Ubuntu 9.10 and DL 650 wireless card

[dlines]

I am trying to install Ubuntu 9.10 on an older IBM laptop from a LiveCD. (Windows stopped working and I thought this would be a great time to try Linux!) When I boot up Ubuntu (which takes forever) it starts up, but I don't think it is recognizing the wireless card (DL 650). One suggestion I got from the net was to disable the acx module by blacklisting it with the statement:

blacklist acx

in the blacklist.conf file.

The next step is to install ndiswrapper with:

sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-common

The last step is to get the Windows driver (I have it) and put it in a directory. Then go to that directory and type:

sudo ndiswrapper -i AIRPLUS.INF

This is all well and good, but where do I do these things to test to see if it works and ultimately, if it works, to set it up this way permanently? How do I edit blacklist.conf if this is a LiveCD and as soon as I turn off the machine everything goes away? I am not sure that I can install on the hard disk at this point because I don't want to wipe out Windows yet (it isn't my computer). I would like to prove Ubuntu (or maybe Xubuntu) before committing to it. I am also not sure that the single USB port will allow me to install a USB stick version of Ubuntu. Any help or direction would be appreciated. Thanks.

[reed9]

The live CD will be a lot slower than a harddrive install. Live USB sticks are faster than a CD too.

We should get a little more information before proceeding.

Please boot up the live CD, open a terminal and post the output of the following commands

lspci | grep -i net
lsmod
dmesg | grep firmware
iwconfig

You will not be able to save changes between sessions on the live CD. What you can do is manually remove the module and insert ndiswrapper, assuming that is actually necessary.

sudo modprobe -r acx
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
sudo depmod -a

[dlines]

Well, thanks so much for replying. Here are the results of what you suggested:

ubuntu@ubuntu:/dev$ lspci | grep -i net
00:03.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9/0/1 Ethernet Pro 100 (rev 09)


ubuntu@ubuntu:/dev$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
nls_iso8859_1           3740  1 
vfat                   10716  1 
fat                    51452  1 vfat
usb_storage            52544  1 
savage                 30620  2 
drm                   159584  3 savage
binfmt_misc             8356  1 
lp                      8964  0 
snd_cs46xx             79488  2 
gameport               11368  2 snd_cs46xx
snd_ac97_codec        101216  1 snd_cs46xx
ac97_bus                1532  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss            37920  0 
snd_mixer_oss          16028  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                75296  3 snd_cs46xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy           2656  0 
snd_seq_oss            28576  0 
snd_seq_midi            6432  0 
snd_rawmidi            22208  2 snd_cs46xx,snd_seq_midi
hostap_cs              53872  1 
hostap                103360  1 hostap_cs
snd_seq_midi_event      6940  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
lib80211                6432  2 hostap_cs,hostap
snd_seq                50224  6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              22276  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device          6920  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
iptable_filter          3100  0 
ppdev                   6688  0 
pcmcia                 36808  1 hostap_cs
thinkpad_acpi          67108  0 
snd                    59204  14 snd_cs46xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
ip_tables              11692  1 iptable_filter
nsc_ircc               20976  0 
x_tables               16544  1 ip_tables
dm_crypt               12928  0 
yenta_socket           24200  4 
led_class               4096  1 thinkpad_acpi
soundcore               7264  1 snd
irda                  189564  1 nsc_ircc
psmouse                56180  0 
parport_pc             31940  1 
rsrc_nonstatic         11644  1 yenta_socket
nvram                   7528  1 thinkpad_acpi
shpchp                 32272  0 
parport                35340  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
pcmcia_core            35792  4 hostap_cs,pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
snd_page_alloc          9156  2 snd_cs46xx,snd_pcm
joydev                 10272  0 
crc_ccitt               1852  1 irda
i2c_piix4               9932  0 
serio_raw               5280  0 
squashfs               22912  1 
aufs                  149420  1 
nls_cp437               5372  2 
isofs                  31620  1 
dm_raid45              84228  0 
xor                    15620  1 dm_raid45
hid_microsoft           3328  0 
usbhid                 38208  0 
e100                   32452  0 
mii                     5212  1 e100
intel_agp              27484  1 
agpgart                34988  2 drm,intel_agp
floppy                 54916  0 
video                  19380  0 
output                  2780  1 video
ramzswap                8880  1 
xvmalloc                5180  1 ramzswap
lzo_decompress          2620  1 ramzswap
lzo_compress            2300  1 ramzswap


ubuntu@ubuntu:/dev$ dmesg | grep firmware
[  129.696191] IBM TrackPoint firmware: 0x0e, buttons: 3/3
[  133.149714] e100 0000:00:03.0: firmware: requesting e100/d101s_ucode.bin


ubuntu@ubuntu:/dev$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

irda0     no wireless extensions.

wifi0     IEEE 802.11-DS  Mode:Managed  
          
wlan0     IEEE 802.11-DS  Mode:Managed  
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

Just so you are clear about this. This is an IBM ThinkPad. The wireless card is not integrated into the machine, it is a card in one of the PCMCIA slots (you can probably tell this from the above, but I thought I would tell you).

[alatidl]

I suggest you try again with a 9.04 live CD. I'd say there's a 99% chance it will recognise your card. V9.10 seems to have a number of networking issues that are as yet unresolved

Older verions can be found at

releases.ubuntu.com

(had to leave the full hyperlink out to bypass the forum filtering . Just Google it as well and you'll find plenty of download mirrors)

[dlines]

Thank you. I appreciate the help. I will have to download and burn the CD and then try it again tonight. Do you know how I will know if the card is recognized?

