Linux users answer the call: Ubuntu wireless-adapter glitch resolved

Readers to the rescue!

The first thing you learn when you write about technology is that the people who read your stuff are smarter than you'll ever be. So let me start by saying "Thank you" to all the Linux users who responded to last Friday's post on my travails trying to get Ubuntu 7.10, or "Gutsy Gibbon," to recognize my Linksys WPC300N wireless adapter.

The first suggestions I tried were the ones that didn't entail installing a new app, though ultimately a free download was the fastest and simplest solution. I started by disabling remote mode, as recommended by "argraff." Unfortunately, the adapter stayed silent. "PasterEdB" advised me to add a command to my kernel boot-up options. This might have worked, if I wasn't such a Linux "noob" that I couldn't find the options in question (yes, I'd appreciate someone instructing me how to do so, and thank you in advance).

Two other readers said they had similar wireless problems that were solved by purchasing a $30 program (so much for freeware), and by disabling one of Ubuntu's built-in apps and reloading NDISWrapper. Some suggested I try a different Linux distro, or buy a laptop with Linux pre-installed.

The solution that worked for me was posted by kingargyle1, who recommended that I download WiFi Radar. Just seconds after I installed the program the Linksys adapter sprung to life. I popped in the network password, opened Firefox, and had my Gmail inbox open in no time. If I were a true geek I would've started poking around to determine how the program managed the trick, but I'd rather simply start browsing and offer my heartfelt thanks to the benevolent geniuses who wrote the program and made it available for free. And of course, my undying fealty goes out to kingargyle1 for the help: Long may you reign!

The cure for my Ubuntu wireless-adapter woes was the free WiFi Radar utility, which got me connected in minutes.

I know it's just my newbieness showing, but now that everything's working (apparently), it feels like my six-year-old laptop has been reborn. Now the true test: I'll spend the next few days using it as my lone computer (or nearly so), and report on my Ubuntu experience next Friday.

Monday: The five most useful features hiding in Microsoft Word.

[lefty.crupps]

"purchasing a $30 program (so much for freeware)"
Free Software is not freeware. Free Software can cost money, or not, but its source code is Free (libre) and can be shared and modified; freeware is not Free in the "open and share" sense, only in the cost sense (gratis).

Just a minor point, and congrats on your Wifi!

[punlman]

Personally, I've never had any WiFi problems with Ubuntu, but...

I saw that Wi-Fi radar on the Add/Remove Programs list, and I was thinking about installing it... just to see what it does.

Thanks for this heads-up!

[punlman]

PS - If you run into any snags this week, with Ubuntu, please feel free to email me. I've probably already encountered them and found a solution. bruce at brucewagner dot com

Also, I am currently writing an article for my blog called, "How to do a Perfect Ubuntu Install".

It's step-by-step instructions, written for the total newbie ("can barely operate a mouse") crowd. It will take them from sitting in front of a Windows machine, to backing up their Windows machine, to installing Ubuntu, to installing all of the proper codecs, flashplayer, DVD playback code, and all the best applications (that aren't already pre-installed), configuring them all quickly, briefly listing every "software equivalence" (i.e. for Quicken--->use GNUCash, for Photoshop-->use Gimp) , and finally teaching them how to do all the normal things they'll want to do on Ubuntu --- like "How to Install & Run Windows programs on Ubuntu", and "How to make very smart backups, easily and free", etc., etc.

I hope it will help masses of people with a more pleasant, trouble-free, migration to Ubuntu. After all, first impressions are so so important...

My blog is at brucewagner.com/blog

[ikorkyi]

There have been widespread problems with Broadcom wireless cards, especially with the bcm43xx drivers. The latest distros of Ubuntu solved a problem I have had for 3 generations with ubuntu and my Truemobile bcm4318. Blacklisting the default drivers Ubuntu chooses for these types of cards and then using ndiswrapper to attach the correct and up to date driver has been the technique that I have seen being the most successful.

