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Re: [Wlug] Getting the Edimax ew-7108pcg working on Xubuntu 6.06 LTS

by Keith Wright

> From: "Adam Keck" <ghostis(a)gmail.com> > > Thanks very much for your thoughtful response ;). Are you sure that's the correct emoticon? Sometimes people say ";)" when they mean ":-/" or "(;=)". > Regarding the sudo command, You said sudo, I didn't. > she uses this laptop for her academics and, thus, > expects it to "just work." I don't know what you mean by "just work". You say you have already downloaded drivers, compiled and installed, and modified /etc/modules.conf. What is the objection to adding to a boot-time shell script? I am not saying she should do it. You do it and don't tell. > On Jan 3, 2008 8:13 PM, Keith Wright <kwright(a)keithdiane.us> wrote: > > > From: "Adam Keck" <ghostis(a)gmail.com> > > > > > > I can only bring the interface up via running "sudo ifup ra0". My > > > wife's probably not going to go for that ;). > > > > but why would your wife object to you, Adam Keck > > putting "ifup ra0" in one of those shell files that > > get run by root when you boot? Like maybe you put it in /etc/rc.d/rc.local. -- Keith

Jan. 4, 2008

Re: [Wlug] Getting the Edimax ew-7108pcg working on Xubuntu 6.06 LTS

by Adam Keck

Hello Keith, Thanks very much for your thoughtful response ;). Regarding the sudo command, she uses this laptop for her academics and, thus, expects it to "just work." Xubuntu has been good at this thus far, so I was hoping more of the same. The better Linux does at "just working," the easier it is for me to keep Microsoft out of the house. -Adam On Jan 3, 2008 8:13 PM, Keith Wright <kwright(a)keithdiane.us> wrote: > > From: "Adam Keck" <ghostis(a)gmail.com> > > > > I can only bring the interface up via running "sudo ifup ra0". My > > wife's probably not going to go for that ;). > > If I were your boss, I would demand that you document all changes > to distribution defaults, but why would your wife object > to putting "ifup ra0" in one of those shell files that > get run by root when you boot? > > In other words, I have no idea what you are talking about, > or the answer to your question, but I can keep the conversation > going with stupid comments until somebody else comes along. > > > Does anyone have any ideas about what plumbing I am missing to get > > automatic configuration? > > Of course. If you want true, real, distinct, coherent, concrete, > clear, clever, or usable ideas... good luck! > > -- Keith > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

Jan. 4, 2008

Re: [Wlug] Getting the Edimax ew-7108pcg working on Xubuntu 6.06 LTS

by Keith Wright

> From: "Adam Keck" <ghostis(a)gmail.com> > > I can only bring the interface up via running "sudo ifup ra0". My > wife's probably not going to go for that ;). If I were your boss, I would demand that you document all changes to distribution defaults, but why would your wife object to putting "ifup ra0" in one of those shell files that get run by root when you boot? In other words, I have no idea what you are talking about, or the answer to your question, but I can keep the conversation going with stupid comments until somebody else comes along. > Does anyone have any ideas about what plumbing I am missing to get > automatic configuration? Of course. If you want true, real, distinct, coherent, concrete, clear, clever, or usable ideas... good luck! -- Keith

