help requested : asus usb wifi adapter in Helena Main

[colossus75]

Hi there,

I have an Asus WL-160N USB wifi adapter that I am trying to get working with Linux Mint 8 Helena Main Edition.
I have an IBM Thinkpad R51 1829 KCF that my Helena is multi-booting from. I am trying to implement the USB adapter after-the-install. Since there are times I go to wifi cafes that support N and I like to try and make use of the N speed/range.

When I plug in my WL-160N to my thinkpad, Helena "sees" it, gives it "WLANx" and that's about all I can do with it. My internal intel wifi chipset which is designated as "eth1" I can not seem to turn off or switch over to the Asus wifi USB adapter. I tried changing it in WICD..but not good results..I get response from the adapter for like 5 seconds or so then it drops out..and I can't connect to anything.

When I run lsusb -v this is what I get :
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0b05:1731 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. ASUS 802.11n Network Adapter
Device Descriptor:
bLength 18
bDescriptorType 1
bcdUSB 2.00
bDeviceClass 0 (Defined at Interface level)
bDeviceSubClass 0
bDeviceProtocol 0
bMaxPacketSize0 64
idVendor 0x0b05 ASUSTek Computer, Inc.
idProduct 0x1731 ASUS 802.11n Network Adapter
bcdDevice 0.01
iManufacturer 1
iProduct 2
iSerial 0
bNumConfigurations 1
Configuration Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 2
wTotalLength 67
bNumInterfaces 1
bConfigurationValue 1
iConfiguration 0
bmAttributes 0x80
(Bus Powered)
MaxPower 4mA
Interface Descriptor:
bLength 9
bDescriptorType 4
bInterfaceNumber 0
bAlternateSetting 0
bNumEndpoints 7
bInterfaceClass 255 Vendor Specific Class
bInterfaceSubClass 255 Vendor Specific Subclass
bInterfaceProtocol 255 Vendor Specific Protocol
iInterface 3
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x81 EP 1 IN
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x01 EP 1 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x02 EP 2 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x03 EP 3 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x04 EP 4 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x05 EP 5 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
Endpoint Descriptor:
bLength 7
bDescriptorType 5
bEndpointAddress 0x06 EP 6 OUT
bmAttributes 2
Transfer Type Bulk
Synch Type None
Usage Type Data
wMaxPacketSize 0x0200 1x 512 bytes
bInterval 0
can't get device qualifier: Operation not permitted
can't get debug descriptor: Operation not permitted
cannot read device status, Operation not permitted (1)

I'm not quite sure how to interpret all that is in there.

this is what results I get from iwconfig :

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

irda0 no wireless extensions.

eth1 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"NewValarek"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:23:CD:A3:8C:C0
Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm Sensitivity=8/0
Retry limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=91/100 Signal level=-38 dBm Noise level=-87 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:770 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:109 Missed beacon:5

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan3 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

Any tips on how I am able to at least switch between the internal wifi and the external Asus USB wifi adapter?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks,
colossus75

[Husse]

I have yet not seen a laptop that does not have some sort of on/off switch for the wifi
You have to find that and switch off the internal or use it
Does the internal wifi work? You are not clear on that

[colossus75]

I have yet not seen a laptop that does not have some sort of on/off switch for the wifi
You have to find that and switch off the internal or use it
Does the internal wifi work? You are not clear on that

There is a switch, for my thinkpad..but when I have the internal running and the Asus USB wifi plugged in..and I turn off..it shuts them both down. The internal wifi works though.