Intel 2200BG WiFi Card Won't Connect

[ultrageeky]

I have an old Toshiba Satellite A30 Notepad. I've installed Ubuntu 10.04 onto it and everything but WiFi works. I've installed wicd and several other network tools but just can't get Ubuntu to let me use the WiFi connection (the option is greyed out).

I know the card works because the last OS (Windows XP) used it without any problems. The card is detected, the drivers are installed and the hardware (slider) switch is set to on.

I think the issue is related to the Radio Frequency Kill Switch being on but I don't know how to turn it off. Please help.

The output from various commands are:

sudo lshw -C network is:

  *-network:0             
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 1
       bus info: pci@0000:02:01.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 10
       serial: 00:02:3f:ce:e8:68
       size: 100MB/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=8139too driverversion=0.9.28 duplex=full ip=192.168.1.4 latency=32 link=yes maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 multicast=yes port=MII speed=100MB/s
       resources: irq:21 ioport:3000(size=256) memory:e0201800-e02018ff
  *-network:1
       description: Wireless interface
       product: PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network Connection
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:02:02.0
       logical name: eth1
       version: 05
       serial: 00:16:6f:cd:33:42
       width: 32 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ipw2200 driverversion=1.2.2kmprq firmware=ABG:9.0.5.27 (Dec 12 2007) latency=32 link=no maxlatency=24 mingnt=3 multicast=yes wireless=radio off
       resources: irq:22 memory:e0200000-e0200fff

dmesg | grep ipw

[   23.372888] ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.2.2kmprq
[   23.372895] ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
[   23.613446] ipw2200 0000:02:02.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 22 (level, low) -> IRQ 22
[   23.624106] ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
[   23.624193] ipw2200 0000:02:02.0: firmware: requesting ipw2200-bss.fw
[   23.965666] ipw2200: Radio Frequency Kill Switch is On:
[   24.233276] ipw2200: Detected geography ZZR (14 802.11bg channels, 0 802.11a channels)

iwconfig

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      radio off  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Channel:0  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Bit Rate:0 kb/s   Tx-Power=off   Sensitivity=8/0  
          Retry limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          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

[ultrageeky]

I take it no one has successfully got the Intel ipw2200BG wifi card to switch on in a Toshiba A30 Laptop?

[chili555]

This may be of interest: http://madwifi-project.org/wiki/UserDocs/MiniPCI

Toshiba Satellite Pro A30

The sellotape over pin 13 trick worked for my Intel Pro/Wireless 2100bg card but unfortunately the range is greatly reduced for some reason. This card works fine with full range capabibities in my newer laptop!

[ultrageeky]

Thank you Chili555, taking a look at it now.

[ultrageeky]

Chili555, taping off pin 13 worked. Unfortunately, it can't get an IP address.

[ultrageeky]

For others who might have a similar problem, I had to download the firmware from http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php, unpack it and move it to /lib/firmware then cover the 13th pin on the WiFi adapter. That got the card to detect.

I'll post back as soon as I've figured out how to get it to get an IP address.

[chili555]

Does Network Manager show your access point? When you click to connect, are you asked for any encryption details? What does this tell us?

sudo iwlist eth1 scan
iwconfig

[ultrageeky]

"sudo iwlist eth1 scan" outputs:

eth1      Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:24:17:C9:E8:E5
                    ESSID:"BTHomeHub2-K2WF"
                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Quality=31/100  Signal level=-81 dBm  
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (2) : CCMP TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    Extra: Last beacon: 1956ms ago
          Cell 02 - Address: 02:24:17:C9:E8:E7
                    ESSID:"BTFON"
                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
                    Encryption key:off
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Quality=31/100  Signal level=-81 dBm  
                    Extra: Last beacon: 5380ms ago
          Cell 03 - Address: 00:13:64:37:9A:EF
                    ESSID:"Default"
                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
                    Mode:Master
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Encryption key:off
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s
                              36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Quality=91/100  Signal level=-37 dBm  
                    Extra: Last beacon: 156ms ago

The connection of "Cell 03", Default, is the main one that I need to connect to. I only tried the others in case it made any difference (they're not mine).

"iwconfig" outputs

eth1      unassociated  ESSID:"BTOpenzone"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency=2.412 GHz  Access Point: 02:24:17:C9:E8:E6   
          Bit Rate:0 kb/s   Tx-Power=20 dBm   Sensitivity=8/0  
          Retry limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          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

[chili555]

eth1 unassociated ESSID:"BTOpenzone"
Mode:Managed Frequency=2.412 GHz Access Point: 02:24:17:C9:E8:E6
Bit Rate:0 kb/s

You might try:

sudo iwconfig eth1 rate auto

Now see if Network Manager will connect to Default.

[ultrageeky]

Nope, still unable to get an IP address