Are you running these commands as root? If you arent, then that could produce that problem.
I booted my notebook with the latest KNOPPIX CD (5.1.1). My wireless cardbus adapter is Linksys WPC54G V3.
The iwconfig shows that my wireless is at eth0. The lsmod shows that the module bcm43xx are loaded.
However, when I do "iwconfig eth0 essid xxxxx channel n". I got the following error:
Then I think this module is not good. I should unloaded it and use ndiswrapper with Windows driver. When I use "modprobe -r bcm43xx", I got the following error:Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) : SET failed on device eth0 ; Operation not permitted.
Ok, I am not permitted to do anything.FATAL: Error removing bcm43xx (/lib/modules/2.6.19/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/bcm43xx/bcm43xx.ko): Operation not permitted
By the way, I had to use "boot: knoppix nodma" during boot because I also had the famous problem that the booting stop at "Looking for CD in:/dev/hda".
Any suggestion to make my wireless work ? Please kindly avoid re-compiling. I am very new to Linux.
Thank you.
PS: I am posting another problem on Ralink/D-Link wireless USB on the PC.
Are you running these commands as root? If you arent, then that could produce that problem.
I tried it again. It works ok, use ndiswrapper with Windows driver.
I really do not remember whether I did it as a root or not last time. So, I guess it might be as gebman suggested.
Still one strange thing. This time my wireless is mounted as eth1, last time was eth0. Not sure what is the logic of hardware checking.

Kingston 32GB 64GB 128GB 256GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Thumb Memory Stick Pen lot
$285.90
SK hynix 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 SDRAM PC4-2133P 288-Pin DIMM HMA41GU7AFR8N-TF
$65.00
Samsung 32GB Total. 1Rx8 PC5-4800B DDR5 4800MHz SODIMM Laptop Memory 2x16gb
$369.00
Dell 16GB PC4-21300 (DDR4-2666) Memory (SNPPWR5TC16G)
$89.99
Lot of 20 Micron 16GB DDR4-3200 ECC RDIMM 2Rx8 MTA18ASF2G72PDZ-3G2R1 320GB
$2399.99
1x64GB Hynix HMAA8GL7MMR4N DDR4 PC4 2133P-LE0-11 4Rx4 ECC LRDIMM Server RAM
$320.00
USB 3.0 Flash Drive 32GB 64GB 128GB Memory Stick Thumb Stick Lot Pack
$826.09
Server Memory: Samsung 32GB 4DRx4 PC4-2133P ECC LRDIMM DDR4 M386A4G40DM0-CPB
$124.95
SMART(Micron)SafeStor 32GB(1X32GB) 1RX4 NN4-3200AA(DDR4) HPE Server Memory
$159.98
Lot of 6 Micron 4GB PC4-2666V-UC0 DDR4 2666MHz RAM MTA4ATF51264AZ-2G6E1 24GB Kit
$110.00