Search for wireless

[modorney]

I'm running Debian on an old laptop with a wireless card.

How can I "search" for available networks?
(In windows, I can bring up a screen that shows all the networks it can see)

 

[pentode]

Try "iwlist scan" as root from a command line.

 

[modorney]

I got wlan0 Interface does not support scanning : network is down

 

[pentode]

Look at output of ifconfig (as root). The reference to wlan0 indicates the system thinks it has a wireless interface. That is a positive sign.

You should also look at lspci (or lsusb if usb dongle), to see what drive is being loaded if any.

Do you have a graphical interface (Gnome or KDE)? If so, see if you can find a Network Manager icon or menu.

 

[modorney]

ifconfig says 19 packets with errors (both TX and RX)

lspci has 03:00.0 Network Controller: Broadcom corp BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless Lan controller (rev02)

Yep, running Gnome Network Settings has Wireless with Essid: dlink, Address: dhcp

 

[pentode]

The complete output of ifconfig would be helpful.

 

[modorney]

linux119:/home/mike# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset Host Bridge (rev 04)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 [Brookdale] Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 04)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 42)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801CAM ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801CAM IDE U100 Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM SMBus Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]
02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:00.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller (rev 42)
03:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4306 802.11b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)

linux119:/home/mike# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:09:6b:e3:9b:92
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)

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:19 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:19 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1572 (1.5 KiB) TX bytes:1572 (1.5 KiB)

 

[pentode]

I don't see a wireless interface in ifconfig.

Take a look in /etc/network/interfaces and also look in lsmod to see if there is a module being loaded for your wireless NIC.

You may need to do some research on how to get this card running under Linux:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux...ver_in_Debian_Linux_and_enable_WPA_Encryption