timothy's Journal: Eee 1000HA ... very nice, except for wireless

EDIT: I think I've got it working now!

I followed (with the exception of step 7, since I wasn't using ndiswrapper to start with) the directions outlined in a post here:

http://madwifi.org/ticket/1192#comment:306
(search for the post labeled 08/22/08 22:14:30 changed by anonymous)

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(Followup to https://slashdot.org/~timothy/journal/215391)

My Eee 1000HA arrived, sooner than I thought it would.

I'll try not to sound as frustrated as I actually am, when I get to the bits about wireless, because except for wireless, I think this is a very nice machine. Need to figure out how to make the volume a bit louder, though.

It arrived with Windows XP; after the usual annoying Windows setup routine full of non sequiturs, everything looked pretty nice, including wireless networking, to the network in the house (WPA) specifically. I started IE exactly one time, in order to download Firefox, and then was cruising happily around. Yay!

I'd already downloaded Ubuntu EEE (http://www.ubuntu-eee.com/), and transferred it to a USB drive, using the very helpful (but not perfectly intuitive) unetbootin utility.

I started it up, found that my wired connection worked, and optimistically went ahead and installed it, wiping out Windows XP. (Nice thing: the machine comes with a backup DVD that will at least restore the factory load, which is more than can be said for many full-sized laptops these days.)

Wireless was broken for me using Ubuntu Eee. Yes, it's supposed to work "out the box." It doesn't, for me, on this machine. And though it's apparently easy, I had no luck figuring out how to get rid (temporarily) of the Netbook remix interface -- even though it's a neat thing, I prefer a standardish Gnome desktop. So, since I wanted to try the new Ubuntu 8.10 RC anyhow, I downloaded that, and, again using unetbootin created another USB drive.

For this, too, most reports seem to be that Atheros wireless cards should Just Work with Intrepid on Eee, but not for me. (Wired connection, though, works great.) I've been following a trail of breadcrumbs after googling for things like "Eee 1000-HA intrepid wireless," and spent too much of today alternately doing useful tweaks to the UI (rearranging panels to my liking, etc) and completely useless attempts at making the wireless work, following various forum posters' advice to ...

- see what the restricted drivers configurator says (it says that there are no restricted drivers in place, and that the Atheros driver is activated but not in use. (How do I get it *in* use?!) Computer interfaces, always infuriating.

- use Wicd instead of the default network-manager (which it actually knocks off when installed, a bit frightening). Wicd looks quite nice! But it didn't pick up on my card.So, no dice.

- Use wifi-radar; wifi-radar says "no card detected."

- install madwifi drivers and reboot (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EeePC/Fixes)

- install intrepid backports and reboot (ditto)

I have not yet tried to mess with ndiswrapper. I would prefer not to re-install an OS at this point; I have Ubuntu 8.10 looking a lot like I'd like it to, and I've tweaked Firefox a bit with my favorite extensions, and installed some of my usual favorite apps. (Inkscape, note, does not degrade well to 1024x600.)

[fuming]

I seem to be in the usual tail-chasing mode when it comes to computer difficulties -- what's "obvious" or "trivial" to someone who *already knows* the source of a given problem is neither obvious nor trivial to someone who doesn't. If I could remotely smack every maker of smug, pat, condescending retorts to other people's computer problems, my remote hands would get really, really sore.

("Well, did you at least re-install the previous version of X, then reboot, then change an obscure config file, then remove an app you have no idea exists and replace it with a patched version from a site you've never heard of, then remove the battery, then restart in safe mode? If not, how can you even begin to complain?" And Yes, some of the presented "solutions" to some other -- wired -- network problems with the Eee have involved disconnecting and reattaching the battery in addition to software changes.)