Wlan0 fails to start in Suse 11

English Network/Internet
#1

Hello all

I have been trying to weed through all the posts and have not found any solution for my problem yet.

I have a Sony Vaio and using a linksys wireless PCMCIA card. I have set the card up and I am getting the appropriate response back to iwconfig. The green light on the card is on but it does not connect to the router. I have used the card in another laptop and it works fine so it is not the card.

If I start the network manaually with NetworkManager running it tells me the network is started. When I use IFUP I get that the wlan0 fails

below is the /etc/init.d/network stop and start readouts.

jayco:/etc/init.d # ./network stop
Shutting down network interfaces:
eth0 device: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10) done
pan0
No configuration found for pan0
Nevertheless the interface will be shut down. bridge-utils not installed done
wlan0 name: BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller done
Shutting down service network . . . . . . . . . done

jayco:/etc/init.d # ./network start
Hint: you may set mandatory devices in /etc/sysconfig/network/config
Setting up network interfaces:
eth0 device: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
eth0 Starting DHCP4 client. . . . . . . .
eth0 DHCP4 continues in background waiting
pan0
No configuration found for pan0 unused
wlan0 name: BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller
wlan0 warning: using NO encryption
command ‘iwconfig wlan0 nick jayco’ returned
Error for wireless request “Set Nickname” (8B1C) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.
wlan0 Starting DHCP4 client. . . .
wlan0 DHCP4 client NOT running
interface wlan0 is not up failed
Setting up service network . . . . . . . . . . done
SuSEfirewall2: Setting up rules from /etc/sysconfig/SuSEfirewall2 …
SuSEfirewall2: using default zone ‘ext’ for interface pan0
SuSEfirewall2: using default zone ‘ext’ for interface wlan0
SuSEfirewall2: using default zone ‘ext’ for interface wmaster0
SuSEfirewall2: batch committing…
SuSEfirewall2: Firewall rules successfully set

any idea?

#2

Please post the output of ‘dmesg | grep b43’.

#3

Here is the output from dmesg

b43-pci-bridge 0000:06:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
b43-pci-bridge 0000:06:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LNK4] -> GSI 10 (level, low) -> IRQ 10
b43-pci-bridge 0000:06:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
b43-phy0: Broadcom 4306 WLAN found
input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input10
firmware: requesting b43/ucode5.fw
b43-phy0 ERROR: Firmware file “b43/ucode5.fw” not found
b43-phy0 ERROR: You must go to b43 - Linux Wireless and download the latest firmware (version 4).

#4

I connected the laptop to the internet using the wired network card and installed the latest firmware for BCM4306. I rebooted and here is what dmesg says now

vesafb: pmi: ports = a010 a016 a054 a038 a03c a05c a000 a004 a0b0 a0b2 a0b4
b43-pci-bridge 0000:06:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
b43-pci-bridge 0000:06:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LNK4] -> GSI 10 (level, low) -> IRQ 10
b43-pci-bridge 0000:06:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
b43-phy0: Broadcom 4306 WLAN found
input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input10
firmware: requesting b43/ucode5.fw
firmware: requesting b43/pcm5.fw
firmware: requesting b43/b0g0initvals5.fw
firmware: requesting b43/b0g0bsinitvals5.fw
b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 410.2160 (2007-05-26 15:32:10)
Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio

#5

jaycova wrote:
> I connected the laptop to the internet using the wired network card and
> installed the latest firmware for BCM4306. I rebooted and here is what
> dmesg says now
>
> vesafb: pmi: ports = a010 a016 a054 a038 a03c a05c a000 a004 a0b0 a0b2
> a0b4
> b43-pci-bridge 0000:06:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
> b43-pci-bridge 0000:06:00.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LNK4] -> GSI 10 (level,
> low) -> IRQ 10
> b43-pci-bridge 0000:06:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
> b43-phy0: Broadcom 4306 WLAN found
> input: b43-phy0 as /devices/virtual/input/input10
> firmware: requesting b43/ucode5.fw
> firmware: requesting b43/pcm5.fw
> firmware: requesting b43/b0g0initvals5.fw
> firmware: requesting b43/b0g0bsinitvals5.fw
> b43-phy0: Loading firmware version 410.2160 (2007-05-26 15:32:10)
> Registered led device: b43-phy0::tx
> Registered led device: b43-phy0::rx
> Registered led device: b43-phy0::radio

It is ready to be configured.