Jan. 4, 2008

Getting the Edimax ew-7108pcg working on Xubuntu 6.06 LTS

by Adam Keck

Hello All, I found this card on newegg.com for cheap money and the company claimed Linux support, so I got it. So far, I have it working on a WEP test network, but the driver package does come with WPA-supplicant bits. I assume that works as well. Folks online claim it works out of the box on Ubuntu 7.10, but my laptop didn't do well with the newer Xubuntus, so I had to make do. Note, out-of-the-box, the rt61 driver provided by Xubuntu 6.06 LTS throws a stack trace and can wedge your system. I found that you need to build the company's rt61 driver. Here was my procedure for 6.06 LTS: 1) Install gcc and friends,if you haven't already. 2) Update to the latest kernel packages. 3) Install the linux-header packages for your platform (I used the 386 packages). 4) Download the driver zip for the ew-7108pcg from the Edimax website's support area, unpack it, and the unpack the tar ball inside. 5) cd into the IS_Linux_STA_6x_D_1.1.1.0 directory 6) run make 7) Ignore all the compiler warnings ;) 9) run sudo make install 10) Add "alias ra0 rt61" to /etc/modules.conf or into your preferred location in /etc/modules.d if it wasn't automatically added. 11) Add correct bits to /etc/network/interfaces So, that being said (I am typing this email via the card now): 1) On boot, the card comes up, but does not go online. Ifconfig has configured the interface, but iwconfig shows no essid or key configured. 2) I opened the Applications->System->Networking tool. The tool shows the interface as active. I can "activate/deactivate", but likewise iwconfig shows no configuration. I can only bring the interface up via running "sudo ifup ra0". My wife's probably not going to go for that ;). Does anyone have any ideas about what plumbing I am missing to get automatic configuration? Thanks! -Adam

Jan. 3, 2008

Re: [Wlug] Information for Linux newbies?

by William Smith

On Nov 18, 2007 12:14 AM, Andy Stewart <andystewart(a)comcast.net> wrote: > Hi Kevin, > > When I was a newbie, Linux live CDs didn't yet exist, but they do now! > > I find the Knoppix CD/DVD useful for testing a new piece of hardware > (like a laptop) to see if all of the pieces work with Linux. I believe > that the Ubuntu CDs can also boot up in a live mode. In this way, you > can try Linux without messing with your hard drive, and also see if your > hardware works with that distribution. With Fedora 8, there's also a Fedora Live CD. I tried it on my laptop. Works nicely, though it (like Ubuntu, when I had it installed) didn't see my built-in webcam at all. :( All else aside, I'm actually pleased to see the LiveCD for Fedora. I've been using Red Hat variants since the early 1990s, and I like to know what things look like before I install it. (For those that might be new to the term, Live CDs are handy for using Linux on systems that you can't install Linux on otherwise.) > Note that if something doesn't work with the live CD, that doesn't > necessarily mean it won't work with Linux at all, but demonstrating that > something *does* work is a good thing. Even then, many of the things that don't work out-of-the-box will work with a little research and poking. My webcam just isn't one of them, as far as i can tell. :\ -- Bill Smith Fall River, MA Charter Member of LOPSA

Dec. 29, 2007

Re: [Wlug] reboot problem - Update

by Gregory Avedissian

Folks asked for an update on this, so here it is. Original problem - Black screen on startup or reboot occurred about 25% of the time, right after the grub menu. No hard drive activity, no boot, no ssh. This problem has existed since I built the computer a year ago. Newer problem - Hard lockups, especially when the load was heavy. I first noticed this when I installed Gutsy on a spare partition. It also happened a few times in Etch, but I was using a custom realtime kernel when it happened. There were also a couple of spontaneous reboots. Hardware - ASUS M2V motherboard, Ath. X2 3800, Kingston RAM, Enermax PSU, some kind of GeForce 6200 with a fan that started getting noisy, Seagate drive, all about a year old. What I did - Replaced the vid card with a slightly older GeForce, and since then, the black screen has only occurred once or twice out of scores of reboots. Got a power supply tester, and the 5V rail read 5.4V one of the times I tested it. Contacted Enermax, and they told me to try a different power supply before I RMA'd mine. Got off the realtime kernel and went back to the stock Etch kernel. No more lockups in debian. Flashed the motherboard with the newest bios after reading that others were having lockup problems with this board. It didn't help. Got a new 350W SilverStone and put it in. Still getting lockups in Gutsy. I believe that the spontaneous reboots are a result of the relative placement of the power button and the wheeled leg of my office chair. I moved the computer back a few inches after I saw the two of them meet once. (Note for the interested builder - buttons on Coolermaster case stick out and require only a light touch. I just built a computer for a friend, and the buttons on the Antec case are recessed and not so easy to press in.) Put the Enermax back in, and everything seems to be fine as long as I stay away from Gutsy and the power button. Thanks again to everyone for their help. Greg

