I may have the name wrong (as you pointed out I don't know much) but that's why that's insulting. If English isn't your first language you might not have know that.
In other words, "let me speak to the manager, you suck." Again, thanks for nothing. Do I need to explain why this is insulting as well? They work very hard on this, but how can you expect someone to know each and every wireless card and all of the solutions. In answer to your question, roberts (who responded to you better than you deserved) is one of them. I was stunned that he kept talking to you as long as they did, given your childish behavior, but then again he is more professional than myself.
Another verbal barb. Again the positives and negatives combine in attack. Much like the phrase "don't you even care?" Did you think you could appeal to their pride or were you purely trying to make them feel bad?
Wow, if you had enough experience to make such a claim you would know better. I read what you wrote, and except for the first post, which was fine, well written, and clear, the rest were flames. Sorry no one knew the answer, but as you said, there are plenty of other options than a minimal distro that tries to fit as much as it can into 50 Megs that you can explore. Posted by hseaver on April 16 2006,12:53
I guess I have to wonder what the average age-level of the people on this forum is? Very strange "technical" forum. You know I've been posting on technical forums, mostly unix ones, since before there even was an internet. Way, way back on the fidonet forums and bbs. And I have never, ever, before been on a forum where not only did NOBODY have a real technical clue, but the standard response when they couldn't answer a question was "If you don't like our little toy here, then just go away." Bizarre. Posted by safesys on April 16 2006,13:46
Whats bizarre is that you think hurling insults is the way to get an answer as though you have some god given right to get one. I wouldn't be so quick to put the lack of a response down to lack of a "technical clue" as I would to the way you have posted thus far. Posted by hseaver on April 16 2006,14:01
No, the real bizarre thing is how many morons there are who really can't answer the question, but still feel they have to post. Posted by safesys on April 16 2006,14:15
I doubt anyone will read your posts and be bothered to help you even if they could - but of course you'd put that down to them being unable to do so. You've already alienated yourself from some of the most knowledgable people here (not me I hasten to add - you're right about me, I'm just a moron). Posted by hseaver on April 16 2006,16:54
Anyone who was alienated by my first several posts is too childish to have *any* sort of real knowledge anyway, and it is quite apparant from the lack of response to my first posts that there is no one, absolutely no one, on this board who has even remotely any real knowledge about unix systems. Posted by cbagger01 on April 17 2006,04:15
OK,I don't have a prism2-based wifi card or any wifi card for the record, which is why I tend to stay out of these areas but I'll take a stab at researching the topic. 1) What is the make and model number of your card? 2) If you type "lspci" or better yet "lspci -v" or run the "System Stats" program from the GUI, what is the information about your card (Vendor ID, card ID, text info)? 3) Is there a way to check and see if your pcmcia interface is working correctly? IE: If you try a different pcmcia device, does it work? FYI, some prism2 cards can be driven with an orinoco driver and work properly, so this "strange driver is here" observation could be a side issue. But then again, I don't own one of these things so I'm not exactly an expert on the subject. If DSL is loading incorrect network drivers, you can inhibit their loading at boot time using options like expert or maybe dsl nonet and then manually load the correct ones. If they are already loaded, sometimes you can "rmmod" them and then "modprobe" or "insmod" the correct ones into place. Posted by warbuckle on April 20 2006,12:29
Hello,I believe the original poster started out well........but got progressively worse as he posted more replies, however, I do agree with his frustration at no replies to his original query. While I cannot agree with the "route" his later posts took if you look through the forums there are a lot of posts that have been sitting for 2+ weeks with 130+ views, but no replies, it can be very irritating when you discover this fine distro and posts questions that sit for weeks with no replies........ Kudos to the poster prior to me for at least trying. William Posted by cbagger01 on April 20 2006,17:16
The problem with the forums these days (and in some ways, it's a nice problem to have) is that they are too popular.If you try and view new posts from the last day or so, you will come up with a 3-4 page index worth of posts to read. It is not possible for a person to read and respond to all of these posts unless they made it their full-time job. The other downside is the high post rate means that new posts quickly scroll off the horizon unless a conversation begins and/or someone "bumps" them back up. C'est la vie |