[SOLVED] Wifi not working in Eee PPC 1000HE (Debian Squeeze), but ethernet is working

someshpr · 10-09-2011, 10:26 PM

Hi,
I recently installed Debian squeeze in my Asus 1000HE eee PC. I installed using the netinstall over an ethernet link. After installation, ethernet is working but I cannot get wifi to work.
I followed the guidelines given in http://wiki.debian.org/DebianEeePC/HowTo/Wifi to get it resolved. (However, I tried only the network-manager option and didn't try the other options as they didn't seem general enough to capture all roaming wifi's and seemed like I need to add password to a text file of sorts!)

Here are the steps I followed:
1. Deleted all lines containing eth0/ath0 in /etc/network/interfaces and ran

Code:

dpkg-reconfigure network-manager

2. Changed /etc/network/interfaces manually and added

Code:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp

3. I replaced wlan0 from earlier step with ath0

None of the steps worked. On reboot with auto wlan0, I noticed the boot-time screen said something like "dhcp discovery failed..." after several attemp.

Here are the current content of my /etc/network/interfaces:

Code:

somesh@CreatiVision:~$ cat /etc/network/interfaces
# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp

And here is the output of lshw:

Code:

somesh@CreatiVision:~$ sudo lshw -C network
[sudo] password for somesh: 
  *-network               
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 Gigabit or Fast Ethernet
       vendor: Atheros Communications
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: b0
       serial: 00:26:18:2d:c8:c4
       size: 100MB/s
       capacity: 100MB/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=ATL1E driverversion=1.0.0.7-NAPI duplex=full firmware=L1e ip=192.168.1.129 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100MB/s
       resources: irq:28 memory:fbfc0000-fbffffff ioport:ec00(size=128)
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Wireless interface
       product: RT2860
       vendor: RaLink
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 00
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rt2860 latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=Ralink STA
       resources: irq:19 memory:fbef0000-fbefffff

How do I get wifi working?
In lshw, what does the lines

Quote:

*-network DISABLED
description: Wireless interface

mean? Has that something to do with the problem?

Any help is appreciated.
Also please let me know if I need to provide any more info.

TIA,

EDDY1 · 10-09-2011, 11:20 PM

Try right-clicking on network icon & select enable wireless.

someshpr · 10-09-2011, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDDY1

Try right-clicking on network icon & select enable wireless.

It was already enabled!

cnxsoft · 10-10-2011, 01:00 AM

You could try the method they used in Ubuntu: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1106542

Quote:

WIFI

7. To get wifi working, you have to compile and install the latest drivers. The easiest way to do this is to go to http://wireless.kernel.org/download/...-wireless-2.6/ and download the compat-wireless-2009-03-25.tar.bz2 or whatever the current date is.

Do not go any further at this point without rebooting into the eeepc kernel. If you go on to the next steps in the vanilla kernel, you will only be compiling and installing the drivers there. I recommend you do this to both kernels if you happen to use the vanilla kernel every once in a while.

8. Next, go to http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Download and at the bottom you will see instructions to compile and install the drivers.

Once you finish the make, make install, and make unload, you can load the wireless module by typing: "sudo modprobe ath9k". This will save you a restart.

Note: Each time you upgrade your kernel, you will need to recompile the wireless drivers, at least until the drivers themselves are updated in the ubuntu repositories.

EDDY1 · 10-10-2011, 01:09 AM

Post output of

Quote:

lspci

Quote:

Lsmod

someshpr · 10-10-2011, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnxsoft

You could try the method they used in Ubuntu: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1106542

Thanks cnxsoft! The guide says I have to install linux-eeepc linux-headers-eeepc packages from some repository. The repository given there, doesn't work. So I am still searching for them before I move on to compat-wireless installation. Do you have an idea which repo to use to install theses?

By the way, I already have eeepc-acpi-scripts installed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDDY1

Post output of...

Here are the outputs of lspci and lsmod:

Code:

