(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

0.7.2 is up

updated to 0.8

A small bugfix thanks to John Doe.

Hi plinej,

I think it is not useful to store wireless profiles on more than one place in puppy. Traditionally this is /etc/WAG/profiles-config. How about reading and writing to that file with the existing function library at /usr/sbin/wag-profiles.sh ?

fudgy

updated by forum member "urban soul" to 0.8.2. His changelog is in the first post.

note: Pwireless 0.8.2 now uses profile-conf as database. Your old profiles are still there. ~/.config/Pwireless However, if you create a new Profile with Pwireless and the name already exists it will be overwritten.

Urban

Just a little problem to mention with Pwireless.
I have iwconfig from Wireless-Tool version 29 (iwconfig -v).
iwconfig wlan0 returns:
...
...
Quality:....
...
...
while Pwireless looks for 'Quality='.
So Quality and Signal/Noise are not shown.

Am I the only one with Quality: instead of Quality= ?

Thanks for the feedback. I will certainly tweak the script to make it work correctly for you.

0.8.3 is up and it should fix your bug report "Plume"

Thank's for me and for newcomers who will appreciate Pwireless works for them too out of the box.

Hello Jason

Would it be possible to add a splash window while Pwireless searches for networks. I start Pwireless, and 'nothing' happens for some seconds.


Sigmund

Sigmund,

are you aware that 0.8.3 and 0.8.2 use the now obsolete../profile-conf as database? In 4.xx series Puppies the new network wizard should fill the gap - it uses a new database format.

However version 0.8.1 uses its own profiles, somewhere in ~/.config/Pwireless if I recall right. In theory it is possible for 4.xx users to switch back to this version. However, I highly recommend storing wireless profile data in only one place. It would be hard to explain to the enduser why data he entered once is not available to the system, but only to one (system-level) utility.

Urban

Hi plinej,

Thanks for creating yet another useful tool!

One problem I run into when I use Puppy (I've used it for many releases now, but I have to admit that I do not use it on a daily basis) is that when I come back, particularly since I started using Wireless Networks, I have trouble figuring out which is the most appropriate Puppy Networking tool to use! (Nice problem, eh?)

If I get hopelessly messed up, somewhere in the deep recesses of my stuff I have a number of topics listed and printed out, and I even have a manual set of steps that I can run and create myself.

It would help me to know if:

1. The Pwireless tool is designed to handle WPA/PSK connections? I had problems with it the other evening when trying out the new 4.1.2 release.

2. What the most appropriate wireless tool is when NOT roaming around - and using a home wireless router?

3. Conversely, what the most appropriate wireless tool is for wireless roaming?

Ultimately, it sure would be nice if most, if not all of the tools worked in most, if not all of the possible scenarios. I know that everyone tends to have their favorites. Over at my friendly MEPIS lovers (many of whom are also fond of Puppy), both SimplyMEPIS and the smaller antiX have THREE wireless configuration tools, mnetworks, wicd, and ceni, and they all work. So I do not mind having more than one tool - variety is the spice of life - in tools and in distributions.

Since Puppy is small and the developments have come from many places, ultimately I do not mind if not everything suits my needs, as long as I can solve my problem. From a usability perspective, it would be nice if the wireless access tools just did the job, regardless of which ones are chosen.

Please forgive my ignorance, since while I have used Puppy often, there can be gaps of weeks, sometimes a few months between uses. My comments are also being sent for two purposes:

1. To improve my understanding on what the appropriate tools are and how to best use them.

2. Politely suggest that the current situation can be confusing to infrequent visitors, such as me, and ways to minimize confusion would be most appreciated.

Thanks so much for the software and the tools. At the end of the day, CLEARLY there are ways to get the interfaces up and running. I am just hoping for a clearer understanding so I can jump in very quickly and get going, because that is why I use Puppy in the first place - to get a very fast, in memory based system that races, especially when simply browsing the Web and doing little else.

masinick wrote:...Please forgive my ignorance...

No, sorry. Would you mind reading the thread you are posting to?

Does someone have a copy of the 0.8.1 version that they can post. I haven't been around on the forums for a while so I apologize for not answering any questions. I've deleted all of my old versions and would like to go back to the original way I stored the profiles since it doesn't work anymore. I also want to apply a couple of other fixes.

nevermind, I see 0.8.1 is in the official repositories along with 0.8.3. I'll do some updates to it soon.

0.8.4 is up and should fix the saved profiles issue and also has a splash screen so you know it's working to build the main gui.

---> i#nclude on line 572
---> #include edit to this form

Corrected typo in line 572 from i#nclude to #include
uploaded petpackage pwireless-0.8.4


Whodo or plinej Can this file be put out to the puppymirrors?
Which persons are in charge/control of placing files in the puppylinux mirrors?

I would like to see this updated pwireless file and updated petget file be put under pet_packages-4 subdirectory. Where new users can download them around the world.
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/di ... ckages-4/


Question: Can the return value of a Failed dhcpcd or dclient or ?? be
used to put an orange,yellow,or pink message reporting DHCP FAILED to get a network dynamic IP and is filling the IP with a generic "go-nowhere" random number
269.154.33.88. Click Retry to run DHCP a 2nd time.

With a little more time, study and reading I might be able to modify the script
to help newbies with a color alert when DHCP FAILED.

This utility is fantastic, and Im glad whodo has seen the wisdom in included it from the top launch menu on puppy 4.2. Three clicks and your online, great!

May add a few suggestions that would improve the useability of this great little app

Would it be possible to add a splash window while Pwireless searches for networks. I start Pwireless, and 'nothing' happens for some seconds

I totally agree, some feedback on what was happening here would be great

Is there a way of showing a signal meter instead of "34/100" or "78/100" in the signal strength column? I dont know if GTK allows for this.

When connecting to a network, could the title of the dialog box read "Connecting", "Attempting connection to the "xxxxx" network..please wait", rather than the "running dhcp to obtain an ip address". I believe this would help the user better understand, in their terms, what was going on. The progress bar indicates whats going on "under the covers" which is a great feature.

When the wireless is connected, I dont think the screen that displays gives the user sufficient confirmation that the operation has actually succeeded. Perhaps


[/quote]Success! You are now connected to the wireless network "ecomoney".

Note: Your "I.P. address" on this network is 192.168.0.3

[ReConnect] [Rescan] [OK]"

(its good practice to put the "ok" button in the bottom right of the dialogue)

The underlying code and seems fine, but attention to these few cosmetics would make it more useful to puppy's intended audience.

Many thanks for your work on this plinej

I'll look into some of your ideas when I get a chance. Thanks for the feedback.

plinej,

1) I fixed the occasional failure of Pwireless 0.8.4 to fully paste the captured wireless info on to the screen upon initial opening. I inserted "sleep 2" to the /usr/sbin/Pwireless file at the end of the section entitled "###Get the wireless device, i.e. atho, wlan0, ra0, etc...". Now the captured info is pasted the first time, everytime, even when I invoke Pwireless from within a shell script.

2) I lose the "second line" of my Profile settings whenever I inadvertently start a second instance of Pwireless. (Probably because of the way the echo calls function.) Is there a way in Linux to deny a second instance of Pwireless?

Very nice program for managing public/private wireless connections...