DSL and Lubuntu Wi-Fi Help

[Guest]

I'm used to windows so the wifi is a bit confusing.

Linux says the drivers work automatically on most wifi cards. 

 

I am considering installing DSL (Damn Small Linux) on this Netbook (specs listed showing that a small OS is needed)

Intel Atom N450 1.66 GHz

1gb ddr2 sdram

Wireless 802.11n HB95 mini card

-CARD (CIRCUIT), WIRELESS, HMCRD, HB95, 11N, WORLD WIDE

-LABEL, REGULATORY, WIRELESS, HB95.11N, CNB, REST OF WORLD

 

And I already have Lubuntu 16.04 on my laptop:

WLAN & Bluetooth: Intel 3160 AC + BT4.0 

 

I cannot figure out how to connect to wifi with these OS.

On Windows 10 I click the Wifi symbol in the bottom right, select the network and type in the password. 

How do I do that on DSL and Lubuntu? 

 

I got the tech specs on Dell's website for the netbook, and amazon for the laptop. 

I can try and find more specific information on the internet adapters if you need. I can't figure out if the network cards are installed, or if I am setting up the wifi wrong. 

 

I would use Ethernet, however it's inconvenient quite often, or inaccessible. 

 

Thank you very much!!! 

[LienusLateTips]

Top right?

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, JDE said:

Top right?

I opened both Lubuntu and DSL, and I don't know what you mean by top right. On Lubuntu there is nothing there; on DSL I see a status indicator but I don't see what I can do with it. 

[code_glitch]

LUbuntu is the LXDE based spin on ubuntu unless I'm mistaken. If nothing is in the bottom right 'system tray' you may need to install a network manager of some kind (example: https://askubuntu.com/questions/322861/how-to-connect-to-wireless-network-in-lubuntu). The gnome one is pretty sensible, but can have loooots of dependencies so maybe something like wicd (this thing is split between wicd and the UI or at least used to be so maybe check to make sure you have what you need).

 

If youre new to linux, LXDE IMHO gives a pretty poor user experience all because 'lightness'. XFCE will probably be a friendlier way to get your feet wet. In my experience MATE and Unity use around the same resources anyway and run fine on modern machines (think >1GB of ram with >1 core). Unless you find those unsuably slow, I'd probably try them first and then try XFCE before LXDE because of stupid stuff like this which really - for a pretty mainstream distro - is silly.

[ninjaelectron]

Likely the Wi-Fi indicator is in the bottom right for Lubuntu. Click that and you should be brought to a Wi-Fi menu. if that doesn't work, you can go to the menu on the bottom left, open settings, and click Network. probably that will bring you to a network selection menu. As for DSL (I assume Damn Small Linux?), I don't know. Likely DSL doesn't support wireless. As @code_glitch stated, probably you should Try Xubuntu (Ubuntu Linux's XFCE variant) if you want to get started with Linux. It is a bit more fully featured, and is still lightweight for most people.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, code_glitch said:

snip

I have the network manager installed. My laptop's desktop looks quite similar to this:

I have clicked the 2 squares with the line connecting them in the bottom right(except mine has an x instead of a line connecting the boxes)

 

I can modify VPN (don't think I need a virtual network); Enable/Disable Network; or edit connections. 

I can add a connection and select from the following list:

Bluetooth, DSL, Ethernet, InfiniBand, Mobile Broadband, Wifi, or some virtual options. 

I have previously selected Wi-Fi however I'm not sure how to detect networks. I can type in an SSID, change security, modify IPV4 settings, but I can't determine what to do. 

 

5 minutes ago, ninjaelectron said:

Likely the Wi-Fi indicator is in the bottom right for Lubuntu. Click that and you should be brought to a Wi-Fi menu. if that doesn't work, you can go to the menu on the bottom left, open settings, and click Network. probably that will bring you to a network selection menu. As for DSL (I assume Damn Small Linux?), I don't know. Likely DSL doesn't support wireless.

DSL is Damn Small Linux in the context I meant; I will update the OP for clarification. 

I talked a but about what I tried doing above in the post but I'm unsure how to configure. 

 

As for DSL it starts up with a "Getting started" window. In the Connecting to the net section it says the following:

If you have broadband and have a router that assigns your IP via dhcp, then you may already be on the net without having to configure anything. 

 

If you have a dialup modem, or your ISP requires a login, PPPoE then read on. For Dialup, select System->Net Setup->dial up PPP->config. Follow the on-screen prompts and give a name to your setup. Then in select System->Net Setup->Dial-UP-> dial. Enter the name you gabe the system, and the system will dial in. Select hangup when finished. If you have PPPoE, select the DSL/PPPoE menu section. Use pon and connect and poff to disconnect.

