Love Puppy, but can't get wireless working on my Dell D810

[broadw]

I have successfully installed Puppy on my Dell Latitude D810 and it works well, and it can connect successfully via wired networking.

However, I have no luck in connecting to my wireless network. It does find the network when I do a scan with puppy, but when I supply the WEP password and try to connect, but no luck.

Puppy is my first experience with Linux and I really like it, but I would like to get this wireless networking thing figured out.

Thanks for your help!

[Béèm]

Do you have the same issue when using pwireless? (menu|network)
Are you sure about the WEP key?

[broadw]

Thank you very much for your interest!

I have been doing some more work on this, and have found something strange... in answer to your questions, yes I do have the same issue when using pwireless, and yes I am sure about the WEP key.

Now, here for the strange part. I can get 3 different computers, 2 using Windows XP, and another using Xandros (my Asus 701) to connect to this network wirelessly with no problem.

However, one of the above laptops (the Dell D810) will not connect to my wireless network, despite the network coming up on the scan and being identified correctly as a WEP encrypted network. This same laptop will not connect to my home wireless network when using Mint, Ubuntu, and Crunchbag as its operating system.

This same laptop WILL connect to my neighbors' unencrypted wireless networks, however, while running Puppy or the other distros. The Asus 701, when using its native Xandros, will connect to my home wireless network, but will not do so when running Pupeee, Crucheee, or Eeebuntu.

At least I know that my wireless router is working, as are both of these laptops (the Dell D810 and the Asus 701). I have no idea what could be causing this... it is a very strange problem, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

My wireless network router is a Buffalo Airstation WHR-G54S, if you are interested.

Thanks again,

Matt

[Flash]

If your wireless router has a firewall or some other sort of filter, try turning it off. I had to do that before my Motorola Surfboard SBG900 wireless cable modem/gateway would work.

[Dougal]

The Asus 701, when using its native Xandros, will connect to my home wireless network, but will not do so when running Pupeee, Crucheee, or Eeebuntu.

The native Xandros comes with a proprietary module, which works better than the free one, hence it is able to connect to encrypted networks (I think with the free driver you get a weaker signal and that results in encryption failing -- try comparing the signal quality as reported in the network wizard scan window).

Regarding the Dell, I think they usually have slightly modified versions of the HW, so the modules has to be patched to support them -- but that should be available somewhere, as Dell sell laptops with Linux on them.
Tempestuous should know these things better...

[tempestuous]

It does find the network when I do a scan with puppy, but when I supply the WEP password and try to connect, but no luck.

Are you entering the WEP key as true hex values? This is what the Network Wizard expects.

I think (?) that if you want to enter a WEP password you must prefix it with "s:" (don't include the quotation marks).

[macrocephalic]

I'm getting the exact same problem on my MSI wind with the ralink 2700 card. Scan works, picks up the networks with good strength.

If the WEP is enabled then I can't get a dhcp address, but if I turn WEP off then it works straight away.

I tried prefixing the WEP key with s: but it didn't make any difference.

[macrocephalic]

For anybody else having this problem, and there seems to be a lot, the only way I could get wireless working on my MSI Wind with the ralink wireless was to change my access point security protocol to WPA-PSK rather than WEP.

No matter what I did with WEP it wouldn't work, and I tried passphrases, HEX keys, 128bit and 64 bit encryption. The next step if WPA didn't work was going to try and use aircrack to crack my own wireless just to get it to work...

Is it possible that this is a problem with Puppy? I see a lot of people having the problem and very few resolutions.

[Dougal]

Please look here:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=289539