Q4OS Forum

Howard

Member

Registered: 2016-01-16

Posts: 5

Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

I have an old Win XP pc, circa 2003. It has an Ethernet card which I have never used. I have tried every way short of ripping it out to disable it.  I use an usb WiFi dongle to connect to the web through a WiFi router/hub with no problems.

My problem is the Q4os Live CD install only recognizes the Ethernet card. It doesn't see the WiFi dongle.  So, no Internet. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Howard

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,989

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

Hi Howard, what type of wifi dongle are you using? If you can get the live cd running type into Konsole

lsusb

That should give you some info about the chip, and help point you in the right direction.

I have found most cards to just work, but sometimes firmware needs to be downloaded first (easier said than done if you cannot connect I know)

Dai

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 4,230

Website

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

We can check your system configuration and try to help. If you want so, run in terminal:
$ reportq4
and attach generated debug file here to analyze or send it via e-mail to support@q4os.org

Howard

Member

Registered: 2016-01-16

Posts: 5

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

Hi. Sorry it took so long to answer.

As for a wifi "dongle" (I thought that was the right term), I have a WiFi attachment like one would plug into a laptop computer and share a WiFi router. This arrangment works very well with my Windows XP desktop. I have tried to install the Network Manager Applet from your download page. I have it loaded on a usb thumb drive. Q4 said that it would have to download additional information to install. That's kinda hard to do when you can't connect to the net. I have tried to fill out the data that Q4 requests to setup a WiFi connection, but I know just enough about the workings of this desktop to install a cd or usb thumb drive. This is extremely frustrating and my experiences with Q4 mirror those I've had with other Linux varieties. I got malware from a Puppy Linux download. If this is what I can expect from a "FRIENDLY" version of Linux, I'm giving up on the whole Linux line of OP Systems as incomplete and very confusing! Oh!, By the way! That user friendly Network Manager app should come as part of your installs and Live CDs. Windows Vista suddenly seems like a blessing!

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,989

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

You might need to spend a little time getting to know your FREE ALTERNATIVE to windows, if you can do that the rewards will be astounding!

Howard

Member

Registered: 2016-01-16

Posts: 5

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

Thank you for your time and help. I am however going to give up on Linux. I was curious as to if it would offer a viable replacement for Windows XP. My expectations of a simple "drop-in" OS with an almost flat learning curve were unrealistic. Thanks again!

Howard

JimW

Member

Registered: 2015-12-08

Posts: 400

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

CC
I seem to missing something here.
No network connection?
And you say "To install the network manager go to Q4OS software center and go down to number 12 and install it with a click if you need it."
Is network manager on the CD and it will install from there? Otherwise, how do you download it without a network connection?
Perhaps it can be downloaded by another computer and installed on the Q4OS computer via CD?

Howard

Member

Registered: 2016-01-16

Posts: 5

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

Let me start over. I am trying to activate a wifi connection on a Dell Dimensions 2350,  (made in 2003),  using a Linksys AE2500 wifi adapter. The adapter looks like a thumb drive. Q4os only senses the Ethernet card that is installed. I tried the "Network Manager" from the Live CD with no joy and likewise the same Manager downloaded from the Q4 site. I have tried the install CD that came with the AE2500 adapter but Q4 would not accept it or even try to run it. In fact, it would not try to work with any software I tried to install. Let me say, that massive mistake called Vista, bad as it is, is far more forgiving than Q4. Even after reading the how-to instructions, it seems that if it ain't writ fer Q4, it ain't gonna work.

Enough complaining!

If a wifi adapter has not been accounted for in the Linux code chances are it won't work. With that in mind, if I can't install drivers for my wifi adapter and Q4 doesn't have them, how can I use or install the rest of Q4? Maybe I'm not reading the instructions correctly.

Thanks,
Howard

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,989

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

A quick google tells me the usb card uses the broadcom chip, which should be ok, however, according to http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/brcm80211/

BCM43231 and BCM43236 (rev <= 2) have another architecture and can't be easily supported by brcmfmac. They have less memory on the chip and can't run full MAC firmware, so they require implementing some extra code in the Linux driver. On the other hand they are not standard soft MAC devices, so they can't be supported by brcmsmac or b43.

