Connecting to the Internet Slacko v7.0

[Phet-Thailand]

I have 2 brand new thumb drives. To one, I burned XenialPup 7.5 on it and on my ancient PC which needs and uses a TP-LINK Wireless USB Adapter Model # TL-WN721N plus an AIS 4G Pocket WiFi to connect to the Internet; Xenial was able to connect to the Internet using Frisbee right off the bat. Just Great!

To the 2nd thumb drive, I burned Slako V.7 on it and using the same PC, the same USB Adapter, the same AIS 4G Pocket WiFi and using Frisbee, BUT I was surprised that Slako was unable to connect to the Internet. It needed something else or something additionally to what the XenialPup had. I had to give up in desperation.

Both are Puppies so why is it that they don't operate in the same way? Is there some way for me to check just what enables XenialPup to connect to the Internet and try to add the missing link to Slako? Or is there something I have done incorrectly?

Hopefully, some more experienced users will be able to sort out this conundrum for me... Please!

[bigpup]

Slacko v7 is not enough info.
Is it 32 bit or 64 bit version?

Give the specific name of the Slacko ISO you downloaded?

Because you say Slacko v7, I will assume it is the 32bit version?

Slacko probably does not have the needed firmware and or driver needed.

There are too many WIFI hardware devices that could be used.
To keep the size of the ISO from being huge.
All Puppy versions are different on what hardware support they have from the start.

Slacko release notes has some info about WIFI issues:
http://slacko7.eezy.xyz/notes.php

[peterw]

Lets see if Slacko recognises your USB device using "dmesg" which is a list of all the devices and actions that Slacko has taken to get working. So first of all open a terminal and type "dmesg" without the quotes. Unplug your USB WiFi device and plug it in again and again type "dmesg". At the end of the long list you should see comments about your WiFi device and it will tell you if it hasn't got a driver. Confirm that please.

I strongly suspect that Puppy will recognise your USB WiFi device and now you have to connect it to the AIS 4G Pocket device. Puppy has various ways to connect to WiFi of your pocket router device normally involving a scan of those in the locality, selecting one (your pocket device), choosing WPA2, entering the password, getting a connection and saving the details for future use. Can you do this task?

[Phet-Thailand]

Attention: peterw

I apologize for the delay in replying, but had activities at the local orphanage that have kept me somewhat busy with preparations for the holidays . My Slacko 7 is a 32-bit version. Following your instructions, the 2nd time I entered dmesg, I saw at the end of it report the following:

usb 1-8: USB disconnect, device number 6
usb 1-8: new high-speed USB device number 7 using ehci-psi
usb 1-8: New USB device found, idVendor=0cf3, idProduct=9271
usb 1-8: New USB strings: Mfr=16, Product=32, SerialNumber=48
usb 1-8: Product: USB2.0 WLAN
usb 1-8: Manufacturer: ATHEROS
usb 1-8: SerialNumber: 12345

I then connected the AIS 4G Pocket WiFi. Selected Frisbee 2.0 > Wireless Networks. There were check marks in front of "Enable Wireless" and "Connect WiFi Automatically".
But everything else was grayed out. Clicking on the "Change Interface" button presented me with a small window which showed the message "No wireless interfaces found."

I also noted that the TP-LINK wasn't flashing its LED indicating that it was not yet functioning. Xenial 7.5 does turn the TP-LINK on of its own accord allowing me to select Frisbee and connects to the Internet without much assistance from me. I would like Slacko to do likewise if at all possible.

I hope these notes may help you in solving Slacko's inability to connect to the Internet.

[peterw]

It seems that there was a bug in the 32 bit Slacko 7 kernel that caused that atheros chip not to work with it. To find out this I googled the dmesg line, "New USB device found, idVendor=0cf3, idProduct=9271" which lead me to the Archlinux forum which often has useful information: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=256977. Unfortunately, you are stuck unless someone can work out a way to patch that kernel. If you try the 64 bit Slacko it will probably work as I think it uses a later kernel.

[Wiz57]

It seems that there was a bug in the 32 bit Slacko 7 kernel that caused that atheros chip not to work with it. To find out this I googled the dmesg line, "New USB device found, idVendor=0cf3, idProduct=9271" which lead me to the Archlinux forum which often has useful information: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=256977. Unfortunately, you are stuck unless someone can work out a way to patch that kernel. If you try the 64 bit Slacko it will probably work as I think it uses a later kernel.

I had this trouble with Slacko 7 32 bit, as well as one of the 2021 releases of ScPup 32 bit on my old Acer Aspire One with Atheros wifi chip. My solution at the time
was to swap the kernel (vmlinuz) and fdrv from prior ScPup from late 2019. These had the needed Atheros driver/firmware to get wifi operational.
Wiz

[peterw]

Yes. It maybe possible to swap out kernels and Slacko 7 may work.
These days people are not investing huge efforts into developing and maintaining 32 bit Distros as laptops with those CPUs are at least 12 years old. As time goes by useful 32 bit Distros will become rare. It will be best if users accept the inevitable and migrate to 64 bit Distros.
I did try the 32 bit Slacko 7 on a laptop and had the same issues with using the WiFi and on an old vintage 2009 32 bit laptop with an ATHEROS WiFi card it did not recognise it. Awhile ago I actually installed a 32 bit Impish alpha version that had a later kernel and that works OK but it was alpha.

[Phet-Thailand]

Dear Friends,

I am not religiously bound to the Slacko 7.0 I originally downloaded and which has difficulties to connect with the Internet. Many thanks for the recent posts confirming that particular version (32 bit) really did have problems. The several options which have been provided are a bit above what my 79 years could handle.

Consequently, I will dispose of the 32 bit version Slacko and download the new version, both 32 & 64 bit, which apparently includes newer options. I trust that it will work on my aging HP PC which is a 32 bit machine.

Once I have downloaded the newer version and burned it to my new SanDisk Cruzer Blade (32 GB, USB 2.0 Flash Drive) and tried it out, I will certainly return to the Forum to advise all of you who have been so helpful what the latest results are.

Whooppee!! There is indeed light at the end of the tunnel.

N.B. I am, however, most interested in staying with Puppy Linux as it has been touted to be able to read .flg files needed for a project I have of re-cycling an existing thumb which is "write protected' and consequently does not allow me to reformat that particular thumb drive - even after trying all types of tools.

[Phet-Thailand]

Dear and clever Friends! Your recent suggestions have moved us along greatly. The new Slacko 64 bit was able to activate the TP-Link as does the XenialPup. I am attaching a screenshot of what has been accomplished for your review.

Despite Slacko's being to activate the TP-LINK and Frisbee being able to connect to my AIS 4G Pocket WiFi, there remains some difficulty in actually connecting to the Internet. I do hope that the attachment will help you figure what is still not working.

So far, definitely so good. Hopefully the final kinks can be resolved as well. Many thanks for your very positive efforts so far. And I am keep my fingers crossed in order that a 100% solution is arrived at!

Screenshot(2).jpg (156.27 KiB) Viewed 1648 times

[peterw]

Well there is a release of Slacko that should overcome the Wifi issue http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pu ... -22.12.htm

Edit. Downloaded the 32 bit version and with the kernel 5.10.156 the WiFi works on my laptops. It looks a lovely Distro and using the Puppy USB installer it boots on both Legacy BIOS and UEFI computers as well as both 32 bit and 64 bit computers. Very pleasing.

[peterw]

Try www.gmail.com or other web sites