Ubuntu Linux: Built-in apps get an "A", wireless support an "F"

It didn't take long after installing Canonical Ltd.'s Ubuntu 7.10 version of Linux for me to decide I liked what I saw. A quick tour of the Applications, Places, and System menus indicated that converting from Windows to Linux would be relatively seemless. The only fly in the ointment was my inability to get any of three wireless adapters to work with the OS.

World-class applications without paying a dime
I expected to find the Mozilla Firefox browser bundled with Ubuntu, and seeing links on the Applications*Office menu to OpenOffice.org's Database, Presentation, Spreadsheet, and Word Processor apps--all of which are compatible with their Microsoft Office equivalents--was no surprise. But some of Ubuntu's other built-in programs were a nice bonus: the F-Spot Photo Manager, GIMP Image Editor, OpenOffice.org Drawing app, and XSane Image Scanner give you all the graphics functions you're likely to need; and for audio and video processing, you get Movie Player, Rhythmbox Music Player, Serpentine Audio CD-Creator, Sound Juicer CD Extractor, and Sound Recorder.

[Cue late-night-TV announcer] But wait, there's more! For VoIP, use the Ekiga Softphone app; for e-mail, there's the popular Evolution open-source program; and when the IM bug bites, open the Pidgen client (previously known as Gaim), which supports just about every IM system out there. You also get about a dozen games, including Blackjack, Sudoku, and a Tetris knockoff; there's even a version of my favorite time-waster, Mahjongg.

Fly in the Ubuntu ointment: Wireless woes
"Too good to be true," I'm thinking as I work my way through Ubuntu's many options. And indeed I hit the wall when I tried to connect to my wireless network. The Linksys WPC300N PCMCIA adapter worked without a hitch when I booted the laptop in XP, but Ubuntu didn't recognize it. I searched the many Ubuntu forums for a solution and found that the Ndiswrapper utilities I needed to mimic the adapter's Windows driver weren't enabled. I tried the adapter again after enabling the wrappers, but still got nowhere. Next I downloaded and installed the Ndisgtk utility that lets you install device drivers without having to deal with the command line in Ubuntu's Terminal application.

Enable the Ndiswrapper utilities, and download and install Ndisgtk, to allow Windows wireless-adapter drivers to work in Ubuntu.

I copied the driver files from their CD to the Ubuntu desktop, and then pointed to the appropriate .inf file in the Wireless Network Drivers utility it added (via the System*Administration*Windows Wireless Drivers shortcut that Ndisgtk provides). I now had a "Wireless connection" option in the Network Settings window (see below), but no matter how I configured the connection, I couldn't log onto my wireless network.

After enabling the Ndiswrapper utilities and installing the Windows drivers for the wireless adapter, Ubuntu recognized the wireless network, though it wouldn't connect to it.

After going through the same process with another PCMCIA card and a USB wireless adapter and getting the same results, I decided to do some more trolling for a solution on the Linux forums. I tried several of the suggestions offered by forum denizens, but nothing worked. That's when I decided to stick with the wired Ethernet link, which connected to the network right away.

While the wireless glitches made me glad I dual-booted Ubuntu with Windows (so I could simply load Windows when I needed to connect to a wireless network), I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to use Ubuntu the same way I use Windows, at least not until I figure out why I couldn't get Ubuntu to establish a wireless link. I haven't given up hope of replacing Windows with Linux, but neither am I willing to spend hours searching for a solution to a problem I can avoid simply by loading Windows.

Monday: Save time and trouble by partitioning your hard drive.

[forebees]

Hi Dennis,

Good luck on your travels with Gnu/Linux.

For more assistance, I'd try you local Linux User Group (LUG ) as well.

I'm a member of the famous SLUG (Sydney Linux User Group) and the equally famous WFTL-LUG - hosted by Marcel Gagne (award-winning author of the Linux Journal 'Cooking with Linux Series' - the $50 is in the mail did you say Marcel?).

:)))

All jokes aside, you local LUG will be of great assistance to you in resolving issues you face when changing. They'll most likely have regular meetings and install-fests etc.

I'd recommend joining them and posting your wireless dilemma there as well.

Fortunately, I've had no problems with wireless in Linux, but like all distros, it can vary.

Again, good luck.

[kingargyle1]

Do a search in your Ubuntu Synaptic Repository for WIFI Radar. This program seems to work better for working with the NDISWrapper than the Network Manager. I had similar problems working with the NDISWrapper and built in wireless.

Another recommendation, the book called: Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks, by Rickford Grant.

[mattflaschen]

I definitely sympathize with the hardware woes. The main problem is, vendors don't provide specifications to the Linux kernel developers. What I would suggest is checking out https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported for a list of supported cards. It is an extra cost, but by buying supported cards, you get a solution to your problem /and/ send a message to vendors.

