Introduction

This page describes how to connect to MUN's wireless network using the ASUS Eee PC running Linux without having to install a new operating system.

As shipped, the Eee can connect to networks using WEP and WPA Personal authentication, but does not appear to support WPA Enterprise out of the box, which is used by MUN's network. Fortunately, the community have produced a workaround to address this problem.

To allow the Eee to connect to MUN's wireless network, you can follow the instructions, at the eeeuser.com wiki. These instructions use the command line extensively to backup/install software and to modify several configuration files. If you are not comfortable using the command line, you can follow the (hopefully) simpler instructions below. These instructions make limited use of the command line to run a script called eee-wpatch.sh that requests your wireless credentials, installs all the necessary software and modifies the configuration files for you.

Disclaimers

Installing WPA Enterprise support using the eee-wpatch.sh script

  1. Using another computer, download the eee-wpatch.sh script and store it on a USB key or SD card.
  2. Boot the Eee PC
  3. Insert the USB Key or SD card.
  4. After a few seconds, the Removable Device dialog box should be displayed automatically.

    removable device

  5. Select Open in File Manager (if it isn't already selected) and click OK to browse the USB Key or SD card using File Manager.
  6. If you have any important files on the Eee, now would be a good opportunity to back them up to the USB key or SD card, just in case the eee-wpatch.sh script encounters problems.
  7. Navigate to the folder containing the eee-wpatch.sh script on the USB key or SD card using File Manager. There may be other files in the folder — that's not a problem.

    eee-wpatch.sh folder

  8. When you are in the folder containing the script, press Ctrl-T to open a console window.

    console window

  9. Type the following command exactly as shown after the prompt character '>' and press Enter.

    sudo sh eee-wpatch.sh

  10. If you haven't done so already, use another computer to register the Eee's MAC (Media Access Control) address with C&C using their Device Authorization Tool (DAT). (The MAC address is displayed by the eee-wpatch.sh script.) You'll need the SSID, username and password to login to the network. When you have this information press y and Enter to start the re-configuration process.

    eee-wpatch.sh started

  11. Provide your SSID, username and password.

    credentials

  12. The script will install updated drivers and modify the appropriate files.

    installing drivers

  13. Reboot the PC

Connecting to MUN's Wireless Network

Once the PC has been restarted, you should be able to connect to MUN's wireless network (if the eee-wpatch.sh script was successful). Whenever you want to connect to the wireless network, only the following steps are required (there's no need to re-run the eee-wpatch.sh script every time you want to connect).

  1. Click the Network icon in the Internet tab.

    Network icon

  2. This brings up the Network Connections dialog box.

    MUN Wireless

  3. Right-click MUN Wireless (eee-wpatch.sh v1.0) and select Connect from the context-menu.

    Connect context menu

  4. An attempt will be made to connect to the wireless network.

    Setting up interface

  5. Be patient, as the authentication can sometimes take a while.

    Connection enabled

  6. Once the connection has been established, you can close the Network Connections dialog box. If a connection wasn't established, see the Notes section below.

Notes

References


Donald Craig (donald@mun.ca)
Last modified: April 16, 2008 19:24:37 NDT
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