But it worked when I ran the live CD!...

Hello all,

I can’t say that I am really new to Linux, but I will say that I am not very familiar. I have had some exposure to it over the years but one major hangup has kept me from fully embracing it: wireless! I have not often had the luxury of a wired internet connection.

Recently I popped a live cd into my new laptop, prompted by my general dissatisfaction with Vista (and subconscious desire to rebel against something). To my surprise I was able to connect to my wireless network, no configuration required. I thought that surely this must mean that my wireless card was supported “out of the box” and I could finally kick windows to the curb. Unfortunately after install I am no longer able to connect! Wireless manager continually prompts for my WEP key or pass phrase. I have tried multiple distros and read through countless forums in search of an answer.

I read through the sticky thread and here are the results of running the commands mentioned.

lspci

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
00:1a.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 03)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 6 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
02:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
04:00.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2860
06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller (rev 12)
07:09.0 Mass storage controller: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MS/xD Controller (rev 03)
07:09.2 SD Host controller: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MMC/SD Controller (rev 02)

lspci -n

00:00.0 0600: 8086:2a40 (rev 07)
00:02.0 0300: 8086:2a42 (rev 07)
00:02.1 0380: 8086:2a43 (rev 07)
00:1a.0 0c03: 8086:2937 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 0c03: 8086:2938 (rev 03)
00:1a.2 0c03: 8086:2939 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 0c03: 8086:293c (rev 03)
00:1b.0 0403: 8086:293e (rev 03)
00:1c.0 0604: 8086:2940 (rev 03)
00:1c.2 0604: 8086:2944 (rev 03)
00:1c.5 0604: 8086:294a (rev 03)
00:1d.0 0c03: 8086:2934 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 0c03: 8086:2935 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 0c03: 8086:2936 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 0c03: 8086:293a (rev 03)
00:1e.0 0604: 8086:2448 (rev 93)
00:1f.0 0601: 8086:2919 (rev 03)
00:1f.2 0106: 8086:2929 (rev 03)
00:1f.3 0c05: 8086:2930 (rev 03)
02:00.0 0280: 168c:002a (rev 01)
04:00.0 0280: 1814:0781
06:00.0 0200: 11ab:4354 (rev 12)
07:09.0 0180: 1217:7130 (rev 03)
07:09.2 0805: 1217:7120 (rev 02)

dmesg output is very large, so here is just one bit that seems important. I can search for other info or post the whole file if needed.

phy0: Atheros 9280: mem=0xffffc200110c0000, irq=16

iwconfig

ra0       RT2860 Wireless  ESSID:""  Nickname:"RT2860STA"
          Mode:Auto  Frequency=2.437 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Bit Rate:1 Mb/s   
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Link Quality=96/100  Signal level:0 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bgn  ESSID:"Gandalf"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Tx-Power=27 dBm   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2352 B   
          Power Management: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

iwlist scan

ra0       Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:1D:7E:45:C2:04
                    ESSID:"Gandalf"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:6
                    Quality:65/100  Signal level:-64 dBm  Noise level:-97 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:54 Mb/s

wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:1D:7E:45:C2:04
                    ESSID:"Gandalf"
                    Mode:Master
                    Channel:6
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality=26/100  Signal level:-78 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                    Extra:tsf=000001ad65a8c18b
                    Extra: Last beacon: 12ms ago

Please let me know if there is any other info that might help! Also, I am interested in knowing the technical details, if anyone feels compelled to share. At the moment I just need to get this laptop up and running ASAP!

Also, I noticed these lines in dmesg output:

ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

and

ra0: no IPv6 routers present

and

wlan0: authentication with AP 00:1d:7e:45:c2:04 timed out

I tried disabling ipv6 and the above lines are no longer present in the output of dmesg (except for the AP timeout), but I am still unable to connect to my wireless network.

I should note that wireless manager found my network and shows signal. Also, I have a built-in wireless card as well as a PCI Express card that I purchased recently (since the built-in card seemed to be problematic).

Add this repo
Index of /repositories/driver:/wireless/11.1-update

see here and scroll to find your device
HCL/Network Adapters (Wireless) - openSUSE