[SOLVED] WiFi adapter not recognised

Marble42 · posted: 2014-12-24 14:13

Hi to all,

I installed antiX full on my IBM t23 laptop. Pentium 3 1133Mhz, 512RAM. Everything works fairly well, but when I insert a WiFi adapter, it isn't being recognized so I can't connect to a wifi network. Any ideas why this is happening? It works fine on other computers. Tries both USB slots, same thing. Other stuff works fine when connected to the USB slots.

dolphin_oracle · posted: 2014-12-24 14:37

by default, the network interface in wicd preferences is blank for the wireless. with the adapter inserted, run iwconfig to get the interface (like wlan0) and the put that in the preferences. you should probably boot up with the adapter inserted to be safe.

rokytnji · posted: 2014-12-24 15:41

Owning a T23 myself. Here is how I start a thread.

Code: Select all

$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: biker Kernel: 3.14.3-dreamlinux-liquorix i686 (32 bit gcc: 4.6.2) 
           Desktop: IceWM 1.3.7 Distro: antiX-13_386-full Luddite 01 June 2013 
Machine:   Mobo: IBM model: 26474MU
           Bios: IBM v: 1AET64WW (1.20 ) date: 10/18/2006
CPU:       Single core Mobile Intel Pentium III - M (-UP-) cache: 512 KB
           flags: (pae sse) bmips: 2397 clocked at 1197 MHz
Graphics:  Card: S3 SuperSavage IX/C SDR bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.12.4 drivers: savage (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1024x768@60.0hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on softpipe
           GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.5 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card Intel 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller 
           driver: snd_intel8x0 ports: 1c00 18c0 bus-ID: 00:1f.5 
           Sound: ALSA v: k3.14.3-dreamlinux-liquorix
Network:   Card-1: Intel 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller
           driver: e100 v: 3.5.24-k2-NAPI port: 6400 bus-ID: 02:08.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Ralink RT2800 802.11n PCI
           driver: rt2800pci v: 2.3.0 bus-ID: 07:00.0
           IF: wlan1 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 80.0GB (46.3% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: ST980815A size: 80.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 73G used: 34G (49%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.12GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 50.0C mobo: 48.0C 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 4900 
Info:      Processes: 113 Uptime: 39 min Memory: 514.8/1006.6MB 
           Init: SysVinit runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 4.7.2 
           Client: Shell (bash 4.2.371) inxi: 2.1.28

Marble42 · posted: 2014-12-24 16:22

It's there now. I was able to find it. Unable to connect properly though.

Also, even though I am not doing anything, cpu usage is 100%, ram usage 100%, swap partition on a constant rise, with running processes ranging 2-4 - and once again I am not doing anything. This is the second time something like this is happening.

thriftee · posted: 2014-12-25 08:44

I suggest you shut it down, reboot it, get to a terminal, run the inxi -Fxz as roky did above, get a browser running and paste it in here, then people will know what you have running.

I also suggest you try to get your wifi fixed on this thread and search for the 100% problem. I know I've seen that before recently, and maybe you have the same problem. If possible you want to limit the thread to one problem, and if you have another problem create a separate thread for it.

fatmac · posted: 2014-12-25 08:56

You need to boot with the wifi inserted to have the firmware automatically loaded.

Marble42 · posted: 2014-12-25 13:13

Earlier today I installed Linux Mint Maya 13 Xfce and was honestly amazed with the performance, especially when it comes to the browsing experience. Everything appears to be working great, so I will stick to that OS.

Thanks to everyone for the help! I appreciate it!

thriftee · posted: 2014-12-25 16:19

Well, I think it makes the point that as much as practicable, things like wifi should just work on install, like with a wifi hookup, not needing hardwired, etc.

I know debian has a thing about free vs non-free, and I respect their wish for everything to be free and open, but think that its a necessary evil for internet to just work on install.

I don't know why Linux Mint worked vs antiX not, but I think it would be a worthy ideal to include most drivers that might get used, so that people have fewer problems with them. I'm not saying antiX, but I've done so many linux installs where they don't recognize my wifi and or sound adapters that I keep a flashdrive with a subdirectory firmware where I keep adding drivers, but"normal" people can't be expected to do that, and aren't nessesarily willing or able to fight through these things, and eventually"vote with their feet"...

anticapitalista · posted: 2014-12-25 17:18

We devs would need a list of problemmatic devices and their drivers to do that and also hope that the kernel hasn't dropped support for said device.

thriftee · posted: 2014-12-25 18:59

anticapitalista wrote:We devs would need a list of problemmatic devices and their drivers to do that and also hope that the kernel hasn't dropped support for said device.

Its refreshing to see your good attitude towards the problem, and next time I do an install of antiX, I'll post a note of which drivers I need to add firmware for. They don't seem to take up a lot of space, luckily, so it would be better to have as many as are popular already there to avoid problems before they are encountered.

Thanks for being here and putting so much into your software __{{emoticon}}__