WLAN problems

[martin92]

Hello, there.

I have grave problems with WLAN using my desktop, while the little sublaptop I'm working with at the moment (eeePC wih Xandros) made never any trouble.

The desktop has a openSuSE 10.3 and Kinternet or KNetworkManager keep telling me I was online (that is, all options I can choose are such to go offline), while network browsers like Konqueror complain that I was offline so they can't get any connection at all.

The ping to the WLAN router doesn't work. But the WLAN adapter has a Linux compatible RT73 chipset, which driver was installed alright. I showed a friend the configuration of the WLAN adapter and he found it alright. So I'm in a pretty bad fix. Especially I've never seen a window where I could select the WLAN connection.

Is there anybody who installed WLAN successfully on his SUSE system?

Best regards, Martin.

[waterhead]

Is this a USB wireless device?

If so, it may need firmware installed before it will work. You can check for any messages concerning the wireless and/or firmware in the output of this command:

dmesg

The main project for the RaLink (rt) drivers is Rt2x00:
Main Page - Rt2x00Wiki

The web page for the rt73usb driver is here:
rt73usb - Linux Wireless
It doesn't have anything but a link to the firmware at RaLink:
Ralink Technology: Linux
The firmware:
http://www.ralinktech.com.tw/data/dr....1.0.1.tar.bz2

After unpacking it, I think that you should copy the rt73.bin file to the /lib/firmware folder. But an Ubuntu How-To says to put in the /etc/Wireless/RT73STA that you first create.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wi...ver/RalinkRT73

I'm not sure of the specifics on this one.

[martin92]

Hello, Paul.

Yes, I'm using a USB device, as my desktop had no WLAN antenna installed.
I will try your detailed recommendations, but I have to admit that I don't
understand why I need a special firmware if the driver is installed.
I expect that is just another impediment that Linux users have to face,
though I never encountred any hardware restrictions in the last nine years.

With best regards, Martin.

[waterhead]

Firmware is usually included in a Windows driver. Firmware is usually not open source, and because of that it is not included in most Linux distros. Yet the user can still download and install it themselves.

This is the same situation that you will find with trying to play mp3 files.

[martin92]

Hello, Paul.

With dmesg I got no hint to wireless devices. So I downloaded the tarball and put the rt73.bin file in the recommended directories (it was, without success automatically copied into /lib/firmware). Still, it makes no difference. The KNetworkManager still seems to think that I was already online and doesn't display a list of possible WLAN connections, which I was waiting for.

Best regards, Martin.

[waterhead]

Have you configured the card under YaST?

[martin92]

Hello, Paul.

Yes, of course I tried. I admit that I was unsure how to configure the card, but as I showed the configuration to a friend (who is using Windows himself), he thought that the configuration was okay. If I knew how to do it, I could show you the printscreens, too.

Best regards, Martin

[waterhead]

Right click on the KNetworkManager icon in the system tray. Make sure that there is a check in the box next to "Enable Wireless". On older systems just click on the icon and select "Options", then enable wireless.

[martin92]

Hello, Paul.

Of course the "wireless option" is enabled. The printscreens take too much place to append them to a post here, but I will try it in plain text.

Best regards, Martin

[waterhead]

Ach du lieber Gott!

And that is about all of the Deutsch that I know. I even had to look that up to get it right!

I had Google translate it to English. Just for us backward, single language folks here in the USA! I still am having a hard time wrapping my brain around it.

Make sure that your Linux firewall is disabled. If you have a firewall in the router, that is enough. Also, the Default Gateway is listed as 192.168.0.1. Is this correct?

There is one line that didn't translate:

Authenzifizierungsmodus "`Keine Verschl�sselung"'

I would guess that it is "WiFi Authentication Method: No Encryption"
Better yet:
Authen= Authentication
zifi= wifi
zierungs= authority to draw (permissions?)
modus= mode

Authenzifizierungsmodus "`Keine Verschl�sselung"' = Wireless Security Mode - None