CentOS - Jul 2011 - Wireless Interface Does Not Connect Automatically At StartUp

I have recently installed CentOS 6 on a system with  a Realtek 8180L
wireless card. The wireless card is detected properly and uses the
rtl8180 driver. But it connects to our wireless network only after
logging to the Desktop Environment (GNOME) and using the Network
Manager Applet. In order to make the wireless card connect to the
network automatically at system start up, I edited the Connection
using the Network Manager Applet and checked "Connect Automatically"
and "Available to all users" options.  However, while booting the
system, the following error message is displayed when the wireless
network interface is brought up.

Device does not seem to be present, delaying initialization

But as soon as a user logs on to the Desktop, he can connect to the
network using the NM Applet.

I have also toggled between using DHCP and Static IP Address for the
the wireless card but it makes no difference. The SSID is not being
broadcast and the Wireless Access Point / Router uses WPA-PSK.

TIA,
-- 
Manish Kathuria

Hi Manish;

I've never tried NM during boot. (Personally, I dislike NM at all.)
You might find a system similar to this to be more of your liking:

http://wiki.centos.org/HowTos/Laptops/WpaSupplicant

I use this in place of my CentOS 6 backup server, which has an
rt2500pci card in it--which, by the way, is a horrible shoddy card
that I do not recommend. It doesn't play nice with Netgear APs. But I
digress.

CentOS 6 appears to have made some changes to the above document. What
I've discovered is:

1. You don't need to edit ifup-wireless.
2. You don't need to edit ifconfig-* (although one should be
created--I can post mine if it'll help you.)
3. All you need in /etc/rc.local is an 'ifup wlan0' line.
4. You DO need to edit /etc/sysconfig/wpa_supplicant and add the
interface of your wireless card to the options there (example:
-iwlan0).
5. wpa_supplicant should be ENABLED on boot.

I also found out that I actually have editing rights on that page, so
I'll post my experiences in the next day or so. I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Cody Jackson


On 7/18/11, Manish Kathuria <mkathuria at tuxtechnologies.co.in>
wrote:
> I have recently installed CentOS 6 on a system with  a Realtek 8180L
> wireless card. The wireless card is detected properly and uses the
> rtl8180 driver. But it connects to our wireless network only after
> logging to the Desktop Environment (GNOME) and using the Network
> Manager Applet. In order to make the wireless card connect to the
> network automatically at system start up, I edited the Connection
> using the Network Manager Applet and checked "Connect
Automatically"
> and "Available to all users" options.  However, while booting the
> system, the following error message is displayed when the wireless
> network interface is brought up.
>
> Device does not seem to be present, delaying initialization
>
> But as soon as a user logs on to the Desktop, he can connect to the
> network using the NM Applet.
>
> I have also toggled between using DHCP and Static IP Address for the
> the wireless card but it makes no difference. The SSID is not being
> broadcast and the Wireless Access Point / Router uses WPA-PSK.
>
> TIA,
> --
> Manish Kathuria
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> CentOS at centos.org
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>