Getting Intel 3945 to work

[Gustin Johnson]

Mac wrote:
> On Thu, 2008-11-13 at 19:13 -0500, Mac wrote:
>   
>> email message attachment, "Forwarded message - Re: Jack/Ardour
>> impressions"
>>     
>>> -------- Forwarded Message --------
>>> From: Gustin Johnson <gustin at echostar.ca>
>>> To: suemac at empire.net
>>> Cc: ubuntu-studio-users at lists.ubuntu.com
>>> Subject: Re: Jack/Ardour impressions
>>> Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:21:26 -0700
>>>
>>>       
>>>>> Do you have the kernel module loaded?
>>>>>
>>>>> lsmod |grep iwl
>>>>>           
>
> Results:
> iwl3945                96244  0 
> lbm_iwl_mac80211      242292  1 iwl3945
> rfkill                  8596  2 iwl3945
> led_class               6020  1 iwl3945
> lbm_iwl_cfg80211       33248  2 iwl3945,lbm_iwl_mac80211
>   
Yes, it looks like you have the correct module loaded
>>>>> If not what happens when you try to load it?
>>>>>
>>>>> sudo modprobe iwl3945
>>>>>           
> There is no output from this command
>   
It is already loaded so it should not be doing anything.
>>>>> Check the output from dmesg (only the last couple of lines are
>>>>> likely to be relevant).
>>>>>           
>
> .....
> [   29.360309] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network
> Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.26k
> [   29.360313] iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2008 Intel Corporation
> .....
> [   29.468763] iwl3945: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 3945ABG
> .....
> [   29.557540] iwl3945: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a
> channels
> [   29.580964] phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-3945-rs'
> [   29.670078] ACPI: PCI interrupt for device 0000:0b:00.0 disabled
> [   29.670149] input: 3945ABG
> as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1c.1/0000:0b:00.0/input/input13
>   
Most of this is not needed and is just noise.  Please remove in the
future.  If you remove the module and then reinstall it again, "dmesg |
tail" will give you what you need.
> <snip
>>>> At this point I believe that iwl is blacklisted and ipw is loaded.
>>>>         
>>> This is probably the problem, I think you are loading the wrong drivers.
>>>   What happens when you modprobe iwl3945?
>>>
>>>       
No, iwl3945 is loaded and ready to roll.  The problem is somewhere else.
> See above
>
>   
>>> Also, check the /lib/firmware directory as this card requires firmware
>>> to be loaded thanks to your FCC.
>>>       
>
> ls /lib/firmware
> 2.6.24-16-generic  2.6.24-21-rt                 mixart
> vx
> 2.6.24-19-generic  digiface_firmware.bin        multiface_firmware.bin
> 2.6.24-19-rt       digiface_firmware_rev11.bin
> multiface_firmware_rev11.bin
> 2.6.24-21-generic  ea    
>
>
> At the time was booted in 2.6.24-21-generic
>
> ls /lib/firmware/2.6.24-21-generic
> ....
> ipw2100-1.3.fw
> ipw2100-1.3-i.fw
> ipw2100-1.3-p.fw
> ipw2200-bss.fw
> ipw2200-ibss.fw
> ipw2200-sniffer.fw
> isl3877
> isl3886
> isl3887usb_bare
> isl3890
> isl3890usb
> iwlwifi-3945-1-lbm.ucode
> iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
> iwlwifi-3945.ucode
> iwlwifi-4965-1.ucode
> iwlwifi-4965-2-lbm.ucode
> iwlwifi-4965.ucode
> iwlwifi-5000-1-lbm.ucode
> ....
>
>   
Looks like everything that is supposed to be here is present.
>>>> This is after installing a back port then doing the iwl remove/add
>>>> ipw by hand and lots of etc.
>>>>
>>>>         
>>> I am going to guess that you messed something up.  I can tell you that I
>>>  use the iwl3945 everyday (I also put an iwl4965 in my Acer One netbook,
>>> and it is also rock solid).  I did nothing complicated in either of
>>> these cases to get the Intel WiFI adaptors working.
>>>
>>>       
>>>> I'm 30 mile away from that machine at the moment, so I can't qoute
>>>> the results from a lsmod, modprobe, etc.
>>>>
>>>>         
>>> Let us know what you find when you get back to that machine.
>>>
>>>       
>>>> One clue that I've not had time to chase is: my gateway box is an
>>>> openbsd machine running packet filtering. On occasion, when I reboot
>>>> the machine in question or possibly  = unplug the wired and do a
>>>> network restart, I see a message on the gateway machine that says the
>>>> arp info for the ip address of the wired interface had been over
>>>> written. (I have wireless set to a different ip than the wired
>>>> interface.)
>>>>         
>>> Before chasing this down, double check the basics.  Likely something
>>> simple is the culprit (IMO the likely candidate is that you have no
>>> firmware installed in /lib/firmware/).
>>>       
>
> Gustin,
>
> I have included the output from the commands you asked about.
>
> Does this provide any clue?
>
>   
Unfortunately no.  The device seems to have the correct driver loaded
and is ready to go.
> Below is the content of my hosts file:
>
> 127.0.0.1 localhost
>
> # The following lines are desirable for IPv6 capable hosts
> 127.0.1.1 dell-desktop
> ::1 ip6-localhost ip6-loopback
> fe00::0 ip6-localnet
> ff00::0 ip6-mcastprefix
> ff01::1 ip6-allnodes
> ff02::2 ip6-allrouters
> ff03::3 ip6-allhosts
>
>   
Irrelevant at this point.
> When I got the machine Dell had left a bunch of their hosts defined, I
> got over eager and whacked a bunch so I figure I'll cover all the
> bases...
>   
So I guess we are back to square one.  Exactly what is the problem you
are having?  How are you trying to make the wireless connection (ie. are
doing iwconfig from the command line or using some sort of GUI front end)? 

The first thing I would do is to disable WEP/WPA on the router.  Can you
connect then?