[gentoo-user] Wireless Help

[gentoo-user] Wireless Help

[Colleen Beamer]

Hi,

Okay so, I'm a wireless idiot.  I've found the wiki that outlines the
use of wireless-tools or wpa-supplicant.  However, my problem is that I
don't know where to begin.

My wireless adapter for my notebook is a Linksys WPC54G.  I think that I
have to use ndiswrapper in order to install the driver for the card.

So, my question is, once I install ndiswrapper and the driver, do I then
follow the wiki for either wireless-tools or (preferred)
wpa-supplicant?  Is there anything else I have to do or install?

Regards,

Colleen

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Re: [gentoo-user] Wireless Help

[A. R.]

> So, my question is, once I install ndiswrapper and the driver, do I then
> follow the wiki for either wireless-tools or (preferred)
> wpa-supplicant?  Is there anything else I have to do or install?
>
> Regards,
>
> Colleen
>

Hello,

May I suggest that you try first with wireless-tools?


Things you need to know:
1. The interface id of the wireless card (eth0, eth1, wlan0 etc...)
2. The "essid" of the wireless access point you are connecting to.
3. The encryption key (if any) for wireless access (WEP)

Once you have those you can run the following commands (after you have
emerged wireless-tools) Using eth1 as the interface for example:

iwconfig eth1 essid <the essid of the access point>
iwconfig eth1 key <the encryption key>
dhcpcd eth1

If this works, then depending on how you want to configure your box
you may want to set all this configuration in the file
/etc/conf.d/wireless (BTW, please take a look at the file
/etc/conf.d/wireless.example, it does have very good comments that
would make this very understandable), or you may want to go for
wpa_supplicant.

HTH

- AR


If you stare long enough into an abyss, the abyss will stare back into you...
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Re: [gentoo-user] Wireless Help

[Colleen Beamer]

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On 7/5/06, A. R. <feoymalo@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > So, my question is, once I install ndiswrapper and the driver, do I then
> > follow the wiki for either wireless-tools or (preferred)
> > wpa-supplicant?  Is there anything else I have to do or install?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Colleen
> >
>
> Hello,
>
> May I suggest that you try first with wireless-tools?
>
>
> Things you need to know:
> 1. The interface id of the wireless card (eth0, eth1, wlan0 etc...)
> 2. The "essid" of the wireless access point you are connecting to.
> 3. The encryption key (if any) for wireless access (WEP)
>
> Once you have those you can run the following commands (after you have
> emerged wireless-tools) Using eth1 as the interface for example:
>
> iwconfig eth1 essid <the essid of the access point>
> iwconfig eth1 key <the encryption key>
> dhcpcd eth1


Okay, I emerged ndiswrapper which also emerged wireless-tools.  I haven't
yet created any configuration files.  However, if I run iwconfig, this is
what I get:

localhost ~ # iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"beam26wireless"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 00:13:10:99:9C:BF
          Bit Rate:54 Mb/s   Tx-Power:25 dBm
          RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:100/100  Signal level:-60 dBm  Noise level:-256 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

So, I assume that eth1 would be replaced by wlan0 in the commands above,
correct?



If this works, then depending on how you want to configure your box
> you may want to set all this configuration in the file
> /etc/conf.d/wireless (BTW, please take a look at the file
> /etc/conf.d/wireless.example, it does have very good comments that
> would make this very understandable), or you may want to go for
> wpa_supplicant.



Well, I already have wireless-tools on my laptop because it was installed
with ndiswrapper.  As you note, my access point (a wireless cable/DSL
router) is recognized and I realize that there isn't an encryption key set.

The thing is, I *have* looked at /etc/conf.d/wireless.example and it may as
well be hieroglyphics.  I don't know which section to alter.  Right now, if
I'm on my laptop, I want to be able to connect to the access point in my
apartment.  However, if I'm at someplace that has wireless access, I want to
be able to scan for an available network.  So, I don't know what section to
changed.

I'm just a user and not a network person, so further help would be
appreciated.


