Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark Topic as New
- Mark Topic as Read
- Float this Topic for Current User
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
- Plusnet Community
- :
- Forum
- :
- Help with my Plusnet services
- :
- Broadband
- :
- Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
05-08-2008 8:55 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
However, the one problem I have is internet access. I have to use Wifi, as my pc is too far from the router. I am using a Zonet ZEW2500P USB adaptor, which worked successfully with Ubuntu. But it doesn't seem to be working with PCLOS, and I have so far been unable to find any help.
At startup time, I am using the following for the Wireless setup:
Choose the connection you want to configure………….Wireless
Select the network interface to configure………………..Ralink 802.11g WAN (the only selection in the drop down menu)
Please select your network……………………………….Unlisted – edit manually
Wireless settings Operating Mode……………....….Auto
Network name (ESSID)…...……[my router name]
Encryption mode...........................WPA Pre-Shared Key
Encryption key…………….......…xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Please select your connection protocol…………………Automatic IP (BOOTP/DHCP)
IP settings…………………………………………………..Get DNS servers from DHCP
……………………………………………………………….Assign host name from DHCP address
Connection control…………………………………………Start the connection at boot
Do you want to start the connection now………….…….Yes
It appears to have been successful but when I try to start Firefox, I get “Server not found”
I suspect it is something to do with drivers, but I have no idea where to start.
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
05-08-2008 8:59 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
05-08-2008 10:33 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Quote from: waldron Select the network interface to configure………………..Ralink 802.11g WAN (the only selection in the drop down menu)
The ralink drivers are now part of the Linux kernel (of course I am not sure how fresh your PCLOS kernel is), but in any case if they do not play nicely with your adaptor you will need to install and run ndiswrapper - the PCLOS forums should explain how to do that.
Quote from: waldron It appears to have been successful but when I try to start Firefox, I get “Server not found”
There must be a GUI way to tell if you have an IP address, but if you don't mind opening a terminal run:
sudo ifconfig
and tell us what you see.
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
05-08-2008 11:16 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
I had exactly the same problem when I tried PCLinuxOS 2007 on my Thinkpad X21 with a 3Com PC Card. It appears to be connected but Firefox cannot see a connection.
After some discussion on the UBUNTU thread here, I realised that I needed to download some 220MB of updates to bring the PCLOS 2007 distro up to date. I baulked at that and decided to wait for the immintly expected PCLOS 2008 distro.
With UBUNTU, the only niggle I have is that the 3Com PC Card does not turn off when I shut down the Thinkpad. It switches off correctly when Hibernated or put into Standby. Now, It used to shut down correctly until I applied all the updates!
I was also able to get Network Printing to work with UBUNTU so I have no urgent need to switch and would rather wait for PCLOS 2008.
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
05-08-2008 11:49 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
06-08-2008 10:36 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Using [root@localhost root]# I got
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: : :1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0,0 b) TX bytes:0 (0,0 b)
A problem I have is that my router is fairly inaccessible for ethernet connection, since a BT engineer split the line at the master socket. Wifi is now the only viable connection. I downloaded PCLOS two days ago (using Vista), but haven't been able to get the updates so far.
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
06-08-2008 11:36 AM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
From the PC Linux Control Center choose Network & Internet,
then choose Setup a new network interface, select Wireless then click Next.
Choose Use a windows driver (with ndis wrapper) click Next,
then choose Install a new driver, click OK - find the correct folder with the windows .inf file for the wifi card.
You should then be able to see the wireless connection and be able to set it up to connect to your router.
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
06-08-2008 6:21 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
I've just tried that, and when I got through it all, there was a message "The selected device has already been configured with the rt2500usb driver. Do you really want to use a ndiswrapper driver." I replied "Yes", just to try something different.
The final message was "Congratulations, the network and internet configuration is finished.
After this is done, we recommend that you restart your X environment to avoid any hostname-related problems".
sudo ifconfig still gives me the same response as earlier.
Maybe I need to find a way of connecting via ethernet to get the latest updates?
