HowTo for pcmcia wireless?

Using applications, configuring, problems
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Guest

#21 Post by Guest »

Ndiswrapper does not interface with the pcmcia subsystem, basically it just needs the pcmcia drivers loaded so it can talk to what's on the otherside of the bridge. Most 32bit 'pcmcia' cards are what is know as PC Cards.

I think the command to list the attached pcmcia devices is
#cardctl ident

acutally try
#cardctl --help and it should give you a list of options.

After you load ndiswrapper have a look at the /var/log/syslog or /var/log/messages

eg
# cat /var/log/messages | grep ndis

or

# cat /var/log/syslog | grep ndis

and post that info

If you do a simple modporbe ndiswrapper your wireless interface will be
wlan0.

If you run rc.wirless the wireless interface will be whatever
DEVICE=" "
is ie eth1 wlan0 eth0 and so forth

One thing DO NOT LOAD NDISWRAPPER AND THEN RUN rc.wirless do one or the other

nduanetesh
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Joined: Fri 06 May 2005, 02:36

#22 Post by nduanetesh »

Thanks for the help and info, Bladehunter. I won't be able to get my hands on that 'puter until Saturday night or Sunday morning, though, so I'll post the info found in the log files then.

Thanks agian,

ND

PS. My order of operation had been to:

1. unarchive the files I'd been given to thier proper locations
2. edit the ESSID in wireless.conf (leaving everything else blank means "auto", right?)
3. add the given lines to rc.local
4. (and this is where I might have been going wrong, according to what you've just told me) modprobe ndiswrapper
4.a. receive no interesting output, actually, no output at all
5. reboot. still no internet connection.
6. reboot into XP, come back to forum to post my troubles.

any steps I need to add? anything I'm doing terribly wrong?

nduanetesh
Ultra Super-stud
Posts: 168
Joined: Fri 06 May 2005, 02:36

#23 Post by nduanetesh »

Hi guys,

VERY busy this weekend (helping with a move), but here are the results...

cardctl ident gives the following:

Socket 0:
no product info available

This seems like a very bad sign to me. Seems that the card isn't being detected? or simply cannot be identified by puppy? One light is lighting up, btw...of two.

anyway, for drill I ran

# cat /var/log/messages | grep ndis

and I get

[date and time] syslog.info klogd: ndiswrapper version 1.1 loaded (preempt=yes, smp=no)

and that's it. Thoughts?

Thanks for sticking with me...

ND

Guest

#24 Post by Guest »

hmmmmmm

Try
#cat /proc/pci > pci.txt

and either attach the text file (pci.txt) or cut and paste the contents.....We're looking for any references to the card

Should I assume that the machine in question has 2 pcmcia sockets ?

If so is there any info about socket 1 ?

nduanetesh
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Posts: 168
Joined: Fri 06 May 2005, 02:36

#25 Post by nduanetesh »

Hi Bladehunter,

No, only one pcmcia slot in this little beastie...

I was thinking about trying to talk my girlfriend through booting puppy, running the command, finding the output file, mounting a USB key, copying the file, unmounting the key, and rebooting (all over the phone), but then decided I'd just do it myself Saturday. So, I'll post it Sat night or early Sunday.

Thanks,

ND

BTW, I'm not sure if I ever mentioned this...but it's a Dell Inspiron 5100

nduanetesh
Ultra Super-stud
Posts: 168
Joined: Fri 06 May 2005, 02:36

#26 Post by nduanetesh »

Ok, here is the pci.txt file. The wifi adapter is the last item listed. It's definately there, and seems to be detected with no problems (at least here)...so, any idea where I'm going wrong?

ND

EDIT: The forum won't allow me to upload a file with a txt extension, apparently ("The Extension txt is not allowed"), so here's the important part cut and pasted. If you need any more info from the file, let me know.

Bus 3, device 0, function 0:
Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC (rev 1).
IRQ 11.
Master Capable. No bursts. Min Gnt=10.Max Lat=28.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x20800000 [0x2080ffff].

Guest

#27 Post by Guest »

The most important piece of info is the PCI ID......could you post that up ?

nduanetesh
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Posts: 168
Joined: Fri 06 May 2005, 02:36

#28 Post by nduanetesh »

Ashamed to have to ask, but how do I get it?

I know this is like, linux101.

:oops:

ND

BTW, in case you still need this:
Contents of pci.txt:

