[SOLVED] Can't connect to router using WPC45G, wicd, WPA, StaticIP, Intrepid

[rijidij]

Please help. I have been trying to resolve this for days and am at my wits' end.

I have a very old laptop which is serving out its remaining days as my girlfriend's web browser & email client, running intrepid.
It has a Linksys WPC54G (PCMCIA) wireless adapter. The card works fine under WPA (PSK) on windoze, but the computer appeared to be struggling with the bloated OS, which is why I installed Linux.
I had the usual problems with Network Manager, so I replaced it with wicd.
I am using a static IP address, and have checked and re-checked the settings a dozen times.
The wired connection connects almost instantly, so I took the opportunity to upgrade everything.
Using the cutter, I have installed the b43legacy drivers for this card. It can now 'see' my wireless router (and my neighbour's...), but won't connect.
I have tried removing WPA. The adapter 'appears' to connect with the message:
"Connected to XXXX at 0% (IP: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx)"
But I am unable to ping the router. :-(

Here is the output from lshw:

craig@Biggles:~$ sudo lshw -C network
*-network
description: 802.11b CardBus
vendor: Broadcom
physical id: 0
version: 8.0
slot: Socket 0
resources: irq:9
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: VT6102 [Rhine-II]
vendor: VIA Technologies, Inc.
physical id: 12
bus info: pci@0000:00:12.0
logical name: eth0
version: 51
serial: 00:a0:cc:d5:2d:b5
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=via-rhine driverversion=1.4.3 duplex=half latency=32 link=no maxlatency=8 mingnt=3 module=via_rhine multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
*-network
description: Network controller
product: BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
version: 02
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: driver=b43-pci-bridge latency=64 module=ssb
*-network:0
description: Wireless interface
physical id: 1
logical name: wlan0
serial: 00:06:25:40:ea:93
capabilities: ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
*-network:1 DISABLED
description: Ethernet interface
physical id: 2
logical name: pan0
serial: 9e:55:98:cc:a4:5b
capabilities: ethernet physical
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes


iwconfig:

craig@Biggles:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"Scarlet"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
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

pan0 no wireless extensions.


ifconfig:

craig@Biggles:~$ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:a0:cc:d5:2d:b5
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:9 Base address:0xc700

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:06:25:40:ea:93
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)

wmaster0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-06-25-40-EA-93-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
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:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)


and iwlist:

craig@Biggles:~$ sudo iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:11:50:A0:AC:DF
ESSID:"Belkin54g"
Mode:Master
Channel:11
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Quality=38/100 Signal level:-80 dBm Noise level=-59 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; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Extra:tsf=0000035a5c055188
Extra: Last beacon: 5488ms ago
Cell 02 - Address: 00:11:95:94:E4:52
ESSID:"Scarlet"
Mode:Master
Channel:1
Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
Quality=76/100 Signal level:-48 dBm Noise level=-29 dBm
Encryption key:on
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s
6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s
36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Extra:tsf=0000000fc93c40d5
Extra: Last beacon: 952ms ago


Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

TIA,
Craig

[kevdog]

Things look good from what you have presented. Does dhcp work? Have you tried troubleshooting your connection using the terminal instead of wicd to make a connection, or looked within wicd's logs to find any debugging output? I have a link in my signature to use the terminal for network connections. Additionally will connecting without any encryption on (no wpa) work?

[rijidij]

Hi kevdog,

Thanks for your reply.
I have disabled WPA, and enabled DHCP. Here are the results of the Unencrypted Connection section of your guide.


craig@Biggles:~$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 down
craig@Biggles:~$ sudo dhclient -r wlan0
There is already a pid file /var/run/dhclient.pid with pid 6630
killed old client process, removed PID file
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.1.1
Copyright 2004-2008 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
Listening on LPF/wlan0/00:06:25:40:ea:93
Sending on LPF/wlan0/00:06:25:40:ea:93
Sending on Socket/fallback
craig@Biggles:~$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 up
craig@Biggles:~$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid "Scarlet"
craig@Biggles:~$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 mode Managed
craig@Biggles:~$ sudo dhclient wlan0
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.1.1
Copyright 2004-2008 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/sw/dhcp/

wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
wmaster0: unknown hardware address type 801
Listening on LPF/wlan0/00:06:25:40:ea:93
Sending on LPF/wlan0/00:06:25:40:ea:93
Sending on Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 3
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 5
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 1
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
craig@Biggles:~$


Still no joy :(

Regards,
Craig

[rijidij]

I've finally got this working.
After struggling with the native drivers for almost a week, I finally relented, removed the b43legacy drivers, and installed the ndiswrapped windoze driver.
A quick reboot, and wireless connected almost immediately.

Special thanks to kevdog for your help.

:)

[kevdog]

Thats disappointing that the b43 drivers didn't work for you. I have the same card. I used to use ndiswrapper all the time, but switched b/c I couldn't get ndiswrapper to work with WPA2 with Intrepid's kernel (although I could with Feisty, and Gutsy).

Glad you found a way.

[rijidij]

Yes, it is disappointing. I'm sure it must be possible, but it appears to be beyond my limited Linux skills.
I have spent far too much time on trying to make it work. I finally had to admit defeat.

Regards,
Craig