[CLUE-Tech] Linksys wireless card

[Dan Harris]

I have an older Linksys dot-B card working in my Debian/sid Dell 
Inspiron.  It works pretty well but I can't tell you how many hours I 
wasted messing with kernel and module compilation (and I consider myself 
pretty adept with the linux kernel).  You mentioned it was a version 4 
card, not sure which version mine is, but I'm guessing it's older.  It 
uses the prism2_cs driver.  If yours needs something different, maybe 
some of this will still apply.

Here's some pointers. ( sorry I'm not in a place where I can get the 
related URLs, google is your friend )

1) don't use any Debian package kernel (afaik, they all have pre-built 
pcmcia support in them).  Compile it from source.
2) download the pcmcia-cs source code
3) Compile kernel 2.4.20 from scratch and make sure that you have 
wireless network device support *enabled*.  DO NOT turn on pcmcia 
support in the kernel config ( you will compile this as a module from 
the pcmcia-cs )
4) compile and install the pcmcia-cs files per the README file
5) apt-get install wlan-ng to get the appropriate utilities

This should get you a working kernel and the necessary modules. 

Some places of interest for related files:

/etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng ( this is the binary to control the wlan services.. 
i.e. '/etc/pcmcia wlan-ng start wlan0')
/etc/wlan-ng/wlan.conf ( the important part is towards the bottom where 
you need to 'point to' a config file like 'linksys', that you create 
from the *DEFAULT file)
/etc/wlan-ng/linksys.conf ( this is the file I created to put in specs 
about my network, WEP keys,etc)

NOTE: nwepgen ( i think i got that right ) will *NOT* generate the right 
WEP key based on password!  You need to go to your Linksys config page 
and copy down the key that you have in your WEP settings and type it 
into your linksys.conf ( or whatever you name it ) Default WEP Key 0.  
Note that you must put '-' between every pair of hex numbers or it won't 
work.

To get things up and running, you'll need to:

make sure pcmcia_cs module is loaded via modprobe or /etc/modules
make sure prism2_cs module is loaded..
/etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng start wlan0 ( to start communication with the card )
then ifup wlan0 ( you did add a wlan0 into your /etc/network/interfaces, 
right? )

I've found that although it is 'supported', getting all these pieces to 
play nicely can take up the better part of an evening or two.  Maybe the 
version 4 cards are easier, for your sake I hope so!  Sorry these 
details are a bit on the quick n' dirty side, hopefully there's 
something in here that will get you over the many obstacles I ran into!

Anyway, if others need help with this, I can provide kernel .config 
files to take a look at as well as a few pointers if you get stuck.  
Overall I'm very happy with it but it's nowhere near plug n' play!

-Dan



Dale K. Hawkins wrote:

>Hey all.
>
>First, kudos to a couple of great talks last night.
>
>I am laughing because the second talk seemed especially relevant for
>me.  I am getting ready to setup DSL to my house again.  I have done
>this before and run things at work.
>
>However, this time one of my goals is to have 801.11b access for my
>laptop with the need to leave my main system up and running all the
>time.  So I went on down to Best Buy and bought a Linksys Wireless
>Access Point Router which came with a pcmcia card.  The price after
>rebate was $99.  So I am not worried that I will be losing much should
>the experiment fail.
>
>The router setup is all fairly easy.  I was also pleasantly surprised
>to see various firewall-like options, i.e., port filtering, port
>forwarding etc.  All-in-all, probably enough for a pretty good home
>network.  (Though, one could always drop a custom coyote box between
>the router and ISP).
>
>I am waiting for DSL service to be activated (next week sometime) so I
>cannot say much more at this point regarding the routing functions.
>
>The other part of the saga is just beginning.  I am just beginning to
>try to get the pcmcia to work.  So far I have learned which drivers
>support the card.  Er, I should say which drivers support versions 1
>through 3 of the card.  I apparently have a version 4 card.  I have
>determined the chip to be a realtek 8139.  I have found drivers (as
>modules claiming to be for version 2.4.18 of the kernel -- I have
>2.4.20).  So yesterday I spent most of my time downloading the
>appropriate stock Debian kernel (I have a Knoppix install) and
>headers.  Today I will to get the card to work.
>
>Does anyone have experience with this sort of thing?  Or does anyone
>wish to hear continued progress reports?
>
>-Dale
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>CLUE-Tech mailing list
>Post messages to: CLUE-Tech at clue.denver.co.us
>Unsubscribe or manage your options: http://clue.denver.co.us/mailman/listinfo/clue-tech
>  
>