[argraff]

I had an issue with mine in 7.04, but with 7.10, I was expecting that to be solved - and it was, once I realized that "roaming mode" was the trick. I kept telling it what connection and what router, and it didn't work. Hope that helps.

[PastorEdB]

Hello - I was just struggling with this same issue today, and I remembered a solution that worked well for me.

I don't know how old your hardware is, but the KEY to using wireless on older hardware is this:

pnpbios=off acpi=off

Place this command in your kernel boot up options (for example, if you use GRUB, you'd insert this command into your "kernel" line in /boot/grub/menu.lst). THEN give your wireless a try.

Mine fired right up after putting the pnpbios=off into the boot process.

Hope that helps!

G.B.Y.L.B.T., PastorEd

P.S. I'm not sure if the acpi=off command is strictly necessary. Try them both first, see if you get wireless working; if so, then try again without the acpi line, and see if it still works. Good luck!

[blixco]

I had to remove Ubuntu. The wireless support was great with my nic, but the last set of upddates caused the desktop to bomb and dump core. The ciredump was caused by the error logging process that was supposed to log the cause.

Like most things linux: not ready for prime time, and never will be.

[linuxaddict]

Linux is certainly ready for prime time for some of us. I don't use anything but Linux on my computers and even got my family to use it on their computer. Theirs is a dual boot with XP, but I rarely ever see them boot into Windows for anything.

It's a matter of finding a distro that runs the best on that particular computer. I have had to reinstall Windows more than once in the past because of updates from Microsoft.

[magneticcat]

Linuxant's driver loader is a very easy solution to this problem--i use it on my thinkpad running gutsy gibbon--but the software costs about thirty dollars. Easy browser based interface that you use to point to the .inf file of your wireless card's drivers. I struggled with NDIS wrapper before giving in to this method and have been happy.

[linuxaddict]

Dennis,

You might be better off to try another distro for your particular laptop. Even though Vector Linux is my absolute favorite on my desktop, it did not work well on a brand new HP laptop I just bought. I couldn't fix the problem Vector had with the sound card and went to PCLinuxOS2007. Everything, including the built-in wireless worked right off the bat.

I would recommend trying PCLinuxOS or Simply Mepis. They are both live CD's, so you can try them, without installing them. I have written an article on this subject on my website called: convertingtolinux.com . The website is far from finished, but I am still working on it as time permits.

[taseedorf]

SIR!!!
Use the restricted driver's manager of 7.10!!!! That will solve all your problems and allow you to run wireless flawlessly with your wireless. In reply to the person's comment above, Linux IS ready for prime time, however, most hardware is not ready for open source. Simply put, companies do not create "open" drivers for their hardware much of the time and it must be reverse engineered.

[petrus1928]

Users who winge about limited hardware for Linux, & ASS-ert that Linux isn't ready for the desktop, are like motorists who switch from a petrol engine to a diesel, then complain loud & long to all who'll listen that their accessories for petrol won't run on their new diesel

[nitePhyyre]

Becareful though, he might have to also add the irqdebug and/or noirqpoll. From what i've read from the woes I've had installing Ubuntu on my laptop, noacpi can disable usb hot switching. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?s=016cab022253525d0c457042d21c2c36&t=458164
I may be wrong, i'm trying Linux for the first time right now too.

[jjjbokma]

I did a quick scan of your article, and probably the following helps:

1) disable madwifi. This was the default that came with my Ubuntu installation
2) compile a fresh version of NDISwrapper. While the one on CD might work, I preferred to use a more recent one.

See: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/2007/12/29/enable-wireless-networking-acer.html for clear step by step instructions.

Hope this helps,
John

[jay himes]

I don't know what hardware you are using either. But I've run Fedora, SuSe and for the last 18 months Ubuntu, on an IBM T30. I've never had trouble connecting wirelessly.

I'm running Gutsy now, and it recognized my wireless card on installation. My computer's wireless is 801.11b, so I recently added an 801.11g Linksys wireless card. I added ndiswrapper, and followed online instructions that I located in five minutes. Gutsy immediately recognized the new wireless, and connects effortlessly.

So my experience is this: Ubuntu, at least, is on a par with Windows as far as wireless is concerned.

And I'm no geek. Just a lawyer who taught himself Linux in his spare time.

[memy2k5]

After installing Ubuntu Linux, I was able to get wireless connection running on my HP laptop in a matter of 15 minutes. I was also able to install a wireless usb adapter by linksys - it was installed by default. I was also able to install Ubuntu on Tohiba, MSI and Dell notebooks in a matter of 15-20 seconds - only the passphrase needed to be entered. The author of the article has never used linux and should not rate Ubuntu 7.10 wireless networking just on his incompetence. Thank God that there are such people as the article's author, otherwise I would be unemployed.

[doreilly]

Happy to oblige.

I'm just another PC user. If I have trouble with a technology, chances are others will too. But I don't give up easily, and I'll continue to use Linux--and report on my experiences with the OS in this blog.

