RutilT grabs wrong wifi AP when I reboot

[Aitch]

Is it me, or is this happening to anyone else?
I just installed puppy v2.14 on an old PC (P3/600 VIA chipset)
I've got an ASUS wifi PCI card that uses RT2500 drivers on linux
My problem is radio is my only link to the web, and there are 4 AP's in close proximity
I went through the network setup using RutilT and it setup OK then after my first 'save' shutdown, it won't find the right AP
Ityped iwconfig on a konsole, and it shows my RT2500 configured to a belkin54g somewhere
Why did it change configuration & how can I get it back working again.
I've set the profile, SSID, IPaddress & gateway, but it refuses to change configuration
Any help, anyone.Please?

[Flash]

Have you tried using the "connect" icon on the desktop instead of RutilT to configure your wireless connection?

[Aitch]

Yes, but then I have to select 'connect to the Internet by network'
which puts me back in network wizard, which shows ra0 & eth1
I have tried setting IP adresses and AP gateway, but still no go

[jonyo]

I'm not having this problem at all with 2.14. How did you save (not sure what you mean by first save shutdown)? Have you tried auto dhcp?

Sounds like a config prob.

[Flash]

Aitch, I think maybe you haven't given the "connect" wizard enough of a chance. Assuming Puppy finds a driver for your card after you click "Connect to internet by network interface", you must then click "ath0" then "Wireless" then "Scan" then "Use this profile" etc., after which the wizard will ask if you want to save that profile. If you choose to save the profile, Puppy will use it when you boot.

[Aitch]

Flash
I tried everything you said previous to posting
My first save shutdown was the one which created the pup save 2fs
or whatever which I did on hdb1 (my windoze D: drive)
Basic question - where is my ra0 configuration SUPPOSED to be saved
Having now messed about with iwconfig I haven't got any ESSID label in between the " " despite putting one in
Mine is normally "BTVOYAGER-09" because the AP I connect to is a BT 2020
broadband modem/router which I don't have access to, I'm in a different part of the building - which is why wifi is my only connection to the web
Hence I can't give more detail quickly 'cos I have to shut down and fire windoze up again to post here
tricky innit?
It definitely worked after initial setup of gateway and IPaddress, I was online on puppy chat via IRC for an hour or so this afternoon
(Yesterday, really because its early morning now)!!!
It hasn't worked since shutdown & I've searched everywhere in files to find this damn info
"AARGH!!"

[Aitch]

Jonyo
I agree it sounds like a config problem, though I'm a semi-newb, having played with various distros
my previous preference was knoppix v 4.0.2
I've ALWAYS had this wifi problem with all distros
I had a BT usb wifi adapter which was supposed to have Atmel drivers but I never got it to go
So I replaced it with this Asus PCI card because its well supported [in theory] by linux
so, WHERE do I find the proper configuration settings and where should they be saved so it'll work next time I fire it up?
Any wifi knowledgeables about??
Please nicely

[Aitch]

A bit more info following another reboot
Puppy Network Setup reports,
Network configuration of ra0 successful
configuration saved to file /etc/ra0mode
this file is read at startup by/etc/rc.d/rc.network
however I have no wifi 'aerial' icon & blinky reports 1.31Mb sent 0 recvd
I looked in files in /initrd.pup_rw/etc/rc.d
BUT - I don't have rc.network
I have only PUPSTATE and rc.local (which says it is for firewall)

Don't know if this makes any more use to anyone

It doesn't matter if I use fixed IP & gateway or DHCP
There is no encryption key either WEP or WPA, it's just open
As are 2 of the 3 other AP's which scanning finds
However at least the preferred AP signal is strongest at -71db, the others are -96, -97, & -101db
noise for all is -224
I don't know what else to supply, so if you know about this stuff please, please, post
This is really getting to me!!

[jonyo]

Not sure what you mean here?

