This works through project evil (the NDIS wrapper programs) on FreeBSD.
It requires that you take the sys and inf file from the cdrom and build a kernel module with them. You also need to build the ndis kernel module. Once built and loaded, the module recognizes the card perfectly and things work wonderfully.
I am currently using it to submit this report in a class.
This card is not plug and play (that is for sure) but it isn't not impossible to install. In fact, it's easier than I thought it would be. The drivers are not open source -- which is why you use the windows drivers thanks to the ndis project.
Overall, I am very happy with this card. I paid $50.00 but got a $20.00 rebate so, in the end, it will cost me $30.00 and it is well worth the price.
Would you recommend the product? no | Price you paid?: $50.00 | Rating: 1
Kernel (uname -r):
2.6.11
Distribution:
knoppix/debian
NOTE: This card has a new flavor, the WG511v2. Various internet posts confirm that different WG511v2 cards can have different chipsets. If you get lucky and get a card reported as Prism54 in your lspci, you can use the native linux drivers as reported above.
If your card is reported as a 'Ethernet Controller: Marvell Technology Group' in the output of the 'lspci' command, you are out of luck.
Of course, I am sure that you can use ndiswrapper to get the card working under linux, but that doesn't count as a native linux driver.
Also, I believe there is a version of this card that uses a broadcom chipset, so use it at your own risk.
Would you recommend the product? yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10
Kernel (uname -r):
2.6.8-2-386
Distribution:
Debian Sarge(stable)
I have a Netgear WG511 v1 PCMCIA card and noticed that Knoppix 4.0 Live-CD version works well with this card. So I just copied all of the files in /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware on the Knoppix CD to my hard drive
Just boot into Knoppix, mount your hard drive, for me this was /mnt/hda1 and copied all the files from /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware to /mnt/hda1/usr/lib/hotplug/firmware and problem solved. I am using Debian stable, sarge running the 2.6.8 kernel because of the Prism54 support.
Would you recommend the product? yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 8
Kernel (uname -r):
2.6.18-4-i686
Distribution:
Debian 4.0 "Etch"
It would be great if the firmware were already in the kernel, or if an open source one were written, but the actual setup really isn't all that hard. I had my "ISL3890" form my other setups, placed it in /usr/hotplug/firmware and rebooted.
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