Can I use wi-fi in Puppy Linux?

[curious]

[style][/style]I have tried:
Linuxmint-19.1-Cinnamon-64bit.iso on a Lenovo, intel core i5, 2.5GHz, 4GB DDR3 - screen too dark
Linux-lite-3.8-32bit.iso on a Hi-Grade Notino C2200, Pentium M Dothan, 1 GB DDR1, no wi-fi
S15Pup32-22.12-230618.iso on the Notino, no wi-fi
and on Dell Inspiron 8600, Pentium M banias, 512 MB DDR1, no wi-fi

I would like to run linux in RAM alone, booting from CD, ignoring or having no HD, saving to USB flash drives.

Drivers for wi-fi seem to be a common problem. How can I find out which distros have drivers for particular wi-fi components ?
Is there a database or list I can search ?

Are puppy distros designed to be without wi-fi drivers, which users are expected to source themselves ?

I would be grateful for advice. Thanks.

[rcrsn51]

Did you run a recent Puppy on the Lenovo?

Many old laptops have Broadcom wifi. In Puppy, it just needs some firmware.

BTW, if you try to run a modern Puppy on a machine with 1GB RAM or less, you will be disappointed.

[mikewalsh]

@curious :-

I concur with Bill. Broadcom was extremely common with a lot of older machines, to the point where some manufacturers - I'm looking at you, Dell - seemed to have exclusive contracts with them. They're actually quite simple to get going, though Broadcom themselves never produced drivers or firmware that were directly usable under Linux; the source code was always available, but it did need to be compiled. And compiling is a skill not possessed by everybody. I'm a prime example of this.......I make no bones about it. Despite many attempts over the years, my own compiling skills are still atrocious.

It's a skill, like any other, that can be learnt by anyone.......but some are just better able to "speak the lingo"..!

---------------------------------------

As for low-RAM machines.......um; yeah. People tend to forget that, since Puppy is designed, OOTB, to load fully into RAM if sufficient is available, you need to have enough memory for

a ) The OS itself
b ) Any additional software you decide to install, and
c ) Sufficient space to actually do stuff, and for the OS, software AND you, the user to work together in.

It soon adds up.....and with modern dependencies getting heavier as the years go by, a computer that would have happily run a current, up-to-date OS when it was new (say 15 yrs ago?) will struggle a lot with an up-to-date, present-day equivalent. It's the nature of the beast. It's called "progress"..!

I believe the advice, for a good, all-round Puppy experience these days, is around at least the 2 GB mark.

Mike.

[ozsouth]

@curious - Puppy, being minimal, has many major drivers needed & a small firmware subset, but we can usually supply lesser used drivers & firmware. We need to see what wifi adaptor you have & if any firmware is missing. Broadcom is especially difficult.
Would you please run, in a terminal (console) from a puppy:

lspci -nn | grep etwork (that starts with a lower case L & has a 'pipe' symbol in the middle - ususally shift & \ key)
and then run:
dmesg | grep irmware

Please post output here. That will tell the story & enable progress.

As others said, running fully in RAM with just 1gb will be difficult. You'd need an old, small puppy to do that effectively, & that has it's own issues.
You could run partially in ram by using the 'pfix=nocopy' boot parameter. The s15pup32 is possibly the best choice of those you've tried, but if you're like most newbies, who expect a lot of additional software to be available, 32bit bionicpup may suit better. (Use at own risk).
See: https://sourceforge.net/projects/pb-gh- ... se-230729/
We still need to check your wifi/firmware specs as above.

[bigpup]

Being new to Puppy.

Do you know how to get a WIFI connection setup?

[curious]

@ozsouth - Thank you for your advice. It seems that the database I was seeking resides in your head. If you get run over Linux may die.

I no longer have the Lenovo. I have nine laptops that were thrown away - literally. And one I bought for £14, which has XP on it and works fine, including wi-fi. This is an HP nc6220, Pentium M 740 Dothan, 1 GB DDR2 RAM, but I should be able to increase this to 2 GB, or possibly 4 GB if the hardware allows. Running Speccy v1.22.537 in XP Pro SP3 reports: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG.

Booting from a CD made from Puppy S15Pup32-22.12-230618.iso, using default choices, yields:

#lspci -nn | grep etwork
02:04:0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network Connection [8086:4220](rev 05)
#dmesg | grep irmware produced nothing.

The pipe was hard to find - it was on shift hash. The nine free laptops all have problems, but provide a learning environment, and a source of components. I like the Puppy idea of a minimal base to which one adds specific components to make an OS that can run from a CD for a specific task, such as web browsing, or writing or data entry. My work computer, running XP, is never online.

Best wishes, 7th August 2023

[mikewalsh]

@curious /@ozsouth :-

Ah, yes, of course. I forgot this. The Pentium Ms were manufactured, together with either the 855 OR 915M chipsets AND the Intel PRO/Wireless network component, to form what was at the time widely touted as the "Centrino" platform......an all-in-one solution primarily intended for embedded systems.

@curious :-

I don't know if you're aware of this, but the Pentium Ms carry their own "dark secret"(!)

