Linux Format forums

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

SiriusHardware — Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:03 pm

Author: SiriusHardware

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:03 pm

el chapul�n wrote:

You could try...

Code:

$ dmesg | grep -i rt2800pci

I'll give that a shot when I do try the other card back in there. At the moment I'm just wallowing in the luxury of having a working Linux Wifi connection: But it annoys me that the other card has managed to defeat me thus far.

SiriusHardware wrote:

...and sold as 'Linux compatible', so this is likely to arise again some time.

el chapulin wrote:

I wouldn't pay any heed to that, as it simply means that the manufacturer provides drivers, it doesn't mean that the drivers are any good or up to date (or will be kept up to date).

You see, that's one of those annoying little differences between Linux and Windows that I mentioned earlier... when the manufacturer says it's Windows compatible it usually really does mean it.

I would say there is a tendency for Linux users to have to stay maybe a year or two behind the hardware leading edge, because it takes a while (understandably) for the Linux community to come up with what the manufacturer supplied for Windows on hardware launch day. That's the biggest problem with my Ralink card: It's too new at the moment.

Where Linux does score (I now realise) is the way it continually, eventually, tries to support every item of hardware known to man - if there is an item of hardware anywhere in the world, there are probably a few hackers / enthusiasts who want it to work on Linux and may even manage to make it so eventually. It hasn't happened with my Ralink RT3060 based Edimax card yet, but who knows? In the meantime I'll put it back in the Windows machine it came out of.

el chapulin wrote:

Atheros was probably a good choice. I would stick with it and leave well enough alone. �0.02

Ah, that's your two pence worth?

I'm a hardware technician (electronics) by trade and I'm a strong believer in the maxim "If it isn't broken, don't fix it"... but I also hate faults which appear to be unfixable.

Anyway, thanks, you (and others) have been incredibly patient and helpful and I've learned quite a bit which will remain useful as I continue to forge bravely onwards into Linux-land, much appreciated.

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

el chapul�n — Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:00 pm

Author: el chapul�n

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:00 pm

SiriusHardware wrote:

Code:

$ dmesg | grep -i firmware

Ok, the result of that is: Nothing (no result at all).

Very odd, if you do install the card again you could try:

Code:

$ dmesg | grep -i rt2800pci

It should have shown the driver requesting the firmware, even if the firmware was not found there should have been errors, but this can differ from one driver to the next.

SiriusHardware wrote:

Driver: RT2800pci

At least the correct driver was in use. and perhaps in this case nothing is good.

A DNS problem was also a possibility. But it's strange that the new wireless card assumed an alias of wlan0 and just worked on the same config. (it should have been wlan1)

SiriusHardware wrote:

...and sold as 'Linux compatible', so this is likely to arise again some time.

I wouldn't pay any heed to that, as it simply means that the manufacturer provides drivers, it doesn't mean that the drivers are any good or up to date (or will be kept up to date).

Atheros was probably a good choice. I would stick with it and leave well enough alone. �0.02

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

SiriusHardware — Thu Oct 04, 2012 1:06 am

Author: SiriusHardware

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 1:06 am

Ram wrote:

Under Default Route:
Does it list your Primary and Secondary DNS IPs ?

Can't answer that just now because I unpacked the new, alternative wireless card (A TP-Link TL-WN851ND version 1.1), put it in and it really did just work, just like that, on WPA-PSK2.

Since it replaced the Ralink card which was wlan0, it became wlan0 when I fitted it and it just picked up the configuration originally set for the Ralink card to use. Pretty fast, as well.

At �11, I have to say it seems to have been well worth the outlay - the surprising thing is that this card is not advertised as Linux compatible - there isn't even any mention of Linux on the box, but it uses an Atheros chipset which is evidently decently supported by Linux. I only chose it because several people on a review site mentioned that it 'just worked' for them in Linux.

I'll look at the Primary / Secondary DNS ips under the working card, and then put the Ralink card back in to see what they are, or if they are there at all. It would still be nice to crack the last hurdle with the Ralink RT3060 card - it is relatively modern and sold as 'Linux compatible', so this is likely to arise again some time.

I may have to try compiling the driver supplied (in compile it yourself form) on the Edimax disc. The firmware-ralink package (even the version 0.35 one from backports) - still does not specifically mention the RT3060, although it mentions practically every other device in the range.

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

Ram — Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:31 pm

Author: Ram

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:31 pm

Under Default Route:
Does it list your Primary and Secondary DNS IPs ?

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

SiriusHardware — Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:03 pm

Author: SiriusHardware

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:03 pm

Current situation: Still the Ralink card
-OK on Unsecured including internet access
-OK on WEP including internet access
-With router forced to WPA-PSK2 only, the Linux machine appears to connect and stay connected, but no internet activity is possible (site not found, etc).

This was the case using the original plain-text passphrase, and is exactly the same if the hashed (converted to a hex string) version is entered instead. On a whim, I tried connecting with a deliberately wrong password. Then, the machine tried to connect for about 20 seconds, after which the "Wireless Network Authentication Required" Box popped up, inviting me to try again. So it does seem to know the difference between the right passphrase and the wrong passphrase.

