OK. If you want to try manual configuration:

http://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/HowToUse

If, as I assume, all the relevant packages are already installed, the above instructions should allow you to establish a wireless connection.

If any package is missing and you don't have any other means for connecting to the internet such as an Ethernet cable, then trying a different distribution, as you suggested, may be the best way to go.

If you really like KDE, you can try the KDE version of Linux Mint (which is essentially Ubuntu pre-configured to work better out of the box):

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1657

If you don't mind the Desktop environment,I would recommend you the regular version of Linux Mint (with Gnome).

There is also a Linux Mint flavour based in Debian (Linux Mint Debian Edition or LMDE) also with Gnome:

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1604

I personally use plain Debian with LXDE, but I wouldn't recommend it if you don't have a working Ethernet connection.

For beginners, I tend to recommend Mind. You can also have a look at:

http://distrowatch.com/search.php?category=Beginners&origin=All&basedon=Debian&notbasedon=None&desktop=All&architecture=All&status=Active

Cheers,

Miro


On Sun, Feb 20, 2011 at 2:28 AM, Gilles Maria-Sube <mgms62@gmail.com> wrote:
2011/2/18 Miro Moman <miromoman@gmail.com>:
> I have never used Kubuntu but everything seems fine to me. Your wireless
> connection is up and running and it can see the avaliable networks.
>
> Now, if you want to automatically connect to any given network you just have
> to configure it. You can do that, either manually (check the Ubuntu
> documentation, but most likely you will need to edit /etc/network/interfaces
> and, as your network is encrypted you will probably also need to do a couple
> of more things), or through your GUI network manager (I ignore what is the
> default in Kubuntu, but probably there is some kind of plasma widget you can
> install and/or add to the panel).

I don't find any usefull widget to add, there is a small icon near the
clock for connections
but there is no option to activate or deactivate any connection, it is
just indicated that
ethernet connection (eth0) and wireless connection (eth1) doesn't
work. After configuration
of eth1 with iwconfig, if I'm typing iwconfig I obtain:

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      unassociated  ESSID:off/any  Nickname:"ipw2100"
         Mode:Managed  Channel=0  Access Point: Not-Associated
         Bit Rate:0 kb/s   Tx-Power:16 dBm
         Retry short limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
         Encryption key:3334-7A65-3435-615A-3433-6262-50   Security mode:open
         Power Management:off
         Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
         Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
         Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

I'm surprised by Nickname:"ipw2100"......

If the Kubuntu widget is not working (I
> have heard that KDE 4.x, x<6, is a bit buggy) and you prefer having some
> kind of GUI to manage your network you can install the Gnome network manager
> or Wicd.

Yes but for that I need internet connection....:D
Ok I think I will leave Kubuntu10.10 at the moment and choose another
version who use either gnome
or a version of KDE less than KDE4...
Thank you for your help
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Miro
>
> On Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 8:44 AM, Gilles Maria-Sube <mgms62@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> 2011/2/17 Laurent Bohnert <lab@plan-net.lu>:
>> >
>> >   Hello,
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Gilles Maria-Sube a écrit :
>> >>
>> >> Hello,
>> >>
>> >> I've recently installed Kubuntu10.10 on a laptop Acer TM660 (rather
>> >> old hardware now), running in 32b
>> >> with a Centrino chip for wireless connection but I didn't find how to
>> >> configure interfaces; in the
>> >> menu to configure the network I was able to put parameters for new
>> >> wireless connection but
>> >> surprisingly there is no option to bind connection with a specific
>> >> interface; thus, after that,
>> >> there is no mean to set up interface as it is not yet configurated;
>> >> command ifconfig -a gives:
>> >>
>> >
>> > do you have a wireless entry inside networkmanager icon near the clock ?
>>
>> No i can't find any networkmanager, I suppose it is not present; many
>> things
>> are absent (like data-base, mysql, etc...) I suppose it is to install
>> by internet...
>>
>> >
>> > for my ubuntu 9.10: I just click on the icon with the left mouse button,
>> > list show me available network mixing ethernet, wifi, 3g, ...
>>
>> That's the gnome version; I'm using KDE's one
>>
>> >
>> >> eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:c0:9f:2e:d9:bf
>> >>         UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
>> >>         Packets reçus:0 erreurs:0 :0 overruns:0 frame:0
>> >>         TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
>> >>         collisions:0 lg file transmission:1000
>> >>         Octets reçus:0 (0.0 B) Octets transmis:0 (0.0 B)
>> >>         Interruption:10
>> >>
>> >> eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:04:23:77:53:2b
>> >>         UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
>> >>         Packets reçus:0 erreurs:0 :0 overruns:0 frame:0
>> >>         TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
>> >>         collisions:0 lg file transmission:1000
>> >>         Octets reçus:0 (0.0 B) Octets transmis:0 (0.0 B)
>> >>         Interruption:10 Adresse de base:0xa000
>> >> Mémoire:e0206000-e0206fff
>> >>
>> >> lo        Link encap:Boucle locale
>> >>         inet adr:127.0.0.1  Masque:255.0.0.0
>> >>         adr inet6: ::1/128 Scope:Hôte
>> >>         UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
>> >>         Packets reçus:116 erreurs:0 :0 overruns:0 frame:0
>> >>         TX packets:116 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
>> >>         collisions:0 lg file transmission:0
>> >>         Octets reçus:8784 (8.7 KB) Octets transmis:8784 (8.7 KB)
>> >>
>> >> and content of file /etc/network/interfaces is only:
>> >>
>> >> auto lo
>> >> iface lo inet loopback
>> >>
>> >> Problem is not solved if i do following instructions:
>> >>
>> >> iwconfig eth1 essid <my network name>
>> >> iwconfig eth1mode Managed
>> >> iwconfig eth1 rate auto
>> >> iwconfig eth1 key <myKey>
>> >>
>> >> Any suggestion(s)?? Thanks in advance
>> >>
>> >
>> > what is the result of:
>> > sudo iwlist eth1 scan
>>
>> it gives:
>>
>> eth1      Scan completed :
>>          Cell 01 - Address: 00:18:39:AB:E0:4C
>>                    ESSID:"correia"
>>                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
>>                    Mode:Master
>>                    Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
>>                    Encryption key:on
>>                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
>>                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 22 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s
>>                              36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
>>                    Quality:50  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
>>                    IE: WPA Version 1
>>                        Group Cipher : TKIP
>>                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
>>                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
>>                    Extra: Last beacon: 1296ms ago
>>          Cell 02 - Address: 00:1F:3F:A4:19:41
>>                    ESSID:"MyWirelessAccess"
>>                    Protocol:IEEE 802.11bg
>>                    Mode:Master
>>                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
>>                    Encryption key:on
>>                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
>>                              11 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s
>>                              48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
>>                    Quality:72  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
>>                    Extra: Last beacon: 684ms ago
>>
>> which is correct: MyWirelessAccess is my network
>>
>> >
>> > if error message like:
>> > eth1   Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down
>> >
>> > sudo ifconfig eth1 up
>>
>> nothing happens, and ping www.yahoo.com gives:
>> ping: unknown host www.yahoo.com
>>
>> no network is available
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >> Regards
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> Lilux-help mailing list
>> >> Lilux-help@lilux.lu
>> >> http://lilux.lu/mailman/listinfo/lilux-help
>> >>
>> >
>> > a+,
>> > Laurent.
>> >
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> Lilux-help mailing list
>> Lilux-help@lilux.lu
>> http://lilux.lu/mailman/listinfo/lilux-help
>
>
>
> --
> http://www.edelmiromoman.eu/
>
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