Anne Wilson has network troubles on Aspire One

[Scott Robbins]

On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 10:46:41PM -0700, Michal Jaegermann wrote:
> Different subject as the original thread is way too long and goes in
> different directions. :-)
> 
> On linux-kernel mailing list there are currently messages about bugs
> in wifi support for Aspire One.  See http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/14/214
> and the thread appears to start at http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/10/220
> That looks like relevant.

Interesting.  The only thing I've run into is that the 2.6.27 kernel has
apparently dropped support for the little sysctl lines that made the
wireless LED work.  

I've used both the 8GB SSD and the hard drive version.  The only trouble
I had with Fedora and wireless--but again, I do it manually--was that
the live CD, and only the live CD, couldn't connect to a WPA2 network.
Another fellow had the same issue, and we both found that with the first
upgrade, it was fixed. 

On occasion, after one upgrade or another, it would get a connection the
first time around--that is, wpa_supplicant would work, but for whatever
reason, it couldn't get a DHCP address.  This was always fixed with a
reboot.  However, lately, it's been rather smooth.  

I haven't had any trouble with any of the distros with a 2.6.26 or
2.6.27 kernel and the realtek.  The only one that was a problem was
CentOS, which uses a 2.6.18 or something like that.  

It was a fairly major problem as the included r8169 module would cause a
core dump, but it's reasonably trivial to fix. 

I suspect one reason for my lack of problems is that by using command
line tools it's relatively easy to see where the problem occurs.  

Again, I've left NM out of the equation--not because of any dislike for
it in particular, but just because I have many sessions where I don't
start X.  I don't know if it works without X, and never checked as the
other tools work for me.  

In Ubuntu, which I keep on the machine as some of my users have it, I do
usually boot into their default Gnome and use it.  It's more a of a
pain, as it doesn't remember the (hidden) SSID and I have to reset it
each time, but it works well enough.  

As for the Ubuntu page--it would be better, if they're recommending
MadWifi if they keep it up to date.  If you follow  their advice, don't
do wget.  Go to the page containing the tarball and get the latest.  

Frankly, if one is going to use MadWifi, I think my own page is better
and more up to date.
http://home.roadrunner.com/~computertaijutsu/rhwireless.html#5007

On the other hand, lately, I've gotten equal or better performance from
the ath5k module, with the added advantage that it doesn't require a
recompile (which is trivial and takes about 2 minutes) with each kernel
upgrade. 

At any rate, in my experience, Fedora 10, as soon as one installs, then
upgrades, the live CD, works pretty well.  

I'm not sure about the various tools, NM, or system-network-config.  I
simply don't use them in most cases.  

I realize that sounds a bit elitist, but it's not meant to be.  Most of
what I learned about Unix like systems was on FreeBSD, and when a job
change brought me back to the Linux world (and when I'd been in it
before, the various tools were far less reliable, so back then one was
more prone to rely on manually editing config files) it was just easier
to continue doing so rather than learn another set of tools. 

If it were me, and I needed a static address, the easiest thing for me
to do would be edit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0, disable
NM, enable network and the problem would be solved.  

As it is, I use it
in various places, sometimes with wired, sometimes wireless, and with
DHCP, so I have my little scripts and wpa.confs (because it's easier, if
checking with wpa_supplicant in the foreground to type -cwpa.conf than
-cwpa_supplicant.conf)  :) 

I suspect part of Ann's problem is that she's getting too much input
from too many directions.  So, I'll shut up now. 

(BTW, good call, IMHO to start a new thread. As you said, it's getting
out of hand.)

Maybe one called dissing NM and another called in defense of NM?   

whimsically yours,

-- 

Scott Robbins
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