Dec. 18, 2007

REMINDER: Upcoming WLUG Meeting

by Andy Stewart

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 HI Everybody, Our next WLUG meeting will be on Wednesday, 12-dec-2007, at 7:00 PM in the Access Grid Room on the WPI campus in Worcester, MA USA. At this meeting, we'll have Dan Walsh from RedHat as our guest speaker. Dan will talk about SELinux. First, Dan will give a quick overview of SELinux, followed by a discussion of what's new with SELinux in Fedora 8. Dan will then hand out SELinux live CDs of Fedora 8, from which he will present how to write SELinux policy. This promises to be a great meeting that you won't want to miss. After the meeting, we'll head out for dinner at a local pizza restaurant. See ya then! Andy - -- Andy Stewart, Founder Worcester Linux Users' Group (http://www.wlug.org) Chelmsford Linux Meetup Group (http://linux.meetup.com/393) Amateur Radio: KB1OIQ -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with SUSE - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFHXeT5Hl0iXDssISsRAggmAJ0RwVvLuUuHMMZSElq5lt8hCh4lOACfQraL teVSJANE/lCW5eAlSSCXnSs= =ROZn -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

Dec. 11, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by Mike Frysinger

On Monday 03 December 2007, kstratton(a)fastmail.us wrote: > It is looking like the solution is one of the following: > > 1) Buy a new DSL modem that sopports 10 and 100 base T (I think I saw > one at best buy, mine only supports 10 base T) > 2) Buy a router that I can put linux on so that I can configure the > router for 10 base T.this sounds like fun, but the likelyhood of > eventually breaking it is great. > 3) Buy both a new modem and router. I am confident that my equipment > predated the gigabit standard release, so this is not a totally > irrational solution (based on the autonegotiation standards). > 4) Ignore the issue and kickstart the connection again if the problem > re-occurs. > > My guess is on #4 for now, but #1 then #2 or #3 is still a possibility. > > Thank you everybody for your help. My biggest issue was not realizing > that this kind of autonegotiation issue is not very unusual. I REALLY > dislike it when I call tech support and my equipment is at fault. what kind of modem is it ? ive collected a few dsl modems that are just gathering dust in my basement. -mike

Dec. 4, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by kstratton＠fastmail.us

