Wireless networking problem

Diss · 5 Oct 2012 at 11:24

Hi

Situation is:

New install of Ubuntu 12.04.1 plus updates
Wireless network card = Asus PCE-N53

After boot up the card was not detected at all

I then googled and found this which is what i did

I just ended up compiling the driver myself. Not what I would have wanted, but hopefully this will be fixed in the next version of Ubuntu.

I someone else has the same problem here is what worked for me:

Install build-essentials

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Download the driver from Asus. I found them here: http://www.asus.com/Networks/Wireless_Adapters/PCEN53/

Unpack the downloaded .zip file. The download comes with a lot of instructions for what you need to do. Most of them turn out to not be required.

Enter the directory where you unpacked the zip and unpack the driver code.

tar -jxvf DPO_GPL_RT5592STA_LinuxSTA_v2.6.0.0_20120326.tar.bz2

Enter the new directory and start make

make

This runs for a while and then fails due to a missing /tftpboot directory. This does not seem to be relevant since the correct file is made anyway.

Now install the driver.

sudo make install

The installation instructions tells you to edit a /etc/rc.d/rc.local file. Since I didn't have neither the file or directory I just skipped this step and rebooted.

After the reboot everything seems to work. Ubuntu automatically found the card and it is what I am using now. Since I have only been using it for 10 minutes I don't know how stable it is but hopefully it will be ok.

This seemed to work as the little lights on the hardware were now on and the radar icon in ubuntu was scanning and showed me all the nearby wireless networks BUT it would not connect to the network

Also, using wifi radar - it only seemed to be using a 'G' instead of 'N' connection

iwconfig

lo no wireless extensions.

eth1 no wireless extensions.

ra0 Ralink STA ESSID:"NETWORK" Nickname:"RT2860STA"
Mode:Managed Frequency=2.437 GHz Access Point: 00:1B:2F:3C:CD

E
Bit Rate=243 Mb/s
RTS thr

ff Fragment thr

ff
Link Quality=84/100 Signal level:-68 dBm Noise level:-68 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

eth0 no wireless extensions.

lsmod

Module Size Used by
vesafb 13516 1
parport_pc 32114 0
bnep 17830 2
ppdev 12849 0
rfcomm 38139 0
bluetooth 158438 10 bnep,rfcomm
nvidia 10962290 40
snd_hda_codec_realtek 174313 1
mxm_wmi 12859 0
rt5592sta 1122559 1
snd_hda_intel 32765 3
psmouse 86421 0
snd_hda_codec 109562 2 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep 13276 1 snd_hda_codec
serio_raw 13027 0
snd_pcm 80845 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_seq_midi 13132 0
snd_rawmidi 25424 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 14475 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 51567 2 snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
joydev 17393 0
snd_timer 28931 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 14172 3 snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
wmi 18744 1 mxm_wmi
snd 62064 15 snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
mac_hid 13077 0
i7core_edac 23382 0
soundcore 14635 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 14108 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
edac_core 46858 3 i7core_edac
lp 17455 0
parport 40930 3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
firewire_ohci 40172 0
firewire_core 56906 1 firewire_ohci
crc_itu_t 12627 1 firewire_core
pata_jmicron 12651 0
r8169 56321 0
usbhid 41906 0
hid 77367 1 usbhid
floppy 60310 0

sudo lshw -C network

*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: Ralink corp.
vendor: Ralink corp.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0
logical name: ra0
version: 00
serial: 30:85:a9:38:c1:3f
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=RALINK WLAN ip=192.168.0.8 latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=Ralink STA
resources: irq:16 memory:fbbf0000-fbbfffff
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:07:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 03
serial: 00:24:1d:1f:23:1b
size: 1Gbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=full firmware=rtl_nic/rtl8168d-1.fw ip=192.168.0.6 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=MII speed=1Gbit/s
resources: irq:45 ioport:de00(size=256) memory:fbeff000-fbefffff memory:fbef8000-fbefbfff memory:fbe00000-fbe1ffff
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:08:00.0
logical name: eth1
version: 03
serial: 00:24:1d:1f:23:3b
size: 10Mbit/s
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list rom ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half firmware=rtl_nic/rtl8168d-1.fw latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=MII speed=10Mbit/s
resources: irq:46 ioport:ce00(size=256) memory:fbcff000-fbcfffff memory:fbcf8000-fbcfbfff memory:fbc00000-fbc1ffff

ifconfig

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:24:1d:1f:23:1b
inet addr:192.168.0.6 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::224:1dff:fe1f:231b/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:6399 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:5817 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:5263529 (5.2 MB) TX bytes:1034911 (1.0 MB)
Interrupt:45 Base address:0x4000

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:24:1d:1f:23:3b
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:46 Base address:0x4000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:1375 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1375 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:164775 (164.7 KB) TX bytes:164775 (164.7 KB)

ra0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 30:85:a9:38:c1:3f
inet addr:192.168.0.8 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::3285:a9ff:fe38:c13f/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:40153 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:2413 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:9149085 (9.1 MB) TX bytes:158831 (158.8 KB)
Interrupt:16

Feels like i am so close to getting this working. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Diss · 5 Oct 2012 at 11:55

update

ok - it does on occasion show as connected (though oddly if i discconect it then it won't always reconnect - seems to connect at boot ok), but either way -- no internet

i have uninstalled wifi radar as it kept crashing - is there another way to tell if using N or G wireless?