PS Dont use any form of the word noob. ever. The joke peaked with south park and it is as cool as Groovy.

iwlist
ifconfig
iwconfig

these are 3 commands which will give you 98% of the information you need to know about what exactly is going wrong with your network interface.

[jelloburn]

And this is why I have installed and uninstalled Ubuntu twice and OpenSUSE once. They are all pains to configure, and they still have found no elegant way to install/uninstall programs or drivers. The Interface for the OS works great, but after that, everything is terminal this, command line that, and maybe a little 'sudo' to top it all off.

I don't have time to sit around and learn command line syntax or type lines of commands to install Flash Player or get my internal wi-fi to work (which I eventually accomplished over an entire weekend). Linux has a lot of growing up in terms of user-friendliness before it will be an acceptable replacement for the AVERAGE user. Not just the geeks that visit these articles (myself included).

[yelvington]

Ubuntu has a very nice wifi applet built into the menubar and there is ordinarily no need to do anything from the command line. It Just Works.

Unfortunately, the 7.10 version introduced a bug. With some, but not all, wifi access hardware, the menubar applet Just Doesn't Work.

WiFi Radar works around this problem. Under the hood it actually invokes the command-line iwconfig program, which isn't broken in the upgrade.

I have four Ubuntu installations in the hands of nontechnical family members ranging in age from early teens to late 70s, and their end-user experiences are really, really positive.

However, I've blown a lot of personal time struggling with wifi hardware driver issues on two of those machines. One worked perfectly under 7.04 but broke, as described, under 7.10. On another, a built-in Atheros chip simply isn't supported under Linux, so I spent $4 on a (rebated) PCMCIA adaptor at CompUSA.

Overall, I'm not complaining. Relative to my Windows experiences, I'm well ahead on time/worry savings.

[Scalpster]

Freeware is free. Open source on the other hand may be free or not.

[Scalpster]

Ignore that last statement.

[sx66gns]

That's good to hear!

[brundlefly76]

Its not you being a n00b at all, theres no reason why you should have even needed to know that. I have used Linux for 13 years and although I love it for what it does, there are far more little obscure little hardware gotchas like this then the community likes to admit - especially wireless - which was treated like a red headed stepchild by Linux until very recently.

[brundlefly76]

Its not you being a n00b at all, theres no reason why you should have even needed to know that. I have used Linux for 13 years and although I love it for what it does, there are far more little obscure little hardware gotchas like this then the community likes to admit - especially wireless - which was treated like a red headed stepchild by Linux until very recently.

[kmcniece]

WICD worked for me on my laptop picture frame project (www.burgerfaire.com)
I was using a static IP with the ubuntu supplied network-manager... worked great.
when I went to DHCP and WPA-TKIP.... frustration ensued....

After a little searching here and there, WICD was suggested. You can find it at http://wicd.sourceforge.net/

For the record, I was using an Intel mini-pci card.

To give an idea of how far Ubuntu and Linux have come with driver problems . . . on my old Mandrake installation, I spent hours trying to get my machine to recognize a NetGear USB wireless adapter before resorting to using a game port for wireless. To work, the game port had to be booted up on Windows, which recognized the device and adjusted settings that allowed the Mandrake distro to recognize it as well. Life is still not perfect. On my notebook, the internal wireless is Atheros, which is sometimes recognized and sometimes not. I carry a PCMCIA wireless card with me just in case.

After reading of your success with Wi-Fi radar, out of curiosity I installed it on my desktop and popped in that old NetGear adapter. It worked flawlessly! I didn't even need to reboot.

Once driver issues are resolved - and there really aren't that many of those any more - the other remaining frustration for noob users are wmv file codecs - though Flash and YouTube videos work fine. My 81-year-old mother has been using Ubuntu and before that Mandrake for several years with no problems - or at least no more than she would have had on Windows.

One of things you should notice as you play around with Ubuntu is its blazing speed. It is far faster than Windows and, for that matter, Mandrake.

[bryan047]

If only someone would address getting the PC5750 aircard to work with Ubuntu!