WiFi works w/ LiveCD, but not off HD install

[calbruc]

Hi all. I'm new to Linux and was hoping I could get some assistance with my wireless connection.

I'm running Sabayan 64-3.4f. The NIC's a pci US Robotics MaxG that uses a Broadcom 43xx chip.

Now, the thing is, the wireless card sees my router and connects fine in the LiveCD environment. And after it is installed on the hard drive, it sees the router and will connect. But after I reboot, I can see the router, but can't connect -- gets stuck on 28%. I have reinstalled the OS a couple of times and this is consistent. There is no WEP or WPA on the router at the moment.

I'd truly appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks!

[axolos]

I have the same problem, just installed the 3.4f.
See another topic: http://www.sabayonlinux.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=11260

[calbruc]

It looks like the other folks in that thread were having an issue with WPA. As I mentioned, I shut off WEP and WPA at the router, so I think we're dealing with something different.

Will your card connect using the liveCD?

You mentioned in the other thread disabling your wired NIC to get your wireless one going. I only have the wireless card installed -- eth0. Sorry I can't give any more relevant data at the moment -- I'm in XP.

I saw a thread on the Gentoo boards that may be a similar issue, but they're conversing at a level way above my head, so maybe not:

http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-627113.html

If there are any commands that can give you data that might help, please let me know what they are, but remember I'm pretty much brand new to Linux, so be specific. I would imagine that if I (okay, somebody who knows what they're doing) were to compare certain info from my HD install to the liveCD environment, we might be able to track down the problem.

[axolos]

I am also quite new with linux, so no worries here.

Yes, my wireless card was working with the LiveCD.

I am currently using ndiswrapper to connect to the internet... And after trying out some stuff, it does not really matter whether the wired NIC is up or not.
I still do not know how to make it work right after starting up the computer however...

About Ndiswrapper:
There is an extensive Installation info at http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/joomla/index.php?/component/option,com_openwiki/Itemid,33/id,installation/, however all you need to know is the following:

- check whether you have installed ndiswrapper with

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ndiswrapper -v

this should give you back the version of ndiswrapper installed. If none returns... well, then install it.

If you have one installed, then check whether there is a driver for your card installed, which is being used by ndiswrapper using

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ndiswrapper -l

this lists the driver installed.

I suppose you do not have the right driver installed already... so:
Find your card and extract the corresponding drivers for your wireless card:
http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/joomla/index.php?/component/option,com_openwiki/Itemid,33/id,list/

Install the driver by using the following command

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ndiswrapper -i USRMAXG.inf

where USRMAXG.inf is the driver info file for your card.

List whether the driver was installed correctly and the device is working with

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ndiswrapper -l

Load ndiswrapper into the memory:

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ndiswrapper -m

Now, by using the following commands you can figure out how your network connections are configured:
all:

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ifconfig

wireless:

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iwconfig

Try to put the wireless up with:

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dhcpcd eth0

and test the result in your webbrowser... Are the webpages loading?

[calbruc]

Sorry for the delay in my response. I haven't had time to tinker with things until recently.

I got the wireless connection working with a very simple fix. I just have to run net-setup, specify the network details, and it connects fine using DHCP. It runs solid once it's up. I never even had to install a driver. Maybe next I can try getting it running with WPA.

I have to say, after poking around and learning a little bit, I'm very impressed with Sabayon. It's quite a leap coming from Windows-based systems, but definitely worth exploring.