Help! Confusion over how to setup intel3945 wireless and rc.conf

Question

Hi,
I'm very confused.  I've already read through all the wikis and searched many forum posts.  I can't get my wireless intel3945 to work on my dell vostro 1400.
Iwconfig says the wireless card is at wlan0 and dmesg | grep iwl says it has detected it.  However, when I try a iwlist wlan0 scan it returns :
wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down
I think the problem is that I don't know how to setup rc.conf correctly or use the command line to test the wireless.  Forum posts say many different things on how this is done.
These are the steps I have taken:
uninstalled the ipw3945 and ipw3945-ucode and ipw3945d.
installed iwlwifi and iwlwifi-3945-ucode
in my rc.conf modules, added iwl3945.
I'm not sure how to setup the networking section, this what I have now:
lo="lo 127.0.01"
eth0="dhcp"
wlan0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(lo etho)
gateway="default gw 192.168.1.1"
ROUTES=(!gateway)
And in my dameons I have 'network'.
How can I scan for networks and connect to them on the commandline?  I'd prefer not to use a gui tool because they never work and never tell me why they're not working.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Cheers!
kilolima

Answer 1

iphitus wrote:
broch wrote:I have ipw3945 and iwl3945 working with wpa2 (or vpn)
(less complicatd than the above)
don't use netcfg2
Why?
no particular reason.
Simply when I configured wireless, netcfg2 wasn't available. Since then it (wireless) works, so not having any problems, I did not modify network setup. Next week or so I am going to install Arch on my daughter's laptop (per her request ) so I will try netcfg2.
So this is what I have for ipw3945 wpa2 or iwl3945 with wpa2
Below you will find a lot of words so read slowly but there is not much actual work
ipw3945 setup
kernel 2.6.23.x (Arch or vanilla)
or
kernel 2.6.24/2.6.24-gitX (patched with ipw3945 patch from gentoo -> compiling separate module for 2.6.24 may fail. if you want kernel patch I can post a link)
for default kernel install Arch packages for ipw3945, ipw3945d, ipw3945-ucode
or
if you want to compile modules, you will also need ieee80211 (first uninstall kernel's default, then install from sources otherwise ieee80211 from sources may refuse to install)
modify /etc/rc.conf
DAEMONS=(.... @ipw3945d @network ....)
that is all you don't need to add ipw3945 to MODULES=(.....)
because ipw3945d will automatically start ipw3945 module
do not list eth1 in network config section:
lo="lo 127.0.0.1"
eth0="dhcp"
INTERFACES=(eth0)
as you see, in my case only eth0 (wired) is listed and eth1 (wireless) is not listed
now you are done with basic network configuration for ipw3945, restart network/computer to bring up ipw3945d/ipw3945
check if modules are up and basic network is set:
#lsmod | grep ipw
#ifconfig -a
or
#iwconfig
if all is o.k. configure
WPA2:
configure router for wpa2
client: basically follow Arch wiki:
configure wpa_supplicant (installed already of course)
#wpa_passphrase your_ssid your_psk
keep terminal window open with created encrypted wpa passphrase  and in the second terminal window edit /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
network={
        ssid="your_ssid"
        scan_ssid=1
        proto=WPA RSN
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        pairwise=CCMP TKIP
        group=CCMP TKIP
                psk=whatever_output_from_wpa_passphrase
Above pairwise and group setup will depend on your router (network capabilities)
almost done:
run
#wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -i eth1 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
the above assumes that your ipw3945 is set as eth1 (from iwconfig output)
to connect to the network I am using "wireless assistant" http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.ph … tent=21832
that is all for ipw3945. You may automate network starting/connecting to wpa2 by writing simple script.
iwl3945
--kernel 2.6.23.x
install iwlwifi and iwlwifi-3945-ucode
--kernel 2.6.24.x
install only iwlwifi-3945-ucode as kernel has iwlwifi module incorporated
default iwlwifi does not support LED so I suggest to install something like knemo for kde to show active network icon. The latest iwlwifi does support LED but it is not yet incorporated into 2.6.24 vanilla kernel.
if you have kernel 2.6.23.x with external iwlwifi module
modify /etc/rc.conf
and add iwlwifi to
MODULES=(.....)
nothing else is required.
if you have kernel 2.6.24 with integrated iwlwifi module you don't have to edit /etc/rc.conf
As in the case of ipw3945, I do not list wireless interface (wlan0) in /etc/rc.conf
for kernel 2.6.23.x
load module/restart network or simply restart computer
check if module is up
#lsmod | grep iwl
#iwconfig
or
#ifconfig -a
WPA2
same wpa_supplicant.conf as above, so if you already have it no need for modifications.
start wpa2
#wpa_supplicant -Bw -Dwext -i wlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
the only difference in the command is wireless interface: wlan0
connect to the network, again I am using "wireless assistant"
vpn
I am using cisco vpn. Client is provided by vpn host, cisco does not provide vpn client for individual download, but you can find it on line.
vpn host will provide pcf file for you
- install vpnclient
- copy your VPN profile (vpn.pcf) to the
/etc/CiscoSystemsVPNClient/Profiles
directory
-- start vpn client
/opt/cisco-vpnclient/bin/vpnclient connect vpn pcf_file_name
provide username and password and off you go
From my experience none of linux gui for vpn works reliably so you will have to resort to the command line.
That is all, a lot of writing, but actual ipw3945 and iwl3945 configuration is straightforward and very short.
Hopefully this will work for you.
forgot to add regarding vpnclient (cisco)
you will have to modify
/etc/init.d/vpnclient_init
line 38 and line 101
replace
/sbin/lsmod
with
/bin/lsmod
Last edited by broch (2008-02-07 15:55:45)