 

For a list of supported wireless cards please see the wiki wireless card section. 

 

On the "start" menu equivalent I can navigate to a net setup folder with the following programs listed:

netcardconf, dial-up PPP, iwconfig, wlcardconfig, ndiswrapper, prism2, and then there is a folder titled"DSL/PPPoE" with the following programs within:

PPPoEconf, Pon, Poff

[code_glitch]

Youre actually muuuch closer than you think (and if the network manager was there out of the box, then respect to the lxde folk for getting this fixed! its been a wee while since I ran LXDE myself)

 

Theres probably a tech quickie on this, but in SSID you'll want to type in the exact network name (this you should be able to find on your router admin page or even from your phone). Under security you want to select the type of security you have, assuming this is at home your options are Open/None (I really hope not), WEP (I hope not) or some flavour of WPA or WPA2.

 

Theres a couple types of authentication available for either IIRC, but in your case just a plan password is fine (unless you have RADIUS auth or something like that setup, which I doubt). Then you should be able to hit save and connect to it as an actual connection.

 

Side note, make sure the MAC address field is filled in, and that your wifi card is on. Usually, left clicking the indicators gives you a list of wifi networks, but only if networking is enabled (tick next to the line) and Wifi too.

 

*I tried putting up a screenshot but doing any cation including print screen on this machine hides the gnome nm-applet dialog >.>

[Guest]

Just now, code_glitch said:

Youre actually muuuch closer than you think (and if the network manager was there out of the box, then respect to the lxde folk for getting this fixed! its been a wee while since I ran LXDE myself)I think it was pre-installed with the latest versions of LuBuntu. 

 

Theres probably a tech quickie on this, but in SSID you'll want to type in the exact network name (this you should be able to find on your router admin page or even from your phone).

So for instance on windows if it was listed as "Home Wi-Fi Network" I would type that exactly? 

Under security you want to select the type of security you have, assuming this is at home your options are Open/None (I really hope not),

There is a password of capital letters, lowercase letters, symbols, and numbers when I connect on Windows or iPhone. 

WEP (I hope not) or some flavour of WPA or WPA2. I will have to try the different WPA connections or see what Windows thinks it is. 

 

Theres a couple types of authentication available for either IIRC, but in your case just a plan password is fine (unless you have RADIUS auth or something like that setup, which I doubt). Then you should be able to hit save and connect to it as an actual connection. um... not sure what you mean by this but we have Verizon, comcast or Optimum I think. 

 

Side note, make sure the MAC address field is filled in, and that your wifi card is on. Usually, left clicking the indicators gives you a list of wifi networks, but only if networking is enabled (tick next to the line) and Wifi too. There's only 1 Mac address on a computer right? I cannot figure out how to tell if it's on, if it's installed, nor how to find the Mac address. I selected the network button on the bottom right on the task bar equivalent however I cannot see anything of what you are saying I should find. 

 

*I tried putting up a screenshot but doing any cation including print screen on this machine hides the gnome nm-applet dialog >.> Ah, not to make you work so hard as I am thankful for your assistance, however a cell phone clip, or OBS may be able to take screenshots, or videos.

 

Any explanations are very helpful as well. I added a "Wi-Fi" connection on LuBuntu, and typed in the network name, added the WPA personal 2 security (listed by windows as WPA personal 2) with the password. 

 

I replied in purple as all the reds seem off, and orange didn't seem like a good color. Hopefully this is legible. Thank you! 

[code_glitch]

16 minutes ago, fpo said:

Theres probably a tech quickie on this, but in SSID you'll want to type in the exact network name (this you should be able to find on your router admin page or even from your phone).

So for instance on windows if it was listed as "Home Wi-Fi Network" I would type that exactly? 

Windows terminology gaffe, The name of the network refers to the name of the 802.11 network itself, the "Home wifi network" sound like the windows name for the connection. Not to quote again, but I'd expect a hub-1234AF, or (here in the UK) talktalk-XYZ to be the name of the network itself.

 

Now that I think about it, an app like wifi analyzer will give you all of this in about 3 seconds flat with bonus stuff like channels and strength etc. I've attached a couple screens of that which shows the channel strength and all the details you need.

 

The password you mention on your phone and windows does indeed sound like the right password.

