Can't get IP with wireless on thinkpad (atheros)...

icantux · #1 22nd March 2006, 05:56 AM

Hi,

I'm running gentoo, but decided to try out fedora core 5 as I've read much about great improvements... The installation went great, got everything running in no time and then came the wireless... Ah, yes - wireless..

I managed to install madwifi, as indicated on another post (from atrpms repo), then rebooted (to be sure), configured the network (using System -> Administration -> Network Configuration), saved and tried to activate the wireless.

..... no ip! No matter what I do, the thing won't get an IP!

I've got an IBM a/b/g AR5212 based card. Running " # iwlist ath0 scan " shows a number of ap's around me but it won't get an IP no matter what.

Here is the output of /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ath0

Code:

ONBOOT=no
USERCTL=no
IPV6INIT=no
PEERDNS=yes
TYPE=Wireless
HWADDR=00:05:4d:45:c3:d2
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
NETMASK=
DHCP_HOSTNAME=
IPADDR=
DOMAIN=
ESSID=
CHANNEL=1
MODE=Managed
# RATE=54M
DEVICE=ath0

result of # ifup ath0:

Code:

# ifup ath0

Determining IP information for ath0... failed.

I'm starting to think that the Atheros drivers are foobar-ed

Possible?

I'd appreciate any help from anyone here that has it working on their ThinkPad or other laptop.

Cheers

Deore · #2 22nd March 2006, 11:10 AM

The Atheros drivers work very well. In your config file you need to specify network essid - the name of the network you wish to connect to (see that from the output of '# iwlist ath0 scan') Also if the network is encrypted, you will need to specify key. I would just issue:

# iwconfig ath0 essid *name-of-network* key *key-of-network*
# dhclient ath0

If that doesn't help, see if dhclient is running (ps ax |grep dhclient) and kill it if yes. Then try again.
Hope that helps!

icantux · #3 22nd March 2006, 04:19 PM

Deore,

Thanks for your feedback. I've tried all the manual connection commands but my ath0 is still not picking up any IP at all.

Tried:
# iwconfig ath0 essid booger key xxxxxxx
- fine.

# ifconfig ath0 up
- fine ... lots of LED activity for my wifi

# dhclient ath0
- no problems ...

Try to access anything on the internet - no go! I don't have an IP!
then I try (to make sure):
# ifup ath0
Determining IP information for ath0... failed.

running
# ps ax |grep dhclient
1698 ? Ss 0:00 /sbin/dhclient -1 -q -lf /var/lib/dhclient/dhclient-eth0.leases -pf /var/run/dhclient-eth0.pid eth0
3076 ? Ss 0:00 dhclient eth0
3206 pts/1 S+ 0:00 grep dhclient

.... blamo! Problem.
My eth0 gets an IP via dhcp but my wifi refuses to hear about it. Even if I disconnect the ethernet, I get the same result and still no ip for wifi. Try releasing dhclient (dhclient -r ) nothing changes.

icantux · #4 22nd March 2006, 05:10 PM

Hmm... ok I tried something bold and thought about getting back to basics with the wireless - turn off all encryption to see if my wifi would get an IP that way.

Well, it did. I noticed that it took a while to get an IP but it got one and I'm writing this using the wifi connection. Now the whole issue is centered on encryption and the reasons why it won't get an IP when attempting to connect to a router with encryption turned on.

Could it be the amount of time it takes to secure an IP by DHCP with encryption on? The default seems to be ~25 second delay. Is there any way to lengthen that to say 1 minute (60 seconds)?

Also noticed that the signal from my wifi is very weak in FC5 compared with gentoo. Sitting in the same location (everything else being equal) I'm only pulling in 28/94 signal quality in Fedora but a nice 72/94 in gentoo. How do I tweak the power settings?

Ah... linux... tweaking tweaking tweaking..

Deore · #5 23rd March 2006, 08:33 AM

Something similar happened to me with fc5. I even had static settings for my wired eth0 (but no wire in the card) and wanted to get dhcp address on my wifi. It got everything right, but ping to google or sth outta my network resulted in no path to host. Seemed like my eth0 settings repressed my dhcp ones for the wireless interface. I rmmod-ed the wifi driver, ifdown-ed eth0, modprobe-ed wifi driver again, set it up, got ip and it went straight on!
So try killing dhclient first, stopping your wired interface and then try to get ip for the wireless.
After you issue dhclient ath0 what does ifconfig say? Could you paste that?
Power usage and such chip settings are setup with specific commands - check out the madwifi wiki about them, it is very useful.
p.s. don't mix ifup and dhclient. I don't know why (maybe I did sth wrong) but when I created interface in "system-config-network" for the wireless with all correct settings (including key) it couldn't get me ip.

icantux · #6 23rd March 2006, 05:22 PM

Hmm. That's an interesting train of thought.

Well I tried removing the ath_pci module, successfully, then shutting down eth0 and finally modprobing the wifi module. Everything worked out nicely, except I can't get the wifi radio to stay on now. It seems I can turn the radio on, but it shuts down almost immediately (10-15 seconds), thus by the time I issue the dhclient command, the radio is already off and will not broadcast anything. This is really strange.

It's as if my wifi is somehow dependent on eth0 in more ways than one. If I don't start eth0 at boot-up then I cannot control the power state of ath0! However, by the same token, if I do start eth0 at boot ath0 refuses to obtain an IP via dhcp when attempting to use encryption.

Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Something's not done right. I'm surprised that somehow eth0 and ath0 are tied in together as opposed to having a common loopback instead!!! Is this a FC5 specialty? Is this tied in with how networkmanager controls wired/wireless connections? If so, that's not a very good solution IMO.

