Ubuntu with wireless - fka Xubuntu with Wireless

[PaulF]

Setup is a Mac (PPC) with Xubuntu loaded on a Firewire drive.

I'm trying to get networking to work with no success

I've disable security on the wireless (but I won't tell you where I live ) - still got Mac Address filtering on then.

Wireless is activated but Ubuntu is asking for WEP details, leaving those blank doesn't help.

Any ideas on how I can get it to connect?

Thanks

[border-rider]

Have you got Gnome Network Manager running ? That's the easiest way to sort out wireless connections.

[PaulF]

Have you got Gnome Network Manager running ? That's the easiest way to sort out wireless connections.

What's that then? I'm on Day 3 of the 'Linux Experience' and lost day 2 due to work!

Is it part of teh standard build? Or do I need to download it?

Thanks

[border-rider]

It'll be there already, I think, on Gutsy.  You had to add it manually on earlier distros.

It should be on the taskbar thingy - the icon appears as wireless bars when I'm connected and as a little computer with a cross on it when I'm not.  Like this:

[PaulF]

Well I didn't appear to have it so down  loaded and extracted the file to my desktop. What do I do now? I guess I need to compile the files to create an executable? How do I do that?

[border-rider]

Well I didn't appear to have it so down  loaded and extracted the file to my desktop. What do I do now? I guess I need to compile the files to create an executable? How do I do that?

No you shouldn't have to do any of that stuff.

It's very rare that that downloading and extracting is ether needed or a good idea in Ubuntu.

Instead:

Applications>add/remove applications>internet>Network Manager

tick the box and click the Apply Changes button.

[Or type "sudo apt-get install Gnome-Network-Manager" from a terminal windowl]

[PaulF]

Maybe I'm being dumber than usual but I can't find the add/remove applications

going to Terminal gives the message "Couldn't find package Gnome-Network-Manager"

[PaulF]

Got Network Manager Installed but still no connection even with all security disabled.

Any obvious things to try?

Thanks

[border-rider]

What's showing in the Network Manager icon ?

If you right-click on it there are options to tick/not: wired vs wireless, and also connection information which will tell you what network device is active.  If you left-click on it it should give you a list of all the wireless networks it can see (if it can see any)

[border-rider]

Maybe I'm being dumber than usual but I can't find the add/remove applications

That's cos I didn't read your post properly - this is Xubutu not Ubuntu, which is why Gnome Network Manager wasn't there  - cos Gnome isn't there.

Sorry

Anyway, you have it now.

[PaulF]

What's showing in the Network Manager icon ?

If you right-click on it there are options to tick/not: wired vs wireless, and also connection information which will tell you what network device is active.  If you left-click on it it should give you a list of all the wireless networks it can see (if it can see any)

Wireless network option is there but it doesn't appear to be able to see any networks

[border-rider]

What's showing in the Network Manager icon ?

If you right-click on it there are options to tick/not: wired vs wireless, and also connection information which will tell you what network device is active.  If you left-click on it it should give you a list of all the wireless networks it can see (if it can see any)

Wireless network option is there but it doesn't appear to be able to see any networks

If you right click on it and go to "connection information", what's the name of the interface ?

[PaulF]

If you right click on it and go to "connection information", what's the name of the interface ?

I get:

Error displaying connection information

Could not find some required resources (the glade file)!

[bobajobrob]

Try this:

Code: [Select]

sudo gtk-update-icon-cache -f /usr/share/icons/hicolor

If that doesn't work, try:

Code: [Select]

sudo dpkg-reconfigure network-manager-gnome
sudo /etc/init.d/dbus restart
nm-applet &

If that doesn't work, remove network-manager-gnome and reinstall.

[PaulF]

What's showing in the Network Manager icon ?

If you right-click on it there are options to tick/not: wired vs wireless, and also connection information which will tell you what network device is active.  If you left-click on it it should give you a list of all the wireless networks it can see (if it can see any)

Wireless network option is there but it doesn't appear to be able to see any networks

If you right click on it and go to "connection information", what's the name of the interface ?

It's called "Wireless Internet (eth0)"

Also tried what bobajobrob suggested, that enabled me to see connection information - I could see it when the machine was trying to connect but got the error after it had failed

[border-rider]

eth0 is usually an ethernet (wired) connection.  The wireless usually comes in as eth1 or ra0

<goes off to fire up a Xubuntu machine>

OK.  Applications>system>Network tools>devices tab

There's a box there just to the right of where it says "Network device:" If you click on the arrow on the RHS of that box you'll get a list of all the network connections that have been configured.  What are they ?

[PaulF]

eth0 is usually an ethernet (wired) connection.  The wireless usually comes in as eth1 or ra0

<goes off to fire up a Xubuntu machine>

STOP!!!

Now using Ubuntu!

[border-rider]

Ok, it's the same.  Just a different place to look in the menus.

System>administration>network tools>devices tab

[PaulF]

Ok, it's the same.  Just a different place to look in the menus.

System>administration>network tools>devices tab

Should my wireless device appear there? I only see the Ethernet interface eth1 and Loopback interface (lo)

[bobajobrob]

Should my wireless device appear there? I only see the Ethernet interface eth1 and Loopback interface (lo)

You should see you wireless interface there. For example, I see "Wireless interface (wlan0)". If you type "iwconfig" at the command line, do you see your interface listed there? Mine looks like this:

Code: [Select]

$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

irda0     no wireless extensions.

wmaster0  no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"taco"  Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: 00:0F:66:90:A0:03   
          Bit Rate=36 Mb/s   Tx-Power=27 dBm   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2346 B   
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=62/100  Signal level=-70 dBm  Noise level=-96 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

If it's not there, then it's probably a driver issue. Do an "lspci" and post the name of your wireless controller, e.g.:

Code: [Select]

$ lspci | grep Wireless
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)


[PaulF]

bobajobrob

Results from my iwconfig

Code: [Select]

paul@ubuntu:~$ iwconfig

lo        no wireless extensions.


eth0      IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:off/any  Nickname:"Broadcom 4306"
         
Mode:Managed  Access Point: Invalid   Bit Rate:1 Mb/s
         
RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
         
Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
         
Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
         
Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0


eth1      no wireless extensions.


sit0      no wireless extensions.

So I have a driver?

Does Access Point refer to the MAC of my router?

[border-rider]

It looks as if you have a functional card, and that eth0 is indeed the wireless interface

Yet Gnome Network Manager can't see any networks.  Odd.

OK.....

[bobajobrob]

So I have a driver?

Yes! So that's good news.

Does Access Point refer to the MAC of my router?

I believe so.

It could be that you need to deconfigure your wireless interface in /etc/network/interfaces (this is required for it to be operational in Network Manager). If you cat the file /etc/network/interfaces, do you see eth0 in there? E.g.:

Code: [Select]

$ cat /etc/network/interfaces
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback


[PaulF]

All I see is

Code: [Select]

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
So I need to deconfigure? How do I do that?

[bobajobrob]

So I need to deconfigure? How do I do that?

No, that looks fine. Strange, it should work in Network Manager.

Just as a sanity check - do you have the wireless switched on on the laptop? There's usually a button or a switch somewhere, or maybe a function key.