If you have the "Banias" variant, although it's capable of running a PAE kernel, hardware queries insist that it cannot do so. This is because Intel - for reasons best known to themselves - built the thing to deny this information to any system utilities that probed for it. Thus, any Puppy to run on here would either need to be using a non-PAE kernel.....or there IS a 'workaround', which others can help with.

The "Dothan" variant doesn't have this problem, and will run either kernel type quite happily.

-----------------------------

To be frank about the wi-fi issue, if you can bear to 'lose' a USB port then a USB wifi dongle might be much the simplest solution in this case. That would be my recommendation.

These, of course, have the advantage of being usable in ANY machine.

Mike.

[wizard]

@curious

I have a Dell 700m, cpu = Pentium M (Dothan), ram = 2gb running Friendly Bionic32 from here: viewtopic.php?t=5188

It did require editing the grub file: menu.lst.
Here is an example kernel line from my menu.lst:

Code: Select all

kernel /fb32/vmlinuz    psubdir=/fb32 pmedia=atahd pfix=fsck forcepae acpi=off

The part that was added is: forcepae acpi=off

This same edit should apply to your Banias cpu

This computer also has the Intel PRO/Wireless 2915 using the 2200/2915 driver that is working in Friendly Bionic32.

wizard

[bigpup]

@curious

You need to pick one specific computer and talk only about it.

Pick a specific Puppy version and only talk about using it on that computer.

If you want to talk about a different computer.

Start a new topic about it.

It is very hard to follow a topic posts, when the topic is talking about more than one computer, one specific Puppy version, and one specific issue!

Help us all by following this simple request for making a topic!

[ozsouth]

@curious - the ipw220 driver you need for your Pentium M pc is in the puppy you downloaded. However, I recommend you try wizard's (or my earlier) bionicpup suggestion - will run better on your hardware.

[curious]

@ozsouth Thank you for your advice. I am very ignorant about linux basics. So, the driver I need is present in the puppy. How do I set up wi-fi ? Thanks, @curious, 8-8-2023

[rcrsn51]

S15Pup32-22.12-230618.iso on the Notino, no wi-fi
and on Dell Inspiron 8600, Pentium M banias, 512 MB DDR1, no wi-fi

How did you conclude that those setups did not have wifi?

[bigpup]

@ozsouth Thank you for your advice. I am very ignorant about linux basics. So, the driver I need is present in the puppy. How do I set up wi-fi ? Thanks, @curious, 8-8-2023

All Puppy versions have slightly different programs to make a WIFI connection. Mostly what version of the program(s) or maybe one the others do not have.

So need to know the exact specific Puppy version you are trying to use?

However, in general they all will usually have a program listed in the main menu -> Setup....... for doing a network connection. (usually named Internet Connection..........)

Most offer help in the program.

Basic steps are:
If offered type of connection to select. wlan0 is usually WIFI
Scan for available WIFI signals.
Select the one you are providing with your WIFI router.
Maybe also select the security type connection (WPA, WPA2, etc.......)
Enter the password needed to make a connection to your WIFI router.
Select connect.

[curious]

@rcrsn51
You are correct - I should have been more explicit. It was my first posting anywhere in 81 years. By 'no-wi-fi' I meant that I had not achieved working wi-fi and because I was a beginner I could not tell whether this was because of my ignorance, or because of the software, or the hardware. I did not choose the title because I did not know how to input it. A better title would have been:

How can a beginner choose an OS - hardware combination that is already known to work ?

Best wishes @curious, 15th August 2023

[ozsouth]

@curious - 81 - you should fit in well here. We've had 'age polls' occasionally, & many of us are between 60 & 80. Young folk seem to like other distros. Hopefully bigpup's instructions helped you. He is better at explaining things than me.

[curious]

Dear ozsouth,
Thank you for your advice. I have downloaded BionicPup32-19.03-231004.iso and burnt it to a CD.

It boots up ok on my HP Compaq nc6220, 1 GB RAM DDR2, Intel WLAN radio model WM3B2200BG

I hope to use this for wi-fi roaming. Frisbee lists sources, and signal strengths from -40 (strongest) to -84 (weakest). It refuses to connect.
Wi-Fi works ok in XP, so the hardware seems ok.

Frisbee - wpa_supplicant log:
Successfully initialized wpa_supplicant
nl80211: Driver does not support authentication/association or connect commands
nl80211: deinit ifname=eth1 disabled_11b_rates=0
ioctl[SIOCSIWENCODEEXT]: invalid argument (twice)

Any suggestions ? Many thanks . Best wishes. Curious, 2nd November 2023

[norgo]

@curious

#lspci -nn | grep etwork
02:04:0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network Connection [8086:4220](rev 05)

following kernel modules are needed

Code: Select all

ipw2200		( the device and vendor ID of your wifi hardware are listed in module info )
cfg80211	( depends on ipw2200 )
libipw		( depends on ipw2200 )

following firmware files are needed

Code: Select all

ipw2200-bss.fw
ipw2200-sniffer.fw
ipw2200-ibss.fw

open a terminal and type

Code: Select all

lsmod

you should see the 3 kernel modules on terminal output

if not type

Code: Select all

modprobe -v ipw2200
modprobe -v cfg80211
modprobe -v libpw

don't forget to look for the needed firmware file
they are mandatory!

good luck