Im not sure why your machine isnt listing networks and letting you connect to them normally like every other machine I've used in the last 6-7 years but at any rate I've also thrown in details from an old connection (the AP is no longer in service so I dont mind the details being posted and my MAC randomized every reboot so no harm in having it out there).

 

PS. What I meant by MAC address is that you have the correct device in the <Device> field. If nothing is an option here, make super sure your wifi card is working and on and all that jazz. For now though Im gonna have to catch up on some Zzs so maybe someone else can pick up here if something else need explained.

 

[code_glitch]

follow up to clarify one thing, if the AP I used in the dialog was visible in wifi analyzer it would show as SKYBB9999 or whatever is is in the top line  (before the MAC in brackets). The MAC address in wifi analyzer is the MAC address of the access point, not of the wifi card and will not show upunder devices, but is a rather more optional affair that can be filled in as the BSSID of the API but *is absolutely not required*.

[Guest]

35 minutes ago, code_glitch said:

Windows terminology gaffe, The name of the network refers to the name of the 802.11 network itself, the "Home wifi network" sound like the windows name for the connection. Not to quote again, but I'd expect a hub-1234AF, or (here in the UK) talktalk-XYZ to be the name of the network itself.

The "Home wifi Network" name would also show up if I went to wifi on my iphone, xbox, or other devices when trying to connect to a wifi network. 

 

Quote

Im not sure why your machine isnt listing networks and letting you connect to them normally like every other machine I've used in the last 6-7 years but at any rate I've also thrown in details from an old connection (the AP is no longer in service so I dont mind the details being posted and my MAC randomized every reboot so no harm in having it out there).

I've been so used to wifi networks being listed I cannot recall a time when networks wouldn't be listed (at least on windows. 98, 2000, xp, 8, 8.1, 7, vista, 10) 

 

Quote

PS. What I meant by MAC address is that you have the correct device in the <Device> field. If nothing is an option here, make super sure your wifi card is working and on and all that jazz. For now though Im gonna have to catch up on some Zzs so maybe someone else can pick up here if something else need explained.

 

I found my MAC address on lubuntu by going to terminal (control + alt + t) and typing ifconfig -a and using the number next to HWaddr

www.coffer.com/mac_info/locate-unix.html

 

Good luck with catching up on sleep! hopefully I can get this solved. 

 

28 minutes ago, code_glitch said:

follow up to clarify one thing, if the AP I used in the dialog was visible in wifi analyzer it would show as SKYBB9999 or whatever is is in the top line  (before the MAC in brackets). The MAC address in wifi analyzer is the MAC address of the access point, not of the wifi card and will not show upunder devices, but is a rather more optional affair that can be filled in as the BSSID of the API but *is absolutely not required*.

I'm guessing you meant IP when you said AP. 

As listed above I presume SkyBB9999 to be the same name as if you were to connect to it on your cell phone like in the following pictures: (This is the name I used in the wi-fi tab as my SSID)

 

EDIT TEXT ADDITION 

I followed this guide 

http://support.brother.com/g/b/faqend.aspx?c=sg&lang=en&prod=p750weas&faqid=faqp00100049_000

to find the SSID, on the last step click advanced settings to find the SSID listed. 

[code_glitch]

I'm really getting the feeling LXDE is not really the place for you, and if all of those screenshots are from your devices available on hand I am not sure what exactly is going on where you are (nevermind why there is an XP box still in use!!).

 

Just gonna touch on this since its something I see way too often - saying windows 98 could connect to wifi networks way back when is a bit disingenuous (and even 2000 to a lesser extent) IMHO, finding even old 802.11 hardware that was functional and had drivers and the whole shebang would be extremely difficult. And even back then, given the hassle to find a working win98 setup, comparable faff would get you a linux system online also. FWIW,since about 2009 I'd say the experience across gnome/KDE and the windows of the time was pretty consistent; but if you compare XMonad, Awesome, i3, LXDE, (oooold XFCE), IceWM to them yes they are 'backwards' because they are aimed to be something very very different to windows.

 

Also, I didn't mean IP I meant *AP* (Access Point). Hence why my gut feeling is that youll have a much more positive experience - a lot more free time and lot more hair left with a more 'conventional' desktop environment (Unity/MATE/KDE (4)/XFCE/Cinnamon) and on a netbook like that I think you should be able to get away with it to be honest. Linux isnt going to make your hardware magically able to play games and the like, no OS can do that much but it should be snappier than say, vista, 7 or 10. (I have had experiences with 8.x where windows has been inexplicably fast - albeit memory hungy)

 

LXDE really isn't suited to being a friendly - or windows migration DE. At least back a few years it really wasn't and was missing stuff and broke a lot and required a lot of manual labour. If you really want to soldier on, I think theres enough here to go on based on my screenshots of the connection dialog already for someone else to finish up if needed.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, code_glitch said:

snip

I don't know how to install other desktop environments and I like the look of LXDE (if that's the default of LuBuntu) as it reminds me of Windows XP. (Used it as long as I could)

Those were random screenshots from the internet for connecting to wifi. 