As you card is probably bcm43236 it will probably not work without a lot of work modifying source code etc (which is beyond me) so Linux is currently a no-go for this particular card by the looks of it. Sorry I couldn't help.

Dai

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,298

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

To cut a long story sideways, you're not alone with problems getting this adapter to work with Linux. It can be done, but only using a package called ndiswrapper which allows you to use a windows driver to run the card - but you'll need to download both those to be able to do this - not used ndiswrapper for many years.
Please understand that there are devices that just cannot be made to work natively with Linux - that doesn't make it bad, the bad part is manufacturers using highly proprietary/closed source drivers and odd firmware to make things work as cheaply as possible.

http://community.linksys.com/t5/Wireles … d-p/684803

That doesn't solve your problem I know, but I'm not sure that thing will work with Windows 10 either.....Perhaps a different dongle? Edimax / Realtek cards do work. Another option is a device that plugs in to your ethernet card with a standard cable, but at the other end is a wi-fi receiver. Provided that is keyed to your wifi then the computer just sees it as ethernet - job done.

Waypoint

Member

From: U.S.

Registered: 2016-07-17

Posts: 3

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

New to this Linux thing.But, I have a similar issue with  Netgear WNA3100 usb  wireless. It does register in the hardware. The machine doesn't recognize it as an option. Yes, the Broadcomm thing applies with this device too. I know I got ndiswrapper and I got a driver from Netgear. (Not sure if it's where it's supposed to be) Still connecting is not an option.  So, between a newbie taking this and an old machine... Lol

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,989

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

@Waypoint
i have seen ubuntu users getting this card working so it is a good sign, however, they are using ndiswrapper and the windows drivers to achieve it. Have you tried installing the broadcom drivers? if not try this...

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

this will install the broadcom drivers available, and then reboot. If that doesn't help uninstall them

sudo apt-get remove firmware-b43-installer

and then try the legacy drivers, although I think the first one is more likely to work than the legacy version.

sudo apt-get install firmware-b43legacy-installer

The broadcom site has question marks by this chip so it may have to be done with ndiswrapper in the end, but I'd try this first.

Waypoint

Member

From: U.S.

Registered: 2016-07-17

Posts: 3

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

@Dai: Should I uninstall the ndsiwrapper first, or just try the broadcomm34 you mentioned? Or would it matter? The pc is so old that the internet is super slow. 40gb hd with 256 cache on a P4.

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,989

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

There should be no need to uninstall ndsiwrapper, but it wouldn't do any harm to remove it as a precaution, you can always re-install it if b43 doesn't work.

Waypoint

Member

From: U.S.

Registered: 2016-07-17

Posts: 3

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

Dai: Looks like I'll be doing the ndiswrapper after all. Sorry to sound so green, but I'll need to download a driver for the wireless adapter. Just download the latest from the Netgear site? I have that, and it's in a zip file. Is there anything in linux I would need to get to unzip and/or get the wrapper to do it's thing? The WNA 3100 has an unsupported chip, so... Seems like this is the last hurdle on this little project.
And many thanks for the help, both previously and now. Thanks for being patient with the new guy. :rolleyes

Dai_trying

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2015-12-14

Posts: 2,989

Re: Q4os Live CD won't connect to WiFi

Ok, I'm no expert at this and I haven't had to use ndiswrapper before but I will offer what help I can.
From what I found using google you will first need to install ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 and wireless-tools and the relevant headers linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') which can be done with this one command

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r|sed 's,[^-]*-[^-]*-,,') ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 wireless-tools

Next you need to get the ndis driver and configure it, this is where it will get interesting for you. I found some information here that might help, it also has a link to a driver file in case you cannot find yours although there is quite a bit of information telling you where to find it out there.

Try what you can and let us know how far you get and post back if you need more help.

I have also just realised that you may not be able to install the above software due to not getting on-line with that machine... Is it possible to use an ethernet connection to get it set-up? I know it is possible to download the individual .deb files from another pc and transfer them over but ethernet if available would be soooo much easier.