Wireless network detected but not connecting

[physdragon]

I'm using Ubuntu 10.04 and although my wireless card appears to be working (it also definitely does work under Windows 7) and Ubuntu can see my wireless network, if I try and connect it just sits there attempting to connect for a while before saying 'Wireless network disconnected' and it doesn't appear to be fetching an IP address. I've checked everything I can think of, the network password is definitely correct and I'm pretty certain that it is WPA/WPA2, I've checked that it has the correct MAC address. At the moment I've got myself a very long ethernet cable instead but that isn't exactly an ideal solution. The router it is trying to connect to is one of the standard Virgin Media ones.

I've attached the output of waterhead's Wireless Setup script below, any help would be much appreciated.

wireless_setup.txt

[jchw]

You could try uninstalling Network Manager and installing wicd instead.

Its best to use 'sudo apt-get purge network-manager' in the terminal as uninstalling Network Manager in synaptics does not seem to remove it completely. It seems that wicd connects better than Network Manager.

This worked for me.

[Mudgen]

+1 on wicd. I use Fedora, and had problems with NetworkManager frequently losing my wireless network (BCM4322 talking to Linksys WRT54G running DD-WRT) and replaced it with wicd. No more problems.

[whych]

Start by turning off all encryption on the wireless network and see if it connects.
If it connects, then you have a problem with your encryption and need to set the correct type and password.

[physdragon]

Thanks for that. Switching to wicd seems to have done the trick. Now I just need to sort out whatever it was that those kernel updates did last night that screwed the graphics!

[Toadbrooks]

You could try uninstalling Network Manager and installing wicd instead.

Its best to use 'sudo apt-get purge network-manager' in the terminal as uninstalling Network Manager in synaptics does not seem to remove it completely. It seems that wicd connects better than Network Manager.

This worked for me.

Ok, followed your directions and wiped out my wired internet connection. Now using another computer. Is there any easy way to get wired internet back on my Ubuntu box, or do I need to pull out the CD and reinstall everything again?

I like linux and ubuntu, except you make one little mistake and wham - back to reloading from ground zero.

[jchw]

Have you installed wicd? This should pick up all the internet connections and is much easier to use than Netwrok Manager.

[Toadbrooks]

Have you installed wicd? This should pick up all the internet connections and is much easier to use than Netwrok Manager.

Yes, I did get wicd installed. Yes, it is easier to deal with than Network Manager.

However, if you are having trouble with your wireless card, as I was, changing the manager won't solve anything.

[Mudgen]

Yes, I did get wicd installed. Yes, it is easier to deal with than Network Manager.

However, if you are having trouble with your wireless card, as I was, changing the manager won't solve anything.

If you're still having trouble with your wireless card, you should probably open another thread. This one was about getting a working connection with a card that was recognized and was seeing a wireless network, and OP indicated that wicd did solve his problem.

[Toadbrooks]

If you're still having trouble with your wireless card, you should probably open another thread. This one was about getting a working connection with a card that was recognized and was seeing a wireless network, and OP indicated that wicd did solve his problem.

I am aware of the above. I've been having problems with wireless cards for over two years, searching websites for a solution. This site came up, because in description, it was similar to what I was looking for. It may be obvious to you, perhaps one of the more advanced users, but it was not obvious to ME, and my answer was intended to make it more obvious to people who's proficiency is closer to mine than yours.

Unfortunately, many threads just stop, without any indication of what the problem was, what the solution was, or how to determine if your situation is the same as the one described.

My post was intended to indicate that changing the network manager won't solve a problem with the wireless driver, just in case someone else is searching for a solution and winds up here. That's something the Linux community needs - some kind of closure to the threads so that people aren't wandering in a wasteland when trying to find a solution. To the extent that I can, I will always so indicate in any thread that needs it.

YMMV