Ubuntu and Wireless

[chazdraves]

I've just installed the latest version of Ubuntu, and everything is working like a gem except my wireless. I'm using a Linksys 802.11g adapter (which Ubuntu seems to recognize). Ubuntu is able to find the available networks as well as begin connecting to them (it'll ask for a WEP key or whatever the case), but it never actually connects. It just sits there grinding and then finally gives up. I've tried manual and automatic configurations, but I'm getting nowhere fast. Anybody?

Thanks,
- Chaz

 

[jkresh]

have you tried to change one of the networks to unecrypted (turn off wep and wpa) just to see if wep/wpa is the problem?

 

[chazdraves]

Yes. And it actually seems to connect without the encryption (It tells me connected and the signal strength) but none of my net-based apps work and I cannot ping anything.

- Chaz

 

[n0cmonkey]

Anything in the logs?
Are you sure you're using the right WEP/WPA key? Have you tried the hex version instead of the plaintext?

 

[chazdraves]

Yes, I've tried both. And, as I mentioned, it will technically "connect" with the WEP disabled, but I can't use it. It says connected and the signal strength, but nothing works...

Where would I find the logs? (total Linux newbie here)

Thanks, guys!
- Chaz

 

[n0cmonkey]

Logs are in: /var/log
Do you get an IP address from DHCP when you connect to the wireless network? Any errors when you try?

 

[gus6464]

I had the same problem connecting to my home wireless network with WPA2 encryption. You might have to do a manual configuration but its simple enough. This is probably the best wireless guide for connecting to encrypted networks with ubuntu.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=202834

 

[chazdraves]

^--- Well, I really thought that had done the trick. I did the file to the letter and restarted my networking. It initially logged on to the wired connection so I removed that. Then it said it was connected to my wireless (as it has done before) with a 78% signal strength. I hit refresh on the web only to find that it wasn't actually working. I restarted the network again (this time with the LAN unplugged) and this is what I get:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
* Reconfiguring network interfaces... RTNETLINK answers: No such process
There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.eth0.pid with pid 6847440
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.4
Copyright 2004-2006 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

Listening on LPF/eth0/00:e0:4c:f9:b7:27
Sending on LPF/eth0/00:e0:4c:f9:b7:27
Sending on Socket/fallback
DHCPRELEASE on eth0 to 192.168.1.1 port 67
eth1: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.eth1.pid with pid 6847440
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.4
Copyright 2004-2006 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

SIOCSIFADDR: No such device
eth1: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
eth1: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
Bind socket to interface: No such device
Failed to bring up eth1.
eth2: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.eth2.pid with pid 6847440
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.4
Copyright 2004-2006 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

SIOCSIFADDR: No such device
eth2: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
eth2: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
Bind socket to interface: No such device
Failed to bring up eth2.
ath0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.ath0.pid with pid 6847440
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.4
Copyright 2004-2006 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

SIOCSIFADDR: No such device
ath0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
ath0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device
Bind socket to interface: No such device
Failed to bring up ath0.
ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported
WEXT auth param 7 value 0x1 - ioctl[SIOCSIWENCODEEXT]: Operation not supported
ioctl[SIOCSIWENCODEEXT]: Operation not supported
ioctl[SIOCSIWENCODEEXT]: Operation not supported
ioctl[SIOCSIWENCODEEXT]: Operation not supported
ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported
WEXT auth param 4 value 0x0 - ioctl[SIOCSIWAUTH]: Operation not supported
WEXT auth param 5 value 0x1 - SIOCADDRT: Network is unreachable
Failed to bring up ra1.
There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.eth0.pid with pid 6847440
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.4
Copyright 2004-2006 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

Listening on LPF/eth0/00:e0:4c:f9:b7:27
Sending on LPF/eth0/00:e0:4c:f9:b7:27
Sending on Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 4
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 16
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
[ OK ]

My wireless is device ra1, but I don't even see it listed above. Nevertheless, it told me it was connected at 78% still. I finally just re-plugged the ethernet cable (which my wife loves that I have running across the walkway...) so I could type this message.

I'm at a total loss here, anybody know what's going on?

