Kubuntu 8.10 WIFI HELP NEEDED

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shadow_man

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Hi guys/girls.

I installed Kubuntu 8.10 - everyone works out of the box, sound, drivers, wifi etc.

However I then go about doing sudo apt-get install kubuntu-restricted-extras via my pppoe connection (via wifi) so that I can utilize my local only account.

To do this I do sudo pppoeconf and sudo pon dsl-provider to start connection and sudo poff to stop connection.

This works fine until reboot but then it seems that this arrangement corrupts my wifi and I cant then get in to any of my wifi points. It just shows no networks available - I connect to the internet via wifi so this is a big issue for me and till its resolved I will have to use windows...

Any way you guys can help. Something is buggered and I don't know what. This is a fresh install and the above is all I have done.

Regards,
J
 
Last edited:
Sorry, could you perhaps be a bit more clear about what setup you're using?
i.e. are you using your router for your blended usage and a separate account for local (that you connect as and when you need) ?

Open a terminal and do
Code: 
sudo kedit /etc/network/interfaces

You will find various stanzas that will give you plenty of information regarding your various NICS.

But unfortunately, I can't help more until I know more about your setup.
 
Hi Sn3rd,

I use a Netgear dg834g - I connect to this wirelessly with my desktop machine via my Netgear WG311T atheros based wifi card. On the router I run a 2gb Telkom account - this is the default account I pull data off of via the wifi link. When I wish to use local I use my capped 1gb Telkom acc and run this via sudo pon dsl-provider. This then makes my machine local only - so I can chow all my local bandwidth for updates.

I wont be able to run any commands on that box till I get home. No wifi for me means no internet - which means rebooting in to windows googling, saving page, rebooting to kubuntu and testing. This is very time consuming at the moment...

Regards,
J

sn3rd said:
Sorry, could you perhaps be a bit more clear about what setup you're using?
i.e. are you using your router for your blended usage and a separate account for local (that you connect as and when you need) ?

Open a terminal and do
Code: 
sudo kedit /etc/network/interfaces

You will find various stanzas that will give you plenty of information regarding your various NICS.

But unfortunately, I can't help more until I know more about your setup.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
It sounds like the issue is that your routing tables are getting messed up. There are a few options.

1) My favourite: use Paul_S 's guide to setting up dual connections using static routing. Then you get the best of both worlds: your local is routed through local connection and your international is routed through blended connection. What could be better? :)
2) Fix your routing table each time. I'm assuming that once you reboot, you are at least able to access your router (web-interface or otherwise) ? If so, then check your routes by doing
Code: 
route -n
3) If you are unable to access your router AT ALL, then you may need to follow my advice in the previous post about checking your /etc/network/interfaces for some clues. I know that 8.10 does some weird stuff when you do pppoeconf (regarding messing up your wireless):
froot, if you see this, please post saying what it was (I remember that you figured it out after a while).
4) Use pppoe connections all round. i.e. put your router into bridged mode and then use pppoeconf connections for both local and blended access.

I just realised that you said you weren't able to connect to any of the access points. Does your computer at least pick up the wifi adapter? If so, does your computer at least SEE the other wifi points?

To see if it's picked up:
Code: 
lspci
then search for your adapter.

To see if your adapter is scanning correctly:
Code: 
iwlist scan
 
Meh, I had an uber long reply and ffox for some retarded reason refreshed and wiped it.

1.) Sounds AWESOME - will do this when Wifi is up - till then no internet connectivity as I don't connect via cable at all.

2.) Cannot access router as I access it via wifi - no wifi - no router access.

3.) Froot please reply. I can't work like this :(...

4.) Can't do this as its not my router and the others refuse to use pppoe to dial up.

5.) Cant see any ap's - nothing picks up. As far as I can see in ifconfig/iwconfig ath0 is present its just not connected to any network or doing anything from what I can see...

Will check PC when I get home at about 16:00 - will have to keep rebooting till I fix the wifi issue or use netbook to type to you guys :P

Thanks for the help, keep it coming.
Regards,
J

sn3rd said:
It sounds like the issue is that your routing tables are getting messed up. There are a few options.

1) My favourite: use Paul_S 's guide to setting up dual connections using static routing. Then you get the best of both worlds: your local is routed through local connection and your international is routed through blended connection. What could be better? :)
2) Fix your routing table each time. I'm assuming that once you reboot, you are at least able to access your router (web-interface or otherwise) ? If so, then check your routes by doing
Code: 
route -n
3) If you are unable to access your router AT ALL, then you may need to follow my advice in the previous post about checking your /etc/network/interfaces for some clues. I know that 8.10 does some weird stuff when you do pppoeconf (regarding messing up your wireless):
froot, if you see this, please post saying what it was (I remember that you figured it out after a while).
4) Use pppoe connections all round. i.e. put your router into bridged mode and then use pppoeconf connections for both local and blended access.

I just realised that you said you weren't able to connect to any of the access points. Does your computer at least pick up the wifi adapter? If so, does your computer at least SEE the other wifi points?

To see if it's picked up:
Code: 
lspci
then search for your adapter.

To see if your adapter is scanning correctly:
Code: 
iwlist scan
Click to expand...
 
