wifi on Ubuntu (Linux)

errlloyd

My wifi doesn't work on ubuntu. I had this very same laptop on windows for the first week and it was fine. It picks it up but can't connect to the web. Does anyone know what the problem is, I would really appreciate being able to fix this without a trip to the daedulus centre.

(And sorry, although I am quite competetent with windows, I am new to Ubuntu, so if anyone knows could they point me in the right direction to fixing it)

Kevo

Is it a fresh install of ubuntu? Could be a driver problem if it is. You may need to find a driver for your specific card.

I have had this problem before on ubuntu. It also often happens to me on windows too when I'm installing of an old cd.

If you don't know how to do this I suggest you ask in this forum.

bnt

I had a similar problem last year, when it would connect to "WaveLAN Network" but not get an IP address. If you want to check whether this is happening to you too, open a terminal and type ifconfig, and see whether it reports a valid IP address for the wireless (probably ra0).

In my case, I know it wasn't the netbook or Linux itself, since it worked fine everywhere else (yes, everywhere). I thought it was the DHCP implementation here, which doesn't seem to like Linux. I've rebuilt my netbook since then, to Ubuntu Netbook Remix, and haven't tried it at UCD yet - probably tomorrow.

-TK^Creator

it could be proxy settings as said before, if it works else where like at home its the ucd proxy

bnt

-TK^Creator wrote: »

it could be proxy settings as said before, if it works else where like at home its the ucd proxy

Not necessarily. It is possible for the notebook to get a connection to "WaveLAN Network", but not get an IP address from the UCD DHCP server, as I found out the hard way last year. Or, to put it another way: to get to the Internet from a wireless-attached notebook, you need four things:
(L4) the correct HTTP proxy settings to make a request (assuming the proxy is up and working)
(L3) a valid IP address
(L2) connection to the WaveLAN Network
(L1) a wireless signal

Geek stuff:
The L1-L4 and the order are to show where these requirements fit in the 7-layer OSI networking model. All these bits need to work, from the ground up e.g. if you have no wireless signal, none of the other stuff even comes up. (You don't say?) The problem I had was at L3 (IP), while an invalid proxy setting is a L4 (HTTP) problem. If the WaveLAN network comes up, and the proxy settings are fine, yet you still can't connect, it's an IP address problem.

edit: forgot to say that the solution was just to keep trying = let the system keep trying to connect to the network. You can run dhclient in a terminal, which might speed things up.

ravydavygravy

bnt wrote: »

(L4) the correct HTTP proxy settings to make a request (assuming the proxy is up and working)
(L3) a valid IP address
(L2) connection to the WaveLAN Network
(L1) a wireless signal

Geek stuff:
The L1-L4 and the order are to show where these requirements fit in the 7-layer OSI networking model.

<pedantic pat mode>
Shouldn't HTTP be Layer 7 (application stuff?)
</pedantic pat mode>

But yeah, what he said - I was using wavelan with Fedora yesterday :-)

woop

will be trying mint tomo, Ill let you know how I get on OP

have ubuntu on a desktop will shout if I see another user on campus lol

Donald-Duck

woop wrote: »

will be trying mint tomo, Ill let you know how I get on OP

have ubuntu on a desktop will shout if I see another user on campus lol

Ubuntu is fine in UCD, the network doesn't discriminate based on OS. Its a problem with his laptop in some way or another.

Mycroft H

woop wrote: »

will be trying mint tomo, Ill let you know how I get on OP

have ubuntu on a desktop will shout if I see another user on campus lol

mint works on the ucd wi-fi out of the box, all i had to do was change the proxy setting is firefox. Mint is far better then ubuntu imo as it has far more drivers pre-installed and out of the box compatibility. Green is soo much cooler too

JBUCD

Ubuntu worked basically straight off the bat with firefox. Had to set the proxy thought to be able to access the likes of google and so on.

errlloyd

Donald-Duck wrote: »

Ubuntu is fine in UCD, the network doesn't discriminate based on OS. Its a problem with his laptop in some way or another.

Laptop worked fine on windows!!

Thanks all you've been real helpful. Its probably just proxy. Its not drivers cause my Laptop works at home. If its not either of those too its almost certainly IP.

Thanks a mill.

bnt

No problem getting on with Ubuntu Netbook Remix this morning. The previous version I had used a different WiFi connection program, but this one is much nicer. I'm writing this from the Fresher's Tent, where the signal is marginal, but it's hanging in there.

(Netbook Remix is not just for netbooks BTW, but I don't know if it has all WiFi drivers for all notebook types built in.)

PS: ravydavygravy is right about HTTP being an Application level protocol. There is a Transport layer involved, it's just that it's TCP, not HTTP.