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user702846
Asked: 2013-10-03 02:59:16 +0800 CST

wicd Failed: Unable to get IP address

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I have an old laptop (Thinkpad T30) and I have installed lubuntu 10.04 on it. NetworkManager could see the available wifi but the bottom was gray out. It seems that it is an unsolved-bug in wifi and the only solution was replacing it with lovely wicd.

So, I have installed the latest wicd, and I got happy that I could have see the available wifi and possible access. but whenever I ask wicd to connect me to that, after quite few seconds, an error appear that : "Connection Failed: Unable to get IP address".

I googled the error; some people have suggested downgrading wifi, and some others were suggesting installing some drivers. and non of them worked. I also tried this "http://www.backtrack-linux.org/forums/showthread.php?t=48658".

I appreciate any comments that can help me to make my wifi into work. either for troubleshooting the current "wicd" and this error, or installing other alternatives that I am not aware of.

I assume the problem is somewhere between dhcp* and wicd but I am not sure how to track and solve it.

** UPDATE the out put of 

 >> lspci -nn | grep 0280
 02:02.0 Network controller [0280]: AIRONET Wireless Communications Cisco Aironet Wireless 802.11b [14b9:a504]

** UPDATE II

lsmod
lsmod:
Module                  Size  Used by
dm_crypt               11331  0 
aes_i586                7268  1 
aes_generic            26863  1 aes_i586
joydev                  8708  0 
thinkpad_acpi          68083  0 
snd_seq_dummy           1338  0 
snd_intel8x0           25588  1 
snd_seq_oss            26726  0 
snd_ac97_codec        100646  1 snd_intel8x0
ac97_bus                1002  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss            35308  0 
snd_mixer_oss          13746  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_midi            4557  0 
snd_pcm                70662  3 snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_rawmidi            19056  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event      6003  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                47263  6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              19098  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device          5700  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
snd                    54148  13 thinkpad_acpi,snd_intel8x0,snd_seq_oss,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
yenta_socket           20408  0 
led_class               2864  1 thinkpad_acpi
psmouse                63245  0 
nsc_ircc               18220  0 
soundcore               6620  1 snd
ppdev                   5259  0 
rsrc_nonstatic         10015  1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core            32964  2 yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
airo                   67901  0 
nvram                   6171  1 thinkpad_acpi
serio_raw               3978  0 
snd_page_alloc          7076  2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
irda                  186556  1 nsc_ircc
crc_ccitt               1339  1 irda
parport_pc             25962  1 
shpchp                 28820  0 
lp                      7028  0 
parport                32635  3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
dm_raid45              81647  0 
xor                    15028  1 dm_raid45
fbcon                  35102  71 
tileblit                2031  1 fbcon
font                    7557  1 fbcon
bitblit                 4707  1 fbcon
softcursor              1189  1 bitblit
vga16fb                11385  0 
vgastate                8961  1 vga16fb
radeon                674135  2 
ttm                    49943  1 radeon
drm_kms_helper         29297  1 radeon
e100                   28211  0 
intel_agp              24177  1 
drm                   162471  4 radeon,ttm,drm_kms_helper
mii                     4381  1 e100
video                  17375  0 
i2c_algo_bit            5028  1 radeon
agpgart                31724  3 ttm,intel_agp,drm
floppy                 53016  1 
output                  1871  1 video

.

>> dmesg | grep -e eth1 -e airo
[22.012681] airo():Probing for PCI adapters
[22.012761] airo 0000.02.02.0: PCI INT A -> Link[LNKC] -> GSI 11 (level, low) -> IRQ 11
[22.012795] airo(): Found an MPI350 card
[23.124370] airo(eth1): Fireware version 5.41.00
[23.124377] airo(eth1): WPA supported
[23.124382] airo(eth1): MAC enabled 00.02:8a:5d:dc:57
[23.132848] airo(): Finished probing for PCI adapters
[34.744120] eth1: no IPv6 routers present
networking

1 Answers

  1. Your AIRONET Wireless Communications Cisco Aironet Wireless 802.11b is probably not getting an IP address from the router as most networks are set to use WPA or, more preferrably WPA2 encryption. As well, some routers are set to use 802.11G and N only.

    Many older wireless devices were built before WPA, WPA2 and 802.11G and N were developed. Check to see the capabilities of your device. In a terminal:

    iwconfig

    Your wirless device may be eth1 or possibly wlan0. Find its capabilities:

    sudo iwlist eth1 auth

    Of course, substitute wlan0 if your wireless interface is not eth1. Are WPA and WPA2 listed as capabilities of your wireless device?

    I cannot recommend that you reset the router to use WEP encryption, which your Aironet may connect with easily, because it is quite insecure.

    Please confirm the driver you are using is airo:

    lsmod

    Check the message logs for any troubleshooting clues:

    dmesg | grep -e eth1 -e airo
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