[SOLVED] wifi problem Amilo 1520 - wifi switch not on?

[pognonec]

I have a home network with a router (ethernet and wireless), that works fine either by wifi or ethernet with XP as well as with a Ubuntu Hardy laptop (Dell Inspiron 8000). I also have an Amilo laptop, with Ubuntu Hardy. Ethernet works fine, and wifi appears fine as far as wifi radar is concerned: it sees the wifi network (static IP, WEP key). However, I cannot connect through wifi with this machine! And the little blue LED on the keyboard for the wifi switch is not on.
Any idea? Thanx in advance!

I paste below some related info:

aline@Aline:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=8.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=hardy
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 8.04"


aline@Aline:~$ lsusb
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 008: ID 0a12:0001 Cambridge Silicon Radio, Ltd Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
aline@Aline:~$


aline@Aline:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
07:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation PRO/100 VE Network Connection (rev 02)
07:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller
07:09.1 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 19)
07:09.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 01)
07:09.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 0a)
07:09.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 05)



aline@Aline:~$ sudo lshw -C network
[sudo] password for aline:
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
logical name: wmaster0
version: 02
serial: 00:13:02:e2:51:db
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
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: PRO/100 VE Network Connection
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 8
bus info: pci@0000:07:08.0
logical name: eth0
version: 02
serial: 00:16:36:82:c6:b8
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=e100 driverversion=3.5.23-k4-NAPI duplex=full firmware=N/A ip=192.168.0.9 latency=64 link=yes maxlatency=56 mingnt=8 module=e100 multicast=yes port=MII speed=100MB/s


aline@Aline:~$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
hci_usb 16540 0
arc4 2944 2
ecb 4480 2
blkcipher 8324 1 ecb
e100 37388 0
mii 6400 1 e100
binfmt_misc 12808 1
i915 32512 2
drm 82580 3 i915
rfcomm 41744 2
l2cap 25728 11 rfcomm
bluetooth 61156 3 hci_usb,rfcomm,l2cap
nls_iso8859_1 4992 0
nls_cp437 6656 0
vfat 14464 0
fat 54556 1 vfat
ppdev 10372 0
acpi_cpufreq 10796 0
cpufreq_ondemand 9740 2
cpufreq_stats 7104 0
freq_table 5536 3 acpi_cpufreq,cpufreq_ondemand,cpufreq_stats
cpufreq_userspace 5284 0
cpufreq_conservative 8712 0
cpufreq_powersave 2688 0
container 5632 0
sbs 15112 0
sbshc 7680 1 sbs
dock 11280 0
iptable_filter 3840 0
ip_tables 14820 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 16132 1 ip_tables
sbp2 24072 0
parport_pc 36260 0
lp 12324 0
parport 37832 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
joydev 13120 0
ipv6 267780 16
snd_hda_intel 344728 2
snd_pcm_oss 42144 0
snd_mixer_oss 17920 1 snd_pcm_oss
usb_storage 73664 0
snd_pcm 78596 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
libusual 19108 1 usb_storage
psmouse 40336 0
snd_page_alloc 11400 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
snd_hwdep 10500 1 snd_hda_intel
serio_raw 7940 0
snd_seq_dummy 4868 0
sr_mod 17956 0
iwl3945 89844 0
iwlwifi_mac80211 219108 1 iwl3945
cdrom 37408 1 sr_mod
cfg80211 15112 1 iwlwifi_mac80211
snd_seq_oss 35584 0
snd_seq_midi 9376 0
snd_rawmidi 25760 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 8320 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
sdhci 19076 0
snd_seq 54224 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
video 19856 0
output 4736 1 video
ricoh_mmc 4352 0
snd_timer 24836 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 9612 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
mmc_core 51460 1 sdhci
snd 56996 15 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,sn d_hwdep,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_ seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
iTCO_wdt 13092 0
ac 6916 0
button 9232 0
battery 14212 0
iTCO_vendor_support 4868 1 iTCO_wdt
pata_acpi 8320 0
soundcore 8800 1 snd
shpchp 34452 0
pci_hotplug 30880 1 shpchp
evdev 13056 8
pcspkr 4224 0
intel_agp 25492 1
agpgart 34760 3 drm,intel_agp
ext3 136712 1
jbd 48404 1 ext3
mbcache 9600 1 ext3
sg 36880 0
sd_mod 30720 3
ata_piix 19588 0
ohci1394 33584 0
ahci 28420 2
ieee1394 93752 2 sbp2,ohci1394
ata_generic 8324 0
libata 159344 4 pata_acpi,ata_piix,ahci,ata_generic
scsi_mod 151436 6 sbp2,usb_storage,sr_mod,sg,sd_mod,libata
ehci_hcd 37900 0
uhci_hcd 27024 0
usbcore 146028 6 hci_usb,usb_storage,libusual,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
thermal 16796 0
processor 36872 4 acpi_cpufreq,thermal
fan 5636 0
fbcon 42912 0
tileblit 3456 1 fbcon
font 9472 1 fbcon
bitblit 6784 1 fbcon
softcursor 3072 1 bitblit
fuse 50580 3



aline@Aline:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"colombo" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.452 GHz Access Point: 00:07:CB:53:78:83
Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thrff Fragment thr=2346 B
Power Managementff
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


aline@Aline:~$ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:16:36:82:c6:b8
inet adr:192.168.0.9 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Masque:255.255.255.0
adr inet6: fe80::216:36ff:fe82:c6b8/64 Scope:Lien
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
Packets reçus:13147 erreurs:0 :0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:12772 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 lg file transmission:1000
Octets reçus:12655334 (12.0 MB) Octets transmis:1854465 (1.7 MB)