So, I'm stuck with using WEPless and WPAless wifi in FC5.

jpkeisala · #7 23rd March 2006, 05:53 PM

I have been also trying to enable WEP for IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad Z60t (Atheros AR5006EX) but I am getting following error when trying to access to my router using WEP.

Code:

Error for wireless request "Set Bit Rate" (8B20) :
SET failed on device ath0 ; Invalid argument.

If I disable security mode in router I am able to connect.
I downloaded drivers from Livna reposity following MadWiFi instructions

I also tried same with Ubuntu Dapper and I get same error. I think there is something wrong in madwifi drivers.

icantux · #8 23rd March 2006, 06:01 PM

Ah see, that's interesting, because I have no such trouble with gentoo. I am able to connect to any WEP encrypted ap using madwifi-drivers and madwifi-tools version 0.1443.20060207 (both). But here in FC5, nothing doing. Like I said, though, non-encrypted doesn't pose a problem, but as soon as I introduce some form of encryption - BLAM! no IP via DHCP! Something's messed up.

That's why I'm led to believe it's not only a madwifi problem, but rather perhaps a combination of dhclient and madwifi.

Regardles, BTW, you may want to set the mode to "managed" but then edit your ath0 (?) config file manually and edit the line that starts with RATE to read " RATE=' 54Mb/s ' .. Save and close the config file and you'll rid yourself of that message.

Deore · #9 23rd March 2006, 06:07 PM

How did you install madwifi? I have a Netgear WG511T external wireless card which has Atheros chip. A simple "yum install madwifi" did the hard part for me. Then I could just plug in the card and saw in dmesg output it was correctly recognized (the leds blinked as they should too). Even turbo mode (108mbps) works with the drivers.

icantux · #10 23rd March 2006, 06:42 PM

I did the same... yum install madwifi (using atrpms repo).

Already uninstalled (reboot to make sure) and re-installed. Still the same thing.
My setup's a bit different. I've got an IBM Thinkpad T42 (2378-REU) with an IBMa/b/g (AR5212 based atheros) as a mini-pci.

volekvolek · #11 23rd March 2006, 07:07 PM

Well, Here is what I did on my Toshiba, with NeatgearWG511T , Fedora 5, with the latest Kernel.

Note: During this install I was connected to net via my Wired eth0. So having another network interface access has no baring on you wireless install , it shouldn't , and it did not.

1. Download latest madwifi from madwifi.org (used svn to download lates from trunks)
2. install kernel sources using Yum
3. Did a make and make install on madwifi after compile,
4. read http://madwifi.org/wiki/UserDocs/Distro/RedHat
5. did teh following per instructions on the #4 web page .
ifconfig ath0 up
iwconfig ath0 mode managed
iwconfig ath0 nick "Netgear"
iwconfig ath0 channel 9
iwconfig ath0 key "hexvalue" (without 0x prefix)
iwconfig ath0 essid "your ssid"
dhclient

Lights started to blink , I removed my ethernet wired cable to test teh wireles connection, and sure enough it is working.

Now, I am trying to make changes permanent so at boot time, eveything will be set.

good luck

icantux · #12 23rd March 2006, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by volekvolek

Note: During this install I was connected to net via my Wired eth0. So having another network interface access has no baring on you wireless install , it shouldn't , and it did not.

1. Download latest madwifi from madwifi.org (used svn to download lates from trunks)
2. install kernel sources using Yum
3. Did a make and make install on madwifi after compile,

Well, I installed FC5 the same way. Until I get my wifi up and running I only get to use my eth0. I'm just as perplexed with the behavior here as you may be. Even more so because I don't have a problem with it at all while using gentoo. Something's messed up, that's for sure, one thing I'm finding out is that my ath0 seems to follow eth0 around like a sick puppy.

I disable eth0 on boot and there's no way I can get ath0 running. If I enable eth0 but disable ath0 on boot, then I can start ath0 later on in a session, but I can't get WEP to work at all. Go figure. At this point, I'm all ears.

in fact I'm contemplating scrapping the madwifi rpm and go your way, but I'd need a refresher on svn download and installing kernel sources for Fedora ...

Cheers

cub · #13 23rd March 2006, 08:51 PM

I'm not sure I should start a new thread or continue on this one, but I have some questions and trouble getting my Netgear WG511 to work. I have tried installing the madwifi from atrpms and so far it looks good. But then everyone in all threads manage to get the ath0 in some way and I just can't make it. Any pointers? (besides "read the page duh"..cause I've done that and obviously it didn't help).

icantux · #14 23rd March 2006, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cub

I'm not sure I should start a new thread or continue on this one, but I have some questions and trouble getting my Netgear WG511 to work. I have tried installing the madwifi from atrpms and so far it looks good. But then everyone in all threads manage to get the ath0 in some way and I just can't make it. Any pointers? (besides "read the page duh"..cause I've done that and obviously it didn't help).

You might have to reboot for the changes to take effect after installing madwifi. Running iwconfig should then list the card as ath0. If that doesn't work, just make sure the "ath_pci" is listed in "# lsmod" and then start the card (ifconfig ath0 up). Then do # iwconfig again and it should be there.

cub · #15 23rd March 2006, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icantux

You might have to reboot for the changes to take effect after installing madwifi. Running iwconfig should then list the card as ath0. If that doesn't work, just make sure the "ath_pci" is listed in "# lsmod" and then start the card (ifconfig ath0 up). Then do # iwconfig again and it should be there.

I did reboot (I've tried installing madwifi twice) but iwconfig doesn't show ath0 and it's not in lsmod either.