With the right passphrase, it appears to connect to the network successfully, but still not to the internet.

el chapul�n wrote:

If you're still using the ralink, this is a long shot, but verify that the firmware is being loaded:

Code:

$ dmesg | grep -i firmware

Ok, the result of that is: Nothing (no result at all).

However, if I go into 'Connection information' while the wireless connection is supposedly connected, I see the following information:

Code:

ACTIVE NETWORK CONNECTIONS

Auto (Network name)

Interface: 802.11 WiFi (wlan0)

Driver: RT2800pci

Speed: Highly variable, anywhere from single figures to 60-70MB or so - it changes every few seconds.

Security: WPA/WPA2

IP Address: 192.168.2.3 (The base IP of the router is 192.168.2.1)

So it gets as far as being assigned an IP address. If I look up the assigned ip addresses of two other (Windows) PCs connected to the network just now and ping them, I get an immediate response, for example

Code:

ping 192.168.2.4

gives

Code:

PING 192.168.2.4 [192.168.2.4] 56 [84] bytes of data

Any thoughts?

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

SiriusHardware — Wed Oct 03, 2012 6:57 pm

Author: SiriusHardware

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 6:57 pm

greg.d wrote:

Is your router set to WPA/WPA2 mixed mode? If so try setting it to WPA2 only. We had an issue with our wireless whereby older android phones would not connect to it if it was set to mixed mode, it may be something similar...

Greg

Hi Greg- interesting idea, easy to try so I forced WPA2_PSK mode on the router. It has changed the situation slightly - now, the Linux machine will appear to connect to it (and stay connected) but when I try to do anything on the internet, it doesn't work (site not found).

Summary so far:
Unsecured networks: Works fine, including internet

WEP (128-bit): Works fine, including internet

WPA/WPA2-PSK
-with the router set to mixed WPA/WPA2 mode, the Linux machine can not connect - behaviour is as though the passphrase is wrong (but it is not).
-with the the router forced to WPA2-PSK only, the Linux machine appears to connect successfully sometimes as though the passphrase is correct, but no internet communication is possible.

I'm going to try El Chapulin's suggestion of converting the key to raw hex and seeing if that makes a difference. I'll also post the latest results from dmesg later.

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

greg.d — Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:20 pm

Author: greg.d

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 2:20 pm

Is your router set to WPA/WPA2 mixed mode? If so try setting it to WPA2 only. We had an issue with our wireless whereby older android phones would not connect to it if it was set to mixed mode, it may be something similar...

Greg

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

el chapul�n — Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:19 am

Author: el chapul�n

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:19 am

It works as follows

Code:

$ wpa_passphrase myessid mypassphrase

(substitute your essid and passphrase)

Code:

network={
ssid="myessid"
#psk="mypassphrase"
psk=2a264c5e1a4313cfd4d2d262882cb4587d02235411bd234987a12bf0b150821a
}

All you need from that is the hash, i.e. "2a264c5e1a4313cfd4d2d262882cb4587d02235411bd234987a12bf0b150821a"

I'm not sure if networkmanager accepts it however, I know wicd does (wicd is another type of "network manager").

Anyway, check the firmware is being loaded first before trying anything else, as WPA2 should be supported and working.

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

SiriusHardware — Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:40 am

Author: SiriusHardware

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:40 am

el chapul�n wrote:

SiriusHardware wrote:

'ndiswrapper'

It's a wrapper to allow the used of the NDIS (windows) driver.

I'm not clear as to which wireless adaptor you're using? The new one you mentioned or the same ralink adaptor?

If you're still using the ralink, this is a long shot, but verify that the firmware is being loaded:

Code:

$ dmesg | grep -i firmware

Anyway it's odd that network manager won't accept your passphrase whereas wpasupplicant does seem to but then fails to obtain a dhcp lease.

I've had issues with networkmanager and especially wicd hashing passphrases in the past. On such occasions it can be an idea use wpa_passphrase to hash the key and enter the hash into your wireless client instead (I'm not entirely sure if networkmanager supports this but wicd does).

Sorry for being unclear:
-The same Ralink card (new one is not here yet)
-Network manager does accept the passphrase, but after trying to use it and presumably finding that it can not negotiate a connection with it, comes back up again to prompt me to correct it.

I'm away from the machine at the moment but will try dmesg later when I'm back home.

I don't know how to utilise wpa-passphrase to 'hash'(?) the key - Nor am I familiar with wicd, these terms are entirely new to me at the moment.

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

el chapul�n — Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:53 am

Author: el chapul�n

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 8:53 am

SiriusHardware wrote:

'ndiswrapper'

Code:

$ dmesg | grep -i firmware

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

SiriusHardware — Wed Oct 03, 2012 12:12 am

Author: SiriusHardware

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 12:12 am

nelz wrote:

The next step is to disable all encryption on the computer and router and see whether it connects successfully. that's the only way to know whether it is the encryption layer that is failing.

OK - I'm busy with one or two things over the coming evenings but will try to find the time to do that.

If it works that way I'll try WEP and WPA(1) as well, but I would ultimately prefer to retain my current level of encryption.