I've ALWAYS had this wifi problem with all distros

[Aitch]

Jonyo
I'd have thought it blindingly obvious to a blind man
I have tried about 11 linux distros, some live cd, some install to H/D only,
BUT where there is commonality between ALL distros is that I've NEVER got wifi to work. The best so far has been Knoppix, since it works with the most PCs I tried it on. EVERY other distro fails the hardware install in one way or another. [Though even that is 'sans wifi'!]
[Maybe it's just the old gear I'm playing with, but many are rescued from scrap or given because their previous owner 'upgraded' I do this to relieve boredom & keep technical as well as I can afford, being near to retirement age. Sorry, but many people don't take technophobia into account. I try not to lose touch COMPLETELY with the ever changing world I have to live both in & with]
This has occurred over some 15mths of messing about, since when I started I only knew how to sort out a crashed Win98se system
Now I can pretty much do the same with win2K
I still don't like either, since with the old hardware I mess about with, P!/P!!/P!!! with H/Ds ranging from 1.2Gb to 10Gb and ram ranging from 32M to a whopping 380M on my current P111, which is where I'm at, at the moment
Anything else you don't understand, I can't help you with, because you haven't provided sufficient information to identify your problem!
Any useful comment will be appreciated (terrible - can't even do bold here)
Hey ho, such is life
Keep smiling

[BigPilot]

So do I understand correctly that you *can* connect to the correct AP manually but you want it do so automatically on startup?

In a nutshell: first make sure that Rutilt connects to the correct AP and save this in a profile. Then you just need to startup Rutilt from a startup script with the correct parameters.

[Aitch]

BigPilot
Sorry NO
To go back over my post from 1st base
1) I have an old P!!! PC with VIA chipset with an asus PCI wifi card that uses RT2500 drivers (runs win98se, normally, with wifi)
2) I have a working puppy liveCD v2.14
3) On my first install? (live CD in RAM I believe) I got a desktop - no wifi
4) using network wizard I configured wifi by inserting fixed IP for my PC & gateway [192.168.1.4 & 192.168.1.1, with 192.168.1.1 for BOTH dns IPs
[Auto dhcp didn't work, nor did auto connect]
5) this resulted in, when I used RutilT, a wifi connection, verified by firing up a browser and 'googling'
6) I then used gaim and had a 1 hour or more chat on puppychatroom on IRC
7) THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT
I REBOOTED, which meant I 'saved' to my D: drive, hdb1 in puppyspeak
This is SUPPOSED to save my WORKING configuration to be there when I re start at a later time
THIS IS THE OTHER IMPORTANT BIT
IT DIDN'T WORK

I'm sorry, but I'm a bit exasperated at what should be a simple
Put this file here point this to this, copy x to y, or some other procedure.
I don't know
Which is is why I posted - from WINDOZE!! UURRGGHH
Get me out of here, PLEEEEEEZ

9)It (WIFI) is now not working AT ALL!! (Though when I first posted it had configured to one of the other 3 AP's in close proximity to my room, namely Belkin 54g, which is someone else's and very low gain signal
= -101db - NBG to me)
OK?
HELP, thanks [why don't proper smileys work either,
This is like going back into the dark ages]

[jonyo]

Seems to me that the drivers are auto loading ok on boot & its just a few steps away. I think part of the prob in helping out is that a lot of us have diff ways of going about a wifi connection.

I've used rutilt for awhile. When that was configured properly, I'd get the 2 tv screens flashing green on the bottom right of the screen, as well as the antenna lit up; as opposed to a red line running across it. I've always had to work with auto DHCP as a final step in getting a wifi connection. Sometimes auto DHCP connects quick & other times, takes it's sweet time & even fails a few times.

As I understand, a wifi connection auto loads on boot if setup right (happened to me once..so far).

[Aitch]

jonyo
concur on your 1st para' I think the drivers are ok
I get one green screen on blinky, but no aerial

I have tried deleting the whole shebang from H/D and trying again with dhcp, but it won't have it.
I can see my connection mac address, not connected
but no essid shows up because my AP has it in 'hidden mode'
I set up a profile & it reported a working connection when I 'saved' the configuration -clicking OK at end of process, BUT
typing iwconfig in a terminal shows no connection, whether I set up IP & Gateway or not

pinging my gateway doesn't respond
NADA NIET NOTHING
[I've also noticed log errors which I think are because I set both dns server IPs to 192.168.1.1]
Any ideas?

[HairyWill]

I looked in files in /initrd.pup_rw/etc/rc.d
BUT - I don't have rc.network
I have only PUPSTATE and rc.local (which says it is for firewall)

/initrd.pup_rw only contains the files that you have changed or added since installing. /initrd contains a number of different layers of the filesystem that are unioned together to create a whole system.


What is in /etc/ra0mode ?
What is your output from iwconfig and ifconfig ?

If you just want a solution then you could just add the manual commands to rc.local.