Diss · 5 Oct 2012 at 12:27

update
one time (only) so far i did get a connection, but it soon dropped
maybe i just have a bad 'G' signal?

further thoughts

if LSMOD shows drivers (does it?) loaded i have ===> rt5592sta

I think i am supposed to have rt2860sta - but not sure why this wan't installed

does any of the above info show i have conflicting drivers?

Diss · 5 Oct 2012 at 13:25

more info

nm-tool

NetworkManager Tool

State: connected (global)

- Device: eth1 -----------------------------------------------------------------
Type: Wired
Driver: r8169
State: unavailable
Default: no
HW Address: 00:24:1D:1F:23:3B

Capabilities:
Carrier Detect: yes

Wired Properties
Carrier: off

- Device: eth0 [Wired connection 1] -------------------------------------------
Type: Wired
Driver: r8169
State: connected
Default: yes
HW Address: 00:24:1D:1F:23:1B

Capabilities:
Carrier Detect: yes
Speed: 1000 Mb/s

Wired Properties
Carrier: on

IPv4 Settings:
Address: 192.168.0.6
Prefix: 24 (255.255.255.0)
Gateway: 192.168.0.1

DNS: 192.168.0.1

- Device: ra0 [Wireless connection 1] -----------------------------------------
Type: 802.11 WiFi
Driver: rt2860
State: connecting (getting IP configuration)
Default: no
HW Address: 30:85:A9:38:C1:3F

Capabilities:

Wireless Properties
WEP Encryption: yes
WPA Encryption: yes
WPA2 Encryption: yes

Wireless Access Points
SKYC186A: Infra, 90:01:3B:0C:18:6B, Freq 2437 MHz, Rate 16 Mb/s, Strength 80 WPA WPA2
O2wirelessF61FDD:Infra, 00:26:44:F6:1F

D, Freq 2462 MHz, Rate 2 Mb/s, Strength 90 WPA WPA2
Results Guaranteed: Infra, 1C:BD:B9:8D:3F:51, Freq 2437 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 57 WPA WPA2
SKY21966: Infra, 00:1E:74:92:55:CF, Freq 2462 MHz, Rate 54 Mb/s, Strength 47 WPA
SKYAABCE: Infra, 90:01:3B:5A:AB:CF, Freq 2412 MHz, Rate 16 Mb/s, Strength 34 WPA WPA2
Spacehopper2: Infra, 54:E6:FC:FF:48:41, Freq 2412 MHz, Rate 16 Mb/s, Strength 27 WPA
micks-network: Infra, B8:A3:86:94:2E:59, Freq 2452 MHz, Rate 1 Mb/s, Strength 40 WPA WPA2
NETWORK: Infra, 00:1B:2F:3C:CD

E, Freq 2437 MHz, Rate 14 Mb/s, Strength 60 WPA WPA2

OhEsEcks · 5 Oct 2012 at 21:33

According to the output there, your wireless is Ralink, your ethernet is Realtek.

Try a repository search for firmware with;

Code:

apt-cache search realtek
apt-cache search ralink

Output

Code:

xxx@debian:~$ apt-cache search realtek
nictools-pci - Diagnostic tools for many PCI ethernet cards
firmware-realtek - Binary firmware for Realtek wired and wireless network adapters
xxx@debian:~$ apt-cache search ralink
firmware-ralink - Binary firmware for Ralink wireless cards
xxx@debian:~$

Then try installing those with;

Code:

xxx@debian:~$ apt-get install firmware-realtek firmware-ralink

Then reboot and see if that has worked.

I'm on Debian myself and if I want my audio drivers to work from a netinstall one of the first things I do after updating the sources list is;

Code:

xxx@debian:~$ apt-get install firmware-linux-free firmware-realtek

If I don't pull in the realtek firmware, I have to pull in headers and stuff, just to build my AUDIO drivers from source. I originally thought the firmware-realtek package was for their networking drivers so I've spent quite a bit of time pulling in stuff I didn't need to to compile the audio drivers from source.

Diss · 6 Oct 2012 at 06:56

thanks for that

working all day today and out tomorrow - will let you know how things went next week

cheers

Diss · 8 Oct 2012 at 10:31

hi

the searches didn't find any firmware

i think i'll wait a few days and try again with a fresh 12.10 install