I'll be back when I have more.

EDIT

I went back to using wireless-tools and instead of connecting to my own WPA2 network I connected to an unsecured BT Openzone point nearby - I have a password for Openzone so got past the front end and out onto the wider web - in fact I'm posting this from the Linux machine using Ephiphany browser - IceWeasel seems to stick / lock up a lot, but this one is OK.

Anyway - it seems I can get onto unsecured networks OK - will try WEP, WPA1 when I get a chance.

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

nelz — Wed Oct 03, 2012 12:02 am

Author: nelz

Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 12:02 am

The next step is to disable all encryption on the computer and router and see whether it connects successfully. that's the only way to know whether it is the encryption layer that is failing.

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

SiriusHardware — Tue Oct 02, 2012 10:59 pm

Author: SiriusHardware

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 10:59 pm

el chapul�n wrote:

It's a simple dependency issue - because you're installing offline with dpkg there is no dependency resolution.

Understood. I transferred the Debian-Base package and the initramfs-tools package to the Linux machine via a stick, installed those first and then tried to install the kernel upgrade package again. It worked, thank you.

When I do this, the result is now this:

Code:

uname -a
Linux Debian 3.2.2-0.bpo.3-686-pae...(etcetera)

After a reboot and upon returning to the desktop, I was pretty thrilled to see a 'Wireless Networks are available' box loom up in the corner of the screen.

I went into that, saw my network, chose it, entered my passphrase when prompted and hit 'connect'... the box closed and the wireless status indicator icon (on the right hand side of the desktop upper toolbar) churned away for about 20 seconds.

Then, the wireless configuration box opened up again with a 'please enter the key for this network' prompt. The passphrase I had originally entered was still there in the box, transformed into big dots to make it unreadable.

I entered it three more times - no luck - still behaving as though I have entered the wrong password. I know I do have the right password.

After letting it fail one last time I went into a root terminal and
edited etc/interfaces to place this at the end:

Code:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-conf /etc/wpa.conf

I then created and saved /etc/wpa.conf with this content:

Code:

network={
<TAB> ssid="my_network_name"
<TAB> key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
<TAB> psk="my_network_key"
}

(In the above, I have obviously replaced my SSID and passphrase with generic substitutes for the purpose of this post: And <TAB> indicates that I indented the lines which begin that way).

then, back in terminal, I entered

ifup wlan0

Result:

Code:

Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client 4.1.1-Pl
Copyright 2004-2010 Internet Systems Consortium
All rights reserved
For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp

Listening on LPF/wlan0/2f:02:18:d3:53
Sending on LPF/wlan0/2f:02:18:d3:53
Sending on Socket/Fallback

(Followed by multiple lines like this)

Code:

DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval x

Finally followed by:

Code:

No DHCP offers received.

Just to cover the questions you may ask:

-The network SSID is not hidden

-MAC filtering is off on the router

-The passphrase is correct - this Windows PC is using it right now to convey this post to you.

-The encryption / security in use is WPA2-PSK

-The wireless card does work (with the same encryption and passphrase) in a Windows XP machine.

If you've been patient enough to read through all this you will know that when I installed Linux Mint 13 temporarily, I got to the same stage - wireless card recognised, but unable to negotiate an encrypted connection to the network. It's as though WPA / WPA2 is broken in the driver for this card.

Any thoughts on how to go forward with this now? I seem to have progress, of a sort. Maybe one final push will sort it out.

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

SiriusHardware — Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:48 pm

Author: SiriusHardware

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:48 pm

el chapul�n wrote:

The other wireless card may have been an unnecessary step, but it doesn't hurt to have a few. I have a PCI NIC based on the realtek rtl8185 chipset which only gives a decent performance with ndiswrapper...

At the moment, 'ndiswrapper' is just a strange new word to me - from the context I've seen it used in it seems to be some way of using/converting a Windows driver to something which Linux can use? Does it create a 'little pocket' of Windows for the driver to run in?

Or am I totally wide of the mark?

Re: Hardware drivers in Linux

SiriusHardware — Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:31 pm

Author: SiriusHardware

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:31 pm

el chapul�n wrote:

A newer disc would not make any difference, unless it's the testing distribution (wheezy) which I doubt. What version was the disc you had?

Thanks for your continuing help in the previous messages. I see that I may yet be able to impose a V3 Kernel on whatever version of Debian I install.

The version I currently have (from the LXF coverdisc) is 2.6.32. Or, sorry, were you asking if I was running Squeeze or Wheezy? Squeeze. Incidentally, I believe the Raspberry Pi's recommended 'Raspbian' distro is an ARM-compiled version of Wheezy (not Squeeze). But Squeeze is what I have for the PC, so that's what I am using on the PC.

I'll try again for the Kernel V3, but I may wait for the new Debian disc (still yet to arrive) and install that first because, unlike the LXF disc, it's a single distro on a DVD disc and may well have been padded out with a lot of extra software, etc. If so, it will make better sense to install that version and attempt to progress from there.

I'll report back when I have some results to report - (or more likely, need more help) - it may take me a few days, but I'll be back.