Regards,

Colleen






>

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Re: [gentoo-user] Wireless Help

[Michael Crute]

On 7/7/06, Colleen Beamer <colleen.beamer@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> On 7/5/06, A. R. <feoymalo@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > So, my question is, once I install ndiswrapper and the driver, do I then
> > > follow the wiki for either wireless-tools or (preferred)
> > > wpa-supplicant?  Is there anything else I have to do or install?
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Colleen
> > >
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > May I suggest that you try first with wireless-tools?
> >
> >
> > Things you need to know:
> > 1. The interface id of the wireless card (eth0, eth1, wlan0 etc...)
> > 2. The "essid" of the wireless access point you are connecting to.
> > 3. The encryption key (if any) for wireless access (WEP)
> >
> > Once you have those you can run the following commands (after you have
> > emerged wireless-tools) Using eth1 as the interface for example:
> >
> > iwconfig eth1 essid <the essid of the access point>
> > iwconfig eth1 key <the encryption key>
> > dhcpcd eth1
>
>
> Okay, I emerged ndiswrapper which also emerged wireless-tools.  I haven't
> yet created any configuration files.  However, if I run iwconfig, this is
> what I get:
>
> localhost ~ # iwconfig
> lo        no wireless extensions.
>
> eth0      no wireless extensions.
>
> wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"beam26wireless"
>           Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: 00:13:10:99:9C:BF
>           Bit Rate:54 Mb/s   Tx-Power:25 dBm
>           RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
>           Encryption key:off
>           Power Management:off
>           Link Quality:100/100  Signal level:-60 dBm  Noise level:-256 dBm
>           Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
>           Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
>
> So, I assume that eth1 would be replaced by wlan0 in the commands above,
> correct?
>
>
>
> > If this works, then depending on how you want to configure your box
> > you may want to set all this configuration in the file
> > /etc/conf.d/wireless (BTW, please take a look at the file
> > /etc/conf.d/wireless.example, it does have very good comments that
> > would make this very understandable), or you may want to go for
> > wpa_supplicant.
>
>
>
> Well, I already have wireless-tools on my laptop because it was installed
> with ndiswrapper.  As you note, my access point (a wireless cable/DSL
> router) is recognized and I realize that there isn't an encryption key set.
>
> The thing is, I *have* looked at /etc/conf.d/wireless.example and it may as
> well be hieroglyphics.  I don't know which section to alter.  Right now, if
> I'm on my laptop, I want to be able to connect to the access point in my
> apartment.  However, if I'm at someplace that has wireless access, I want to
> be able to scan for an available network.  So, I don't know what section to
> changed.


Hi Colleen,

I would really recommend you use wpa_supplicant as IMO it is far
easier to configure and supports more access methods than iwconfig.
Since your wireless card is clearly detected it should be trivial to
setup. Check out this article in the wiki (which you may have already
looked at): http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Wireless_Configuration_and_Startup#Configuration_using_wpa_supplicant

-Mike


-- 
________________________________
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http://mike.crute.org

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended
up where I intended to be. --Douglas Adams
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Re: [gentoo-user] Wireless Help

[Colleen Beamer]

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Okay, I'm totally confused now and don't know what to do!

On 7/7/06, Michael Crute <mcrute@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> I would really recommend you use wpa_supplicant as IMO it is far
> easier to configure and supports more access methods than iwconfig.
> Since your wireless card is clearly detected it should be trivial to
> setup. Check out this article in the wiki (which you may have already
> looked at):
> http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Wireless_Configuration_and_Startup#Configuration_using_wpa_supplicant



When I boot my computer and do modprobe ndiswrapper, and then run iwconfig,
I get the following (as I stated in my previous post)

>
> > localhost ~ # iwconfig
> > lo        no wireless extensions.
> >
> > eth0      no wireless extensions.
> >
> > wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"beam26wireless"
> >           Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point:
> 00:13:10:99:9C:BF
> >           Bit Rate:54 Mb/s   Tx-Power:25 dBm
> >           RTS thr:2347 B   Fragment thr:2346 B
> >           Encryption key:off
> >           Power Management:off
> >           Link Quality:100/100  Signal level:-60 dBm  Noise level:-256
> dBm
> >           Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
> >           Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0



I can connect in a "clunky" fashion if I type 'ifconfig wlan0 up' and then
'dhcpcd wlan0' from the command line.