[drjoewebb]

Since 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) wireless in Ubuntu has been awful. I bought a new notebook from one of the popular Linux vendors and they couldn't get it to work. I tried it on other notebooks of my own and they didn't work either. When it did recognize a signal and connect, after about 15 minutes it would get slower and slower until it just froze.

The last version of all of the Ubuntu flavors that connected predictably and flawlessly was 6.10. I hope that the upcoming 8.04 has the problem solved.

Since then I use Xandros almost exclusively and have tested PCLinuxOS and have had no problems with them. I want to love Ubuntu because I believe in the project, but it didn't love me back.

Ubuntu forums are lacking in vitality and interest -- I can't get answers written back at all. The Xandros forum, though it has declined since people got ticked about their deal with MSFT, is still vital and active with many helpful members.

[3rdalbum]

I've set up two computers with wireless cards. The first was an el-cheapo laptop that had only been released. This computer came with Windows Vista, and used an Atheros chipset for the wireless. I never managed to get it going. The second computer was a self-built one with an Asus P5K Premium motherboard, and built-in wifi. Once I had set up my new wireless router and booted the Ubuntu Desktop CD for the first time on this computer, Network Manager detected the new network and I could connect to it. Out-of-the-box. Come hell or high water, whenever I turn on this computer, I immediately get wireless access.

That's a 50% success rate - and 50% is a C, not an F. If you use hardware by manufacturers who support Linux, then you'll never have any troubles. Asus is always A-OK. I'd like to see you do a review of Mac OS X's wireless capabilities by trying to put one of those wireless cards into a Mac and getting it to connect. I guarantee you, you'd revise the grade in this Ubuntu review :-D

[jaygreeny]

I'd have to agree with what you found out about Ubuntu and wireless. I'm a linux n00b, but my housemate is pretty damned geeky with it, and between the two of us the wireless woes never ending. Even thought there is decent support in Linux for my wifi card, rt61, getting it to work in the first place was a hassle, although Gutsy did a good job with recognising the card right away, connections were patchy, and frequently dropped, although I wasn't told this for about 20mins. Good job I kept the wire there as backup.
I hate saying this, but Windows (XP, not Vista) still remains the easiest desktop experience for novice, or uncertain users.

[Shannon_VanWagner]

This device could work with Ubuntu 7.10 - it just takes digging a little deeper.

Also, please list out the specific models of all the wireless devices you tried and whether you're using WEP/WPA/etc for your WAP. Your article doesn't provide enough detail to let others help you fix the problem. I'm using the Netgear WG511v1 PCMCIA wireless adapter on my Dell Inspiron 2650 and it worked without issue from the LiveCD of Ubuntu 7.10 (was fixed since 7.04). This problem can be fixed (probably easily) and Ubuntu can be a solution for you!

Here's a link to the Linksys forums where another person was having problems with this particular wireless device (looks like the device does work with SimplyMEPIS Linux anyway):
http://tinyurl.com/2kdeku

I've also posted a link to your article in the above forum for others to see.

To All:
If you support Linux, please tell Linksys to make a Linux driver for this device (or ask them to let the Linux Kernel team make a driver for free for the device, see: http://kerneltrap.org/node/7636 ).
Here's the "contact us" link for Linksys: http://tinyurl.com/3ckxn9
Here's the email address for "Open Source" inquiries: [e-mail]
"A teaspoon of water or an ocean", it's up to us Linux users to make the difference!
Shannon VanWagner
http://healthysystem.blogspot.com

[Shannon_VanWagner]

Email sent to [e-mail]

Subject: Please create (or allow creation of) a Linux driver for the WPC300N Wireless adapter

Dear Linksys,

Please create (or allow the fre creation of via http://kerneltrap.org/node/7636 ) a Linux driver for the WPC300N Wireless adapter.

The problems with this wireless device working in Linux are highly visible at this point,
please see the article on cnet.com:
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13880_1-9839735-68.html
and also on digg.com here:
http://digg.com/linux_unix/Ubuntu_Linux_Apps_Rock_and_Wireless_Sucks

Thanks in advance for your great support!

Shannon VanWagner

[Shannon_VanWagner]

Mr. O'Reilly, please consider submitting this as a bug to launchpad. Instructions for bug posting here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=284595

Please also consider contacting [e-mail] and asking them to provide a Linux driver. Your position as a blogger will certainly get their attention!

Together we can make Linux even better!!

Thanks!

Shannon VanWagner
http:/healthysystem.blogspot.com

[Shannon_VanWagner]

Mr. O'Reilly, please consider submitting this as a bug to launchpad. Instructions for bug posting here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=284595

Please also consider contacting [e-mail] and asking them to provide a Linux driver. Your position as a blogger will certainly get their attention!

Together we can make Linux even better!!

Thanks!

Shannon VanWagner
http:/healthysystem.blogspot.com