Ubuntu
gnome-nettool package

need help getting wireless network card (Instant Wireless Network PC Card ver.3 LINKSYS) working

Asked by ceuthophilus

I have a Dell Latitude C610 which was running Windows 2000, I've wiped it completely clean and installed Ubuntu (version 8.10), from a CD. I cannot figure out how to install the driver for my PCMCI slot network card (Instant Wireless Network PC Card ver.3 LINKSYS), or even what driver I should use (I downloaded a file called linux_wlan_ng_0114_prel.tar.gz via my other, windows machine and put it on the desktop of the Ubuntu machine, but don't know if it is correct file, or what to do with it or how to open it).

  When I started to place this query here on launchpad, a series of other similar questions were automatically suggested - I've looked at these, but the combined effect is that it looks like the process will be long and painful, especially given that I'm not computer techy at all (many of the answers used terms that I do not understand). I'm afraid the Ubuntu has not yet achieved the level of access to the common man (or woman) that I had hoped, but not wanting to throw in my hat and sulk back to windows too quickly, would someone be willing to hold the hand of this dummy and try to get my wireless working?

1 free beer of your choice, should you succeed and also happen to pass through my town (offer void if this would result in underage drinking, or just wait a few years to validate the offer!).

Thanks for considering this,
Steve T.

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Ubuntu gnome-nettool Edit question
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Revision history for this message
Mark Rijckenberg (markrijckenberg) said : 		#1

Hi,

Please follow this procedure:

Step 1: Open Terminal from "Applications->Accessories->
Terminal"

Step 2: Run the following commands (type each then hit <enter>)

sudo iwlist scanning
nm-tool
iwconfig
ifconfig
sudo lshw -C network
lspci
lsusb
uname -a
dmesg|grep ound
dmesg|grep etect

Step 3: Post results (cut/paste terminal output from each command) here

Regards,

Mark

Revision history for this message
ceuthophilus (ceuthophilus) said : 		#2

Mark,

Thank you for your rapid reply, wow!

I've followed your instructions, with my wireless card plugged into the computer. Note that "Amblypygi" (see below) is just a name I typed in whilst trying to create a wireless connection. Here are the results of the tests:

Steve T.

----------------------------------------------

sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ sudo iwlist scanning
[sudo] password for sjtaylor:
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wifi0 Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:14:BF:27:FA:8C
                    ESSID:"Amblypygi"
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Signal level=-59 dBm Noise level=-81 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
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:resp_rate=10
          Cell 02 - Address: 00:16:B6:DA:D1:BD
                    ESSID:"wireless03"
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.457 GHz (Channel 10)
                    Signal level=-83 dBm Noise level=-90 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
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:resp_rate=10

wlan0 Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:14:BF:27:FA:8C
                    ESSID:"Amblypygi"
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Signal level=-60 dBm Noise level=-87 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
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:resp_rate=10
          Cell 02 - Address: 00:16:B6:DA:D1:BD
                    ESSID:"wireless03"
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.457 GHz (Channel 10)
                    Signal level=-83 dBm Noise level=-91 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
                    Extra:bcn_int=100
                    Extra:resp_rate=10

pan0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ nm-tool

NetworkManager Tool

State: disconnected

- Device: eth0 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  Type: Wired
  Driver: 3c59x
  State: unavailable
  Default: no
  HW Address: 00:04:76:42:F4:B6

  Capabilities:
    Supported: yes
    Carrier Detect: yes
    Speed: 10 Mb/s

  Wired Settings

- Device: wlan0 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  Type: 802.11 WiFi
  Driver: hostap_cs
  State: disconnected
  Default: no
  HW Address: 00:06:25:2A:3B:50

  Capabilities:
    Supported: yes

  Wireless Settings
    WEP Encryption: yes
    WPA Encryption: yes
    WPA2 Encryption: yes