However, what I want to do is to be able to connect automatically to my
wireless access point, or for that matter any available wireless access
point.

So, I took the above advice and emerged wpa_supplicant.

Following the wiki, I created very simple wpa_supplicant.conf file by
copying the following lines from the wpa_supplicant.conf.example file,
pasting them into the wpa_supplicant.conf file that I was creating and
modifying them for my own situation.

network={
        ssid="beam26wireless"
        scan_ssid=1
        psk="******"
        priority=2
}

I did put something into the psk= filed, but have blanked it out here.  From
the example file this seemed to be most suited to my situation.  Right now,
I haven't set up encryption on my cable/DSL router because my son connects
wirelessly with his Windows computer and he'll have a fit if he can't
connect until I can tear him of the laptop long enough to enter the
encryption code into his wireless configuration.

Next, the wiki said to put these lines into the /etc/conf.d/net file (which
had nothing in it because it assumes dhcp):



modules=( "wpa_supplicant" )

wpa_supplicant_wlan0="-Dndiswrapper"
wpa_timeout_wlan0=60

Again, these lines have been modified to suit my situation.

However, if I boot the laptop without the ethernet cable connected, it hangs
when running the dhcpcd daemon.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but I don't know what.

Any further assistance would be appreciated and I apologize for having to be
"led by the nose".

Regards,

Colleen

>
>

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Re: [gentoo-user] Wireless Help

[Willie Wong]

On Fri, Jul 07, 2006 at 09:01:40PM -0400, Penguin Lover Colleen Beamer squawked:
> Next, the wiki said to put these lines into the /etc/conf.d/net file (which
> had nothing in it because it assumes dhcp):
> 
> 
> 
> modules=( "wpa_supplicant" )
> 
> wpa_supplicant_wlan0="-Dndiswrapper"
> wpa_timeout_wlan0=60
> 
> Again, these lines have been modified to suit my situation.
> 
> However, if I boot the laptop without the ethernet cable connected, it hangs
> when running the dhcpcd daemon.
> 
> I'm sure I'm missing something, but I don't know what.
> 

Did you remove net.eth0 from the default runlevel? i.e. 
  rc-update del net.eth0
If it is hanging at boot time it might be because it is trying to
connect to eth0 using dhcp, which is obviously not available without
the ethernet cable. 

W
-- 
"So we just have to integrate around the ring to get the gravitational force?"
"Yeah."
"But that doesn't sound fun."
~DeathMech, Some Student. P-town PHY 205
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Re: [gentoo-user] Wireless Help

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Fri, 7 Jul 2006 21:01:40 -0400, Colleen Beamer wrote:

> However, if I boot the laptop without the ethernet cable connected, it
> hangs when running the dhcpcd daemon.
> 
> I'm sure I'm missing something, but I don't know what.

emerge ifplugd and read the comments in /etc/conf.d/net.example


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Last words of a Windows user: = Where do I have to click now? - There?

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Re: [gentoo-user] Wireless Help

[A. R.]

> So, I assume that eth1 would be replaced by wlan0 in the commands above,
> correct?
>

Yes, that is true. Therefore if you create a bash script with those
commands it would look like the following (I understand that you do
not use encryption, so I omitted the "key" setting)


    #!/bin/bash
    iwconfig wlan0 essid beam26wireless
    dhcpcd wlan0

Now, all I do is to run this script as root every time I need to use
my wireless connection. I do not need to automatically run this script
at boot time because I do not use the wireless connection that often.
I know some people in this list will consider this "solution" a little
bit clunky, but hey, it works for me, and I am really not an expert
when it comes to configuring stuff like this. I am just a user too.
:-)


HTH

- AR




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