Wireless Networking On Mandrake/Mandriva 2005 Edition

[shadow-x 0]

Hi any and all.I recently got a D-link wireless router and my laptop has an internal WLAN card which works perfectly under windows so I know the hardware is not the problem. The Distro im using is Mandrake/Mandriva (depending on what you call it) limited edition 2005. During bootup I've pressed escape to monitor whats going on and it fails to bring up my device, it knows its there but it cant bring it up, I dont know if this is because it cant detect the WLAN so it means theres no WLAN or if theres a problem with drivers etc and it cant start up the hardware? Ive been into the Configure Your Computer program and checked the hardware and its recognised, I've configured it using my network details (the name and WEP key is there anything I missed here?) and restarted but it still failed to bring up the network during boot. Im fairly new to Linux because I havent used it much due to my stupid F@st 800 modem...true disaster them things, but im really hoping that once I can use the internet from linux I can use it more often.Also, I dont think it should affect the WLAN but I am dual booting with Windows XP pro, but I dont think that should cause me problems.So could anyone help me here?Thanks.

[yordan 10]

Also, I dont think it should affect the WLAN but I am dual booting with Windows XP pro,

Dual booting is not the problem.I had dual booting and I had problems last year. i solved my problems and I still have dual booting.
Please tell us a little bit more.
If you login as root on your Linux console and type "iwconfig" what do you see ?
We need to know if your hadware is not recognized, or not configured, or if your WEP password is rejected.
so, for instance, what about trying to give a fixed IP address and see what happens ? If a fixed address works, then this means that your hardware works fine under Linux and only the configuration to the router has to be perfectized.

[shadow-x 0]

I typed the iwconfig command under root in the terminal and this is its output:

[root@localhost ~]# iwconfiglo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

ra0 RT2500 Wireless ESSID:""
Mode:Auto Frequency=1 MHz Bit Rate:11 Mb/s
RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:A67C-5557-92 Security mode:open
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

sit0 no wireless extensions.

[root@localhost ~]#

I also tried setting my IP address manually and restarted, by monitoring the WLAN it showed that data was coming in and out, which i though suggests theres a connection but when I tried to connect to the network it failed. Also now when booting it brings up the network device and on the KDE shows the device is 'up' but still doesnt connect.

[qwijibow 0]

Wireless ESSID:""

you MUST specify an ESSID.

Mode:Auto

set to Managed

Frequency=1 MHz

Strange, frequancy should be aroung 2.4Ghz.
set the channel to whatever your router is running on

Bit Rate:11 Mb/s

are you out of range ? slow down transmition power, and increace TX power.

i also have an rt2500 WLAN card, which vwesion drivers are you using ?

the alpha drivers running on the new stack are a little buggy, make sure you are using the latest version of the legacy betas, they are the most stable.


EDIT: What happens whan you use the RaConfig tool to connect to a network ?

RaConfig is the network config tool released by the chip manufacturer, they have windows AND linux versions available... the linux version has a slight bug though , make sure you ifconfig ra0 up bnefore running RaConfig

[shadow-x 0]

Woohoo! Thanks guys/girls! I'm using Mandriva right now so thats out of the way but i have another question, is the display supposd to be not so sharp as windows? I've noticed this before, my monitor is a flat panel lcd with 'diamond veiw' image quality, and its a laptop. is there anything I can do about this or is it just normal? It's not unreadable its jus annoying basically.

Edited April 5, 2006 by shadow-x (see edit history)

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

it could just be your X server configuration. Maybe installing your manufacturer's Linux display driver should help.or just play around with the X server configuration.xboxrulz

[qwijibow 0]

lol.. Xbox's solution to everything.. "play around with the config file".. love it.Anyways, more specifically, increace your screen resolution, and check that the monitor is set to LCD / TFT and not CRT ( CRT == Cathode Ray Tube... the old type of tv's / monitors )Enjoy.....