Installed openSuSe 11.2 on older Sony VAIO laptop with on-board eth0 and Linksys PCMCIA wlan0 using Broadcom 4318 chipset. Desktop chosen is XFCE, install was performed without auto config, firewall disabled, IPv6 disabled, both during install.
zypper up run after install, nothing to do.
Installed b43 firmware (install_bcm43xx_firmware method).
Accessed /etc/sysconfig Editor, added b43 to MODULES_LOADED_ON_BOOT
Installed WICD from Wicd - openSUSE following all instructions on that page. Made necessary change to System Service Runlevel to add 2, 3, and 5 to wicd to eliminate dbus error.
Launched WICD Network Manager, entered WEP info.
Disconnected eth0, connected wlan0:
Authentication seems okay, shows to be getting IP address, then:
Connection failed: Unable to get IP Address.
WICD Network Manager shows it to be connected, however it reports an IP beginning with 169.254.etc which makes sense given the failure to obtain a real IP shown above.
Second time through trying to get this to work, cannot find any readily apparent error. Since the laptop has a 1 GB processor and 512 MB RAM, I would prefer to use XFCE as my desktop.
Assuming that this 2WIRE250 ESSID is the one you want, then you should
be able to use WiCD to make a connection. Note: I have no experience
with that piece of software.
You need to use the WEP key, but that is what 2WIRE puts on the bottom
of their device.
As a bit of warning, I have experience with only one 2WIRE device. It
was changed to use WPA and worked with wireless for about 1 year, then
suddenly nothing could connect to it. Only by using a wire to connect,
logging into the router and forcing a reset of the wireless key were
we able to connect to it.
That 169… IP is the zero configuration IP that is probably
assigned by WiCD when a regular one fails. It is not valid.
Why are you using channel 3? Wireless LAN is not like a TV where
adjacent channels are distinct. With 802.11g networking, adjacent
channels are 5 MHz apart, but the bandwidth is 20 MHz. This width is
the reason that only channels 1, 6, and 11 are free of interference.
Sorry,didn’t know much about the channels. Got that corrected on the 2Wire. Here is the updated iwlist scan:
iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn’t support scanning.