WICD disconnects from network. Scan shows no networks.

[Fujisan]

Hi I have pretty limited command line skills but I'm hoping someone can help me.

I just installed Salix13.1.2 fluxbox and I'm having a problem with the wireless.

It connects initially to my usual router but then shortly thereafter drops the connection and cannot detect any wireless networks at all.

I don't have this problem with Ubuntu Karmic and I know there are networks out there.

My Wireless card is

description: Wireless interface
product: AR2413 802.11bg NIC
vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.

I'm wondering if this is a driver issue I use ath5k in Ubuntu.

Could someone confirm or deny this before I start bodgin??

[thenktor]

That indeed may be a driver issue. Do you know if Ubuntu Karmic uses a more recent kernel?

[pwatk]

If it keeps connecting then disconnecting (you might see some output using 'dmesg') then try disabling power management on the wireless card. You can read more here.

[Fujisan]

That indeed may be a driver issue. Do you know if Ubuntu Karmic uses a more recent kernel?

Used uname -r to show kernel version.

Ubuntu Kernel is 2.6.31-23-generic.
Salix kernel is 2.6.33.4-smp. (That makes it later right?)

In addition to loosing the wireless I also get freezes when I start Firefox.

@Pwatk

If it keeps connecting then disconnecting (you might see some output using 'dmesg') then try disabling power management on the wireless card.

According to iwconfig power management is off both before and after fault.




Thanks for both your responses, I guess a smaller community has some clear advantages for this kind of stuff!

[thenktor]

Ubuntu Kernel is 2.6.31-23-generic.
Salix kernel is 2.6.33.4-smp. (That makes it later right?)

Yes, and Google says your chipset is supported by Linux. To be sure you have this chipset please post the output of lspci | grep Atheros

[gapan]

If it loses connection, try removing the ath5k module and inserting it again.

[Fujisan]

Yes, and Google says your chipset is supported by Linux. To be sure you have this chipset please post the output of lspci | grep Atheros

lspci | grep Atheros produces:

Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413 802.11bg NIC (rev 01)

@Gapan
Thanks for the advice, I'll have a go and post results. Gotta go to work now tho'!

[Fujisan]

As suggested I tried using modprobe to remove the module.

The first time i tried this Wicd scanned and showed 2 available networks both at 100% signal which was pretty exciting, until I realised something wasn't quite right with that. i connect to my landlords wireless which shouldn't be showing more than 40% signal strength and there should have been a few more on the list.

Connection failed to fetch IP so I tried the power management trick Pwatk mentioned which doesn't work in my case

I use ath5k without any problems in Ubuntu so is there an alternative to Wicd?

Everything else works perfectly, barring firefox, so I don't think a fresh install would help.

Any ideas?


P.S. Thanks for the support so far, I feel like I'm actually learning something!