Unable to locate Wireless Networks for Ralink RT3290[SOLVED

[pavankm]

Hi,
I am using a HP Pavilion machine which uses Ralink RT3290 802.11bgn Wi-Fi Adapter. I have installed LMDE 201303.It does not locate any networks when I use the WIFI.
I have followed the steps given in this link to enable the wireless adapter
http://askubuntu.com/questions/253632/h ... rd-working

How do I use my WIFI ?

Thank you.
Pavan.

[bigj231]

Those answers are for Ubuntu, or the main edition of Mint. They may not work in the Debian edition. You can try using NDISWrapper if it's already installed. You would use it to install the Windows drivers for your card.

Another, better solution (in my opinion) is to buy a different wireless card that works with Linux natively. Then you won't have to fight it again when you reinstall linux or try a different distribution. The Atheros AR9285 is a good option. You can usually find them for less than $10.00 US new. Theoretically, you should be able to find one for about ₹500. eBay is a good place to look, especially for a new OEM pull. Avoid Broadcom and Ralink.

[pavankm]

Thank you bigj231.
I have tried NDISWrapper and it did not work either. If nothing else works, I will go for Atheros AR9285 as you suggested.
Rgds.

[pavankm]

I finally got the Ralink RT3290 working on LMDE and this is what I did. However I do not understand all the implications of this on your LMDE installation so if you want to try this pls. do so at your own risk.

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gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list 

And somewhere in that file, insert the following line:

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deb http://liquorix.net/debian sid main

Now on the terminal run :

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sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install '^liquorix-([^-]+-)?keyring.?'

What I had done upto this stage was basically to install Liquorix and update my Kernel to the latest stable version. But it wasnt necessary.
I now ran

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 sudo aptitude update 

and this was my output

Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing InRelease
Hit http://liquorix.net sid InRelease
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian InRelease
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates InRelease
Hit http://liquorix.net sid/main amd64 Packages
Get: 1 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian Release.gpg [197 B]
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing InRelease
Hit http://liquorix.net sid/main i386 Packages
Get: 2 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian Release [15.6 kB]
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/main amd64 Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/contrib amd64 Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/non-free amd64 Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/main i386 Packages/DiffIndex
Get: 3 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/main amd64 Packages [20.5 kB]
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/contrib i386 Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/non-free i386 Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/contrib Translation-en/DiffIndex
Get: 4 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/upstream amd64 Packages [5,563 B]
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/main Translation-en/DiffIndex
Get: 5 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/import amd64 Packages [63.2 kB]
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/non-free Translation-en/DiffIndex
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/main amd64 Packages
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/contrib amd64 Packages
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/non-free amd64 Packages
Get: 6 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/backport amd64 Packages [20 B]
Ign http://liquorix.net sid/main Translation-en_US
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/main i386 Packages
Get: 7 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/main i386 Packages [20.5 kB]
Ign http://liquorix.net sid/main Translation-en
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/contrib i386 Packages
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/non-free i386 Packages
Get: 8 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/upstream i386 Packages [5,558 B]
Get: 9 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/import i386 Packages [62.8 kB]
Get: 10 http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/backport i386 Packages [20 B]
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/main amd64 Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/non-free amd64 Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/main i386 Packages/DiffIndex
Hit http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/non-free i386 Packages/DiffIndex
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/contrib Translation-en_US
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/contrib Translation-en
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/backport Translation-en_US
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/main Translation-en
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/backport Translation-en
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/non-free Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/import Translation-en_US
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/updates/non-free Translation-en
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/import Translation-en
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/main Translation-en
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/main Translation-en
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/non-free Translation-en_US
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/upstream Translation-en_US
Ign http://lmde-mirror.gwendallebihan.net testing/non-free Translation-en
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com debian/upstream Translation-en
Fetched 194 kB in 21s (9,071 B/s)

I now ran

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sudo aptitude upgrade

and this was the output :

