Problem about Intel 3945 wireless card

**jasonkirk2006** · August 25th, 2008

I have been trying to enable my Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG card for some time. At the beginning, with default Ubuntu 8.04 (x64) configuration, I was getting this from dmesg:

Code:

...
iwl3945 : MAC is in deep sleep
iwl3945 : Unable to int nic
...

Then I applied updates and kernel version raised to 2.6.24-19. Also I have added noapic kernel option. Now, the result of dmesg |*grep 3945 is:

Code:

[   34.378207] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.25
[   34.378209] iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2007 Intel Corporation
[   34.379070] iwl3945: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
[   34.591479] wmaster0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-3945-rs'
[   41.640309] iwl3945: Tunable channels: 13 802.11bg, 23 802.11a channels

But there is no wireless signals received. Network Manager WLAN list is empty and I get the following :

Code:

# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:""  Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Tx-Power=27 dBm   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2346 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

# iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0     No scan results

Could anyone please help me in getting my 3945 card work? I have no problem with the default Vista configuration that came with my laptop. It sees the wireless networks around me. But I want to use Ubuntu.

**Crafty Kisses** · August 25th, 2008

Please let me see:

Code:

dmesg | grep Wireless

Let's see if we can see what's going wrong here.

The others of you, we will be very glad to help if we know what we are trying to fix. We are not familiar with every laptop ever made, nor are we going to try to guess which of two or three wireless cards you have that were supplied in your lappy. Simply run:

Code:

sudo lshw | grep Wireless

You might see something like this:

Code:

chili@LAPTOP60:~$ sudo lshw | grep Wireless
[sudo] password for chili: 
description: Wireless interface
product: PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection

Now we know what we are trying to fix! If you have a 3945ABG, you might try:

Code:

 sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-hardy-generic

Let's see if your 3945ABG springs to life.

If you have any problems, tell us about it.

**dideriksen** · August 25th, 2008

Originally Posted by jasonkirk2006

I have been trying to enable my Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG card for some time. At the beginning, with default Ubuntu 8.04 (x64) configuration, I was getting this from dmesg:

Code:

...
iwl3945 : MAC is in deep sleep
iwl3945 : Unable to int nic
...

Then I applied updates and kernel version raised to 2.6.24-19. Also I have added noapic kernel option. Now, the result of dmesg |*grep 3945 is:

Code:

[   34.378207] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.25
[   34.378209] iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2007 Intel Corporation
[   34.379070] iwl3945: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
[   34.591479] wmaster0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-3945-rs'
[   41.640309] iwl3945: Tunable channels: 13 802.11bg, 23 802.11a channels

But there is no wireless signals received. Network Manager WLAN list is empty and I get the following :

Code:

# iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:""  Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Tx-Power=27 dBm   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2346 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

# iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0     No scan results

Could anyone please help me in getting my 3945 card work? I have no problem with the default Vista configuration that came with my laptop. It sees the wireless networks around me. But I want to use Ubuntu.

Maybe you should try to connect the antenna somware with pressing a button.

**jasonkirk2006** · August 25th, 2008

Thank you for your reply, Codename.

Here is the info you requested:

Code:

# dmesg | grep -i Wireless
[   36.536284] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.25
[   36.537128] iwl3945: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection

Also:

Code:

# sudo lshw | grep -i Wireless
                description: Wireless interface
                product: PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
                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

And finally:

Code:

# lsmod | grep 3945
iwl3945               104820  0 
iwlwifi_mac80211      251876  1 iwl3945
led_class               7176  1 iwl3945

There should be no need for an external antenna, i guess. And my wireless switch is on.

**Crafty Kisses** · August 25th, 2008

Now let's take a look at:

Code:

sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

Also do you have any encryption; WPA, WEP, etc.? Please have those details at your fingertips as we proceed. Do not post your key or password unless it's obscured: 092*******3, for example.

**IntuitiveNipple** · August 26th, 2008

"MAC is in deep sleep" is usually an indication the firmware files haven't loaded. The files are:

Code:

$ ls -1 /lib/firmware/$(uname -r)/iwl*
/lib/firmware/2.6.24-21-generic/iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
/lib/firmware/2.6.24-21-generic/iwlwifi-3945.ucode
/lib/firmware/2.6.24-21-generic/iwlwifi-4965-1.ucode
/lib/firmware/2.6.24-21-generic/iwlwifi-4965.ucode

That issue seems to have been overcome, but the symptoms you describe sound very much like the radio kill-switch is activated. To check the device is present:

Code:

$ lshal | awk '$0 ~ /^udi = .*/ {show=0} $0 ~ /^udi = .*ipw_wlan_switch.*/ { show=1} show == 1 {print $0}'
 
udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/ipw_wlan_switch'
  info.capabilities = {'killswitch'} (string list)
  info.category = 'killswitch'  (string)
  info.interfaces = {'org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.KillSwitch'} (string list)
  info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/pci_8086_4222'  (string)
  info.product = 'Intel PRO/Wireless WLAN Switch'  (string)
  info.subsystem = 'unknown'  (string)
  info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/ipw_wlan_switch'  (string)
  killswitch.access_method = 'ipw'  (string)
  killswitch.type = 'wlan'  (string)
  org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.KillSwitch.method_argnames = {'power', ''} (string list)
  org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.KillSwitch.method_execpaths = {'hal-system-killswitch-set-power', 'hal-system-killswitch-get-power'} (string list)
  org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.KillSwitch.method_names = {'SetPower', 'GetPower'} (string list)
  org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.KillSwitch.method_signatures = {'b', ''} (string list)

Check if the RF Kill-switch is active (radio is off):

Code:

$ find /sys -type f -name 'rf_kill' -exec cat {} \;
0

0 == not killed (radio power on)
1 == killed (radio power off)

**jasonkirk2006** · August 26th, 2008

Codename,

I wrote the output of iwlist in my first post - without sudo.

Code:

# iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0     No scan results

Do i need to be root for iwlist? If my wireless works by chance, i can get output from iwlist without being root. My computer is not with me right now. I will try it and write the output here as soon as possible.

---

And IntuitiveNipple, thanks for your reply too.

How can i make sure that firmware files are loaded at all times? Or understand that they are loaded or not?

My computer has a hardware switch that controls wireless and bluetooth functions. I guess this is the radio kill switch you mentioned. I'm quite sure this switch was physically in the "on" position, when i did my tests. But anyway, i will try your code as soon as i get back to my computer - i'm away from it right now.

**Crafty Kisses** · August 26th, 2008

Yeah you can try > sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

**MONODA** · August 26th, 2008

i have the same card and I needed to add the file /etc/modprobe.d/iwl3945 with contents

alias wlan0 iwl3945
options iwl3945 disable_hw_scan=1 hwcrypto=1

if the file /etc/modprobe.d/ipw3945 exists, delete it. then reboot.

**jasonkirk2006** · August 27th, 2008

Sorry for the delay. I will post my reply tonight.

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