This is a basic overview on setting up USB 802.11b/g wireless devices and connecting to wireless networks on the OSWALD.

Setting up the OSWALD:

Step 1: Connecting the USB adapter:

First, verify that your USB wifi adapter is currently supported on the OSWALD, a list of known working adapters can be found here.

Next, connect the USB wifi adapter to one of the USB A ports on the device.

Step 2: Connect to the network.

Option 1: wpa_supplicant manual configuration (preferred):

This is the preferred method for connecting to a network, as it support more types of encryption, and is highly customizable.

/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

Open this file with the text editor of your choice:

nano /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

This file simply contains a list of networks, and the settings for each:

Setup is dependent on your network configuration:

Include these lines at the beginning of the file:

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
ctrl_interface_group=0
ap_scan=1

The following are sample network configurations:

No encryption (such as OSU_access):

network={
ssid="<your_ssid>"
key_mgmt=NONE
}

WEP, hex key

network={
ssid=<your_ssid>"
key_mgmt=NONE
wep_key0=<your_key>
}

WPA-PSK

network={
        ssid="your_ssid"
        proto=WPA
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        pairwise=TKIP
        group=TKIP
        psk="your_password"
}

Once this configuration file is written, wpa_supplicant can be started with the following command:

wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

Make sure wlan0 is the active interface:

ifconfig wlan0 up

If needed, start dhcp on wlan0:

dhcpcd wlan0

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Option 2: Enable Wicd daemon:

The OSWALD can use a network manager called wicd, and to use it, we first have to start the wicd daemon. Type this command into the terminal on the OSWALD:

/etc/init.d/wicd start

This will start the wicd wireless daemon. To have the daemon start automatically on boot use the command:

update-rc.d wicd defaults

Connect to wireless network:

NOTE: Before attempting to connect to OSU_Access, make sure you have registered the mac address of the USB wifi adapter you plan to use. The easiest way is to use the wireless adapter on a computer with a web browser, and follow these instructions. Make sure you register the mac address of the USB adapter, and not a built in adapter.

Method 1: Wicd GUI:

You should now be able to launch the Wicd Network manager under the 'Other' directory on the desktop.

The list of available networks should appear, find your wireless network, and click 'Connect'.

That's it! You should now have network connectivity. NOTE: Currently this method can only be used to connect to unencrypted networks.

Method 2: ncurses interface:

Launch the ncurses Wicd client by typing:

wicd-curses

Navigate to your wireless network using the up/down arrows (up and down on the joystick) and type "C" to connect to the highlighted network.

You can also change advanced settings for each network by highlighting it and pressing the right arrow key (right on the joystick).

If your network has encryption enabled (WEP/WPA/WPA2), enter the configuration menu for the network, and scroll to the bottom of the list. Ensure that the check box labeled "Use Encryption" is checked (press the space bar when it is highlighted if not).

On the next line, specify the type of passphrase/key your network uses, and enter it in the following line. Press Alt+Enter to exit this menu and save changes.

NOTE:

Wicd does not currently set up DNS servers properly, this is a known issue and will be fixed in an upcoming release.