[reed9]

Hmm, while there are occasionally regressions in a new release, as far as simply recognizing the card, there is no reason 9.04 would do better than 9.10. In most cases, at worst, a new bug might introduce connection problems. However, without evidence to suggest there is a problem in 9.10 that wasn't there in 9.04, it's a long shot to try downgrading.

As for your output, unless I'm missing it, I don't see a wireless module loading of any sort. Also, it wasn't listed in your lspci output, but searching for the string "net" doesn't always catch it.

But you do have two wireless interfaces listed from iwconfig.

Can you post the full output of

lspci -vnn

Make sure the card is inserted, when you do these commands.

Also, please enclose the output in [code] tags. Makes it easier to read.

[dlines]

Ok, I am learning a lot. Sorry about the code thing, I wondered how everyone was doing that. I started to put font statements around it to make it a fixed space font, but then I thought that the tags would show up rather than doing anything. Oh well, live and learn. Thanks for bearing with a newbie.

I will try what you suggest (later today), but what I don't understand is you said that there were no wireless modules and two wireless interfaces. What is the difference? I did notice the wifi0 and wlan0. Do you think there is wireless built into the machine? I guess I will have to check that out a little better. We have always just used the external card.

[dlines]

Ok, here is the result of the last item you suggested I try.

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ lspci -vnn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge [8086:7190] (rev 03)
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
	Memory at f8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
	Kernel modules: intel-agp

00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge [8086:7191] (rev 03)
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 128
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=64
	Memory behind bridge: f0000000-f7ffffff
	Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 20000000-200fffff
	Kernel modules: shpchp

00:02.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1450 [104c:ac1b] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: IBM Device [1014:0130]
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 11
	Memory at 50000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=05, sec-latency=176
	Memory window 0: 10000000-13fff000 (prefetchable)
	Memory window 1: 14000000-17fff000
	I/O window 0: 00001400-000014ff
	I/O window 1: 00001c00-00001cff
	16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001
	Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
	Kernel modules: yenta_socket

00:02.1 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1450 [104c:ac1b] (rev 03)
	Subsystem: IBM Device [1014:0130]
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 11
	Memory at 50100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Bus: primary=00, secondary=06, subordinate=09, sec-latency=176
	Memory window 0: 18000000-1bfff000 (prefetchable)
	Memory window 1: 1c000000-1ffff000
	I/O window 0: 00002000-000020ff
	I/O window 1: 00002400-000024ff
	16-bit legacy interface ports at 0001
	Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
	Kernel modules: yenta_socket

00:03.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Intel Corporation 82557/8/9/0/1 Ethernet Pro 100 [8086:1229] (rev 09)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:2408]
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 66, IRQ 11
	Memory at e8120000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	I/O ports at 1800 [size=64]
	Memory at e8100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128K]
	[virtual] Expansion ROM at 20100000 [disabled] [size=1M]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: e100
	Kernel modules: e100

00:03.1 Serial controller [0700]: Xircom Mini-PCI V.90 56k Modem [115d:000c] (prog-if 02)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:2408]
	Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 11
	I/O ports at 1840 [size=8]
	Memory at e8121000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: serial

00:05.0 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Cirrus Logic CS 4614/22/24/30 [CrystalClear SoundFusion Audio Accelerator] [1013:6003] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: IBM Device [1014:0153]
	Flags: bus master, slow devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
	Memory at e8122000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]
	Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=1M]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel driver in use: Sound Fusion CS46xx
	Kernel modules: snd-cs46xx

00:07.0 Bridge [0680]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA [8086:7110] (rev 02)
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0

00:07.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE [8086:7111] (rev 01) (prog-if 80 [Master])
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64
	[virtual] Memory at 000001f0 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=8]
	[virtual] Memory at 000003f0 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=1]
	[virtual] Memory at 00000170 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=8]
	[virtual] Memory at 00000370 (type 3, non-prefetchable) [disabled] [size=1]
	I/O ports at 1850 [size=16]
	Kernel driver in use: ata_piix

00:07.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB [8086:7112] (rev 01)
	Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
	I/O ports at 1860 [size=32]
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:07.3 Bridge [0680]: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI [8086:7113] (rev 03)
	Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 9
	Kernel modules: i2c-piix4

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: S3 Inc. 86C270-294 Savage/IX-MV [5333:8c12] (rev 13)
	Subsystem: IBM Device [1014:017f]
	Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 64, IRQ 11
	Memory at f0000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128M]
	[virtual] Expansion ROM at 20000000 [disabled] [size=64K]
	Capabilities: <access denied>
	Kernel modules: savagefb

The card is inserted in the PCMCIA slot. It doesn't seem to be finding it.

What is next?

I do appreciate your help.

[dlines]

Just to let you, alatidl, and others that might be reading this thread know--using Ubuntu 9.04 did not make a difference in the recognition of this wireless card. As far as I could tell everything was just the way it was with Ubuntu 9.10. Thanks for the idea anyway.

[waterhead]

Although it doesn't show up as a PCI device, these are the wireless modules.

Module                  Size  Used by
hostap_cs              53872  1 
hostap                103360  1 hostap_cs
lib80211                6432  2 hostap_cs,hostap
pcmcia                 36808  1 hostap_cs

It seems to be recognized, as a wireless device interface has been created.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11-DS  Mode:Managed  
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

Have you tried to connect to a wireless network? Is there more than one wireless device? What do you get if you run this command

sudo iwlist scan wlan0

Here is some info on the wireless driver that your card uses.

Host AP Linux driver for Intersil Prism2/2.5/3 wireless LAN cards and WPA Supplicant