Generic Ralink USB Wireless Adapter

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Silversurfer

Generic Ralink USB Wireless Adapter

#1 Post by Silversurfer »

I am a new member and I am absolutely sold on the Linux Puppy OS, for all the obvious reasons. I am on a steep, but enjoyable, learning curve, but I am afraid I have hit a brick wall and was wondering if anybody out there could resolve the problem for me.

Having persuaded a friend to try out Puppy Linux: Slacko Puppy in this case, I volunteered to install the OS for her. Unfortunately, I hit a brick wall with regard to getting the newly imported wireless usb adapter from China to work (it works with WinXP).

Having scoured the forums, it would appear that this is a common problem for this particular adapter, namely:
Vendor=148f ProdID=3070 Rev= 1.01
Manufacturer=Ralink
Product=802.11 n WLAN
SerialNumber=1.0

This adapter has been covered previously by Ejik’s thread on the 21 Jan 2011. However, it was not fully resolved, due to additional problems regarding encryption issues.

I replicated the advice given in the above thread by the driver guru Tempestuous: installed Puppy 5.1 and 5.2, and tried all the rt drivers supplied for kernel 2.6.33.2 and succeeded in the laptop recognizing the adapter, but it could not detect any wireless connections, giving error messages regarding missing WAP configuration folders.

Has anybody resolved this issue? I have the Ralink Linux driver code that came with the adapter, should anybody be kind enough to compile it for me, preferably to the new Slacko 5.5. kernel, although any kernel will be fine.

The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 4100 (Model No. PP01L), with the wifi usb adapter installed via a new 4 usb bus pcmcia adapter (an older wifi adapter work via this).

Any assistance on the matter would be most gratefully accepted.

tytower

#2 Post by tytower »

This might help-Look toward the end of the thread where pemasu came in and did a "pet" for it Something in that got it working but read the whole thread for help.

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=82582

Silversurfer

#3 Post by Silversurfer »

Many thanks for your response tytower, but pemascu’s pet refers to a Realtek dongle , whereas I need a Ralink type driver. However, as you advised, I read your post and thread with great interest; it has certainly given me some new ideas, including possibly trying to compile my own driver.

Again thank you for your input.

Silversurfer

#4 Post by Silversurfer »

Here, are some of the error messages which I have obtained from trying to detect wireless networks using the above adapter:-

Error-could not find the wpa_supplicant configuration file: /etc/network-wizard/wireless/wpa_profiles/.WPA.conf

Wpa_supplicant Status:
-------------------------------------------------
Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory
------------------------------------------------

wlan0 Ralink STA ESSID:"" Nickname:"RT2870STA"
Mode:Auto Frequency=2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:1 Mb/s
RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Link Quality=10/100 Signal level:0 dBm Noise level:-97 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:25:22:3E:85:F5
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:775 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:53176 (51.9 KiB)

kattman
Posts: 87
Joined: Fri 11 Jul 2008, 21:54

#5 Post by kattman »

You need the firmware "rt2870.bin"!
Put the attach file in " /lib/firmware " unplug and replug the adapter and surf!

the module your usb device is rt2800usb! its in your puppy but not the firmware!

You can download it from address: http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=002 ... 9329972239

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#6 Post by tempestuous »

kattman wrote:You need the firmware "rt2870.bin"!
True ... but Slacko already contains that firmware file, it's pointless installing it separately.

Initially this firmware file is located in a pre-installation location; at /lib/modules/all-firmware/rt2x00/lib/firmware/rt2870.bin
but when the kernel module (driver) which requires it, rt2800usb, is first loaded, the firmware is automatically relocated to /lib/firmware

Silversurfer's real problem is that the rt2800usb driver isn't playing properly with his wifi device, which unfortunately is a common problem with this driver.

tytower

#7 Post by tytower »

tempestuous wrote: Silversurfer's real problem is that the rt2800usb driver isn't playing properly with his wifi device, which unfortunately is a common problem with this driver.
And others it seems

kattman
Posts: 87
Joined: Fri 11 Jul 2008, 21:54

#8 Post by kattman »

The RT2870 will work with with the firmware I posted above!

I just booted into slacko with no save file and its works !!!

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#9 Post by tempestuous »

kattman wrote:The RT2870 will work with with the firmware I posted
1) That's good for you, not necessarily good for Silversurfer, unless you both have exactly the same model of wifi device -
Silversurfer (sensibly) revealed his USB device ID as 148f:3070 ...
but we have no idea what device you have, since your haven't revealed such critical information.

2) If you can get your device working by manually placing the rt2870.bin firmware file into /lib/firmware,
that's good, but there's no need to download it - since this file already exists in Slacko. Don't believe me? Have a look at your Slacko filesystem now - you will see it at /lib/modules/all-firmware/rt2x00/lib/firmware/rt2870.bin. Just copy it to the correct location ...

2a) but if Slacko is not relocating this firmware file automatically, you should really report this to the Slacko developer (01micko) since this is a bug - the "pupevent" (udev) process is not doing what it should.

kattman
Posts: 87
Joined: Fri 11 Jul 2008, 21:54

#10 Post by kattman »

I should of said I have the same Chip! I Tested it with my last post, "Slacko"!
\
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 148f:3070

Chili Dog solved his prob
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 170#631170
READ it!

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#11 Post by tempestuous »

kattman wrote:I should of said I have the same Chip!
...
Bus 001 Device 007: ID 148f:3070
Apart from the use of English, that's good.
Your workaround should work for Silversurfer, and my first point above is answered.

My second and third points remain true and relevant.

Silversurfer

#12 Post by Silversurfer »

Thank you all for your input, which is much appreciated.

First of all, I would like to clarify that I initially tries to repeat Ejik’s attempt to enable the adapter, using kernel 2.6.33.2, with Puppy 5.2 (lupu_528). Unfortunately, with no success, although the adapter was recognized by the computer, using tempestuous’ driver compilations for this kernel; I believe it was the st2870 driver, with the st2870STA.dat add on. I then replaced the current rt2870.bin with the new firmware st2780.bin (it’s a larger file?), but still no result regarding detecting wireless connections.

For your information the above adapter is not recognized by the laptop when using the new Slacko Puppy 5.5. I tried overwriting the st2870.bin firmware, but to no effect. I also tried introducing the st2870STA.dat, but again no success.

I have the C code that came with the adapter, would it be worthwhile attempting to compile it, it may have been updated by Ralink?

Any new ideas or advice would be gratefully accepted.

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#13 Post by tempestuous »

Silversurfer wrote:using tempestuous’ driver compilations for this kernel; I believe it was the st2870 driver
If you're happy to use Lucid 5.2.5 or 5.2.8, the correct driver should be rt3070sta from here -
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 360#513360
This is one of the vendor-supplied drivers.
Your USB device ID 148f:3070 is definitely supported by this driver, I just checked now.

tytower

#14 Post by tytower »

I attempted to compile the driver for mine from source but Puppy being a reduced size distro did not appear to have some needed files to compile it properly . It just kept reporting that needed directory was not there see here-Last post
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 2&start=15

Silversurfer

#15 Post by Silversurfer »

Thank you tempestuous and tytower for your posts. However, I am sorry to say that I have had no success. Suffice to say, I have tried every possible permutation of driver and firmware to try to activate a wireless connection, and I am now losing the will to live. I must be doing something wrong, but for the life of me , I cannot see what it is.

To preserve my sanity, I have decided to put the adapter to one side and attempt to purchase one that works with Puppy.

Once again, thank you all for your contributions.

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