Wireless issues - (Help convert this Windows user, please!)

[sifuhall 0]

Hello all.

 

The only thing preventing me from converting fully to Linux is I cannot seem to get my wlan card to work properly.

 

Based on advice from a friend I am evaluating the 30 day trial version of linuxant drverloader (linuxant.com). Also, I have a Belkin F5D7010 PCMCIA card and it works well under Windows.

 

In Linux (SuSe 10.1) I have installed the rpm for linuxant and installed the drivers as per the instructions. I have also entered my temporary license # and according to the web page everything is OK.

 

Next I went into yast and set up my network and WEP information.

 

I'm at a loss as to what I must do next. My browser (firefox) isn't working and I don't know enough about Linux to know where to begin troubleshooting.

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[danleff 0]

Quote:

Also, I have a Belkin F5D7010 PCMCIA card and it works well under Windows.

Actually, this model is a cardbus. A small distinction, but the Linuxant drivers do work with cardbus and not with PCMCIA 16 bit adapters. So we know this is OK.

This is a HUGE topic with laptops. There can be several issues.

What exact make and model laptop is this? yes, it can make a difference, as it depends on if the laptop has issues with ACPI (power management) in Linux.

It sounds like you got as far as setting up the card in Yast.

1. Did you set the proper WEP key (64 bit vs, 128) and essid?

2. What mode did you set the card to; managed, adhoc, open?

From the linuxant faq page;

Quote:

There are sometimes compatibility problems when the Access Point key mode is set to "automatic" so you can try to choose "open system" or "shared key" instead.

See the Linuxant faq page here.

3. You did install the linuxant driver that exactly matches your kernel version?

4. Did you try to reboot the system and see if the card is still recognized and if there is an internet connection?

Get into a terminal window, as root user and type in the command iwconfig

(that is the small letter "I"}

There should be output that shows if an access point is seen and if WEP is actually set. The output should look something like;

eth0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:""
Mode: Ad-Hoc Bit Rate=54Mb/s Tx-Power=10 dBm
RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Encryption key: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XX
Power Managmentff
Link Quality: 0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid: 0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon

If the output does not show the exact encription key, then this is the issue.

One the first line, the essid should match the one set on the router.

Does the output show and accesss point on the first line?

Does the Link quality line actually show some signal level, not zero?

I know this will be difficult, since you do not have the laptop up on the internet tom post information, but, well, you get the idea. To see how complex setting up the driver can be on a laptop, see this thread about your card.

I would enlist the help of you friend to help set this up, especially if he has experience with the Linuxant drivers.