#6

I got it fix now. I saw a post talking about /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistant.net.rules and changed the line for wlan0 from DRIVERS=="?*" TO DRIVERS==“b43”.

and it works.

thanks

#7

Ugh]

I have a similar frustrating tale and don’t know how it ends.

I use openSuSE 11.1 on an HP Compaq Presario 5710F desktop computer with a LinkSys WMP54G v. 4.1 wireless card. the wired ethernet works perfectly fine, but the wireless doesn’t and I don’t know why. I tried configuring it months ago, but gave up in confused frustration. In two days I’m going to where I will likely be able only to use wireless Internet, so I need a solution fast. I tried following several books, but am still confused as to what the problem is. Can anyone help?

As per one book’s instructions, I issued command # iwlist wlan0 scan and got a list of nearby wireless networks, of which #4 is the correct one. The output for it reads:

Cell 04 - Address: WITHHELD]
ESSID:“WITHHELD]”
Mode:Master
Channel:1
Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
Quality=52/100 Signal level:-46 dBm
Encryption key:on
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
IE: Unknown: 2D1AEC0117FFFF0000000000000000000000000000000C0000000000
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
18 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s
24 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Extra:tsf=00000026f40c975a
Extra: Last beacon: 692ms ago

I tried the yast2 lan-command. Output:

MCP61 Ethernet (not configured) (Not connected) *
MAC: WITHHELD]
Network Bridge DHCP (Device Name: br0)
Network Bridge DHCP (Device Name: br1)
RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI DHCP

RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI
MAC: WITHHELD]

Device Name: wlan0
Started automatically at boot
IP address assigned using DHCP

A check into the advanced section showed

kernel module name: rt61pci

and that the maximum transfer unit (MTU) was defaulted to

1500 (Ethernet, DSL broadband)

Do I need to change it to the other option “1492 (PPPoE, broadband)” for the wireless card?

I issued the command # iwconfig and got:

lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg
ESSID:“WITHHELD]”
Mode:Managed
Frequency:2.412 GHz
Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=18 dBm
Retry min limit:7
RTS thr:off
Fragment thr=2352 B
Encryption key: WITHHELD]
Security mode:open
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

And I checked the Hardware Info in Yast and got:

31: PCI 105.0: 0282 WLAN controller
[Created at pci.318]
UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_1814_301
Unique ID: y9sn.BI11xypqvQF
Parent ID: 8otl.Ao4TF0pWC38
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:01:05.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:01:05.0
Hardware Class: network
Model: “Linksys WMP54G ver 4.1”
Vendor: pci 0x1814 “RaLink”
Device: pci 0x0301 “RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI”
SubVendor: pci 0x1737 “Linksys”
SubDevice: pci 0x0055 “WMP54G ver 4.1”
Driver: “rt61pci”
Driver Modules: “rt61pci”
Device File: wlan0
Features: WLAN
Memory Range: 0xfdff8000-0xfdffffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
IRQ: 16 (42329 events)
HW Address: WITHHELD]
Link detected: yes
WLAN channels: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
WLAN frequencies: 2.412 2.417 2.422 2.427 2.432 2.437 2.442 2.447 2.452 2.457 2.462
WLAN encryption modes: WEP40 WEP104 TKIP CCMP
WLAN authentication modes: open sharedkey wpa-psk wpa-eap
Module Alias: “pci:v00001814d00000301sv00001737sd00000055bc02sc80i00”
Driver Info #0:
Driver Status: rt61pci is active
Driver Activation Cmd: “modprobe rt61pci”
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
Attached to: #18 (PCI bridge)

The command # dmesg | grep rt61 yields output:

rt61pci 0000:01:05.0: PCI INT A -> Link[APC1] -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
rt61pci 0000:01:05.0: setting latency timer to 64
Registered led device: rt61pci-phy0::radio
Registered led device: rt61pci-phy0::assoc

Note above, buried in the reports, it says “Access Point: Not-Associated”, yet the system reports that the driver is “active”. Is this the problem? If so, how do I fix it?

Please let me know if there is any other info I need to give to help arrive at a solution.

Thanks.
*

#8

FIRST OF ALL, STOP YELLING AT US. IF YOU DO THAT AGAIN, I WILL NOT ANSWER.

