Weirdeness on trying wifi in RC2

[sigmaX]

I am driving nuts !!

I got a Trendnet wifi compact flash adapter ... I configured it with matching SSID, channel and 128 bit wep to mi desktop's wifi adapter (in ad-hoc mode). My desktop has a dhcp server.

pdaxrom turns on the wifi adapter, my desktop and the zaurus get connected, Link led turns steady and Act led starts to furiously blink. Then the zaurus grabs an ip from the dhcp.

But that's it.

No pinging works.... No internet no LAN, no anything.

When I issue a "route" from a shell and most likely will happen the following:

Act and Link led go dead, then only Link led turn steady and the zaurus freezes until i disconnect the trendnet wifi compact flash adapter.

I dont quite get it as my networking and linux knowledge is rather low.

Any help appreciated.

[fabianE]

Hello,

I experienced the same twice: broken wifi card. Is your card working in another device?

Regards,

Fabian

[sigmaX]

Yep... actually yesterday at night I tested my zaurus with an AP (a netgear) with wep ... and it worked like a charm .... it just doesnt seem to like the ad-hoc config I got at my home !!

that is: both in my desktop and the zaurus say they are connected !

The zaurus also even grabs an IP from the dhcp server from my host .. but that is it: no pinging to host or to any other IP works ... no navigation ... etc.

[DaveAnderson]

Same problem here.  I'm using a Pretec wifi card.  It worked fine on the original Zaurus ROM.  I have a C860, FYI.

[Laze]

Could you post the cardctl ident results?

[sigmaX]

This card is marketed by Trendnet, with the model number TEW-222CF....
cardctl ident shows:


Socket 0:
   product info: "Wireless", "LAN Adapter", "Version 01.02", ""
   manfid: 0x0156, 0x0002
   function: 6 (network)


hope this helps !

[DaveAnderson]

My results:

Socket 0:
 product info: "Pretec", "CompactWLAN Card 802.11b", "2.5"
 manfid: 0x0156, 0x0002
 function: 6 (network)
Socket 1:
 no product info available

Any ideas?  If I have to, I'll get another card.  I really need wifi to work.  Thanks.

[DaveAnderson]

I fixed it by manually setting ssid and channel.  I guess the 'auto' doesn't work with this card.  I should have tried this earlier.  Sorry.

[Laze]

This card is marketed by Trendnet, with the model number TEW-222CF....
cardctl ident shows:


Socket 0:
   product info: "Wireless", "LAN Adapter", "Version 01.02", ""
   manfid: 0x0156, 0x0002
   function: 6 (network)


hope this helps !

This card should be worked - very standard - please try and configure use util in settings and mayb also post iwconfig output.

[sigmaX]

Hi laze,

well I think I have an idea on what is going on (at least on my case)... I am trying to do an Ad-hoc connection to my desktop gateway server. It is just the same configuration I had with my zaurus sl5500 and the sharp rom (3.13) which worked fine.

Under C860 and this card, it doesnt: but maybe this is a clue:

Link light goes steady
Act Light starts furiously blinking (like a query being done and repeated without getting back an ack)

I asked a friend for an Access Point / router (a netgear one). I pluged in. Used the same wep key, the same paremeters in pdaxrom, only changing Ad-hoc into "MANAGED" and it worked.

There seems to be something going on in the ad-hoc configuration that makes the zaurus dont get past of asking for an ip into my dhcp server service (in the same gateway server) ... The  access point seems to answer appropriately to the thing that the zaurus keep asking in ad-hoc mode ...

I get an ethernet package sniffer in my desktop and point it up into my wifi adapter (a linksys wireless-G usb adapter) ....

I can see 802.1d Bridge Group packages going out .... then the zaurus (it is its mac address) sends a 594 bytes (stating IP 0.0.0.0) which I assume it is announcing itself into the neighbourhood.

The dhcp thing goes into the zaurus.

then I only get the usual 802.1d Bridge Group packages going out from desktop's wifi adapter and that is it .... nothing else comes from my zaurus...

