USB Wireless internet support under Linux

By hornett
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hornett

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Just wondering if anybody has experience with a USB wireless 802.11b (etc) connections with Linux? I'm considering downloading some ISOs but I won't waste my time and bandwidth if somebody knows that it will not work.

Knoppix didn't seem to like it ... but then again it is using kernel 2.4, hopefully the support has improved since then.

PS: The adapter is a Netgear MA 101.

Edit: Drat, drat and triple DRAT! https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...0entry2235166

Why, oh why didn't I search first ... I shouldn't be allowed on teh intarweb when I'm this hungover :pinch:

Edited by hornett
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DaNIsH

Posted
Posted (edited)

If it works in one distro you can bet it will work in another, just maybe not by default.

Read up: http://www.google.com/linux?hl=en&lr=&ie=U...G=Google+Search

Might be best to work out exactly how you'll get it going and store the required files before getting into linux properly.

I'd say the 2.6.x kernel may have support for it from the word go though. I know they've added a fair bit of wireless support.

Found this with a tiny bit of searching as well:

http://atmelwlandriver.sourceforge.net/howto/howto.html

But best to find something as up to date as possible. I'll have a look in the 2.6.7 kernel config and tell you if I see anything to do with your card/its chip.

EDIT #2: You're in luck. The 2.6.7 kernel has a device driver for your card, maybe earlier as well but I only have this to go by.

The Netgear MA101 uses the Atmel AT76C503A chipset by the way, in case you're wondering why that's selected.

Device Drivers --> Networking Support --> Wireless LAN (non-hamradio)

2.6.7r9.jpg

Edited by DaNIsH
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randomnut

Posted
Posted

Chances are, you can get it to work easily, just most will need an update which most distros cant legally put in.

Do you know what chipset is in your adapter? E.g I am using a Belkin adapter using an Atmel chipset and had to download a patch for it to work in linux.

EDIT: sorry didnt read above post. If you have an atmel chipset go to http://atmelwlandriver.soueceforge.net and grab that. Or if you are using SUSE i can throw an RPM your way (easy install).

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hornett

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OK, I don't understand what I have to do to make it work now. I've installed the patch and recompiled making sure the driver was enabled (it was already selected as a module). Booting with my new kernel, the drivers still don't seem to run and I can see no way to get it to recognise the device.

What is the name of the RPM file you have randomnut? I'l try looking for a Fedora 2 version of it and give that a go :)

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DaNIsH

Posted
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in gentoo im not sure if this is relevant with your distro but i would type in the command line

lsmod to see if the module is loaded

if it isnt type:

modprobe (modulename)

Also to make it autoload:

echo "(modulename)" >> /etc/module.autoload.d/kernel-2.6

Community Regular

DaNIsH

Posted
Posted
Thanks for your help, but how do I find the module name? Is there a list somewhere?

Sorry about the run around, I think I may have found your prob:

atmel.gif

Just to verify did you build the driver into the kernel, or as a module? (Module = [M] Built in = [*])

If built in you won't have to load the module.

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randomnut

Posted
Posted (edited)

Actually im pretty sure this rpm isnt distro specific, so give this a shot and see if it works :)

http://thekelleys.org.uk/atmel/atmel-firmware-1.0-1.i386.rpm thats what i used try that :) Just install and it should be good to go :)

Edited by randomnut
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hornett

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OK, well I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing wrong. To be honest I'm a little bit lost with all of this. I've recompiled the kernel so that the correct drivers were definatley included, then I ran the .rpm included above then rebooted. Nothing happens. I expected for Kudzu to mention at startup but it didn't.

I ran the network gui tool and try to add a wireless device but it isn't on the list (the list seems to be hard coded in, since it lists drivers I removed from the kernel). RandomNut, I know you run Suse, but what exactly did you do to get it to work? Perhaps I have missed something simple :/

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randomnut

Posted
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Lol well i have no idea lol. I just saw that the required firmware update was that file, i downloaded and installed the RPM, then rebooted and i was up :)

Although sometimes when ive booted up, I have to unplug and replug the usb cable to get it to work, i dont know why this happens but its not too much of a problem.

But the solution to all your problems: get suse :)

Community Regular

DaNIsH

Posted
Posted (edited)

Ahh, the problems keep on coming.

http://thekelleys.org.uk/atmel/READ-ME.linux-2.6.7 -- States there's a problem with the 2.6.7 driver and requires a patch.

Of course its the most unfriendly "here have a patch" thing I've ever seen.

Do you know how to patch a kernel? The latest kernel snapshot (bk21) contains a user friendly patch to fix the error.

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2....-2.6.7-bk21.bz2

cp /path/to/patch-2.6.7-bk21.bz2 /usr/src/linux
cd /usr/src/linux
patch -p1 patch-2.6.7-bk21.bz2
make menuconfig
make && make modules_install
cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/kernel-2.6.7bk21
cp System.map /boot/System.map-2.6.7bk21
cp .config /boot/config-2.6.7bk21
$EDITOR /boot/grub/grub.conf
shutdown -r now

Should get it going for you. From make * its just a general kernel recompile, then updating the bootloader.

Edited by DaNIsH
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randomnut

Posted
Posted

Hey,

I'm using SUSE 9.1 with kernel 2.6.5-7.95-default.

I had the box set but im sure that if you ask someone will send you the full suse dvd that was sent out in those free novell packs :)

Im not sure if this is the latest kernel or what, but its obviously the latest one worth using its the last one that came down in Yast (update) and they normally have an update up within hours if its needed.

hope it helps :)

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hornett

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Thankyou very much, Danish but I'm actually using 2.6.5. As far as I can tell the drivers are not broken in that release of the kernel.

