Re: [BLUG] help desperately needed for wireless on Debian

Your experience is different than mine.

[root@mepis85dell mark]# uname -a
Linux mepis85dell 2.6.32-1-mepis-smp #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Mar 15 18:52:01
EDT 2010 i686 GNU/Linux
[root@mepis85dell mark]# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11b ESSID:"nexdoor"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point:
00:24:B2:07:74:A4
Bit Rate=1 Mb/s Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:4E62-5E69-A937-A911-636E-92C2-92
Power Management:off
Link Quality=70/100 Signal level=70/100
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

[root@mepis85dell mark]#

Steven Black wrote:
> The wlan0 vs eth[0-9] thing varies by kernel release as nearly as I
> can tell. I think they're mostly normalizing the kernel names at this
> point, and the newer kernels I've used all used the eth name instead
> of wlan. I've not seen wlan used for a year or more in the Ubuntu
> world.
>
> Wireless networking is tricky in any Linux distro -- in part because
> of manufacturers, and in part due to the FCC.
>
> ifconfig <no options> will show you all your ethernet devices.
>
> iwconfig <no options> will note all the ethernet devices with wireless
> capabilities.
>
> Sometimes, depending on the software you have installed, these lists
> will include things other than real physical devices.
>
> In this case SimplyMEPIS would have exactly the same problems. This is
> a Linux kernel issue and not a distro issue. As near as I can tell
> from my research, Broadcom -- the chipmaker -- does not allow any
> Linux distro to ship with their firmware. Of course, this may be
> different for distros willing to pay...
>
> Cheers,
> Steven Black
>
> On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 10:14 PM, Mark Warner <mhwarner@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I think you need to be using wlan0 or similar rather than eth2.
>>
>> FWIW, straight Debian is a PITA to configure wireless on. I prefer the
>> Debian stable derivative SimplyMEPIS, that has all the desktop
>> enhancements baked in. Life's too short.
>>
>> MEPIS is KDE. If you prefer Gnome, Ubuntu or Mint would good alternatives.
>>
>> --
>> Mark Warner
>> MEPIS Linux
>> Registered Linux User #415318
> _______________________________________________
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> BLUG@linuxfan.com
> http://mailman.cs.indiana.edu/mailman/listinfo/blug
>

--
Mark Warner
goin' mobile with MEPIS Linux
Registered Linux User #415318

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