  Wireless Access Points
    Amblypygi: Infra, 00:14:BF:27:FA:8C, Freq 2437 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 59 WEP
    wireless03: Infra, 00:16:B6:DA:D1:BD, Freq 2457 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 37 WEP
    Metz Engineering:Infra, 00:16:B6:04:19:D8, Freq 2437 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 32 WEP

sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wifi0 IEEE 802.11b ESSID:"Amblypygi" Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:14:BF:27:FA:8C
          Bit Rate:2 Mb/s Sensitivity=1/3
          Retry short limit:8 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off

wlan0 IEEE 802.11b ESSID:"Amblypygi" Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:14:BF:27:FA:8C
          Bit Rate:2 Mb/s Sensitivity=1/3
          Retry short limit:8 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=28/70 Signal level=-59 dBm Noise level=-87 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:91 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:114 Missed beacon:0

pan0 no wireless extensions.

sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:04:76:42:f4:b6
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:11 Base address:0x4c00

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
          inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

wifi0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-06-25-2A-3B-50-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:4 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:3 Base address:0x100

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:06:25:2a:3b:50
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:3 Base address:0x100

sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ sudo lshw -C network
  *-network
       description: Instant Wireless Network PC Card
       product: ISL37300P
       vendor: The Linksys Group, Inc.
       physical id: 0
       version: RevA
       slot: Socket 0
       resources: irq:3
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: 3c556 Hurricane CardBus [Cyclone]
       vendor: 3Com Corporation
       physical id: 10
       bus info: pci@0000:00:10.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 10
       serial: 00:04:76:42:f4:b6
       size: 10MB/s
       capacity: 100MB/s
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=3c59x duplex=half latency=32 link=no maxlatency=5 mingnt=10 module=3c59x multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
  *-network:0
       description: Wireless interface
       physical id: 2
       logical name: wlan0
       serial: 00:06:25:2a:3b:50
       capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=hostap firmware=1.4.2 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11b
  *-network:1 DISABLED
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 3
       logical name: pan0
       serial: 9a:67:05:eb:9b:d4
       capabilities: ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes
sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX AGP bridge (rev 03)
00:03.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1420 PC card Cardbus Controller
00:03.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1420 PC card Cardbus Controller
00:07.0 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 03)
00:08.0 Multimedia audio controller: ESS Technology ES1983S Maestro-3i PCI Audio Accelerator (rev 10)
00:10.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c556 Hurricane CardBus [Cyclone] (rev 10)
00:10.1 Communication controller: 3Com Corporation Mini PCI 56k Winmodem (rev 10)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Rage Mobility M3 AGP 2x (rev 02)
sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 12f7:1a00 Memorex Products, Inc. TD Classic 003B
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ uname -a
Linux Zanthum 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 21:57:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux
sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ dmesglgrep ound
bash: dmesglgrep: command not found
sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$ dmesglgrep etect
bash: dmesglgrep: command not found
sjtaylor@Zanthum:~$

Revision history for this message
Mark Rijckenberg (markrijckenberg) said : 		#3

Hi,

My first impression is that your wireless card driver is installed and working correctly.

Have you tried turning off encryption on the wireless router and then trying to set up a new wireless connection using the Network Manager icon that should be in the top right corner of your screen (in Ubuntu)?

It is 2:33 AM here now so I will have to go to sleep... Hope someone else can take over....

Regards,

Mark

Revision history for this message
ceuthophilus (ceuthophilus) said : 		#4

Remember the first part where I said I was "not computer techy" and a "dummy"? Well, you are right, I've had a wireless signal all along, I just didn't recognize the icon at the top of the screen as being wireless connections (duh, it isn't even very diff from windows). I've still not made my connection yet - probably due to encryption - but I'll read up on that on the web before posting another q on this topic - soo I'm calling this 'solved'. Plus, someone searching for help topics probably doesn't want one question blending into the next. Thanks for your efforts.
Steve T.