I can't get online; error message

[explodingbee]

Hi folks,

I am not very familiar with Linux. I just installed Mageia. When I try to get online I get the following error message:

The following component is missing: lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-5.ucode

The required files can also be installed from this URL: http://intellinuxwireless.org/

But when I go to http://intellinuxwireless.org/ I do not see the file "lib/firmware/iwlwifi-5000-5.ucode" The closest I can find appears to be this file: iwlwifi-5000-ucode-5.4.A.11.tar.gz So I downloaded that (in Windows 7). And then what? I click on it in Windows 7 and the system does not know how to open it; it asks me what program I want to use to run the file. When I right click on the file in Mageia and then I select an option which is something like "install software" then a program opens (called something like software installer) and seems to process something but then I cannot find the file in the program and cannot see what to do.

So how can I get online in Mageia? (Mageia 6)

My computer is an HP Elitebook 8540w laptop.

Thanks in advance,

Vincent

[doktor5000]

Hi there, what installation media did you use to install Mageia? The free DVD images do not include nonfree components like the firmware packages such as the one you encountered.

Also, how exactly did you "try to get online"? If you setup your wireless connection from Mageia Control Center it should propose to install the required wireless and firmware packages from the installation media ...

[explodingbee]

Hi Docktor5000,

Thanks for responding.

I installed Mageia 6 from a USB disk. I downloaded an ISO file and then used Rufus to burn it onto a USB stick.

Regarding how I tried to get online, I just clicked on the "net_applet" wifi icon on the bottom right of the screen and then a window opened for a program called Network Center. I then clicked on the wireless (Wi-Fi) option and then the error message came up.

Regards,

Vincent

[doktor5000]

Ok, but what media did you use? E.g. the classic installer, the live DVD or maybe a minimal network installer?
In any case, best first read https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Installing_a ... rrectly.3F
and maybe https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Install_medi ... _beginners to get started with software management in Mageia.
You at least need a full set of repositories, if your installation media does not contain the firmware.

Then please as root run drakconnect and choose Wireless, it should offer to install a few missing packages for you, among them the firmware.
See also http://doc.mageia.org/mcc/6/en/content/drakconnect.html

Also regarding the initial error message, wasn't that more like this?

Some packages (iwlwifi-agn-ucode) are required but aren't available.

These packages can be found in non-free, or in the official package repository

If it really only shows the message you posted, then I believe that is a regression and should be posted as bugreport, as net_applet should just tell you that you need to enable repositories and install the firmware package.

[explodingbee]

Hi,

You asked what media I used to install Mageia 6. The name of the file I downloaded and used was: “Mageia-6-x86_64-DVD” The file size is 3,812,352 KB. So I think that means I used the Classic Installation, 64 bit. I read through the article you suggested, https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Installing_a ... rrectly.3F. I found it very difficult and time consuming to read through. There were numerous terms used that I was not familiar with. I also am not sure how much it will help my situation. I just need to get online.

I looked at the second article you suggested, https://wiki.mageia.org/en/Install_medi ... _beginners but all the pictures which illustrate the message are not working. I did not spend time trying to read it since it was incomplete.

I also took a look at the other article you suggested, http://doc.mageia.org/mcc/6/en/content/drakconnect.html . But that does not seem to apply to my situation, as far as I can tell. I get online by using public wifi signals, not with my own wifi or Ethernet signal. I think that article is about setting up and configuring one’s own internet connection, as opposed to using wifi to get a public signal.

You also advised me to run drakconnect and then choose wireless. I did that. I then got to the next screen which said “Select the network interface to continue”. There were two choices: (1) Intel Corporation Centrino Ultimate-N 6300; and (2) Use a wireless driver (with ndiswrapper). When I chose option 1 I got the same error message I previously described in my initial post. When I chose option 2 a page opened which said “Please select the Windows driver description (.inf) file, or corresponding driver file (.dll or .o files). Note that only drivers up to Windows XP are supported.” (Only up to windows XP?) I then was supposed to go through my hard drive and find these files and select them. I have no idea where such files would be, nor which ones I should choose even if I did find them. I tried just choosing some file at random and then I got the following error message: “Error. Some components (Windows driver) are required but aren’t available for ndiswrapper hardware. The required files can also be installed from this URL: http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/medi ... x.php/list “. Of course I cannot go to any webpage in Mageia because I cannot get online. So I rebooted into Windows 7 and then went to that webpage and I got the following error message: “There is currently no text in this page. You can search for this page title in other pages, or search the related logs, but you do not have permission to create this page.”

You also asked if the error message I complained about was really only what I wrote or if it had some other text as well. (“Some packages (iwlwifi-agn-ucode) are required but aren't available. These packages can be found in non-free, or in the official package repository.”) It was really just as I wrote and it did not include the text you asked about.

I have gotten quite frustrated with Mageia and am thinking of changing to another Linux distro, like Linux Mint Debian Edition. I previously was set up with that OS and it seemed more user friendly.

-Vincent

[explodingbee]

I posted a bug report which referenced this forum page. The bug report is here: https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=21541

[jiml8]

Your original question was not answered.

.tar.gz files are very commonly found in *nix. They are also commonly identified as .tgz files.

The gz suffix means the file is gzipped and needs to be expanded with gunzip. The tar suffix means the file(s) have been tarred. Tar is a utility that takes a list of files and sticks them together into one file. This dates back to the days when magnetic tapes were the most common way of archiving data, and tarring the data was very convenient when using mag tape. Tar remains in use because it is convenient. So there will be one or more files in any tar file.

The easiest gui way to unpack .tgz or .tar.gz files in KDE is to use ark. This is a gui tool that handles a lot of different compression formats. On my system, I can invoke ark by right-clicking on the icon for the tar.gz file and selecting the Compress option. I don't know if you will have that option on your desktop, but you should look. My system is old and musty and has lots of stuff on it. Ark is provided on the default Mageia installation however.

At least, it was prior to Mageia 6...I have not upgraded yet so I don't know if it is there now.

Once you unpack the file, as root you need to copy it into the directory /lib/firmware. You will need to be root to do this. Once you have done it, you will satisfy the missing dependency and, presuming nothing else is wrong with your system, you will be able to get online.

[explodingbee]

Hi JimLB,

Ok. I tried to do what you said. I do have the option of opening the file with Ark by right clicking on it. But then I could not copy it to /lib/firmware. The error message said something about me not having the right permission. I have been trying to read up about how to get the right permission.

Vincent

[jiml8]

Only root has permission to write into that directory. You have to be root to do it.

You can become root by entering the command "su" in a command line window, then entering your root password when prompted. Then, from that window, copy the file into that directory. Look up the cp command.

Linux is not like Windows; you are not usually operating as root (administrator) and therefore what you can do to your system is restricted. This, generally, is a good thing. You have to take positive action to do something as root, and the default setup will not allow you to do anything at all in the GUI as root.

Doktor was asking you how you installed because you should not have this unsatisfied dependency; that firmware package should have been provided when you installed the wifi driver. I have no idea why it wasn't, but that it wasn't could indicate some problem in the installer, or could indicate that you did something inappropriate. Regardless, manually placing the firmware package where the driver wants it to be should take care of you.

One command line command you need to know is "man". Man stands for "manual" and is where you find a great deal of documentation. For instance, you should (from a command line window) enter "man cp" in order to learn about the copy command.

[filip]

You can become root by entering the command "su" in a command line window, then entering your root password when prompted.

Using

Code: Select all

su -

is safer.