Wireless problem on Thinkpad T60

**Marreboy** · April 24th, 2008

I have just installed Ubuntu 8.04 on a Thinkpad T60, it has an Intel Pro/Wireless 3945ABG wireless card built in. And i cant get it to activate the card properly and connect to my router. The card seems to be powered down or not trying to connect. After searching this forum and the Wiki i realise that this card is supposed to be fully supported by Ubuntu. And to prove that is the fact that it was working fine in Ubuntu 7.10.

Here is output from some commands:
------------------------------
:~$ sudo lshw -C network

*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
logical name: wmaster0
version: 02
serial: 00:19:d2:08:92:b9
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list logical ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwl3945 latency=0 module=iwl3945 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g

:~$ cat /etc/network/interfaces
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

iface wlan0 inet dhcp
wpa-psk 9f756453ab243a44XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
wpa-driver wext
wpa-key-mgmt WPA-PSK
wpa-proto WPA
wpa-ssid Hurley

auto wlan0

:~$ ifconfig
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:19:d2:08:92:b9
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)

wlan0:avahi Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:19:d2:08:92:b9
inet addr:169.254.7.187 Bcast:169.254.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1

wmaster0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-19-D2-08-92-B9-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
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)
-----------------------------------

It seems like the Wireless adapter is called wmaster0 and not wlan0 which is strange. And if i access the network tools i cant see any info on any adapters. They are all visible there but no info. I see wlan0, wlan0:avahi and wmaster0 but none of them seems to exist if i click the configure button. Also what is the wlan0:avahi adapter?? Has anyone seen that before?

I previously tried installing the Windows Wireless driver application which was supposed to help with ndiswrapper config. But that screwed up my whole machine. So i have reinstalled the 8.04 completely since then. Worth noting is that ndiswrapper did not help in this case. The windows driver did not work either.

Wired connection works. But that limits the use of the laptop so wireless is really a requirement for me.

Can anyone advise me how to proceed? What can i do?

**mikawber** · April 24th, 2008

My Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG does not work on my Dell D430 either.

**ScottY86** · April 25th, 2008

my brand new thinkpad r61 doesn't work either. I have intel 3945 wireless.

The outputs of various commands. I was trying to connect while doing tail of the syslog:

syilek@mooputer:~$ dmesg | grep 3945
[ 25.989088] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.0
[ 25.989096] iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2007 Intel Corporation
[ 25.989380] iwl3945: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
[ 29.425319] iwl3945: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a channels
[ 29.462582] wmaster0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-3945-rs'
syilek@mooputer:~$ lsmod | grep 3945
iwl3945 89844 0
iwlwifi_mac80211 219108 1 iwl3945
syilek@mooputer:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"Nitro" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr

ff Fragment thr=2346 B
Power Management

ff
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

syilek@mooputer:~$ tail /var/log/syslog
Apr 24 16:01:54 mooputer dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6
Apr 24 16:02:00 mooputer dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 7
Apr 24 16:02:07 mooputer dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 12
Apr 24 16:02:19 mooputer dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 2
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer dhclient: No DHCPOFFERS received.
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer dhclient: No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Found user 'avahi-autoipd' (UID 104) and group 'avahi-autoipd' (GID 112).
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Successfully called chroot().
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Successfully dropped root privileges.
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Starting with address 169.254.8.11
syilek@mooputer:~$ tail /var/log/syslog
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer dhclient: No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Found user 'avahi-autoipd' (UID 104) and group 'avahi-autoipd' (GID 112).
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Successfully called chroot().
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Successfully dropped root privileges.
Apr 24 16:02:21 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Starting with address 169.254.8.11
Apr 24 16:02:25 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Callout BIND, address 169.254.8.11 on interface wlan0
Apr 24 16:02:25 mooputer avahi-daemon[5071]: Joining mDNS multicast group on interface wlan0.IPv4 with address 169.254.8.11.
Apr 24 16:02:25 mooputer avahi-daemon[5071]: New relevant interface wlan0.IPv4 for mDNS.
Apr 24 16:02:25 mooputer avahi-daemon[5071]: Registering new address record for 169.254.8.11 on wlan0.IPv4.
Apr 24 16:02:29 mooputer avahi-autoipd(wlan0)[8657]: Successfully claimed IP address 169.254.8.11
syilek@mooputer:~$ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1c:25:7e:65:7e
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1492 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)
Base address:0x1840 Memory:fe000000-fe020000

eth0:avahi Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1c:25:7e:65:7e
inet addr:169.254.5.235 Bcast:169.254.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1492 Metric:1
Base address:0x1840 Memory:fe000000-fe020000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:1587 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1587 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:79412 (77.5 KB) TX bytes:79412 (77.5 KB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1f:3c:27:cd:c2
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)

wlan0:avahi Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1f:3c:27:cd:c2
inet addr:169.254.8.11 Bcast:169.254.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1

wmaster0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-1F-3C-27-CD-C2-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
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)

**g3brownsc** · April 25th, 2008

My thinkpad r61 also does not have functioning wireless, same card as yours.
Intel (R) PRO/Wireless 3945
No led, but it manages to see my wireless network, which is is hidden. I input the SSID and it shows up with an accurate measure of signal strength, but cannot connect.
This is a big deal, I can't upgrade if wireless won't work.

**DO55** · April 25th, 2008

i have same problem
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=765615

**wilson79** · April 25th, 2008

Hello,
I have experienced the same problem on an Acer7720G laptop with Intel (R) PRO/Wireless 3945 card after having upgraded from 7.10.
I don't know if this could be useful to anyone, but I managed to get the wireless adapter work perfectly by choosing (during boot by using GRUB) the kernel with the last numbers on the right .14 instead of .16.
(Even though by doing that the screen driver screwed up...

)

wilson

**amazoohwawa** · April 25th, 2008

i tried this and i am very pleased to report that it worked,, yeaaaaa..

Hello,
I have experienced the same problem on an Acer7720G laptop with Intel (R) PRO/Wireless 3945 card after having upgraded from 7.10.
I don't know if this could be useful to anyone, but I managed to get the wireless adapter work perfectly by choosing (during boot by using GRUB) the kernel with the last numbers on the right .14 instead of .16.
(Even though by doing that the screen driver screwed up...)

wilson

just make sure you hit escape as soon as the system starts loading, you will then see option and choose .14 as mentioned above. in my case it did not screw anything up so far!!

thanks a lot wilson. we need more smart people like u!

**ScottY86** · April 26th, 2008

My wireless started working now after doing the backports installation. My green wireless light is even illuminated now.

To do this I followed the instructions from here: http://linuxtechie.wordpress.com/200...-ubuntu-hardy/

hope this helps someone.