[SOLVED] Intel Pro/Wireless Iwl-4965agn works but...

[jheaton5]

I got the right driver and the right firmware installed in the right directory. After boot, I have to enable the driver with System>Administration>Hardware Drivers. When I do that the wireless card's led turns blue, meaning it is running as it should. I then have to manually link the card to the network with network manager. Once this is done the connection is fine.

I'd like for it to connect automatically and I think I'm almost there. I would like some assistance at this point, however.

Here is the results of iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11abgn ESSID:"linksysn"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: 00:1E:E5:50:55:CF
Bit Rate=1 Mb/s Tx-Power=14 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr: off Fragment thr=2352 B
Power Management: off
Link Quality=100/100 Signal level:-25 dBm Noise level=-90 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

and here is demesg | grep -i iwl
[ 127.394788] iwlagn: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link AGN driver for Linux, 1.3.27ks
[ 127.394797] iwlagn: Copyright(c) 2003-2008 Intel Corporation
[ 127.394950] iwlagn: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN REV=0x4
[ 127.441150] iwlagn: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a channels
[ 127.442589] phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-agn-rs'
[ 127.687051] iwlagn: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN REV=0x4
[ 127.723223] iwlagn: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a channels
[ 127.726018] phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-agn-rs'
[ 128.011034] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:radio
[ 128.011057] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:assoc
[ 128.011079] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:RX
[ 128.011098] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:TX
[ 177.189708] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:radio
[ 177.189730] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:assoc
[ 177.189755] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:RX
[ 177.189772] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:TX
[ 325.567611] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:radio
[ 325.567633] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:assoc
[ 325.567651] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:RX
[ 325.567669] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:TX
[ 329.661950] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:radio
[ 329.661987] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:assoc
[ 329.662017] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:RX
[ 329.662045] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:TX

and here is lshw -C Network
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN Network Connection
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
logical name: wmaster0
version: 61
serial: 00:13:e8:46:c9:75
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list logical ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlagn ip=192.168.1.100 latency=0 module=iwlagn multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abgn
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:06:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 01
serial: 00:1b:24:67:18:57
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.2LK latency=0 module=r8169 multicast=yes

[jheaton5]

I ran the following command in terminal:
sudo iwconfig wlan0 txpower auto

Now when I manually enable my driver it automatically connects to the network.

Still looking for automatic enabling.

[jheaton5]

Update.

Driver is iwlagn

joel@joels-laptop:~$ lshw -C Network
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN Network Connection
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
logical name: wmaster0
version: 61
serial: 00:13:e8:46:c9:75
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list logical ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlagn ip=192.168.1.100 latency=0 module=iwlagn multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abgn

using the command

modprobe -v iwlagn

The driver activates the card and connects to the internet.

On reboot, the card is seen by System>Administration>Hardware Drivers and the status is "enabled" "not used." The card is off and no internet connection.

In the directory /etc/modprobe.d/"uname -r" the aliases file shows iwlagn but there is no file for iwlagn or iwl-4965agn-2 (which is the actual name of the driver).

How do I get the kernel to automatically load iwlagn?

[jheaton5]

another update...

joel@joels-laptop:~$ modprobe -l "iwl*"
/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/updates/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwlcore.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/updates/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwlagn.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/updates/drivers/net/wireless/iwlwifi/iwl3945.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/ubuntu/wireless/iwlwifi/iwlwifi/compatible/iwl4965.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/ubuntu/wireless/iwlwifi/mac80211/compatible/net/mac80211/iwlwifi_rc80211_simple.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/ubuntu/wireless/iwlwifi/mac80211/compatible/net/mac80211/iwlwifi_mac80211.ko

joel@joels-laptop:~$ dmesg | grep -i iwl
[ 322.048114] iwlagn: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link AGN driver for Linux, 1.3.27ks
[ 322.048122] iwlagn: Copyright(c) 2003-2008 Intel Corporation
[ 322.048286] iwlagn: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN REV=0x4
[ 322.094366] iwlagn: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a channels
[ 322.095276] phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-agn-rs'
[ 322.313917] iwlagn: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN REV=0x4
[ 322.350354] iwlagn: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a channels
[ 322.354194] phy1: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-agn-rs'
[ 322.628494] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:radio
[ 322.628521] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:assoc
[ 322.628541] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:RX
[ 322.628559] Registered led device: iwl-phy1:TX

Could I have a conflict between drivers iwlagn and iwl4965? If so, the iwlagn is the driver that works. Should I

sudo modprobe -r iwl4965

[jheaton5]

OK, I added blacklist iwl4965 to the /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist file. There is no change in operation. I still have to manually tell the kernel to use iwlagn and when I do it works.

Still trying...I'll bet I solve it before you do.

[jheaton5]

sudo modprobe -r iwl4965

No visable effect.

[jheaton5]

Let me clarify. Earlier I posted this:

On reboot, the card is seen by System>Administration>Hardware Drivers and the status is "enabled" "not used." The card is off and no internet connection.

When I first boot, I have no wireless. System>Administration>Hardware Drivers shows a wireless driver. The "enabled" box is checked and the "status" field says "not used." I uncheck the "enabled" box and a dialogue box comes up asking if I want to disable. I click disable. Then I re-click the "enabled" box. Another dialogue box comes up asking if I want to enable. I click enable. Now the "enable" box is checked and the "status" field says "In Use" Then the card automatically connects to the network.

[jheaton5]

I knew that the fix would be something simple. I just had to learn more about how linux>debian>ubuntu works. What I learned is that there is a file, /etc/modules, that stores the names of the modules that get loaded on every boot. See post No. 3 above. I found that using modprobe to insert the driver iwlagn into the kernel solved the problem. I encountered another problem, however, nameley that this command had to be issued manually after each boot. By putting the driver name in /etc/modules I ensured that each time I boot ubuntu my driver gets loaded automatically.

Thanks to all you readers out there for believing I could find the solution for myself.