slackware 13 BCM431 wireless chipset

[shanch123]

hi,

"ifconfig" shows:

bash-3.1# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1d:09:49:bb:ab
inet addr:192.168.1.3 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::21d:9ff:fe49:bbab/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:7221 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:5987 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:8784526 (8.3 MiB) TX bytes:737682 (720.3 KiB)
Interrupt:16

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1f:e1:34:51:db
inet6 addr: fe80::21f:e1ff:fe34:51db/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:17 Base address:0xc000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:2 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:100 (100.0 B) TX bytes:100 (100.0 B)

eth0 is my wired connection.

eth1 is my BCM431 wireless card for my dell inspiron 1525 which detects wireless access points.

iwlist scan:

bash-3.1# iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth1 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:1F:33:B7:16:66
ESSID:"shanahan"
Mode:Managed
Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
Quality:5/5 Signal level:-50 dBm Noise level:-91 dBm
IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
Group Cipher : CCMP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : CCMP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Cell 02 - Address: 00:16:E3:BE:C3:96
ESSID:"liverpool1"
Mode:Managed
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality:1/5 Signal level:-90 dBm Noise level:-93 dBm
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Cell 03 - Address: 00:1CF:11:6F:2F
ESSID:"Belkin_G_Plus_MIMO_DAVE46"
Mode:Managed
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Quality:1/5 Signal level:-88 dBm Noise level:-92 dBm
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
18 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s
24 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s

however, when i run wicd it detects my wireless ap, but when i connect to it, it validates the trys to obtain an ip but show the error "connection failed: unable to get IP address"



any ideas guys/gals?

[brokndodge]

my own best guess is that the encryption key is entered incorrectly. but i know from experience that wicd has a lot of issues. particularly with encrypted networks. you best bet will be to research the wireless command line tools. then write a short shell script to connect with each boot.

incidentally, i've seen wicd think that it wasn't connected when command line tools said it was. i had to shutdown wicd in that case and just manage the connection with iwconfig. man iwconfig will give you enough information to get your wireless up without wicd.

[jayd512]

I ran Slack for a short while, and had the exact same trouble with wicd.
I agree with brokndodge... you'll have far better results by using iwconfig and a small startup script.

[waterhead]

Broadcom wireless cards usually require that you install firmware. They will appear to work, but never actually connect.

I don't know if Slackware has an easier way to install the firmware, but you can follow these instructions.

b43 - Linux Wireless

[jayd512]

I think that might be the page that I used at the time.