[solved]Swap between onboard wifi network card and USB wifi

[ecco]

Hi,

I am running Linux Mint 17 Xfce on an asus eee 1000ha netbook.

I have an onboard wifi card, which is not working correctly. When it fails, it still connects to my wireless network but i cannot access anything on the network or internet. Other times it just works fine. Issue is in windows and mint.

To solve this problem, I bought a netgear USB wifi receiver.

How do I swap between the onboard wifi card and the USB wifi receiver?

Below the details of my onboard card:

-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
-- Ralink corp. RT2790 Wireless 802.11n 1T/2R PCIe
==> PCI ID = 1814:0781
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"Topdog II"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:0A:EB:13:7A:FF
Bit Rate=90 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=42/70 Signal level=-68 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:1 Invalid misc:81 Missed beacon:0

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:54:38:a8:6c
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:4
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:65536 Metric:1
RX packets:5512 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:5512 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:744249 (744.2 KB) TX bytes:744249 (744.2 KB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:22:43:25:f9:01
inet addr:192.168.0.103 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::222:43ff:fe25:f901/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:990091 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:736503 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:1175047429 (1.1 GB) TX bytes:82124942 (82.1 MB)

-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...
RTNETLINK answers: File exists
-------------------------
* VI. querying nslookup google.com...
Server: 192.168.0.1
Address: 192.168.0.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.35
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.36
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.37
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.38
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.39
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.40
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.41
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.46
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.32
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.33
Name: google.com
Address: 74.125.233.34

[ecco]

bump

[JeremyB]

Is it easy to remove the card from pc? Or can it be disabled in BIOS

On some laptops it can be as simple as removing a piece of plastic from the bottom, removing a screw from the card and disconnecting the antenna. I have 3 that are like that, the other one needs to have the keyboard removed to access the card.

Try

Code: Select all

lsmod

with just the internal and then the module for the internal card could be blacklisted and hope the USB doesn't need that module

[PatH57]

Hi,

you could actually jus insert the new usb wifi and try if it works, the disable the onboard using network manager.
Alas bios or physical removal are safer.

Patrick

[ecco]

Hi,

you could actually jus insert the new usb wifi and try if it works, the disable the onboard using network manager.
Alas bios or physical removal are safer.

Patrick

I prefer to not remove the card - its not difficult, but the performance is better then the USB receiver, so when it works I prefer to use it.

How do I disable the onboard card using the network manager (I presume this is program launched when I click on the wifi indicator in the panel)?

[PatH57]

Hi,



Add the following line to /etc/network/interfaces:

iface wlan0 inet manual

replace wlan0 with yours

NetworManager doesn't manage interfaces configured in the interfaces file. Replace wlan0 with the interface you want to disable, if it's not the name of the built-in interface.

Then restart network manager

Code: Select all

sudo service network-manager restart

or


easy way.

run

Code: Select all

ifconfig

then look at which adapter you want to turn off, in my case wlan0 is my internal wifi and wlan1 is my usb wifi. Then run

Code: Select all

sudo ifconfig wlan0 down

and it will turn of (type ifconfig to check, note that in the network manager the adapter still shows, but it is turned of). To turn it on again:

Code: Select all

sudo ifconfig wlan0 up

[ecco]

Thanks for the help, i will try this when at home later in the day

[ecco]

Hi thanks for the help so far.