PCI devices found:
Bus 0, device 0, function 0:
Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE/PE DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface (rev 3).
Prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xe0000000 [0xe7ffffff].
Bus 0, device 1, function 0:
PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE/PE Host-to-AGP Bridge (rev 3).
Master Capable. Latency=32. Min Gnt=12.
Bus 0, device 29, function 0:
USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0xbf80 [0xbf9f].
Bus 0, device 29, function 1:
USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0xbf40 [0xbf5f].
Bus 0, device 29, function 2:
USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0xbf20 [0xbf3f].
Bus 0, device 29, function 7:
USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB 2.0 EHCI Controller (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xf4fffc00 [0xf4ffffff].
Bus 0, device 30, function 0:
PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801 PCI Bridge (rev 130).
Master Capable. No bursts. Min Gnt=4.
Bus 0, device 31, function 0:
ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) LPC Bridge (rev 2).
Bus 0, device 31, function 1:
IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) UltraATA-100 IDE Controller (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0xbfa0 [0xbfaf].
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x20000000 [0x200003ff].
Bus 0, device 31, function 5:
Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 2).
IRQ 7.
I/O at 0xb800 [0xb8ff].
I/O at 0xbc40 [0xbc7f].
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xf4fff800 [0xf4fff9ff].
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xf4fff400 [0xf4fff4ff].
Bus 0, device 31, function 6:
Modem: Intel Corp. 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0xb400 [0xb4ff].
I/O at 0xb080 [0xb0ff].
Bus 1, device 0, function 0:
VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500] (rev 0).
IRQ 11.
Master Capable. Latency=32. Min Gnt=8.
Prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xe8000000 [0xefffffff].
I/O at 0xc000 [0xc0ff].
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xfcff0000 [0xfcffffff].
Bus 2, device 1, function 0:
Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401 100Base-T (rev 1).
IRQ 7.
Master Capable. Latency=32.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xfaffe000 [0xfaffffff].
Bus 2, device 4, function 0:
CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI4510 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
Master Capable. Latency=168. Max Lat=5.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x20001000 [0x20001fff].
Bus 2, device 4, function 1:
FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments PCI4510 IEEE-1394 Controller (rev 0).
IRQ 11.
Master Capable. Latency=32. Min Gnt=2.Max Lat=4.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xfaffd800 [0xfaffdfff].
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xfaff8000 [0xfaffbfff].
Bus 3, device 0, function 0:
Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC (rev 1).
IRQ 11.
Master Capable. No bursts. Min Gnt=10.Max Lat=28.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x20800000 [0x2080ffff].

Guest

#29 Post by Guest »

#lspci -n will get pci-id



But...The athros chipset is support by madwifi, which is native driver......

nduanetesh
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#30 Post by nduanetesh »

bladehunter wrote:
But...The athros chipset is support by madwifi, which is native driver......
...which means?

I should Just Work(tm)?

...I'm afraid that I'm missing something painfully obvious here, and I'll just feel like an idiot when we find it...

:?

ND

nduanetesh
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Posts: 168
Joined: Fri 06 May 2005, 02:36

#31 Post by nduanetesh »

results of lspci -n

(final item on the output):

3:0.0 168c:0013 (rev 01)

what next?

ND

Guest

#32 Post by Guest »

Ok


Now I just got hold of a dlink dwl-510 which uses the same chipset (atheros)...At the moment I'm running a 2.6.8 kernel on Slackware with the madwifi driver in master mode (ie access point)....All seems to be working fine.Once Barry decides on a kernel version for Puppy 1.0.3 I'll compile the drivers and forward them across. The only problem is that ad-hoc mode is "broken" according to the madwifi site..
So hopefully this will take the dependency away from ndiswrapper for these chips.

BTW in master mode (AP mode) it can also be used to bridge a wireless network to a wired network...

Guest

#33 Post by Guest »

OK just a bit of an update...

Have compiled and successfully loaded and run madwifi driver on 2.4.22 kernel

Downloaded puppy-1.0.3 and will compile and test drivers and post results....Hang in there we'll get you going :D

nduanetesh
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Posts: 168
Joined: Fri 06 May 2005, 02:36

#34 Post by nduanetesh »

Thanks for sticking with me, Bladehunter!

ND

Guest

#35 Post by Guest »

The only problem is that a need crypto option is required for this driver has been left out by Barry......If I compiled a new kernel would that be a problem for you to use ?

I don't know if you have the facilities to remaster with a new kernel

nduanetesh
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Posts: 168
Joined: Fri 06 May 2005, 02:36

#36 Post by nduanetesh »

bladehunter wrote: I don't know if you have the facilities to remaster with a new kernel
"Facilities"? Yes. "Abilities?" Maybe not so much :oops: I can put together a hard drive install on my primary 'puter with plenty of room to grow and work. So hardware and space aren't problems. I've never remastered a puppy before, though, so...it would be murky waters for me.

But I'm willing to give anything a shot, if folks are willing to help me along.

ND

Guest

#37 Post by Guest »

Hey cool, that's the attitude...


Well it's not really a full remaster, just redoing the iso, which can be done from windows, with the the new kernel. I'm pretty sure the instructions are on Barry's site. Well any way if not I can supply the required instructions for you. May take a day or so to get it built and sent off, but real glad to see you haven't let this die. :D

nduanetesh
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#38 Post by nduanetesh »

Glad to see *I* haven't let this die? I think you're the one who deserves a cookie for stick-to-it-iveness. Thanks once again!

ND

Guest

#39 Post by Guest »

OK....are you ready

like really really ready


well those drivers I was talking about....

compiled them remade the initial ramdisk with the drivers (it's now 16MB uncompressed)

booted up with my new kernel

executed

#modprobe ath_pci
#ifconfig ath0 192.168.1.130 up
and as if by magic it connected to my Access point (no encryption or security yet)
and now I'm typing this on Puppy-1.0.3 on my Dell lappy (with neomagic card)
if you would like and if you have a hotmail account that can take large email attachments I can post you the new image.gz and vmlinuz (kernel) to get you card going.
Attachments
ath_pci.tar.gz
driver for you
(157.44 KiB) Downloaded 640 times

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Rhino
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Location: Cincinnati, OH, USA
Contact:

#40 Post by Rhino »

I've been working hard with the same problem. I have an Atheros card, and some distros pick it up, others do not. None have out of the box. My successes have been with those that have the MadWiFi drivers and KDE, such as Slax and PCLinuxOS. I'm still having trouble with getting them to speak with my Wireless hub since I'm using WPA encryption rather than WEP or none at all.

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