somesh@CreatiVision:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation N10/ICH 7 Family USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2860
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 Gigabit or Fast Ethernet (rev b0)
somesh@CreatiVision:~$ 
somesh@CreatiVision:~$ lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
acpi_cpufreq            4951  0 
cpufreq_userspace       1480  0 
cpufreq_conservative     4018  0 
cpufreq_powersave        602  0 
cpufreq_stats           1997  0 
parport_pc             15799  0 
ppdev                   4058  0 
lp                      5570  0 
parport                22554  3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
sco                     5885  2 
bridge                 33031  0 
rfcomm                 25199  0 
stp                      996  1 bridge
bnep                    7452  2 
l2cap                  21721  6 rfcomm,bnep
crc16                   1027  1 l2cap
bluetooth              36319  6 sco,rfcomm,bnep,l2cap
binfmt_misc             4907  1 
uinput                  4796  1 
fuse                   44268  1 
loop                    9769  0 
snd_hda_codec_realtek   163318  1 
snd_hda_intel          16823  1 
snd_hda_codec          46002  2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep               4054  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_pcm                47226  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq                35463  0 
snd_timer              12270  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
joydev                  6739  0 
snd_seq_device          3673  1 snd_seq
i915                  223022  2 
uvcvideo               45554  0 
drm_kms_helper         18569  1 i915
videodev               25605  1 uvcvideo
eeepc_laptop           10448  0 
drm                   111992  3 i915,drm_kms_helper
snd                    34423  10 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
v4l1_compat            10250  2 uvcvideo,videodev
rt2860sta             402690  0 
rfkill                 10264  4 bluetooth,eeepc_laptop
i2c_algo_bit            3497  1 i915
soundcore               3450  1 snd
psmouse                44809  0 
video                  14605  1 i915
rng_core                2178  0 
snd_page_alloc          5045  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
i2c_core               12787  5 i915,drm_kms_helper,videodev,drm,i2c_algo_bit
button                  3598  1 i915
pci_hotplug            18545  1 eeepc_laptop
crc_ccitt               1039  1 rt2860sta
pcspkr                  1207  0 
output                  1204  1 video
evdev                   5609  18 
serio_raw               2916  0 
battery                 3782  0 
processor              26327  3 acpi_cpufreq
ac                      1640  0 
ext3                   94396  1 
jbd                    32317  1 ext3
mbcache                 3762  1 ext3
sd_mod                 26005  3 
crc_t10dif              1012  1 sd_mod
ata_generic             2247  0 
ahci                   27410  2 
ata_piix               17736  0 
uhci_hcd               16057  0 
ehci_hcd               28693  0 
thermal                 9206  0 
libata                115869  3 ata_generic,ahci,ata_piix
atl1e                  23144  0 
usbcore                98969  4 uvcvideo,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd
nls_base                4541  1 usbcore
thermal_sys             9378  3 video,processor,thermal
scsi_mod              104853  2 sd_mod,libata

EDDY1 · 10-10-2011, 11:38 AM

http://wiki.debian.org/rt2860sta#Squeeze

someshpr · 10-10-2011, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDDY1

http://wiki.debian.org/rt2860sta#Squeeze

Thanks Eddy1! The link you sent fianlly lead me to the solution.

Here is what I did:
I had already installed firmwire-ralink and wireless-tools as prescribed in the link you sent. I followed rest of the steps (i.e., modprobe) but still it didn't work!

Now I checked ifconfig and iwlist carefully. Here are the outputs:

Code:

somesh@CreatiVision:~$ sudo iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     Ralink STA  ESSID:"StateCollegeWiFi"  Nickname:"RT2860STA"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency=2.412 GHz  Access Point: 00:0D:97:04:AC:7A   
          Bit Rate=18 Mb/s   
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Link Quality=77/100  Signal level:-82 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

pan0      no wireless extensions.

Code:

somesh@CreatiVision:~$ sudo iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:0D:97:04:AC:7A
                    Protocol:802.11b/g
                    ESSID:"StateCollegeWiFi"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:1
                    Quality:20/100  Signal level:-82 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
                    Encryption key:off
                    Bit Rates:18 Mb/s
          Cell 02 - Address: 00:1D:CE:CA:1E:BA
                    Protocol:802.11b/g/n
                    ESSID:"HOME-1EBC"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:1
                    Quality:34/100  Signal level:-76 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:270 Mb/s
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : TKIP CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : TKIP CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
          Cell 03 - Address: 00:1D:CD:E4:05:AC
                    Protocol:802.11b/g/n
                    ESSID:"HOME-05AE"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:1
                    Quality:60/100  Signal level:-66 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:270 Mb/s
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : TKIP CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : TKIP CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
          Cell 04 - Address: 00:14:BF:07:4F:4F
                    Protocol:802.11b/g
                    ESSID:"Ptora"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:6
                    Quality:100/100  Signal level:-42 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:54 Mb/s
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
          Cell 05 - Address: 94:44:52:22:B6:44
                    Protocol:802.11b/g
                    ESSID:"Ledgold1"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:6
                    Quality:29/100  Signal level:-78 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:54 Mb/s
          Cell 06 - Address: 00:12:0E:04:8B:19
                    Protocol:802.11b/g
                    ESSID:"06B403137553"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:6
                    Quality:15/100  Signal level:-84 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:11 Mb/s
          Cell 07 - Address: 00:24:01:6A:AB:46
                    Protocol:802.11b/g/n
                    ESSID:"dlink"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:9
                    Quality:15/100  Signal level:-84 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:11 Mb/s
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : TKIP CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : TKIP CCMP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK

pan0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

Now the ifconfig shows there is an available network (StateCollegeWiFi) but I do not see that in the list when I click the network-manager icon on the notification area. Instead on clicking that icon I see a grayed message under Wireless Networks saying device not managed.
Something like:

Code:

Wired Network
   Auto eth0
   Disconnect
Wireless Network
   device not managed

All this lead me to think that everything is present but somehow they are not enabled by default. So, remembering the message I got on my boot screen (something like "DHCP discovery failed, no persistant lease offered ..."), I, acting on a hunch, deleted the lines:

Code:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp

from /etc/network/interface and restarted.

And voila!

Both ethernet and wifi is working now. My interfaces file is now:

Code:

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

EDDY1 · 10-10-2011, 03:59 PM

congrats you're welcome. I stole it from your link.