Wireless stopped recognizing my driver and now I can't get online

[Usehername]

Hello,

I'm running PcLinuxOS 2010 and had functional wireless for a few months. Then it stopped working, and from my investigation I learned it wasn't the router or home network.

I ran a diagnostic in Konsole, and apparently it no longer recognizes my driver RT2561/RT61.

I have minimal experience with Linux, so any help would be greatly appreciated! I've spent hours, and though I appreciate the learning-by-tinkering, I need my wireless.

[muungwana]

can you recollect what happened before it stopped working? If did update anything, change anything?

what diagnosis did yo run?
what kernel are you using? open the terminal and type "uname -r" and report your output.

If the wireless card external usb based or internal?

if internal, then run this command "lspci" and give its output
if its external and usb based, then run "lsusb" and give your output.

If you are running a 2.6.33.7 kernel, then first update it to 2.6.38.8, check to see if the problem is still there and we will proceed from there.

[Texstar]

First open a terminal in su root mode and type modprobe rt61pci and it if returns to the prompt without an error, try to delete and configure your network connecting in the PCLinuxOS Control Center. If that works then set the driver to load at boot by adding modprobe rt61pci to your /etc/rc.d/rc.local file or add rt61pci to /etc/modprobe.preload file.

*Note this is for kernel-2.6.38.8*

[Usehername]

Thanks for the replies, muungwana and Texstar.

I am running 2.6.32.12; I lost connection while taking an overload of classes/working and since it was a spare computer (at least it was then!) I left it until summer to fix. I ran the diagnostics suggested on the sticky thread from this forum, aka the same ones suggested by you, muung, before I asked for help. It came back with green OKs until that driver was listed.

I tried updating to the current kernel, but even the cable-in method isn't functioning. It's an internal piece of hardware and it was built by an expert. I know I was mildly tinkering with things when I lost the connection, but since it was several months ago I don't remember any details.

I've backed up everything I care about; would simply reinstalling the OS fix my issue? Or would the driver still be a problem even with a fresh OS?

[ElCuervo]

Thanks for the replies, muungwana and Texstar.

I am running 2.6.32.12; I lost connection while taking an overload of classes/working and since it was a spare computer (at least it was then!) I left it until summer to fix. I ran the diagnostics suggested on the sticky thread from this forum, aka the same ones suggested by you, muung, before I asked for help. It came back with green OKs until that driver was listed.

I tried updating to the current kernel, but even the cable-in method isn't functioning. It's an internal piece of hardware and it was built by an expert. I know I was mildly tinkering with things when I lost the connection, but since it was several months ago I don't remember any details.

I've backed up everything I care about; would simply reinstalling the OS fix my issue? Or would the driver still be a problem even with a fresh OS?

If you can download the latest LiveCD, you should be able to answer those questions by running from it: if everything works okay from CD, it should work alright from the HD, too.

That kernel is quite aged by now, BTW.