Two weird problems: Fluxbox and IPW2200

[forkbomb]

Problem 1:
When I log into Fluxbox, I suddenly started getting no taskbar at the bottom, and right-clicking the desktop doesn't give me anything. All that I get is the background I've set in the ~/.fluxbox/startup file.. What could have possibly happened?

Problem 2:
I believe I have a unique problem with the IPW2200 card. I've never seen a thread explaining a problem like this with this card, so...

I had to scrap my previous install of Fedora 7 (installed from the KDE Live CD) because I apparently FUBARed the kernel somehow and couldn't even get to a login screen. What's interesting is that on my previous install (the one I had to scrap) I managed (while it still worked) to get my wireless running flawlessly with no need for downloading firmware or anything like that. It just worked out of the starting blocks.

On my newest install, I absolutely cannot get the interface activated. Before you ask (I know somebody will), I do have the newest Firmware (v3.0) and the kernel mod is running. I've tried the firmware from the repos, too. No look in either case. Attempting to activate the interface in system-config-network yields:

Error for wireless request "Set Bit Rate" (8B20) :
    SET failed on device eth0 ; Invalid argument.

Determining IP information for eth0... failed.

I've had problems with this card before, but never this specific problem. I've tried deleting the interface and making a new one, and I get the same error. I'm fully updated. Any thoughts?

[stevea]

The first two lines a re a non-issue. The ipw2200 driver doesn't accept bitrate assignements so eliminate the rate from /etc/sysconfig/networking/ifcfg_eth1 (or whatever) My next question .. why aren't you using NetworkManager ?

[forkbomb]

Originally Posted by stevea

The first two lines a re a non-issue. The ipw2200 driver doesn't accept bitrate assignements so eliminate the rate from /etc/sysconfig/networking/ifcfg_eth1 (or whatever) My next question .. why aren't you using NetworkManager ?

Okay, I took out the "rate" line and now I don't get the rate-related issues.

You mean the NetworkManager that can use the KNetworkManager as a GUI frontend?

I'm now running KNetworkManager and I can scan (I can also scan with /sbin/iwlist eth0 scan) if I right-click the tray icon (I'm also seeing a LOT of networks, so the card seems to be working well), but connecting isn't working. Looks like I'm having problems resolving IP. Maybe a problem with DHCP? For the time being I'll try going back to the Firmware in the repositories.

So now let me ask another question... why did my previous install work out of box but not this one?


(PS - the Fluxbox issue randomly resolved itself)

[forkbomb]

Oops. Double post.

In any event, both issues are resolved. Went back to the firmware from the repositories. And I realized I had forgot to specify what type of WEP key I was using so that's why I couldn't get on my network.

Thanks!