Hi sorry for the late reply - it seems I borked my grub and mbr and had to fix and i cant remember commands even though i've used em before so I just fixed the windows mbr as opposed to the grub loader :P

sudo kate /etc/netowrk/interfaces

"The file /etc/netowrk/interfaces could not be loaded, as it was not possible to read from it.

Check if you have read access to this file."

--

lspci

05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Atheros AR5001X+ Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

Card is present.

--

iwlist scan - picks up networks in vicinity - but cannot connec to them via knetwork manager

ath0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:19:70:05:20:69
ESSID:"yournetworkname"
Mode:Master
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Quality=6/70 Signal level=-89 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Extra:bcn_int=100
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
Extra:wme_ie=dd180050f2020101800003a4000027a4000042435e0062322f00
Cell 02 - Address: 00:18:4D:46:C9:52
ESSID:"NETGEAR"
Mode:Master
Frequency:2.432 GHz (Channel 5)
Quality=12/70 Signal level=-83 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Encryption key:on
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Extra:bcn_int=100
IE: WPA Version 1
Group Cipher : TKIP
Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
Extra:wme_ie=dd180050f2020101800003a4000027a4000042435e0062322f00

--

What do I do now. I need this to work - Thanks for all the assistance so far sn3rd its really appreciated.

Regards,
J
 
Try typing
Code: 
sudo kedit /etc/network/interfaces
without making typo's :p

It's a good sign that your adapter is detected. It's an even better sign that it finds the networks. What exactly does it do when you attempt to connect to said networks?

For example, since your network name is "yournetworkname":
Code: 
sudo iwconfig ath0 essid yournetworkname
What happens?

I suspect the issue is to do with your /etc/network/interfaces file.
 
His problem is the following: Go to/etc/network/interfaces and put a # in front of your wlan lines:

Code: 
#auto wlan0
#iface wlan0 inet manual

Reboot and it should work.
 
Dear god I hope so , I will try when i'm home tonight. What exactly causes this issue froot? Will it re-occur if i use pon dsl-provider or run pppeoconf?

Regards,

froot said:
His problem is the following: Go to/etc/network/interfaces and put a # in front of your wlan lines:

Code: 
#auto wlan0
#iface wlan0 inet manual

Reboot and it should work.
Click to expand...
 
Hahaha didn't even notice the typo :P was in a rush.

Thanks
J

sn3rd said:
Try typing
Code: 
sudo kedit /etc/network/interfaces
without making typo's :p

It's a good sign that your adapter is detected. It's an even better sign that it finds the networks. What exactly does it do when you attempt to connect to said networks?

For example, since your network name is "yournetworkname":
Code: 
sudo iwconfig ath0 essid yournetworkname
What happens?

I suspect the issue is to do with your /etc/network/interfaces file.
Click to expand...
 
jsheed_sa said:
Dear god I hope so , I will try when i'm home tonight. What exactly causes this issue froot? Will it re-occur if i use pon dsl-provider or run pppeoconf?

Regards,
Click to expand...

When you create the pppoe connection those two lines are added to the file. Something to do with automatically configuring the network. In rare cases it doesn't give an issue, but usually (and most of the time) it does. I can with 99.5% certainty guarantee that it will fix your problem.
 
sn3rd said:
See? I told you froot would come to the rescue :)
Click to expand...

Lol... :D
My deepest and most sincere apologies for not replying sooner... the job keeps me busy and away from the forum (check how my daily posts dropped from lastweek to this week) :(
 
Will most of this advice also apply to ubuntu? I seem to have misplaced my wifi too :o
 
bwana said:
Will most of this advice also apply to ubuntu? I seem to have misplaced my wifi too :o
Click to expand...

Yep,

As far as I know it should, its only difference is basically gnome vs kde. The core should be the same.

Atleast I think im right :P

J
 
jsheed_sa said:
Yep,

As far as I know it should, its only difference is basically gnome vs kde. The core should be the same.

Atleast I think im right :P

J
Click to expand...

I don't know about other linux distro's, but for Ubuntu/Kubuntu it definitely works. I've used it in both (Ubuntu=Kubuntu+Gnome)
 
froot said:
I don't know about other linux distro's, but for Ubuntu/Kubuntu it definitely works. I've used it in both (Ubuntu=Kubuntu+Gnome)
Click to expand...

Will let you know if it works fr00t master :P Will be switching to linux on my desktop (kubuntu) providing I can get cedega/wine to play warcraft3 (dota) properly... Its the only reason I keep windows.

J
 
sn3rd said:
To see if it's picked up:
Code: 
lspci
then search for your adapter.

To see if your adapter is scanning correctly:
Code: 
iwlist scan
Click to expand...
I get the messages:

lo interface doesn't support scanning
eth0 interface doesn't support scanning
pan0 interface doesn't support scanning

I've got a suspicion that the card is just disabled - how would I enable it?
 
Last edited:
The instructions in this thread will work for Ubuntu and Kubuntu alike, with a minor difference:

Kubuntu:
Code: 
sudo kedit [I]filename[/I]
Ubuntu:
Code: 
sudo gedit [I]filename[/I]

bwana said:
I get the messages:

lo interface doesn't support scanning
eth0 interface doesn't support scanning
pan0 interface doesn't support scanning
Click to expand...

Your adapter doesn't seem to be detected. Are you able to find your adapter in the output of
Code: 
lspci
?

What adapter are you using? Is it the one in your One ?
 
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