The following packages will be upgraded:
firmware-atheros firmware-bnx2 firmware-bnx2x firmware-brcm80211 firmware-intelwimax firmware-ipw2x00 firmware-ivtv firmware-iwlwifi firmware-libertas
firmware-linux firmware-linux-nonfree firmware-qlogic firmware-realtek
13 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 11.2 MB of archives. After unpacking 342 kB will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] y
Get: 1 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-ipw2x00 all 0.36+nmu2 [524 kB]
Get: 2 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-ivtv all 0.36+nmu2 [137 kB]
Get: 3 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-atheros all 0.36+nmu2 [426 kB]
Get: 4 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-bnx2 all 0.36+nmu2 [316 kB]
Get: 5 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-bnx2x all 0.36+nmu2 [907 kB]
Get: 6 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-brcm80211 all 0.36+nmu2 [55.1 kB]
Get: 7 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-intelwimax all 0.36+nmu2 [2,354 kB]
Get: 8 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-iwlwifi all 0.36+nmu2 [3,578 kB]
Get: 9 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-libertas all 0.36+nmu2 [1,511 kB]
Get: 10 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-linux all 0.36+nmu2 [7,570 B]
Get: 11 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-linux-nonfree all 0.36+nmu2 [682 kB]
Get: 12 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-qlogic all 0.36+nmu2 [526 kB]
Get: 13 http://liquorix.net/debian/ sid/main firmware-realtek all 0.36+nmu2 [206 kB]
Fetched 11.2 MB in 3min 36s (52.0 kB/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
(Reading database ... 169784 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace firmware-ipw2x00 0.36 (using .../firmware-ipw2x00_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-ipw2x00 ...
Preparing to replace firmware-ivtv 0.36 (using .../firmware-ivtv_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-ivtv ...
Preparing to replace firmware-atheros 0.36 (using .../firmware-atheros_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-atheros ...
Preparing to replace firmware-bnx2 0.36 (using .../firmware-bnx2_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-bnx2 ...
Preparing to replace firmware-bnx2x 0.36 (using .../firmware-bnx2x_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-bnx2x ...
Preparing to replace firmware-brcm80211 0.36 (using .../firmware-brcm80211_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-brcm80211 ...
Preparing to replace firmware-intelwimax 0.36 (using .../firmware-intelwimax_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-intelwimax ...
Preparing to replace firmware-iwlwifi 0.36 (using .../firmware-iwlwifi_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-iwlwifi ...
Preparing to replace firmware-libertas 0.36 (using .../firmware-libertas_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-libertas ...
Preparing to replace firmware-linux 0.36 (using .../firmware-linux_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-linux ...
Preparing to replace firmware-linux-nonfree 0.36 (using .../firmware-linux-nonfree_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-linux-nonfree ...
Preparing to replace firmware-qlogic 0.36 (using .../firmware-qlogic_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-qlogic ...
Preparing to replace firmware-realtek 0.36 (using .../firmware-realtek_0.36+nmu2_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement firmware-realtek ...
Setting up firmware-ipw2x00 (0.36+nmu2) ...
Setting up firmware-ivtv (0.36+nmu2) ...
Setting up firmware-atheros (0.36+nmu2) ...
Setting up firmware-bnx2 (0.36+nmu2) ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Setting up firmware-bnx2x (0.36+nmu2) ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Setting up firmware-brcm80211 (0.36+nmu2) ...
Setting up firmware-intelwimax (0.36+nmu2) ...
Setting up firmware-iwlwifi (0.36+nmu2) ...
Setting up firmware-libertas (0.36+nmu2) ...
Setting up firmware-linux-nonfree (0.36+nmu2) ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Setting up firmware-linux (0.36+nmu2) ...
Setting up firmware-qlogic (0.36+nmu2) ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Setting up firmware-realtek (0.36+nmu2) ...
update-initramfs: deferring update (trigger activated)
Processing triggers for initramfs-tools ...
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-4-amd64

Current status: 0 updates [-13].

To check the kernel I now ran

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uname -r

and the output was

3.2.0-4-amd64

[bigj231]

So the liquorix kernel fixed it then? That's good to know. If I recall correctly, it also includes the BFQ I/O scheduler. It seems slightly quicker to me than noop, which was faster than CFQ on my SSD. It also is supposed to have benefits for traditional spinning platter drives as well. You might look into it.

My "limitation" is that those instructions you linked earlier were written for Ubuntu, not Debian. Not all of the stuff you do on Ubuntu will work in Debian, and in several cases it could break your system. The opposite is true as well.

[pavankm]

bigj231:
I don't have the expertise that you have in Linux. After reading your previous posting, I realized that I was myself not sure on what really worked. So I thought I should get more clarity and did some more experimentation . This is what I did -

1. Made a clean install of LMDE 201303. Run the update manager.
2. Add Liquorix to sources.list and install liquorix keyring
3. Run the update manager again and install all new files from liquorix
4. Upon rebooting the PC , I was unable to locate any wireless connections
5. Download Ralik RT3290 driver for LInux from the Mediatech website (_2012_0508_RT3290_Linux_STA_v2.6.0.0.bz2).
6. Then changed the fiename to 2012_0508_RT3290_Linux_STA_v2.6.0.0.tar.bz2 . Extracted DPO_RT3290_LinuxSTA_V2600_20120508 file.
7. From terminal ran commands , make , make install and then update-initramfs -u
8. Upon re booting, wifi still does not read networks.
9. In the file /DPO_RT3290_LinuxSTA_V2600_20120508/OS/Linux , opened config.mk and changed line number 31 to read as HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT=y
10. From terminal ran commands , make , make install and then update-initramfs -u
11. Upon rebooting, wifi is now able to locate networks.

Can you pls, clarify if this is OK ? Or is it better for me to just install Liquorix and update the LMDE kernel ?

Thank you.
Pavan.

[bigj231]

If it works, then you did it correctly. It looks like installing the driver and changing that line fixed it. That's one thing about Linux. There's often hundreds of ways to fix something, and as long as they don't break something else they're all good.

And since you added the Liquorix source, I think you could use their kernel. But if everything works, there's no reason to change something and risk breaking your system. I vote for leaving it alone until something else breaks.

[pavankm]

Thank you bigj231. Have a Good Day.