Nobody Special. (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} luckyckljw) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} debian,@ 2007-12-13 00:41:00 |
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Hello and a wireless question
I've been learning my way through Debian for a few months now, and have one problem that I haven't been able to solve yet. I'm really hoping that someone here has some suggestions.
So here's the deal: I like Linux. I like it more than I like Windows. I want to continue to use Linux, BUT Debian is driving me up the wall. Now, 90% of the time it's just peachy keen. However, I admit that I take issue with how my wireless networking is dealt with. Currently, I'm using a Dell Inspiron 5100 with built-in wireless card. Shiny? Not quite. Debian won't play with it. So I've had to steal the PCMCIA wireless card from another laptop (an Inspiron 1100). It's a Linksys card, for anyone who cares. Should I want to connect to the Internet after starting up my computer, there's this complicated dance I have to go through:
Startup -> Desktop -> Administration -> Networking -> Disable eth04 (built-in wireless), Disable eth01 (PCMCIA card), Enable eth01 -> OK.
Not so bad, except I've got to wait for it to do all that, which can take a little bit. Also, about half the time, I have to restart and do all that AGAIN before it'll work. (This, of course, means that I rarely turn my computer off, because Linux forces a diskcheck every 20 startups, and I rack those up pretty quickly this route.)
So the wireless works. Ish. But it wouldn't work with the network security settings we were using (WPA). There's been a compromise so we're still using a secure network, but I don't think it's WPA anymore. It may be WEP, but to be honest, I'm not the one that set it up, so I don't know for sure. I've tried several solutions, and I don't really remember them anymore except to say that I'm tired of workaround hacks. fwcutter and ndiswrapper were not my friends, so far as I recall. I may have something screwy going on with fwcutter, since every time I install updates, it comes up with an error from fwcutter, but updates install just fine.
My dilemma is that I don't want to go back to Windows (omfg, 3 hours of patching after install), and Ubuntu needs FOUR friggin' GIGS of space for install, and that just won't work (my hdd is a 20GB drive, and I've got 18GB of music). I've done my Googling; I'm not just running into a problem and not trying to fix it myself. I've tried. I've threatened with a Windows install, but Debian just doesn't seem likely to be agreeable in this one case.
On the upside, I've got pretty good at Mines while waiting for the network stuff to do its thing whenever I have to restart.
ETA: I'm running Debian Etch, and the 5100 is an older one, so I'm pretty sure it's pre-Centrino. I'm testing a possible solution and will update with results.
ETA: The current setup works if you use 'ifup eth1' from the command line instead of using Network Manager. I think Network Manager only calls dhclient, which skips the ifup pre-up stuff that activates wpa. I can't find any reason for it to do that, but it acts like it. This is my wpa_supplicant.conf file, which needed the proto and the pairwise settings:
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=2
fast_reauth=1
network={
ssid="mySSID"
scan_ssid=1
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
#psk="plain text for reference"
psk=[63hexdigits]
}
I've been learning my way through Debian for a few months now, and have one problem that I haven't been able to solve yet. I'm really hoping that someone here has some suggestions.
So here's the deal: I like Linux. I like it more than I like Windows. I want to continue to use Linux, BUT Debian is driving me up the wall. Now, 90% of the time it's just peachy keen. However, I admit that I take issue with how my wireless networking is dealt with. Currently, I'm using a Dell Inspiron 5100 with built-in wireless card. Shiny? Not quite. Debian won't play with it. So I've had to steal the PCMCIA wireless card from another laptop (an Inspiron 1100). It's a Linksys card, for anyone who cares. Should I want to connect to the Internet after starting up my computer, there's this complicated dance I have to go through:
Startup -> Desktop -> Administration -> Networking -> Disable eth04 (built-in wireless), Disable eth01 (PCMCIA card), Enable eth01 -> OK.
Not so bad, except I've got to wait for it to do all that, which can take a little bit. Also, about half the time, I have to restart and do all that AGAIN before it'll work. (This, of course, means that I rarely turn my computer off, because Linux forces a diskcheck every 20 startups, and I rack those up pretty quickly this route.)
So the wireless works. Ish. But it wouldn't work with the network security settings we were using (WPA). There's been a compromise so we're still using a secure network, but I don't think it's WPA anymore. It may be WEP, but to be honest, I'm not the one that set it up, so I don't know for sure. I've tried several solutions, and I don't really remember them anymore except to say that I'm tired of workaround hacks. fwcutter and ndiswrapper were not my friends, so far as I recall. I may have something screwy going on with fwcutter, since every time I install updates, it comes up with an error from fwcutter, but updates install just fine.
My dilemma is that I don't want to go back to Windows (omfg, 3 hours of patching after install), and Ubuntu needs FOUR friggin' GIGS of space for install, and that just won't work (my hdd is a 20GB drive, and I've got 18GB of music). I've done my Googling; I'm not just running into a problem and not trying to fix it myself. I've tried. I've threatened with a Windows install, but Debian just doesn't seem likely to be agreeable in this one case.
On the upside, I've got pretty good at Mines while waiting for the network stuff to do its thing whenever I have to restart.
ETA: I'm running Debian Etch, and the 5100 is an older one, so I'm pretty sure it's pre-Centrino. I'm testing a possible solution and will update with results.
ETA: The current setup works if you use 'ifup eth1' from the command line instead of using Network Manager. I think Network Manager only calls dhclient, which skips the ifup pre-up stuff that activates wpa. I can't find any reason for it to do that, but it acts like it. This is my wpa_supplicant.conf file, which needed the proto and the pairwise settings:
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=2
fast_reauth=1
network={
ssid="mySSID"
scan_ssid=1
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=TKIP
#psk="plain text for reference"
psk=[63hexdigits]
}
