(Hopefully) straightforward wireless problem

[Jimbo_G]

I'm a casual Kubuntu user, and recently installed openSUSE 11.1 on a friend's Compaq Presario R3000. I'm very impressed so far, but can't quite get the wireless working. Here is the relevant info:

The wireless device is a Broadcom BCM4303 802.11b (rev 02)
The PCI vendor/product ID codes are 14e4:4301 (rev02)

I have installed the firmware by following the instructions in lwfinger's sticky thread and on the linuxwireless.org website.

This appears to have worked, as the command 'sudo /usr/sbin/iwlist scan' displays the available wireless networks, including my own. The ESSID and Address are shown correctly.

I presumably just need to configure Network Manager, but I don't know how. I'm using the Gnome UI; I have tried adding a wireless connection by clicking the icon on the taskbar but without success. I've entered the SSID and my WPA passkey, but it just doesn't do anything.

The tutorials I have read all seem to stop at this point with something like "now configure the network manager", and no further information. The hardware seems to be working, hopefully I'm just missing the final step!

[Akoellh]

Getting Your Wireless to Work - openSUSE Forums

Post #3

[lwfinger]

One additional point to consider. The 14e4:4301 device is
802.11b-only. Are you certain that the AP is set up for b or mixed b/g
operations?

[Jimbo_G]

Thanks for the replies; I will post the results from that diagnostic script tomorrow (I'm no longer with the computer that I'm trying to get working).

I had a play with wicd as that is what I use with Kubuntu on my own laptop. That worked better, in that it showed the available networks, but I was still not able to connect. Authentification seemed to happen, and then it got stuck waiting for an IP.

There are many threads about this type of problem so it's quite confusing.

Apologies to lwfinger, but I don't really understand the question. The wireless device has been successfully used with windoze XP.

[Jimbo_G]

I've now run the script - results below. I've tried going through the suggested solutions on Framp's site, but I really don't understand enough to know what is going on.

Is it possible that I'm just not using network manager correctly? At least it is now displaying the available networks - if I click on mine then it asks for the WPA passkey several times in succession before giving up. My AP is the third in the iwlist list (ESSID w*f*r*z*)

Here are the results from the script: nopaste.info - free nopaste script and service

-----------------------------
Edit: Just to clarify, I have switched back to NetworkManager instead of Wicd.

[Akoellh]

Originally Posted by Jimbo_G

Is it possible that I'm just not using network manager correctly? witched back to NetworkManager instead of Wicd.

At least the results are of nearly no value when running the script in order to check for WLAN problems and being connected via cable at the same time.

[Jimbo_G]

Here are the results with wired connection removed (still the same error codes):

nopaste.info - free nopaste script and service

[Akoellh]

!!! CND0330E: WLAN credential problems exist on interface wlan0

- double check you wireless key

- remove encryption on the router temporarily to exclude problems with encryption

- if your router offers "mixed" WPA (WPA/WPA2) switch to WPA only or WPA2 only

- there is a lot of traffic on channel 1, try channel 6 or 11 in your router

[Jonathan_R]

Originally Posted by Jimbo_G

I've now run the script - results below. I've tried going through the suggested solutions on Framp's site, but I really don't understand enough to know what is going on.

Is it possible that I'm just not using network manager correctly? At least it is now displaying the available networks - if I click on mine then it asks for the WPA passkey several times in succession before giving up. My AP is the third in the iwlist list (ESSID w*f*r*z*)

Here are the results from the script: nopaste.info - free nopaste script and service

-----------------------------
Edit: Just to clarify, I have switched back to NetworkManager instead of Wicd.

OK. I read through most of that paste. You don't have b43 loaded as a module.
You really need to read up on this. Here is a great place to read. NetworkManager - Linux Wireless
Pay special attention to this page: b43 - Linux Wireless

openSUSE 11.0 and 11.1 use the following command:

• sudo /usr/sbin/install_bcm43xx_firmware

Ok, notice in the screenshot there. If you go with the defaults for WEP, then just enter your WEP key. If you're using WPA, then choose WPA personal and enter in the "shared key", which is again, whatever you have for the key. Now I do recommend you click on, for WPA, "expert settings" and tick the box "use a specific WPA version" and you'll probably want version 1. After that, it should be connect and save.

I used to work for a major communications company providing broadband technical support, usually to the field techs. I would assist in troubleshooting wireless issues, among other things. When I went to do wireless in Linux, it took me some reading and tinkering and asking questions. So don't feel bad.

[Akoellh]

@Jonathan_R

You are on the completely wrong path.

a) The correct driver is loaded (b43legacy)

b) The firmware is alreday installed, otherwise one would not even get any scan results