Need help with wireless on laptop

Hi,
Im pretty new to the linux world and ive been messing around with a few linux builds that last few days. First off i have a lappy thats a p3 900 mhz 256 meg of ram. Im basically just using it for notes at school and to familiarize my self with linux. Im really just trying to find what the best build would be... I put ubuntu on it but it didnt run well AT all... and then i tried opensuse and the problem there lies in the fact i cant connect to our wireless here.. spent all day trying to fix that and nothing. So I guess I would just like to hear peoples opinions on what i should try... Thanks ^^.

Hi jlbird and welcome. :) We'll need to know about your wireless device. Is it on board? Are you using a PC card? Perhaps a USB dongle? What is the make and model? Open a terminal and type:

Code:

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/sbin/lspci

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Then:

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/sbin/lspci -n

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copy the results, open Kedit or Kate (in your menu if using KDE), or Gedit (if using Gnome), paste it there and save it as a .txt file. Move the file to usb stick or even floppy, open in Windows and paste here please. :)

First off goes the system specs:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82815 815 Chipset Host Bridge and Memory Controller Hub (rev 11)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82815 815 Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 11)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 03)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801BAM ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801BAM IDE U100 (rev 03)
00:1f.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM USB (Hub #1) (rev 03)
00:1f.4 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM USB (Hub #2) (rev 03)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM AC'97 Modem (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Trident Microsystems CyberBlade/XP (rev 63)
02:07.0 Multimedia audio controller: Yamaha Corporation YMF-754 [DS-1E Audio Controller]
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM/CA/CAM Ethernet Controller (rev 03)
02:0c.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1410 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:0d.0 CardBus bridge: Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support (rev 31)
02:0d.1 CardBus bridge: Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support (rev 31)

Next the results from a debian gnu/linux device checker page:

PCI ID
Works?
Vendor
Device
Driver
Comment
80861130 Yes Intel Corporation 82815 815 Chipset Host Bridge and Memory Controller Hub intel-agp,agpgart v2.6.21
80861131 - Intel Corporation 82815 815 Chipset AGP Bridge
80862448 Yes Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge i810_rng,hw_random
8086244c Yes Intel Corporation 82801BAM ISA Bridge (LPC) iTCO_wdt,i8xx_tco,intel-rng,i810-tco v2.6.21
8086244a Yes Intel Corporation 82801BAM IDE U100 piix v2.6.21
80862442 Yes Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM USB (Hub #1) usb-uhci,uhci-hcd
80862444 Yes Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM USB (Hub #2) usb-uhci,uhci-hcd
80862446 Yes Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM AC'97 Modem snd-intel8x0m,ignore v2.6.21
10239910 Yes Trident Microsystems CyberBlade/XP tridentfb v2.6.21
10730012 Yes Yamaha Corporation DS-XG PCI Audio Codec snd-ymfpci v2.6.21
80862449 Yes Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM/CA/CAM Ethernet Controller eepro100,e100 v2.6.21
104cac50 Yes Texas Instruments PCI1410 PC card Cardbus Controller yenta_socket v2.6.21
11790617 Yes Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support yenta_socket v2.6.21
11790617 Yes Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support yenta_socket v2.6.21

Now I know im not using debian but is suppose i figured the supported features would be the same, my problem is that i can not connect to a wpa enterprise network. I choose connect to other networks then change it to all the right settings and i can not connnect, the network does show up as a normal one but does not give me the option for wpa which is why i have to connect through the connnect to other networks. Ive tried lots of things, It possibly could be the drivers but the latest drivers out for the comp is windows 98 i read somewhere which since its older and passed the check i assumed it wasnt those, plus i couldnt find them, well im out of ideas just wondering if anybody could help. thanks ^^

I actually don't see a wireless listed in your output. The only network reference is this:

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02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801BA/BAM/CA/CAM Ethernet Controller (rev 03)

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And this does not look like a wireless to me.

Is it a USB wireless?

Nope its not onboard.

Now in knetworkmanager it lists that wireless adapter as "Toshiba Wireless Lan Card". Could the fact that it doesnt seem to show up in the list mean I need to find drivers for it?

Did you try this command?

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lsusb

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I actually said it was NOT onboard, but it IS onboard, that was me not proofing my posts. Sorry about that.

I get

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000


That looks like its not detecting anything

Since you said that it showed up as "Toshiba Wireless Lan Card", I Googled for that. I came up with a post at the NDISwrapper forum. It may not solve your problem, but it may shed some light on it.

NDISwrapper - Re:PCMCIA\\TOSHIBA-Wireless LAN Card-E5D7 - NDISwrapper-Forum

Your wirless device must be one of these:

Code:

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  11790617  Yes  Toshiba America Info Systems  ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support  yenta_socket  v2.6.21
  11790617  Yes  Toshiba America Info Systems  ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support  yenta_socket  v2.6.21

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If your network is using WPA encryption, it may not work.

For more info on the card, try this:

Code:

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lspct -v

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I think that you need to find a newer driver for your wireless. Something from Windows 2000, or WinNT may work with NDISwrapper.

Another solution might simply be to purchase a PCMCIA card that is known to work. Just one to consider is the Netgear WAG511 with the drivers from Madwifi which *should* be already present in your distro. You have to be careful though because sometimes different versions of the same card will have different chipsets. Other PCMCIA cards work well with Ndiswrapper. My wife uses a Broadcom based Hawking PCMCIA that works almost flawlessly with Ndiswrapper. If a "PC card" is an option for you, study them carefully before purchasing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by waterhead

If your network is using WPA encryption, it may not work.

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I think the WPA support is the problem.
I read that forum post you left me and it describes my problem perfectly because it does work in xp.
Thanks for your help.


My roomate actually had a DLINK exp card that he was not using. It works great so I think im just gonna abandon the old onboard wireless device.

Thanks for all your guys' help.