Reference:
http://smtp.knoppix.net/wiki/Network...ppix_5.3.1_FAQ

I. Native way:
a)
Code:
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$
b) Need to put back b43 and ssb:
Code:
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ sudo modprobe -a ssb
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ sudo modprobe -a b43
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=off   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$
c)
Code:
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:0f:b0:fa:e5:31  
          inet addr:192.168.0.71  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::20f:b0ff:fefa:e531/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:3667 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2071 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:2442530 (2.3 MiB)  TX bytes:293863 (286.9 KiB)
          Interrupt:22 Base address:0xa000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$
* Only the "lo" entry there

d) Become the super user

Code:
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ su
root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix#
e) Setup the ESSID and the channel
Code:
root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix# iwconfig wlan0 essid "my_network" channel "6"
root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix#
f) Check the result
Code:
root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:"my_network"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.437 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Tx-Power=off   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          
root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix#
g) Activate the wlan0
Code:
root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix# ifconfig wlan0 up
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Unknown error 132
root@Microknoppix:/home/knoppix#
* Error message returns

SIOCSIFFLAGS: Unknown error 132
** Native way has BUG?

Suspect Knoppix 5.3.1 DOCS are outdated.

Reply requested, please . . .