Thanks a lot, guys!
- Chaz

 

[chazdraves]

Also:

chaz@chaz-desktop:~$ iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

ra1 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:16:B6:32:00:4D
ESSID:"Das ist Mein!"
Mode:Managed
Channel:6
Encryption keyn
Quality:0/100 Signal level:-52 dBm Noise level:-256 dBm

chaz@chaz-desktop:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

ra1 RT61 Wireless ESSID:"" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Bit Rate=54 Mb/s
RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Link Quality=78/100 Signal level:-61 dBm Noise level:-111 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

Thanks,
- Chaz

 

[chazdraves]

Anybody?

- Chaz

 

[Mogadon]

Specifically which linksys adapter are you using?

 

[postmortemIA]

For WEP, play with shared/open access until it works
For WPA, make sure that you know what you have set-up.

 

[nweaver]

connect to the network, then type
ifcconfig ra1 up
and then type
dhclient ra1

and see what happens. You should remove the other adapters from /etc/network/interfaces, and make sure you have a config for ra1 in there (and eth0, if that's your wired config)

 

[gus6464]

Post your /etc/network/interfaces with the wep settings you used. Also are you broadcasting your ssid or no?

 

[chazdraves]

Wow! Thanks for the responses.

I believe the adapter is a WMP54G

bash: ifcconfig: command not found

INTERFACES:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback


auto eth1
iface eth1 inet dhcp

auto eth2
iface eth2 inet dhcp

auto ath0
iface ath0 inet dhcp

auto ra1
iface ra1 inet static
address 192.168.1.121
gateway 66.228.245.1
dns-nameservers 66.228.226.10
netmask 255.255.255.0
wpa-driver wext
wpa-ssid Das ist Mein!
wpa-ap-scan 1
wpa-proto RSN
wpa-pairwise CCMP
wpa-group CCMP
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
wpa-psk -deleted-

^--- That was per the setup file you pointed me to earlier. Normally that would be setup for a 64-bit WEP key or no security. And I believe I'm broadcasting.

Thanks, guys! This is really driving me nutz. I hate to say it, but if this were Windows, we wouldn't be having this conversation. This Linux business seems to work wonderfully until something goes wrong or until you need to get something that didn't come with the install. What's worse is that you can't really just guess and dig around until you find it, you have to go online and ask because it always comes down to some command line that you can't simply make up. Related example: I still can't get AA/AF to work on my video card even though "nvidia-settings" says they're both enabled... Oy!

- Chaz

 

[Nothinman]

bash: ifcconfig: command not found

He meant ifconfig, with just one 'c'.

I hate to say it, but if this were Windows, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

No, you'd be posting screenshots of the Windows networking UI and running in circles there because it's got to to be the most horrible UI I've ever seen. Using iwconfig and ifconfig to configure my wifi has always been simpler than that crap.

What's worse is that you can't really just guess and dig around until you find it, you have to go online and ask because it always comes down to some command line that you can't simply make up.

Sure you can, once you get accustomed to the system you learn to use 'man -k' to search for man pages and figure out which commands are relevant and/or to read the stuff in /usr/share/doc to get you started.

 

[chazdraves]

^--- Uh-oh! Now I've stirred up the hornets!

Anyone know what's going on with my network? I'm still stumped here.

Thanks, guys!
- Chaz

 

[Nothinman]

There's no hornets here. But I can't offer any real help because my RALink card always "just worked" for me.

 

[stupidkid]

Well since it doesn't even work with encryption disabled, I doubt it'll work with encryption on. You should get the network to work without encryption first. I always thought that when a card can scan through iwlist, it means its working. See if these commands work (run as root, sudo or w/e) after you turn off encryption

iwconfig ra1 essid ESSID
dhclient ra1
ping something

Replace ESSID with w/e your essid is.

(Sorry if one of these commands isn't correct, I haven't manually configured wireless for a while now).

Btw if you're really desperate, get an atheros card, those work without much hassle.

2nd edit: Gentoo forums has some of the most proficient Linux users (way better than Ubuntu forums), you could post your issue there since it really isn't distro specific.