If I try a PING into my desktop's IP, LINK led in the zaurus flashes, ACT led stops its furious blinking ... and the zaurus goes FREEZE ... until I unplug the wifi card.

Is it an "ad-hoc" problem ? is it my desktop's wireless-g adapter ?

My zaurus behaved RIGHT COOL with an Access Point ... so I assume that it is quite safe to say that at least, the zaurus is safe and sound (on the hardware side).


enrique.

[Laze]

Hey enrique

How do you configure you card - have you tried running iwconfig when you think everything is setup right - if so please post the output of that.

[sigmaX]

Ok .. I got a wifi profile with ip / mask / dns automatically provided, wireless: wep enabled, 128bits key (the same I tested with the AP), open connection, ad-hoc ... channel 4 (I tried several channels just in case).

When I change scheme into it, it connects. The Desktop PC also turns on the wifi adapter.

iwconfig:

eth0      IEEE 802.11-DS  ESSID:"armomipc"  Nickname:"zaurus"
          Mode:Ad-Hoc  Frequency:2.462GHz  Cell: 76:E3:B8:12:47:45  
          Bit Rate:2Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   Sensitivity:1/3  
          Retry min limit:8   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:8E7B-2A74-AEA9-5135-B807-5002-DE   Security mode:open
          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:3  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

ifconfig:

eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:E0:98:B2:A4:F9  
          inet addr:192.168.0.8  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST NOTRAILERS RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:32 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:5 errors:1 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
          RX bytes:1812 (1.7 Kb)  TX bytes:2690 (2.6 Kb)
          Interrupt:39

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:108 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:108 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:12563 (12.2 Kb)  TX bytes:12563 (12.2 Kb)

Any other thing I can do from here to solve my problem, and maybe fix something wrong, please just tell !

Regards,

[Laze]

Strange, strange.. Nothing is running on automically - tried using closed. Maybe the accespoint is having problems with some settings - does other things connect ok to it?

[sigmaX]

Laze,

that info I posted earlier was my zaurus trying to get an ad-hoc with my desktop (linksys wireless-g usb adapter) with no access point. When I brought an access point down here, my zaurus could connect instantly ... same paremeters (I only changed in wifi config, from ad-hoc to managed).

Problem is that I wanted to eliminate the need for an Access point, and use my zaurus against a wifi adapter in my desktop. Easy setup. I had it rolling with my zaurus sl5500 with no trouble at all...

Maybe I go on cacko rom and give it a try just to see if it works ... I´ll try that later today.

IF I succeed I will post it in here... if not... then I will go and buy an access point and problem solved the easy way (although I might never understand WHAT was going wrong with my actual setup)

Regards,

[sigmaX]

Ok I installed cacko rom.

It tries to connect, just like pdaxrom, the led blinks furiously for some 5 secs, while the network taskbar applet states "Initializing" ... and then shuts the connection... it seems that I have the same problem that I had with pdaxrom, but cacko rom realizes it is not going anywhere and the try lasts only 5 secs. IN pdaxrom, the link led goes furiously blinking forever, until I try a ping or any comunication with the net, where it hangs the whole system until I plug out the wifi CF.

This made me take a look into my wifi adapter, a wireless-G USB from linksys, and go into their support pages ... just to find this INCREDIBLE JEWEL:

http://linksys.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/linksy...wYWdlPTE*&p_li=

SO it seems that if you want to use the Linksys wifi card, you have to disable all other NICS present on your system. It is not said by me ... it is said by LAME OH HOW BIG TIME LAME (just being in the polite side) LINKSYS !!!!

NOTE: when I used my zaurus SL5500 in adhoc mode with my desktop, I had installed a PCI wifi card in it ... I bought this new usb wireless G linksys on the grounds that it would be better: I can plug it anywhere, I can better place it, and it is 802.11g (my pci adapter was "b") ... how wrong I was on choosing Linksys !!!

Anyway, it seems, Laze, that trouble is from my desktop side, because of this linksys adapter, which cant coexist with other NICS. I disabled all other NICS, and VOILA, I Could wirelessly navigate into my desktop's web server (what a thrill) NOT heh.

Life can suck sometimes