Your device seems to be working OK, but you need to configure it. The first
thing to do is choose control/configuration with NetworkManager or ifup. If the
former, you find the applet in the right-hand corner of the screen - upper for
Gnome/lower for KDE. Click on it, select “New Connection” and fill in the
details. If you use ifup, then you need to use YaST => Network Settings =>
Network Devices and edit the connection there.

#9

Your device seems to be working OK, . . .

Well, I figured it was working, since it scanned and gave me all of the readings that it did.

. . . but you need to configure it.

I already did that months ago, as I said, and had to give up in frustration, since it never worked. The question is how to configure it correctly, and, no, it is not straightforward.

The first thing to do is choose control/configuration with NetworkManager . . . , you find the applet [for it] in the right-hand corner of the screen - upper for Gnome/lower for KDE.

I’m using KDE 3.5 and I find no such applet. I checked in the console (with whereis NetworkManager); out put:

NetworkManager: /usr/sbin/NetworkManager
/etc/NetworkManager
/usr/lib/NetworkManager
/usr/share/NetworkManager
/usr/share/man/man8/NetworkManager.8.gz

After looking into the various files there with the less-command, I have no idea how to manipulate any of these for the purposes of configuration. Total blank there.

. . . or . . . If you use ifup, then you need to use YaST => Network Settings => Network Devices and edit the connection there.

This is what I did months ago and tried anew a few days ago, to no good effect.

In general, I have some basic confusion as to what information to fill into some of those slots.

I checked the “status of active connection” displayed in the pop-up dialog box of the KWiFiManager and it read:

connected to network: XXXXXX]
Access point: 12-place pairs of mixed numeric and alphanumeric cyphers separated by colons]
Local IP: unavailable
Frequency (channel): 2.412 [1]

Connection speed
signal strength fluctates among “52”, “63”, “72”, and “92”
Access Point: “N/A” or “UNKNOWN”

I then scanned the network with KWiFiManager

output:

Network Name: “XXXXXX]” mode: managed quality: 52 WEP: “on”

If “network name” = “ESSID”, then the use of one here and the other there creates a whole lot of confusion for lay people like me. If the two terms are not equivalent, then I’m totally lost.

WEP is “on” according to the analysis by KWiFiManager, whereas output of iwlist wlan0 scan (provided in my original post), shows the following for the same network in question:

IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK

Would this not indicate WPA-PSK as the proper security setting, instead of WEP???

So, you see, in sum, I’m confused:

(a) as to what kind of security the network is using, and, therefore which to specifiy in the configuration settings; two different sources seem to give two different readings of the network on this issue.
(b) as to whether "Ethernet NIC physical address = “Access point”. Furthermore, whether the “Access point”-field is to be left blank (probably because it’s “dynamic”, i.e., changing with each session of usage)???
(c) whether “network name” = “ESSID” and, further, what the relationship of either or both of these is to the “host name”, which I notice the system says it’s checking as it executes the configurations. I didn’t see a field for “host name”, so I didn’t fill it in anywhere.
(d) as to what goes into the encryption key field. I tried putting the 12-place numeric/alphanumeric encryption key from the output into the proper field in the Configure Encryption KDE dialog box for cryptokeys, but when I pushed the “activate” button I got a message saying the “Encryption settings could not be set”. Is the value to be filled in there that of the key of 6 paired numeric or alphanumeric cyphers, connected by colons, given by the ** iwconfig**-output or the simple 14-place alphabetic password that the owner of the system gave me??? I think I’ve by now tried both with equal lack of success. Or, alternatively, is no value to be filled in? Just don’t know.

It’s confusion on these, and perhaps on similar, points that I think is the source of what must surely be the problem here, faulty configuration on my part.

Can some one clear these up for me? I think I could then handle the rest from there.

P.S.: No slight or “yelling” was ever intended in my original post. I often use all-caps to show generic categories, instead of specific instances of those categories.

#10

Rex Bachmann wrote:
>
> P.S.: No slight or “yelling” was ever intended in my original post. I
> often use all-caps to show generic categories, instead of specific
> instances of those categories.

It is still rude.

If you are using Kwifimanager, it is likely killing NetworkManager. In addition,
I cannot help you with it as I do not use it.