Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[tronkel]

Anyone else having trouble with Ralink rt73usb WIFI module in both Quirky 018 and Lupu 005?

Both of these use the 2.6.33.2 kernel. The older kernel versions were OK with this.

WLAN interface is correctly detected at wlan0 but does not actually connect.

Maybe needs updated firmware.

[raffy]

Lucky for you, as my RT73 has been unusable since 4.3. It works initially then dies.

[Philh]

RT73usb Works ok for me with Quirky018 using WEP on a Belkin device
I used the simple network setup.

[tronkel]

@Philh

Just tried it using WEP instead of WPA.

Still won't authenticate. Router is a Siemens model. The Ralink card using the rt73usb module worked OK with Quirky version 010.

rt73usb is built into the kernel in Quirky 018. I wonder if the firmware though is compatible with this kernel version.

Thanks for the info anyways.

Best regards

Tronkel

[BarryK]

[BarryK]

This url has links to firmware:
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/rt73usb

When the module loads, /var/log/messages usually has information about what firmware was loaded or attempted to load, so you can look at this file and see if required firmware is missing.

[BarryK]

Firmware pkgs from debian:

http://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=firmware-ralink

[BarryK]

if in doubt, just bung lots of firmware into /lib/firmware, then if it works, examine /var/log/messages to see what one got chosen.

[tronkel]

@Barry

The Debian link you supplied for the rt73usb firmware worked OK.
Simply clicked on the downloaded DEB and the firmware got installed as you into /lib/firmware as would be expected.

Connected straight away no problem.

Does this mean that the rt73usb module included the latest kernel is bugged? - yet it worked for others - so dunno.

So Quirky 018 is now fully up and running for me on this hardware at any rate.

Excellent!

[01micko]

It's a weird one tronkel

I have a cheapy TP-Link usb dongle TL-WN321G using rt73usb and have no problems in Q-018 or lupu-005.

Well at least you found a solution

Cheers

[tronkel]

@01micko

My WLAN usb dongle is also a chinese cheapo. Manufacturer is Airlive. I bought it less than a year ago in the Czech Republic for €20 or so.

It has given good service up till now though. It seems to be having difficulty detecting wireless access points at the first attempt - so that's not good news.

May be time to think about replacing it. The fix that I mentioned in the earlier post also seems to have stopped working (DEB firmware).

So, as you say, it's a weird one.

[BarryK]

tronkel,
which one of those debian links did you choose? (lenny, sid, etc)

[tronkel]

@Barry

I used the sid version. Presumably these packages are compiled for the latest kernel that Debian use.

It certainly worked for a time but then seemed to break again.

I'm doing some experiments with another distro to see if my dongle is at fault or if this problem is linked to Quirky or to the 2.6.33.2 kernel.

I'm also running Quirky 018 on the Asus eeepc901 for the sake of trying different hardware. The Atheros ath5k module seems ok on the eeepc

[tronkel]

Have just tried the rt73usb dongle in Linux Mint using the 2.6.31.16 kernel.

Connected first time automatically. This would appear to eliminate the possibility that the dongle is at fault.

will go back to Quirky now and play further with it.

[tronkel]

LOL the rt73usb dongle is now working on both the asus eepc901 and also on the main system.

All I did was to try the dongle in Linux Mint Helena.
Forgive my ignorance on this - does firmware actually get uploaded to the dongle? If this is the case, then the firmware from Linux Mint has overwitten the old firmware and thereby fixed the problem.

Either that or I could have had a router problem. Mobile broadband has also now started to work as well - it wasn't working at all earlier - no signal from T-mobile. Router is connected to Austria Telekom where the signal is occasionally problematic.

Anyone else getting this in Quirky 018?