[Aitch]

Hi HairyWill
Interesting it is, when someone says,"All you've got to do is" in relation to a problem I cannot resolve, for lack of understanding, and then UN specify the 'what you've got to do'!
It is my belief that this puzzle can be solved when someone with the understanding, [you hint at such] conveys it to me
I would dearly love to resolve this, before yet another knowledgeable, posts something likely to induce seizure
How?
Where?
What?
re your last sentence, in plain English, please
step by step would be good
Thanks
sorry, I don't know how to get the info from iwconfig & ifconfig, which are in puppy, onto these posts, which are only available to me in win98 on the same PC, [with the wifi working], but basically it says I'm not connected to my preferred AP
note; there is nothing between the "" where the essid should be, in iwconfig
now about those scripts or commands or whatever
explain please
q) what to do
b) why it is necessary
c)how to get it to be there next time I shut down and reboot
ta!!!

[Aitch]

Can someone reading this contact rarsa or tempestuous
I found a thread; advanced topics/hardware/network/wifi,
and either of them seem to know this stuff & can probably help me here
moderators, can this be done?
Or should I start a new thread there?
Edited - done

[keilor]

These are the steps I went through to get my wireless card working:

1. Run the network wizard.
2. From what you've said it should say that it has loaded the RT2500 driver and show the eth0 and ra0 interfaces. eth0 is the cable interface, ra0 is the wireless.
3. Click on the ra0 button.
4. Click 'Test ra0". It should say that Puppy was able to find an alive network.
5. click on 'Auto DHCP' or 'Static IP' depending on which one you use. If you use static IP fill in the details. It doesn't matter if the primary and secondary DNS servers are the same.
5. Save the network configuration when prompted.
6. Exit the wizard.

This is as far as I go with the wizard as I can't get it to establish a connection.

7. Run RutilT.
8. Click on the 'Site survey' tab.
9. Click 'Scan'. You should see the a list of the sites. (I have only one so I'm not sure exactly how multiple ones look.)
10. Click 'Add profile' and fill in the details.
11. Click on the 'Profiles' tab.
12. Click the radio button to the left of the profile you just created.
13. You should now be connected.

After rebooting all you should have to do is run RutilT and then steps 11 & 12.

If you want to run UtilT from the command line and have it connect automatically the command is

Code: Select all

rutilt ra0 -tep yourprofilename

Hope this helps.

[HairyWill]

Hi HairyWill
Interesting it is, when someone says,"All you've got to do is" in relation to a problem I cannot resolve, for lack of understanding,
...
re your last sentence, in plain English, please
step by step would be good
Thanks

Sorry, as you'd found the iwconfig command I assumed you knew what it did, my fault. My instructions are based on using the console. And assume you are connecting to an access point that uses no encryption. For more insight into how iwconfig works type in

Code: Select all

man iwconfig

First to force your wireless card to associate with a given access point type

Code: Select all

iwconfig ra0 essid ????? key off

Replacing ????? with the name of the access point.
Now you need an IP address.

Code: Select all

rm /etc/dhcpc/dhcpcd-ra0.pid
dhcpcd -d ra0

The first line may fail saying no such file, it is there to remove a possible lock file from the last dhcp setup.
Now you should have networking.
If all this works try putting the three lines at the end of the file /etc/rc.d/rc.local
if you reboot they will execute automatically.
If this doesn't work it is probably something non standard with your wireless card/driver, I don't have one like yours. Sometimes I have seen doing

Code: Select all

ifconfig ra0 up

to be helpful before making the iwconfig call.
Hope this helps.

sorry, I don't know how to get the info from iwconfig & ifconfig, which are in puppy, onto these posts, which are only available to me in win98 on the same PC, [with the wifi working]

For future reference a digital camera works or if you're really desperate try a pencil and paper and the keyboard. Nevermind, well probably cope without.

[Aitch]

Hi Hairy Will
Thanks for the instructions
It almost fits the bill
1) after a couple of attempts at a console - it worked!! Yey, wifi
2) after rebooting its gone again - Its forgotten/not saved/changed my settings/what have you ???
3) Do you have similar clear instructions for making a working configuration
- repeatable, i.e. when I turn a previously working 'puppy' on tomorrow, it will know where the wifi settings are?
I think part of my problem has been when trying to enter the essid in iwconfig
Somewhere I got instruction to put my essid in "" quotes, though it didn't report to me that it wasn't recognising my entry
I'm so used to the forgiving nature of windows - linux is VERY script accuracy demanding for a beginner, who's not accustomed to such demands. It must be murder for dyslexics or people who can't spell yes/no?

keilor, sorry
I tried all those steps but it didn't work, though Hairy Will's instructions have got me started
now, to make it repeatable?!
Your last line instruction didn't work
thanks, again, guys