Compaq WL-110 PCMCIA wireless working, but no ping
Forum: Networking
Topic: Compaq WL-110 PCMCIA wireless working, but no ping
started by: Wekkel
Posted by Wekkel on Nov. 27 2004,21:05
Dear fellow forum members,I have been working with DSL for already a month or so on an old Toshiba 530 CDT laptop.
The main specs of this laptop are:
Intel 166mmx
64 Mb RAM
PCMCIA support
I found DSL to be an excellent Linux distro for this old laptop because its resource hunger is very low. Unfortunately, the network settings are giving me trouble. I am running DSL 0.8.4 from HD now.
The network PCMCIA cards concerned are an Xircom ethernet card and a Compaq WL110 PC Card. Both cards are recognised at boot and the proper settings seem to be loaded. A xircom module is loaded and the orinoco_cs module. I have manually entered the setting orinoco_cs in /etc/pcmcia/config so the correct name given
"Compaq WL110 PC Card" is picked up by Cardmanager at boot. My ESSID and WEP key are set. Perhaps strange is that hotplug, which kicks in afterwards, displays the message "DHCP broadcasting for IP (backgrounding)" both for eth0 (Xircom) and eth1 (WL110). Both cards have static IP numbers assigned so what's the DHCP fuzz about?
Anyway, when fluxbox has been loaded and I check the network settings with ifconfig, only lo shows up. I find that strange since I already configured eth0 and eth1 with netcardconfig and wlanconfig. Only after re-running the DSLpanel 'ifconfig' turns out proper settings for eth0 and eth1. Netcardconfig and lanconfig seem to have remembered all the settings from the previous session (I just have to hit enter all the time) so the settings must be remembered and stored somewhere. Why I have to re-run these configuration scripts at a fresh boot is unclear to me. In /etc/network/interfaces and /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts these settings are already stored?
# /etc/network/interfaces -- configuration file for ifup(8), ifdown(8)
# The loopback interface
# automatically added when upgrading
auto lo eth0 eth1
iface lo inet loopback
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.0.128
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.0.0
broadcast 192.168.0.255
gateway 192.168.0.1
iface eth1 inet static
address 192.168.0.129
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.0.0
broadcast 192.168.0.255
gateway 192.168.0.1
/etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts left out because my mouse started hanging for the x-th time tonight (grrrmbl, Linux does have its flaws
). A problem I need to sort out at a later moment together with sound not working.Ok, my internet connection requirements are quite simple. I need an IP number in the range 192.168.0.x, DNS at 192.168.0.1 and gateway at 192.168.0.1 as well.
Now, if I connect the Xircom to my physical network, it works like a charm. Then I am able to ping 192.168.0.1 (my router) and Internet is 'live'. However, if the Xircom does not have a physical connection, nothing happens. Of course, I want the WL110 to take charge at that moment. Unfortunately,
this is not the case.
after re-running netcardconfig and wlanconfig after a fresh boot, the ipsettings shown at 'ifconfig' are correct. As mentioned above, the Xircom works if a physical connection is there. It has IP 192.168.0.128 and MyDSL has been leeched through this faitfull piece of metal. With the physical connection there, I can ping 192.168.0.1 (my router). The WL110 has IP 192.168.0.129. If no physical connection is there and thus, the Xircom is out of the picture (but still connected as hardware), the WL110 has the correct IP setting but does not work. A ping to 192.168.0.1 does not reach its goal. Internet is everything but 'live' and therefore, browsing sites on the couch is impossible ;( Both cards have nameserver and gateway set to 192.168.0.1 so that should be ok. Perhaps it is a setting of eth0 and eth1 in relation to each other which has to be set? The outcome of the command 'route' shows:
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.0.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
192.168.0.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth1
default 192.168.0.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
I had it working under 0.8.3. It is very, very strange that I cannot get it working anymore under 0.8.3. and 0.8.4. anymore :? For your information, I am able to ping the 192.168.0.128 Xircom from my XP machine if physically connected but not the Compaq WL110. I have double checked the wireless settings over and over again and they are really correct.
This leaves me with two primary questions:
1. Why do my network card settings have to be reconfigured each time I do a fresh boot to have 'ifconfig' show proper results for eth0 and eth1?
2. Why doesn't my WL110 take charge if the Xircom does not have a plug connected to the physical network?
Perhaps I'm struck with the same little demon that wreaks havoc here : < http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....;t=3442 >
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 27 2004,21:09
Try adding "nodhcp" boot option to the "append" line inside your Lilo configuration file and then run "lilo -v" under user root access.DSL defaults to trying DHCP unless you tell it otherwise.
Posted by Wekkel on Nov. 28 2004,10:28
I ran "lilo -v" after editing /etc/lilo.conf and DHCP is indeed gone. Thanks. 'ifconfig' now turns up with the correct IP settings for eth0 (192.168.0.128) and eth1 (192.168.0.129) after a fresh boot.That leaves me with question number 2: why is the wireless card not working?
If I connect the physical network, it works. Pinging 192.168.0.1 is possible and pinging 192.168.0.128 and 192.168.0.129 from a XP box in the network is possible. If I disconnect the Xircom from the physical network, pinging playtime is over and all is dead. Only the Xircom and the Compaq card can be pinged from the DSL box (of course
).'iwconfig' gives the correct ESSID and WEP key.
Any suggestions?
Posted by Wekkel on Nov. 29 2004,19:53
Hmm, took out the Xircom card and now its working 
However, my mouse keeps on hanging and that is not funny