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06-18-2008
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#1 (permalink)
| | Just Joined!
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2
| Out of box wireless support?
Hi,
I'd like to try Linux, but I can only get online with a wireless card (WMP54G). So I can't install any software like a lot of the tutorials have me do. I've tried some distributions, but I can't get the wireless to work, and I can't connect to the internet to download software (I'm also using WPA authentication).
Are there any distributions that work with my wireless card and WPA out of the box? | 
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06-18-2008
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#2 (permalink)
| | Super Moderator
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 12,051
| Welcome to the forums!
I don't do wireless at all so can't answer directly, but you could try some liveCDs from various distros to see if any work, and if so, you should have good results with the hard drive installation as well. | |
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06-18-2008
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#3 (permalink)
| | Trusted Penguin
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Franklin, Wisconsin
Posts: 3,954
| Windows does not support wireless cards "out-of-the-box", you have to install drivers for them. Don't expect Linux to be any different.
Read through this post: http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/wir...tml#post589924
Then post the output of the lspci or lsusb and dmesg commands in this thread, I will help you install or configure the correct drivers.
__________________
Paul
Please do not PM me with requests for help. I will not reply.
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06-22-2008
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#4 (permalink)
| | Just Joined!
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2
| Thank you for the welcome.
Okay, I'll give it a try. I've tried many distros, but I haven't been able to get any of them to work. 
What distro would give me the least problems with a WMP54G card and WPA authentication? The problem I always get is I install everything and then I'm told to download packages, but I can't download them because I can't get online.
Thanks. | |
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06-22-2008
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#5 (permalink)
| | Trusted Penguin
Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Franklin, Wisconsin
Posts: 3,954
| If you know the chipset manufacturer of the card, you can download the necessary files beforehand. This is why I asked for the output of lspci -nn, or if it is a USB wireless lsusb.
You don't need to copy everything, look in the output for the wireless. Here is the output from my Dell laptop, using lspci -nn: Code: $ lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller [8086:3580] (rev 02)
00:00.1 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller [8086:3584] (rev 02)
00:00.3 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation 82852/82855 GM/GME/PM/GMV Processor to I/O Controller [8086:3585] (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device [8086:3582] (rev 02)
00:02.1 Display controller [0380]: Intel Corporation 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device [8086:3582] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:24c2] (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:24c4] (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:24c7] (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:24cd] (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:24cc] (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller [8086:24ca] (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller [8086:24c5] (rev 01)
00:1f.6 Modem [0703]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller [8086:24c6] (rev 01)
02:01.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401 100Base-T [14e4:4401] (rev 01)
02:02.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4320] (rev 03)
02:04.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1510 PC card Cardbus Controller [104c:ac56]
My network cards are in red. You should also have a wired connection that you could use until you get the wireless set up.
__________________
Paul
Please do not PM me with requests for help. I will not reply.
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06-30-2008
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#6 (permalink)
| | Linux User
Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 439
| I have a Linksys WMP54G card in my desktop. It is supported by the in-kernel RaLink drivers (if you are lucky enough to have that revision).
Ubuntu supports it out of the box. If it isn't recognized in the newest Ubuntu, then you probably don't have the RaLink chip on your card.
This is what it shows up as in my computer: Code: 04:05.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI
I also use WPA authentication and it works great with wpa_supplicant in gentoo and debian also.
__________________
Linux User #376741
Preferred Linux Distro: Funtoo
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Remember, Ubuntu is A Linux distribution, not THE Linux distribution.
There is no need to login to the GUI as root! | |
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07-03-2008
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#7 (permalink)
| | Banned
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 79
| Quote:
Originally Posted by waterhead  Windows does not support wireless cards "out-of-the-box", you have to install drivers for them. Don't expect Linux to be any different. | That is a lie! I am tired of people saying that it is not different. I am sure that anyone in this entire forum can configure their wireless in Windows.
The same can't be said in Linux.
If it takes two hours in Windows, it will take days upon days and perhaps even longer do configure wireless in Linux. | |
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07-03-2008
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#8 (permalink)
| | Linux User
Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Arkansas
Posts: 439
| Quote:
Originally Posted by kopete That is a lie! I am tired of people saying that it is not different. I am sure that anyone in this entire forum can configure their wireless in Windows.
The same can't be said in Linux.
If it takes two hours in Windows, it will take days upon days and perhaps even longer do configure wireless in Linux. | My wireless card (Linksys WPM54G PCI) took less time to configure in Linux than it did in Windows. It is supported in the kernel (RaLink drivers rt61pci) and all I had to do was copy the firmware that I had on my external drive to /lib/firmware and amazingly it just worked. It even works with WPA authentication.
In Windows (Vista), I had to first install the card, and then start up the computer, and then connect to the internet to download the drivers that are compatible with Vista just to use my network card. What seems wrong with that?
Just do some research before you buy your hardware, and you will not have any problems with Linux. My latest computer build was researched and everything has kernel drivers, so everything "just works". That is the experience I was going for, and if people would just do a little research, their experience would be the same.
But yeah, wireless cards don't work "out of the box" in Windows, they still need drivers from the manufacturer. Lucky for you Windows users though, the company will provide a cd for the Windows drivers.
Wireless in Linux isn't hard, just different.
__________________
Linux User #376741
Preferred Linux Distro: Funtoo
Screenshots
Remember, Ubuntu is A Linux distribution, not THE Linux distribution.
There is no need to login to the GUI as root! | |
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07-03-2008
|
#9 (permalink)
| | /etc/init.d/moderator
Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Sunny South-East of Ireland
Posts: 6,038
| Quote:
Originally Posted by kopete That is a lie! I am tired of people saying that it is not different. I am sure that anyone in this entire forum can configure their wireless in Windows.
The same can't be said in Linux.
If it takes two hours in Windows, it will take days upon days and perhaps even longer do configure wireless in Linux. | That comment has a bit of a logic jump. If you are familiar with Windows but not with Linux then of course it will take you longer. The same could be said in reverse. Since setting up my first one or two wireless cards it has never taken me more than 5 minutes to get a card up and running. It is very different in that most cards are supported directly...Atheros based, Intel based, Prism based, ralink based....it's only the odd few like Broadcom that cause trouble. | |
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07-03-2008
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#10 (permalink)
| | Banned
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 79
| I did research. And research. And research. It took countless hours and that is just the researching part. I have heard all this before. What you are saying is nothing new.
Yet, when I learn of someone having wireless, in most cases, it is a Windows machine. People are not configuring firmware or extracting files into a folder to get wireless to work. They are not going through an elaborate and complicated process. They don't have to know which chipset is in the device, then configure for it and then force firmware or drivers to load. In Windows, they use a CD or download a file and either an installer extracts it or installs the drivers and then it probably works. I don't agree with your comments or your theories that Linux is no different. A user who has never used Windows nor Linux would still have a Windows machine running wireless way quicker. | |
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