Several issues -- and some solutions :-)

[enemorales]

Hi,

This is my first post ever in this forum. I have installed Knoppix 3.4 in my hard disk so GNU/Linux is my only SO and my computer is finally MS-Free.

Most of the things are going fine with Knoppix, but I got some problems that may be you could help me with .

1.- When the computer starts, after the lilo booting, I se the penguin but the first messages say something about "devfs" (that it was not mounted). I do not have any idea about what this means. Anything seems to work properly afterwards anyway, but if someone has any idea about it and how to solve, I will really apreciate it.

2.- Wireless card: I have a ipw2100 card in my computer... and it works! The problem is that it does not work EVERY boot. What can I do when knoppix does not configure it properly at startup? Up to the moment I am just rebooting...

3.- Wireless configuraton: Another thing is that my router uses WEP, so I have to use the "su" command and "iwconfig" every time I boot. Is there a way to do it automatically at startup? I have been manipulating some files in /etc/wlan, but they do not seem to work...

Thank you very much in advance...

[probono]

devfs

Here is some very general information about it:
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/~rgooch/linux/docs/devfs.html
Since Knoppix uses a special boot process, the message you see is probably not a real error.

I have to use the "su" command and "iwconfig" every time I boot.

The easiest way will be to put all the commands you are typing into a shell script (/etc/init.d/XXXXX). You can then configure your computer to run the shell script at every boot (in /etc/rcX.d)

Greetings,
probono

[enemorales]

Hi...

Just wanted to say that putting the script in /etc/init.d worked fine. The only thing is that then I used a tool "Sys V-init-Editor" to put the script distinct "run-levels" (I think I guessed the good ones).

I took a look on the website, but just the first paragraphs looked a little intimidating (many known things for me, at lease), so I will try afterwards with more time.

Thank you very much...

Another thing: How can I do to make X to detect my USB modem once it is running? I managed to make it work, but it only does it when it is connected before starting X...

[enemorales]

Here is the script. Who knows... maybe it could be useful for another person. I changed it so it provides the wep key when detects my access point, or disables wep encryption otherwise (for the office).

It is written is perl, since I'm more familiar (not expert) with this languague than shell scripting.

#!/usr/bin/perl

# myaccesspoint.pl
# Looks for my home access point and provides my WEP key if it is found.
# Otherwise, it disables WEP key

# Some "configurations"
# My card device
$card = "eth0";
# access point address
$AP = "xx:xx:xx:xx:xx";
# WEP KEY
$WEP = "yyyyyyyyyyyyyy";

# Checks for the access point
open( CHECK,"iwlist $card scan | grep $AP |" );

if(<CHECK> ) {
  # Provides WEP key if my access point is found
  print STDERR "Configuring network with WEP key\n";
  system "iwconfig $card key $WEP";
} else {
   # Configures wireless network without key if my access point is not found
  print STDERR "Configuring network without WEP\n";
  system "iwconfig $card key off";
}

# Asks for IP (I have DHCP in both places).
print STDERR "Pumping for an IP\n";
system "pump -i $card";