lo Link encap:Boucle locale
inet adr:127.0.0.1 Masque:255.0.0.0
adr inet6: ::1/128 Scope:Hôte
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
Packets reçus:1743 erreurs:0 :0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1743 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 lg file transmission:0
Octets reçus:89938 (87.8 KB) Octets transmis:89938 (87.8 KB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:13:02:e2:51:db
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
Packets reçus:0 erreurs:0 :0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 lg file transmission:1000
Octets reçus:0 (0.0 B) Octets transmis:0 (0.0 B)

wmaster0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-13-02-E2-51-DB-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
Packets reçus:0 erreurs:0 :0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 lg file transmission:1000
Octets reçus:0 (0.0 B) Octets transmis:0 (0.0 B)



aline@Aline:~$ iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wmaster0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0 No scan results

aline@Aline:~$ uname -r -m
2.6.24-18-generic i686



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


iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.0.9
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.254

auto eth0

iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.0.10
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.0.254
wireless-key 39EBC17316FF2C4D0B235FC252
wireless-essid colombo

auto wlan0

[chili555]

The usual way to see if the switch is the problem is to do:

sudo cat /var/log/messages | grep switch

However, I notice your interfaces file asks for eth0 and wlan0 to be started automatically. I'm fairly certain that when it gets an IP address wired:

ip=192.168.0.9 latency=64 link=yes

it gives up. Try detaching the wire and reboot. Then can you:

ping -c3 www.google.com

[pognonec]

Thank you for your help, Chili555. Unfortunately, I am still stuck:

The usual way to see if the switch is the problem is to do:

sudo cat /var/log/messages | grep switch

Below is what I got, and it went on like that for many lines. I have no idea what to do with it...

aline@Aline:~$ sudo cat /var/log/messages | grep switch
[sudo] password for aline:
Jun 8 10:20:47 Aline kernel: [ 405.311496] SMP alternatives: switching to UP code
Jun 8 10:20:47 Aline kernel: [ 58.220287] SMP alternatives: switching to SMP code
Jun 8 10:36:12 Aline kernel: [ 984.073604] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 10:44:11 Aline kernel: [ 1463.028881] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.

However, I notice your interfaces file asks for eth0 and wlan0 to be started automatically. I'm fairly certain that when it gets an IP address wired:it gives up. Try detaching the wire and reboot. Then can you:

ping -c3 www.google.com

I did what you suggested, but it does not work either: I get:

aline@Aline:~$ ping -c3 www.google.com
ping: unknown host www.google.com

Any suggestion welcome!

[chili555]

Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.

It means your suspicion, in the title of this thread, is correct. There is a physical switch or key combination that turns the wireless radio off; Fn+F5 or some other combination. Your wireless is not going to activate until you toggle the switch or key combination.

[pognonec]

It means your suspicion, in the title of this thread, is correct. There is a physical switch or key combination that turns the wireless radio off; Fn+F5 or some other combination. Your wireless is not going to activate until you toggle the switch or key combination.

Well well, there is a little button, looking a bit like this:
((i))
that I thought was the kill switch.

When pressed TWICE (yes, twice??!!), it starts flashing. But sudo cat /var/log/messages | grep switch still tells me that:

Jun 8 10:20:47 Aline kernel: [ 405.311496] SMP alternatives: switching to UP code
Jun 8 10:20:47 Aline kernel: [ 58.220287] SMP alternatives: switching to SMP code
Jun 8 10:36:12 Aline kernel: [ 984.073604] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 10:44:11 Aline kernel: [ 1463.028881] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 11:15:17 Aline kernel: [ 3326.205350] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 11:15:17 Aline kernel: [ 3326.752584] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 11:15:40 Aline kernel: [ 3349.380103] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 11:15:40 Aline kernel: [ 3349.851821] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 11:15:41 Aline kernel: [ 3350.283445] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 11:20:20 Aline kernel: [ 3629.733326] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 11:20:40 Aline kernel: [ 3649.188670] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:23:46 Aline kernel: [ 7046.240416] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:23:47 Aline kernel: [ 7047.054982] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:23:49 Aline kernel: [ 7047.623310] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:23:50 Aline kernel: [ 7048.135210] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:23:50 Aline kernel: [ 7048.448040] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:38:00 Aline kernel: [ 7310.419484] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:42:58 Aline kernel: [ 7408.090804] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:43:00 Aline kernel: [ 7408.532209] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:46:27 Aline kernel: [ 16.380282] SMP alternatives: switching to UP code
Jun 8 14:46:27 Aline kernel: [ 16.739761] SMP alternatives: switching to SMP code
Jun 8 14:46:27 Aline kernel: [ 17.002804] ACPI: EC: non-query interrupt received, switching to interrupt mode
Jun 8 14:46:27 Aline kernel: [ 35.274577] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
Jun 8 14:46:27 Aline kernel: [ 36.605414] Kill switch must be turned off for wireless networking to work.
.......and so on for pages.....

I have not been able to find a way for turning this ... kill switch off. Does anybody know the trick? Amilo 1520 users? Anyone?

[chili555]

I saw this: http://www.amilo-forum.com/topic,929...o-li-1718.html and especially:

If you press F2 on boot you can set the wireless card to turn on at boot up.
that might avoid the problem of programming the switch to do the same job.

I realize the post concerns a 1718, but give it a try.

I'm still looking.