 

I've heard of Access Points before but know little of them. I have a netgear wifi adaptor in my windows 10 PC right now so I think it automatically configures APs. 

 

My laptop is an i7, 16 gb ram, and dedicated GPU gaming laptop that I installed Lubuntu to as I'm trying to move away from windows as I don't like their current business model. LuBuntu was lightweight so I heard, and was Debian based so a lot of software would work on it. (I installed steam, Unity Game Engine, and other programs on it perfectly.) I want DSL on the Atom Netbook because it runs fairly well. Windows 7 stater Edition (came with it) runs super slow, and the book feels like it's about to become the second sun. DSL is really fast, and the memory isn't maxed out 24/7. Ubuntu is dual booted on the Atom netbook. It works and has the network setup appropriately. I just booted into Ubuntu now to test it on the netbook. It works well, perhaps I should simply install Ubuntu onto my laptop as well instead of trying to make Lubuntu work. 

 

I have all the wifi information filled out appropriately on the Lubuntu laptop as your pictures suggested, and even tried following this guide:

http://lubuntuhowto.blogspot.com/2014/06/wifi-network-manager-missing-on-lubuntu-1404.html

 

However to my misfortune

(sorry, listening to 'Disturbed - The Sound Of Silence [Official Music Video]' atm on youtube)

Lubuntu will not connect to the wireless network. I previously dual booted Ubuntu and Windows 8/8.x but was displeased and installed LuBuntu as it was 'lighterweight' and this forum shunned the idea of using DSL as a primary OS for gaming, office work, and development. I'll backup my important files and install Ubuntu's latest version now to my i7 laptop to see how it fares, and then fresh install Ubuntu to my netbook as it runs well enough in my 'office torture test' where I open Libre office, type really fast, spam copy and paste, open a web browser, type in libre and see if it's too slow. On Windows 7 starter edition it (atom netbook, 1gb ddr2 sdram) would have probably crashed, so Ubuntu works well enough for me. The netbook kept up. 

[Guest]

I fresh installed Ubuntu from Unetbootin (32 bit) to my netbook (32 bit) and the networking worked automatically no problem even allowing me to connect to wifi before installing the operating system (as Ubuntu does in its installer.)

 

I tried the same with the latest version of 64 bit Ubuntu using Unetbootin, and I could connect to a network... however that network was the model number of my network card. I could not connect to the internet by default. 

 

I tried making a bridge connection from my windows pc to my NOW Ubuntu laptop that couldn't connect to the internet with Ubuntu. 

This bridge did mess up my windows PC so I had to delete it and use a USB flash drive for any downloads I wanted on my laptop.
I had found that the drivers are OFFICIALLY supported by Intel but only in the Kernel. 

The WiFi adapter is from 2014 or earlier. 

 

I found the Linux driver (in compressed .tgz format *sigh*) here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005511.html

 

However it is difficult and confusing to install. I presume this fix to work on LuBuntu, however I do not feel like reinstalling LuBuntu. 

The included readme is not very helpful. It states that "% cp iwlwifi-3160-14.ucode /lib/firmware" should install the firmware required to utilize the network card. 

 

I tried copying and pasting the file (https://askubuntu.com/questions/341752/copying-file-from-folder-1-to-folder-2-in-terminal) in a few different fashions however the /lib/firmware directory suddenly doesn't get to 'exist' all the sudden... 

 

Due to recent events, I am considering buying a mac for privacy, and reliability.  

 

If anyone can help me install this firmware from 

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005511.html

To an i7 laptop using Ubuntu 17.04, I would be grateful. 

[Guest]

I ended up fixing it by as suggested, reluctantly reinstalling the OS as I must have changed something I shouldn't have.

I went with LUbuntu 16.04 as it was on the USB I picked up.

 

I used the following commandsin terminal from askubuntu.com after summoning the terminal with control + alt + T:

sudo -i

echo "blacklist ideapad-laptop" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

modprobe -r ideapad-laptop

exit

 

EDIT:

if you can connect to wifi but not access the Internet - click on the wifi symbol, edit connections, select the wifi network, edit, ipv6 and change it to ignore and save.