RHEL 5.2 and IPW3945

[Barry Brimer]

> Hi, all.  I performed a fresh install of rhel 5.2 today and all was good.
> By this I mean that the wireless NIC worked.  Shortly after I did a 'yum
> update' and the wireless card stopped.  I don't understand what happened and
> don't know where to start researching the issue.  Can someone offer help
> with this?

> The laptop is an HP dv2000 (2660se to be specific) with an Intel IPW3945
> NIC.

In order for the wireless NIC to work, the ipw3945d service must be 
started before the device can be used.  If chkconfig --list ipw3945d shows 
"5:Off" then the ipw3945d service is not set to start on bootup.  You can 
enable it to start on bootup by typing "chkconfig ipw3945d on" .. you can 
also start it by typing "service ipw3945d start".  This will make the 
driver load so that it can be used by your system.  I don't know how you 
are configuring your network (ifcfg-ethX scripts, NetworkManager, 
wpa_supplicant) so I can't provide too much other assistance, but use 
iwconfig to determine if you are connected to the intended network.  dmesg 
is also usually helpful in finding issues with wireless cards, if it is at 
the device level.

Hope this helps.
Barry