[SOLVED] wireless intel ipw3945 not working

Wireless Intel ipw3945 not working on install. HP Compaq 6710b laptop

Hi Zoro,

try this:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1748677

Regards Wolfman

Hi Wolfman I tried the Ubuntu link but CLI came up with 'lspci not found". I can get on line by inserting an USB adapter but that defeats having a built in wireless card. Any ideas please.
Thanks
Zoro1044

Please post the results of

Code:

lspci -nn

Code:

sudo lshw -c network

Code:

sudo rfkill list all

All roads lead me to this link http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Download#Drivers
I believe that you have Zorin 5.2, which means kernel 2.6.38.15.
You will have to install the latest iwlwifi driver (download from here http://linuxwireless.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/), as the driver for ipw3945 has been deprecated (http://ipw3945.sourceforge.net/).

However, I would suggest to you to try also the new zorin 6, as I suspect that with the newest kernel (3.xx.x) your wireless card will be detected automaticaly.

Nevertheless, please post the results of the commands I write in my previous post, just to check that everything else is ok.

Just for later use, instructions for installing the driver.

Go here http://linuxwireless.org/download/compat-wireless-2.6/ and download the latest driver (i.e. the compat-wireless-2012-05-10.tar.bz2).
It will probably be downloaded in your "Downloads" folder.
Navigate to the folder, right-click it and select "extract here". A new folder will come up.

Then open terminal and navigate to the extracted folder i.e.

Code:

cd /home/yourname/Downloads/combat-wireless-2012-05-10

Then run these commands

Code:

make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe iwl3945
exit

At this point hopefully your wireless should be working. Reboot and test if the driver is automatically loaded at each boot. If not we should add it in modules as follows:

Open terminal and write

Code:

sudo gedit home/yourname/etc/modules

At the end of the file, add the word

iwl3945

Save and exit.
Now reboot and test again.

Hi Madvinegar, I installed Zorin 6 it sees the iwl3945 card but it still does not connect to wireless router. I have posted CLI commands as requested. Everything else is good, not perfect but that will come with updates.
thanks.
Zoro1044



iwl3945 Card


triez@triez-HP-Compaq-6710b:~$ sudo lshw -c network
[sudo] password for triez:
*-network
description: Wireless interface
product: PRO/Wireless 3945ABG [Golan] Network Connection
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:10:00.0
logical name: wlan0
version: 02
serial: 00:1c:bf:bd:93:44
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwl3945 driverversion=3.2.0-24-generic-pae firmware=15.32.2.9 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abg
resources: irq:45 memory:e4100000-e4100fff
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: NetLink BCM5787M Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express
vendor: Broadcom Corporation
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:18:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 02
serial: 00:1c:c4:cc:c2:07
capacity: 1Gbit/s
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm vpd msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=tg3 driverversion=3.121 firmware=sb v2.09 latency=0 link=no multicast=yes port=twisted pair
resources: irq:47 memory:e4000000-e400ffff
triez@triez-HP-Compaq-6710b:~$


triez@triez-HP-Compaq-6710b:~$ sudo rfkill list all
0: phy0: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
2: hp-wifi: Wireless LAN
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
3: hp-bluetooth: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no
4: hci0: Bluetooth
Soft blocked: no
Hard blocked: no

Your wifi driver seems to be working just fine. I think that the problem may be with your router. Do a restart to your router and check again.

Also just to double check, open terminal and post the results of:

Code:

dmesg | grep -i iwl

and

Code:

sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

Thanks for the quick reply.Posting update as requested.

triez@triez-HP-Compaq-6710b:~$ dmesg | grep -i iwl
[ 19.853064] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, in-tree:s
[ 19.853068] iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2011 Intel Corporation
[ 19.871031] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[ 19.871048] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 19.928075] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a channels
[ 19.928080] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 3945ABG
[ 19.928240] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: irq 46 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 19.976621] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-3945-rs'
[ 20.270723] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: loaded firmware version 15.32.2.9
triez@triez-HP-Compaq-6710b:~$ sudo iwlist wlan0 scan
[sudo] password for triez:
wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Device or resource busy

triez@triez-HP-Compaq-6710b:~$

Zoro1044 wrote:Thanks for the quick reply.Posting update as requested.

