Salve a tutti, vorrei porre una domanda riguardo un problema che mi sta impedendo di passare definitivamente a debian... allora... ho installato la versione stabile di debian 5 con kernel 2.6.26 e subito dopo l'installazione ho notato che la mia scheda wifi intel 3945 viene riconosciuta ma, dal centro di controllo, è disabilitata... ho cercato, guardando vecchi post, una soluzione ma credo di aver peggiorato le cose.... 
la situazione attuale è che all'avvio del sistema ricevo un messaggio con scritto che il driver per la scheda non è stato caricato... in piu da shell ricevo questi dati ma sinceramente non capisco tanto:
iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
wmaster0 no wireless extensions.
wlan0 IEEE 802.11 ESSID:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=0 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr=2352 B
Encryption key: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
iwlist wlan0 scanning
wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down
dmesg | grep 3945
[ 8.934409] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.26ks
[ 8.934415] iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2008 Intel Corporation
[ 8.934575] iwl3945: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 3945ABG
[ 8.970865] sdb:<6>iwl3945: Tunable channels: 13 802.11bg, 23 802.11a channels
[ 9.109410] phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-3945-rs'
[ 20.530314] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 20.568068] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 20.568068] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 20.568068] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 20.576204] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 20.576274] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 83.795257] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 83.804056] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 83.804056] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 91.577518] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 91.583341] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 91.583425] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 132.632363] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 132.640652] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 132.640652] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 212.512499] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 212.518711] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 212.518711] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 332.736087] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 332.744724] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 332.744724] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 452.918145] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 452.926933] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 452.926933] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 566.885177] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 566.893004] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 566.893004] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 573.120448] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 573.128605] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 573.128605] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 693.236383] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 693.244524] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 693.244524] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 813.325279] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 813.335018] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 813.335018] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 873.192649] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 873.200959] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 873.200959] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 933.537744] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 933.546390] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 933.546390] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 1053.811896] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 1053.820020] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 1053.820020] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
[ 1125.753211] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode
[ 1125.762080] iwl3945: iwlwifi-3945-1.ucode firmware file req failed: Reason -2
[ 1125.762080] iwl3945: Could not read microcode: -2
lsmod | grep 3945
iwl3945 78772 0
firmware_class 6816 2 pcmcia,iwl3945
mac80211 139680 1 iwl3945
cfg80211 21576 2 iwl3945,mac80211
led_class 3908 2 iwl3945,acer_wmi
se puo servire il pc è un acer aspire 5684...
vi ringrazio anticipatamente...
ciao, Paolo
anch'io ho avuto lo stesso problema con il mio laptop Toshiba...
il modulo iwl sembrava non voler funzionare bene, poi ho cambiato repository e provato a reinstallare:
apt-get install --reinstall firmware-iwlwifiadesso: iwlist wlan0 scanning va a buon fine e la rete funziona perfettamente
dal tuo dmesg sembra che il kernel non riesca a caricare il firmware...
questo il mio dmesg | grep 3945:
[ 1594.945988] iwl3945: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection driver for Linux, 1.2.26ks <br />[ 1594.945988] iwl3945: Copyright(c) 2003-2008 Intel Corporation <br />[ 1594.945988] iwl3945: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 3945ABG <br />[ 1595.005988] iwl3945: Tunable channels: 13 802.11bg, 23 802.11a channels <br />[ 1595.005988] phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'iwl-3945-rs' <br />[ 1619.117917] firmware: requesting iwlwifi-3945-1.ucodepoi facendo un confronto con il mio lsmod | grep 3945:
iwl3945 78772 0 <br />firmware_class 6816 1 iwl3945 <br />mac80211 139680 1 iwl3945 <br />led_class 3908 1 iwl3945 <br />cfg80211 21576 2 iwl3945,mac80211vedo che l'unica cosa a differire è led_class dove da te c'è acer_wmi... insomma i moduli ci sono... prova magari a ricaricarli manualmente con:
rmmod iwl3945e
modprobe iwl3945p.s. per gestire le reti sto usando Wicd
Debian GNU/Linux