WLAN

There used to be a wifi bug that affected older debian kernels. Upstream bug report is http://docs.openmoko.org/trac/ticket/2277. In the future please also always report such bugs to bugs.debian.org so that wiki can link to the actual debian bug.

Graphical User Interface

If you don't want to mess about with configuration files and are looking for an easy gui for wireless configuration, then wifi-radar or wicd is what you are looking for.

 apt-get install wifi-radar
 wifi-radar

 apt-get install wicd
 wicd-client -n

If you are looking for more, read on...

Using /etc/network/interfaces (simple mode)

Make sure the following packages are installed:

apt-get install wireless-tools wpasupplicant dhcp3-client

Assuming your wireless router uses WPA security and DHCP, edit /etc/network/interfaces to include a section like this:

 auto eth0
 iface eth0 inet dhcp
 wpa-driver wext
 wpa-ssid "MyWirelessName"
 wpa-psk "MyWirelessPassword"

Where, of course, you're using the name of your wireless network and its password instead of ?MyWirelessName and ?MyWirelessPassword.

You can test by running

ifup eth0

You can determine your IP address by running

ifconfig eth0

Issues:

only works if in presence of wireless network on boot, or when manually running <code>ifup eth0</code>
booting away from wireless network is slower because waits for DHCP to time out
does not reestablish connection when leaving wireless area and then returning
does not support multiple wireless networks or open hot spots that you may travel between

Once wpa_supplicant has begun managing your WiFi interface, you should type "wpa_action eth0 stop" instead of "ifdown eth0".

Using wpa-supplicant (roaming mode)

To configure WPA to roam between wireless networks, you will need to create a new configuration file:

/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

a template for this file (and more documentation) is available in:

/usr/share/doc/wpasupplicant/examples/wpa-roam.conf

You'll need to add networks to this file. Examples:

WEP:

network={
       ssid="MySSID"
       key_mgmt=NONE
       wep_key0="abcdefghijklm"
#      wep_key0=6162636465  # <- no quotes, so hex number
       wep_tx_keyidx=0
       id_str="MySSID"
}

No key:

network={
       ssid="SomeNetwork"
       key_mgmt=NONE
}

WPA:

       network={
       ssid="Example WPA Network"
       psk="mysecretpassphrase"
       id_str="home"
}

Next, you'll need to edit /etc/network/interfaces. This lets you configure your wireless networks to use dhcp, or other appropriate TCP/IP settings:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet manual
wpa-driver wext
wpa-roam /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

# MySSID comes from an id_str above.
iface MySSID inet dhcp

# default is what's used if there is no id_str setting.
# so the 'SomeNetwork' network will use DHCP.
iface default inet dhcp

iface home inet static
# static interface settings, or whatever...

Finally, if you want attempts to access the internet to default to eth0 (and not usb0), then comment out this line under usb0 adapter configuration:

gateway 192.168.0.200

Roaming from network to network is not automatic. Instead, you need to manually run "wpa_action eth0 stop; ifup eth0" to switch networks

For some reason, I had to reboot for the id_str settings to take effect. However, you should now be able to use "ifup eth0" to associate with the access point and "wpa_action eth0 stop" to down the wifi adapter.

TODO: Which of the issues that single network configurations suffer from are addressed by WPA roaming mode? Would ifplugd / guessnet help, or just make things more complicated?

Manual Setup

NOTE: the following does not apply to Debian at all. Wmiconfig is not part of debian. It is part of the Atheros SDK and it is unclear if anybody wants to go through all the copyright statements and package the whole SDK.

When using wifi-radar (GUI) and not getting any or any decent connection, try the following:

Disclaimer: the code lines below are just suggestions; read them carefully and adjust them to your needs!

First of all, at least when using Distribution Neovento, wifi-radar gets started upon system startup as a daemon; this is no good for manual setup, remove "/etc/rc2.d/S20wifi-radar" (or the like) and reboot (or run "/etc/init.d/wifi-radar stop".

Secondly, get yourself the atheros utility wmiconfig, e.g.:

apt-get install wmiconfig

Then use a script along the lines of:

echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
DEV=${DEV:-"eth1"}
echo "Wireless device:     ${DEV}"
DHCP=${DHCP:-"TRUE"}
IP=${IP:-"192.168.155.159"}
echo "IPv4 address to set: ${IP}"
NM=${NM:-"255.255.255.0"}
echo "IPv4 netmask to set: ${NM}"
GW=${GW:-"192.168.155.155"}
echo "IPv4 gateway to set: ${GW}"
ESSID=${ESSID:-"dax.tor.at"}
echo "WLAN ESSID to set:   ${ESSID}"
#
UP_CNT=1
UP_MAX=2
while [[ $UP_CNT -le 2 ]]; do
        echo "upping, ${UP_CNT}/${UP_MAX}"
        if ! mdbus -s org.freesmartphone.ousaged /org/freesmartphone/Usage org.freesmartphone.Usage.ReleaseResource WiFi; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not mdbus-release WiFi"
        fi
        if ! mdbus -s org.freesmartphone.odeviced /org/freesmartphone/Device/PowerControl/WiFi org.freesmartphone.Resource.Disable; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not mdbus-disable WiFi"
        fi
        if ! ifconfig "${DEV}" down; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not down ${DEV}"
        fi
        if ! wmiconfig -i "${DEV}" --wlan disable; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not disable ${DEV}"
        fi
        if ! mdbus -s org.freesmartphone.odeviced /org/freesmartphone/Device/PowerControl/WiFi org.freesmartphone.Resource.Enable; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not mdbus-enable WiFi"
        fi
        if ! mdbus -s org.freesmartphone.ousaged /org/freesmartphone/Usage org.freesmartphone.Usage.RequestResource WiFi; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not mdbus-request WiFi"
        fi
        if ! wmiconfig -i "${DEV}" --wlan enable; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not enable ${DEV}"
        fi
        if ! ifconfig "${DEV}" up; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not up ${DEV}"
        fi
        if ! iwconfig "${DEV}" power off; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not disable power management of ${DEV}"
        fi
        if ! iwconfig "${DEV}" txpower off channel 0; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not reset ${DEV}"
        fi
        if ! wmiconfig -i "${DEV}" --setreassocmode 0; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not set params on ${DEV}"
        fi
        if ! wmiconfig -i "${DEV}" --power maxperf; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not set power max on ${DEV}"
        fi
        if ! iwconfig "${DEV}" essid "${ESSID}"; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not set (e)ssid ${ESSID}"
        fi
        UP_CNT=$((UP_CNT +1))
        sleep 2
done
if [[ "X${DHCP}" == X"TRUE" ]]; then
        sleep 5
        if ! dhclient3 "${DEV}"; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not dhclient3 ${DEV}"
        fi
else
        if ! ifconfig "${DEV}" "${IP}" netmask "${NM}"; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not set ${IP}, ${NM}"
        fi
        if ! route add default gw "${GW}"; then
                echo 1>&2 "could not set default gw ${GW}"
        fi
fi
echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
if ! ifconfig "${DEV}"; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not ifconfig ${DEV}"
fi
echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
if ! iwconfig "${DEV}"; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not iwconfig ${DEV}"
fi
echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
if ! netstat -anr; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not netstat -anr"
fi
echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
echo "you got 15 seconds to check the above output..."
sleep 15

Put these line in a batch file (e.g. /root/bin/wifi-your_essid.sh) and create a .desktop file in /usr/share/applications, e.g. "/usr/share/applications/wifi-your_essid.desktop", if you will:

Encoding=UTF-8
Name=wifi-your_essid
Exec=xterm -ls -e "/root/bin/wifi-your_essid.sh"
Icon=lxterminal
Type=Application
Categories=Network;

That should give you a symbol in the start menu.

To tear wifi back down, use the something like the following:

echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
DEV=${DEV:-"eth1"}
echo "Wireless device:       ${DEV}"
GW=${GW:-"192.168.155.155"}
echo "IPv4 gateway to unset: ${GW}"
#
if ! ifconfig "${DEV}" down; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not down ${DEV}"
fi
if ! wmiconfig -i "${DEV}" --wlan disable; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not wmiconfig-disable ${DEV}"
fi
if ! mdbus -s org.freesmartphone.ousaged /org/freesmartphone/Usage org.freesmartphone.Usage.ReleaseResource WiFi; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not mdbus-release WiFi"
fi
if ! mdbus -s org.freesmartphone.odeviced /org/freesmartphone/Device/PowerControl/WiFi org.freesmartphone.Resource.Disable; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not mdbus-disable ${DEV}"
fi
if ! route del default gw "${GW}"; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not remove default route to ${GW}"
fi
echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
if ! ifconfig "${DEV}"; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not ifconfig ${DEV}"
fi
echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
if ! iwconfig "${DEV}"; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not iwconfig ${DEV}"
fi
echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
if ! netstat -anr; then
        echo 1>&2 "could not netstat -anr"
fi
echo "+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++"
echo "you got 15 seconds to check the above output..."
sleep 15

Again, make batch file and .desktop file, done.

DebianOnFreeRunner
WLAN

WLAN

Graphical User Interface

Using /etc/network/interfaces (simple mode)

Using wpa-supplicant (roaming mode)

Manual Setup

Further reading

DebianOnFreeRunnerWLAN

WLAN

Graphical User Interface

Using /etc/network/interfaces (simple mode)

Using wpa-supplicant (roaming mode)

Manual Setup

Further reading

DebianOnFreeRunner
WLAN