As for Suse, I have actually ordered that pack, but not recieved it yet. Maybe they will not send them to the UK?

Anyway, here is where I stand at the moment: I have the drivers compiled into the kernel and all the kernel patches for the device I can find on Google but still I can't work out what the issue is. It would be nice if dmesg reported that the firmware wasn't loaded or the driver couldn't be found, but it doesn't. All it tells me is that it has added a new USB device, well great! I knew that much already! ;) Unless of course somebody knows of a way to make it report the logs in more detail?

On a sidenote, I think this highlights one of the my biggest grievances about Linux based operating systems for a casual user - nothing seems to be integrated together. For example - how much easier would this situation be for me if Gnome had popped up a little message to say the device wasn't recognised, or the firmware wasn't available for it - perhaps with some useful information it has probed from the device (chipset, manufacturer, version etc)? But of course it doesn't.

Please don't think I'm just a newbie moaning about how XP is better than Linux though, I'm studying C and C++ at the moment, and I fully intend to support the Open Source scene as much as I can once I have capable skills. :)

Grand Master

markwolfe Veteran

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On a sidenote, I think this highlights one of the my biggest grievances about Linux based operating systems for a casual user - nothing seems to be integrated together. For example - how much easier would this situation be for me if Gnome had popped up a little message to say the device wasn't recognised, or the firmware wasn't available for it - perhaps with some useful information it has probed from the device (chipset, manufacturer, version etc)? But of course it doesn't.

Please don't think I'm just a newbie moaning about how XP is better than Linux though, I'm studying C and C++ at the moment, and I fully intend to support the Open Source scene as much as I can once I have capable skills. :)

You have a pretty good point.

Unfortunately, it can't (to my knowledge) work quite the way you envision it. I don't use Gnome, I use Fluxbox. Other people will use other (or not any) Window Manager.

This detection is done during the bootup process. I believe (and I may be wrong) that things like 'anaconda' and 'hotplug' that get executed on boot are where detection and identification is done. Perhaps changing this process slightly to allow more interaction will work. Or perhaps just dumping detection data to a file and let a Gnome applet process what is written will be more elegant. Some of this data is already written, or can be located in the system. There may be enough to be useful.

If you do elect to work on this as a project, I am sure that many Linux noobs will really appreciate your efforts!

And, back on-topic slightly, to the USB Wireless interface:

I have a Linksys USB WiFi adapter, and the only distro that I installed that recognized & configured it was Lindows 4.5 (now Linspire) from the giveaway they did half a year ago. :o

I might point out that even when I installed XP on it, XP would not use the device with 'no effort'. I had to disconnect the device, remove it from the Device Manager listing, run teh Linksys CD-ROM, then I could plug it in to make it work with XP.

Even the much-maligned Linspire has some advantages that can be hard to find elsewhere.

(for the record, that PC belongs to my 9 year old, and it has been switched to a Knoppix hard drive install) ;)

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hornett

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I might point out that even when I installed XP on it, XP would not use the device with 'no effort'.  I had to disconnect the device, remove it from the Device Manager listing, run teh Linksys CD-ROM, then I could plug it in to make it work with XP.

Even the much-maligned Linspire has some advantages that can be hard to find elsewhere.

Yes, XP was also unable to properly configure this device on it's own. However the manufacturers spoil us with working Windows drivers so it isn't an issue. I honestly think it is amazing that there is this much hardware support when the hardware manufacturers offer so little help.

Some of this data is already written, or can be located in the system. There may be enough to be useful.

Sounds interesting ... I believe I have a good enough grounding of C to be able to implement something like this apart from the GUI, because I've never had a need to learn GUI programming- yet. Maybe this will be the kick up the backside I need to get started. I the meantime, I will continue my search for a solution to my Netgear Woes?i>.

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hornett

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Well, sorry to resurect my thread but I've made some progress :) I finally receieve my Novell package so I've installed Suse9.1 Pro. I've managed to get the device recognised with the rpm that randomnut posted and I can even get a list of the wireless networks available but still I can't get online. ifconfig wlan0 up brings the device up successfully.

I've man'd iwconfig and recorded the information I think will be useful. Hopefully somebody will be able to see what is wrong.

linux:/home/hornett # iwconfig wlan0
wlan0     IEEE 802.11-DS  ESSID:"TW12345678"  Nickname:"802.11"
          Mode:Managed  Channel:6  Access Point: 00:09:5B:57:10:75
          Bit Rate:11Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm
          Retry limit:8   RTS thr=1536 B   Fragment thr=1536 B
          Encryption key:8153-4855-5554-4217-0000-0000-00   Security mode:open
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0/0  Signal level:40/100  Noise level:0/0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

linux:/home/hornett # iwlist wlan0 scanning

wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:09:5B:57:10:75
                    ESSID:"TW12345678"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:6
                    Encryption key:on
                    Quality:0/0  Signal level:17/100  Noise level:0/0
                    Bit Rate:1Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:2Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:5.5Mb/s
                    Bit Rate:11Mb/s

linux:/home/hornett # iwlist wlan0 key
wlan0     2 key sizes : 40, 104bits
          4 keys available :
                [1]: 8153-4855-5554-4217-0000-0000-00 (104 bits)
                [2]: off
                [3]: off
                [4]: off
          Current Transmit Key: [1]
          Security mode:open

It seems wierd that the signal strength is so low, in Windows it is always around 90% and also my key in windows is set as 128 not 104 bit.

Hope somebody can help me out ... it seems so close to working.

Cheers guys :D

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