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
06-08-2008 7:40 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1A:50:1B:55:3F
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
wmaster0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-1A-50-1B8-55-3F-70-F5-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
The top one is my ralink usb device (the second you can ignore - it is when you have configured it to act as a WiFi Access Point in master mode). With my WiFi USB stick (Belkin) both the rt2500usb kernel driver and the ndiswrapper driver show a wlan0 device coming up. If you don't get that then this means that your device driver is not loaded. Have you tried to reboot the machine?
To see what modules have loaded you can run something like:
sudo lsmod | grep rt2500or instead of rt2500 try ndiswrapper.
rt2500usb 22112 0
rt2x00usb 8928 1 rt2500usb
rt2x00lib 16480 2 rt2500usb,rt2x00usb
An update/upgrade often resolves hardware issues.
HTH.
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
06-08-2008 8:45 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Quote from: waldron Maybe I need to find a way of connecting via ethernet to get the latest updates?
That's the way I did it and I'm sure it would help if you can.
I then copy/pasted the .inf files from the wifi card cdrom to my /home file, and did exactly as "gimme" suggested.
If you can overcome this problem, I'm sure you'll find PCLOS worthwhile.
FWIW I find all this discussion about su or sudo(Ubuntu) meaningless. In two years of using PCLOS I have never needed to use the Command Line. Problem is the geeks/techies just love it and want everyone to know their expertise
As for waiting for PCLOS2008, the word is that it is only 2007 with all subsequent updates included.
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
06-08-2008 10:06 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Quote from: Heloman FWIW I find all this discussion about su or sudo(Ubuntu) meaningless. In two years of using PCLOS I have never needed to use the Command Line. Problem is the geeks/techies just love it and want everyone to know their expertise
I find it so much quicker & easier than your 'boot into root' method
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
09-08-2008 8:42 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
Quote from: grimme From the PC Linux Control Center choose Network & Internet,
then choose Setup a new network interface, select Wireless then click Next.
Choose Use a windows driver (with ndis wrapper) click Next,
then choose Install a new driver, click OK - find the correct folder with the windows .inf file for the wifi card.
Today I've managed to install PCLOS successfully and have moved the pc adjacent to the router temporarily (although it's far from ideal as I have to crawl into a corner to access it). However, it has enabled me to download all the updates, and I now have a working system, which I am currently using.
However, I do need to get the wifi working so that I can move the pc to its proper home. I've tried using ndiswrapper, but when I select "Use a Windows driver", I get a window "drakconnect.......Choose an ndiswrapper driver" with "Use the ndiswrapper driver my computer.desktop" already selected. The next message is an Error - "No device supporting the my computer.desktop ndiswrapper driver is present!
The next window displayed is "Firmware files are required for this device. The required files can also be installed from this URL: http://ndiswrapper.sourceforfe.net/mediawiki/index.php/List"
I've downloaded from that site, but I have no idea how to install the software. Can anyone help, or point me to an installation guide please
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
09-08-2008 10:08 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
reports on the pclinuxos.com forum have shown that those who've installed pclinuxos 2007 and been unable to configure wifi and then moved onto minime 2008 found that with the latter wifi was automagically set up.
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
10-08-2008 3:14 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
I reloaded/updated the kernel and also ndiswrapper. The latest is that when I set up the wireless configuration (without ndiswrapper) it shows me the available networks, including mine which I select. After entering the WPA key etc and selecting Connect Now, it says it has been successful. However, it still doesn't appear to be working, as I can't connect to the internet, and I notice that the Link light on the adaptor is not lit.
the command 'iwconfig' shows the following (the actual ESSID is correct)
lo no wireless extensions.
rausb0 RT2500USB WLAN ESSID:"xxxxxxxxxxxx" Nickname:"localhost"
Mode:Managed Frequency=2.412 GHz Bit Rate=11 Mb/s
RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Link Quality=0/100 Signal level:-120 dBm Noise level:44 dBm
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.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS
10-08-2008 7:35 PM
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Report to Moderator
So I have given up, and ordered a PCI adaptor which is stated to be supported by PCLOS without any amendments. Hopefully that will solve my problem. If not, it's back to Windows.
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark Topic as New
- Mark Topic as Read
- Float this Topic for Current User
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
- Plusnet Community
- :
- Forum
- :
- Help with my Plusnet services
- :
- Broadband
- :
- Re: Problems trying out PCLinuxOS