My initial problem was that I lost all connectivity with my router connected to the DSL modem. this was after my setup worked consistently for over 9 months. I was on the phone for over 4 hours total (2 sessions, the first one blamed it on an outage). The ISP technicians can "see" the modem when I was having this problem and confirmed my setup of the router. All the LEDs were positive (green). The ISP technician then asked for me to connect the modem directly to the computer. Various things were tried, including powering down the modem and computer. Still no connection (ping would not work). The last thing tried was to force the computer to talk to the mode at 1/2 duplex 10 base T and try to connect. This seemed to kickstart everything and everything now works with the router or directly to the PC. This may also seem to be a coincidence, but this problem happened about a week and a half after changing the terms on my DSL service (cheaper bundle). It is looking like the solution is one of the following: 1) Buy a new DSL modem that sopports 10 and 100 base T (I think I saw one at best buy, mine only supports 10 base T) 2) Buy a router that I can put linux on so that I can configure the router for 10 base T.this sounds like fun, but the likelyhood of eventually breaking it is great. 3) Buy both a new modem and router. I am confident that my equipment predated the gigabit standard release, so this is not a totally irrational solution (based on the autonegotiation standards). 4) Ignore the issue and kickstart the connection again if the problem re-occurs. My guess is on #4 for now, but #1 then #2 or #3 is still a possibility. Thank you everybody for your help. My biggest issue was not realizing that this kind of autonegotiation issue is not very unusual. I REALLY dislike it when I call tech support and my equipment is at fault. On Mon, 3 Dec 2007 12:18:24 -0500, "John Stoffel" <john(a)stoffel.org> said: > > kstratton> Thank you everybody for your replies. I now know that this > kstratton> autonegotiation issue can be potentially be a much bigger > kstratton> problem with 100 base T than I thought. Specifically, > kstratton> there is no defined mechanism in the spec to autonegotiate > kstratton> for 100 base T cards. If I actually have time for this, I > kstratton> guess I will have to find the spec and read it... > > Don't bother, it's not going to help you really. Just recognize that > you can see auto-neg issues and keep it in mind when trouble shooting > problems. > > kstratton> My network driver (windows) is a "NVIDIA nForce MCP > kstratton> Networking Controller". It is an integrated network > kstratton> connector on a HP pavilion. I do not know of a windows > kstratton> equivalent to lspci, so I cannot get the actual reported > kstratton> hardware rev. Maybe I have to get a good live CD distro. > > Hmm... I thought you were having auto-neg problems between your PC and > the cable modem, you never said you had a Router in there. At least I > don't remember and it's monday and I'm not good at memory... :] > > kstratton> In this case, resetting the cable modem did not fix the > kstratton> problem, although it may have fixed it in the past. > > kstratton> My router is a four port Linksys Router about 5 to 8 years > kstratton> old. My modem is a Speedstream 5280. I am sufficiently > kstratton> annoyed by this problem to consider buying a new router if > kstratton> this router has a force 10 base T option for the WAN. I am > kstratton> willing to listen to any suggestions. > > So just to rehash the problem, you are seeing problems between the > router and the cable modem, or between the router and the PC? > > Ok, so I just re-read your initial post and it sounds like you pulled > the Router out of the mix when debugging with your ISP. What was the > initial problem that had you remove the Router? What were the > symptoms? > > It could simply be that one of the hardware boxes is getting flaky and > starting to fail. But we need more information to really help. > > I've got an old Motorola Cable Modem (bought my own replacement) which > I'd be willing sell/lend if need be. I think it's a 3200 something or > other. Don't remember off hand. I'm with Charter, which might be an > issue. > > Good luck, > John > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug -- kstratton(a)fastmail.us

Dec. 4, 2007

Re: [Wlug] ISP/Router/Modem Ethernet communications

by John Stoffel

kstratton> Thank you everybody for your replies. I now know that this kstratton> autonegotiation issue can be potentially be a much bigger kstratton> problem with 100 base T than I thought. Specifically, kstratton> there is no defined mechanism in the spec to autonegotiate kstratton> for 100 base T cards. If I actually have time for this, I kstratton> guess I will have to find the spec and read it... Don't bother, it's not going to help you really. Just recognize that you can see auto-neg issues and keep it in mind when trouble shooting problems. kstratton> My network driver (windows) is a "NVIDIA nForce MCP kstratton> Networking Controller". It is an integrated network kstratton> connector on a HP pavilion. I do not know of a windows kstratton> equivalent to lspci, so I cannot get the actual reported kstratton> hardware rev. Maybe I have to get a good live CD distro. Hmm... I thought you were having auto-neg problems between your PC and the cable modem, you never said you had a Router in there. At least I don't remember and it's monday and I'm not good at memory... :] kstratton> In this case, resetting the cable modem did not fix the kstratton> problem, although it may have fixed it in the past. kstratton> My router is a four port Linksys Router about 5 to 8 years kstratton> old. My modem is a Speedstream 5280. I am sufficiently kstratton> annoyed by this problem to consider buying a new router if kstratton> this router has a force 10 base T option for the WAN. I am kstratton> willing to listen to any suggestions. So just to rehash the problem, you are seeing problems between the router and the cable modem, or between the router and the PC? Ok, so I just re-read your initial post and it sounds like you pulled the Router out of the mix when debugging with your ISP. What was the initial problem that had you remove the Router? What were the symptoms? It could simply be that one of the hardware boxes is getting flaky and starting to fail. But we need more information to really help. I've got an old Motorola Cable Modem (bought my own replacement) which I'd be willing sell/lend if need be. I think it's a 3200 something or other. Don't remember off hand. I'm with Charter, which might be an issue. Good luck, John

Dec. 3, 2007