triez@triez-HP-Compaq-6710b:~$ dmesg | grep -i iwl
[ 19.853064] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, in-tree:s
[ 19.853068] iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2011 Intel Corporation
[ 19.871031] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[ 19.871048] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 19.928075] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: Tunable channels: 11 802.11bg, 13 802.11a channels
[ 19.928080] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 3945ABG
[ 19.928240] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: irq 46 for MSI/MSI-X
[ 19.976621] ieee80211 phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-3945-rs'
[ 20.270723] iwl3945 0000:10:00.0: loaded firmware version 15.32.2.9
triez@triez-HP-Compaq-6710b:~$ sudo iwlist wlan0 scan
[sudo] password for triez:
wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Device or resource busy

triez@triez-HP-Compaq-6710b:~$

Hi Zoro,

is your router behaving strange??, what you posted there shows the device is working, have you tried resetting your router?? (make sure that you have all the details from your ISP before resetting, router password, etc!!), does your connection show up in the network manager list but you cannot connect to it??.

Regards Wolfman

Hi Wolfman,

I reset the the router and the laptop switch still the same. It seems strange but may be it's a faulty device in the laptop. I have 2 computers and 2 other laptops that connect with no problems to the router using Wap encryption. Having installed Zorin on about 6 desktops and laptops for friends. I inserted a new USB adapter from a store and it saw the router immediately and connected with my Wap password. It was using XP OS before I clean installed Zorin and I'm sure it did not work then. I think it was used on a Ethernet cable hence the reason for changing to Linux. Not sure if there is any thing more I can do to resolve it I will keep trying.

Zoro

I think I found your problem.

wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Device or resource busy

Open terminal and try this:

Code:

sudo rmmod -f iwl3945
sudo modprobe iwl3945 disable_hw_scan=1

and let me know.


If you actually got your wifi working, then to make changes permanent and working after each reboot, open terminal and write:

Code:

sudo su
echo -e 'alias wlan0 iwl3945 \noptions iwl3945 disable_hw_scan=1' > /etc/modprobe.d/iwl3945
reboot

Hi Madvinegar
I tried your latest recommends several times but still the same. At boot it says "disconnected- you are now off line" . Drop down shows Wired network disconnected, Wireless network disconnected. Enable Networking & Enable Wireless both ticked. I can plug in a USB wifi adapter and it connects to router instantly.

Zoro1044 wrote:Hi Madvinegar
I tried your latest recommends several times but still the same. At boot it says "disconnected- you are now off line" . Drop down shows Wired network disconnected, Wireless network disconnected. Enable Networking & Enable Wireless both ticked. I can plug in a USB wifi adapter and it connects to router instantly.

Do you see the list of the available networks in network manager or not?
Please post the results of

Code:

sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

Also please check in your router settings that there is no filtering for WAN NAT redirection! You could do a hard reset in your router so as to go back to the default settings, without any wap encryption (i.e. the access to the network to be completely free), and see if you could get connected.

The firmware of your driver is the latest one even if it is dated back to 2009. As I have said, this driver has been deprecated and replaced by the iwlwifi driver. Everything else seems to be in order.
The last thing I could suggest is to follow the instructions in my post no6 of this topic and load the iwlwifi driver. But please first check the router as I said above.

Sorry for the long delay in answering. I re-installed Zorin 5.2 updated using a USB adaptor and rebooted laptop. I then noticed a conflict of devices in the network so removed the USB adaptor and still had a network connection from the 3945 card. Re-booted several times to check ipw3945 worked OK . So this can be posted as SOLVED. Thank you all for your help, the owner of the laptop is very happy with ease of the OS and recommended to her friends.

Thanks Zoro

Marking as Solved!!.

Regards Wolfman