I did the following without the USB device connected:

ecco@ecco-1000H ~ $ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:54:38:a8:6c
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:1
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:65536 Metric:1
RX packets:18 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:18 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1286 (1.2 KB) TX bytes:1286 (1.2 KB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:22:43:25:f9:01
inet addr:192.168.0.107 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::222:43ff:fe25:f901/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:147 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:114 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:28970 (28.9 KB) TX bytes:19238 (19.2 KB)

ecco@ecco-1000H ~ $ sudo ifconfig wlan0 down
[sudo] password for ecco:
ecco@ecco-1000H ~ $ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:54:38:a8:6c
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:1
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:65536 Metric:1
RX packets:177 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:177 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:20973 (20.9 KB) TX bytes:20973 (20.9 KB)

I then connected the USB wifi receiver

ecco@ecco-1000H ~ $ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:54:38:a8:6c
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:1
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:65536 Metric:1
RX packets:326 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:326 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:34390 (34.3 KB) TX bytes:34390 (34.3 KB)

wlan1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 04:a1:51:69:99:25
inet addr:192.168.0.103 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::6a1:51ff:fe69:9925/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:63 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:204 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:12083 (12.0 KB) TX bytes:32542 (32.5 KB)

I was not able to connect to the internet. Had to enable the onboard card to post this. Will test some more and post here

[ecco]

Once the onboard card is disabled i click on network manager and i appears i need to authenticate on my network as listed under my USB receiver.

I do this but cannot connect to the internet

[ecco]

i brought the onboard card back up to post the above post. Just to fiddle around i took it down again and tested, now the USB receiver is working

but i am not sure what happend to get it working

ecco@ecco-1000H ~ $ sudo ifconfig wlan0 down
ecco@ecco-1000H ~ $ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:54:38:a8:6c
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:1
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:65536 Metric:1
RX packets:669 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:669 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:61811 (61.8 KB) TX bytes:61811 (61.8 KB)

wlan1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 04:a1:51:69:99:25
inet addr:192.168.0.103 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::6a1:51ff:fe69:9925/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:583 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:573 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:250063 (250.0 KB) TX bytes:104757 (104.7 KB)

tested again and it work so just to be sure i ran the below:

ecco@ecco-1000H ~ $ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:23:54:38:a8:6c
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:1
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:65536 Metric:1
RX packets:689 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:689 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:63611 (63.6 KB) TX bytes:63611 (63.6 KB)

wlan1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 04:a1:51:69:99:25
inet addr:192.168.0.103 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::6a1:51ff:fe69:9925/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:643 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:660 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:268977 (268.9 KB) TX bytes:114745 (114.7 KB)

ecco@ecco-1000H ~ $

[PatH57]

well it is not an exact science and sometimes synching buffers and caches is not instant.
THe fact you rebooted gave it just the quick it needed.
Hope it will work.

[ecco]

When i rebooted, both the devices come up. Is that normal?

[PatH57]

yes

so you have the choice, if you want to permanently disbale, bios or blacklist the driver but then you have to reverse this and reboot to get it to work again...

[ecco]

yes

so you have the choice, if you want to permanently disbale, bios or blacklist the driver but then you have to reverse this and reboot to get it to work again...

I cannot successfully replicate getting the USB receiver to work with ifconfig.

I went the bios route (forgot to try that) and it appears, Linux is still starting the onboard device up despite disabling it in the bios - i dont know. I disabled it twice from the bios and still shows active with ifconfig.

So now onto the last suggestion - black listing the driver. I guess i do that via the instructions as per your post below:

Add the following line to /etc/network/interfaces:

iface wlan0 inet manual
replace wlan0 with yours

Or is there a different way?

[PatH57]

what happens if you use the switch to disable it (if I remember it is Fn+F2) but you can check on asus.

[ecco]

what happens if you use the switch to disable it (if I remember it is Fn+F2) but you can check on asus.

The switch kills the USB device and the onboard card.

Add the following line to /etc/network/interfaces:

iface wlan0 inet manual

The above change to the interfaces file seems to have done the trick. but as you mention, this requires a reboot. I can live with that

Thank you PatH57 for your patience with me and help. Your assistance really goes a long way to making linux more accessible to newbies like myself.

I really wonder why the USB device just refuses to work while the onboard device is not blacklisted?

[PatH57]

nice to see it wroked.
networkmanager is not the best tool but the only one installed by default.

You should check the web there are alternatives. that may work better. search for wicd