Could you try restarting networking ('sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart') and see if there is a line that says something like "[ 5169.784764] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): ra0: link is not ready" in the output of dmesg?
I was using the backports driver for a little over a week, and an update ended up breaking it for me after I rebooted. Removing it and going back to the stock driver (the one that probably locks up your PC) will give the same message, but after a while it eventually will associate and give me an IP address. Prior to the update that broke the backports driver the stock one didn't have any problems other than instability. Currently I'm using drivers from the compat-wireless "package" from linuxwireless.org. Thus far the one I've compiled & installed (5/5/2008) has been working fine. Network controller: RaLink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI Wireless driver: rt61pci -- rt61pci fails to locate wireless networks https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/222963 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs