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Old 10-08-2003, 07:24 PM   #1
gmoney
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drivers for gigafast wireless card


Hi,

I recently bought a gigafast WF721AE 802.11b wireless card, and it works fine under windows, but I cant seem to locate the drivers online for redhat 9.

Also, I wouldn't know how to install the drivers. Can anyone help me?

thanks!
 
Old 10-20-2003, 06:27 PM   #2
rexford
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see http://acx100.sourceforge.net
 
Old 10-20-2003, 06:50 PM   #3
rexford
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Believe or not, I have one of these cards, and have it working (gasp).

Here's what I did:

go the the acx100 URL above, and download the latest drivers.
Untar them, cd to the directory just created, and run ./Configure (nothing happens, but it might in later cases)

run "make"
go get a snack, or do the next two steps.
cd to the "firmware" directory.
copy from the driver's cd two files:
cp /mnt/cdrom/SMF-etc/TIACXGEN.BIN ./WLANGEN.BIN
cp /mnt/cdrom/SMF-etc/TIACXRMX.BIN ./RADIO0d.BIN
[That's lower-case d, even though the readme says D]

once your make is done, cd back up to the acx100 directory, and type:
insmod -v src/acx100_pci.o firmware_dir=firmware
[stuff happens]
type dmesg to see if it installed correctly. dmesg will have all your kernel messages, plus about a full page of debugging info from the acx100 driver.

Assuming that went OK, cd to the "scripts" directory, edit "start_net" to be more like your network, and run "start_net".

You should now have wlan0 in existance, and up. If you have DHCP, you should have an IP already.
You can do things like run "ifconfig" to check that wlan0 exists, and has an IP (use ifconfig -a if wlan0 doesn't have an IP)

Cheers,
Rex
 
Old 10-21-2003, 02:10 AM   #4
gmoney
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thanks for the info rex..

but as expected, I didn't get everything working. I think I got everything up to editing the start_net script. I am kinda confused as to how i should edit start_net. Also, should I create a file for eth1 in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth1?

one last thing. do I have to run the ./start_net script everytime I want the wireless card to work?

also, heres the output when I run the script:

[root@localhost scripts]# ./start_net
Module successfully inserted.
Setting rate to 11M.
Error for wireless request "Set Bit Rate" (8B20) :
SET failed on device eth1 ; No such device.
Failed.
Setting channel 10.
Error for wireless request "Set Frequency" (8B04) :
SET failed on device eth1 ; No such device.
Failed.
Trying to join or setup ESSID any.
Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) :
SET failed on device eth1 ; No such device.
Failed.
Setting mode to Managed.
Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
SET failed on device eth1 ; No such device.
Failed.
SIOCSIFADDR: No such device
eth1: unknown interface: No such device
SIOCSIFNETMASK: No such device
Interface has been set up successfully.
SIOCSIFMTU: No such device
Error in "/sbin/ifconfig eth1 mtu 576". Bailing...
[root@localhost scripts]#


thanks for all your help!
 
Old 10-21-2003, 10:05 AM   #5
rexford
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I left mine as wlan0--there's no difference btw that and eth1, really, except if you said "use_eth_name=1" in the insmod line.
With the use_eth_name, it became eth1, and you should edit start_net accordingly. Without it, it becomes wlan0. From your error messages, it looks like you should have left it as wlan0.

Rex
 
Old 10-25-2003, 10:31 PM   #6
gmoney
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hi all.....

i am still have problems with my card....this my output when i run ./start_net & ifconfig....it seems like i get an ip, and the card is installed....but i cant ping any addresses...thus meaning i have no network connectivity

[root@localhost scripts]# ./start_net
Module successfully inserted.
Setting rate to 11M.
Setting channel 10.
Trying to join or setup ESSID any.
Setting mode to Managed.
Interface has been set up successfully.
SIOCADDRT: Network is unreachable
[root@localhost scripts]# ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:08:74:04:2B:94
inet addr:192.168.1.102 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:556 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:585 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:242087 (236.4 Kb) TX bytes:85736 (83.7 Kb)
Interrupt:11 Base address:0xec80

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:23 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:23 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1077 (1.0 Kb) TX bytes:1077 (1.0 Kb)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:90:47:06:315
inet addr:192.168.1.103 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:576 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:100
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:11 Base address:0x4800

[root@localhost scripts]#



any ideas?

also, how can i have the script run when i start redhat? rather than having to run it seperately...

one last thing....if i pop the wireless card out...redhat completly freezes up...this happen to anyone else?

thanks a lot
 
Old 10-25-2003, 11:17 PM   #7
cconvey
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route

I'm not sure, but you perhaps should check your routing table (by running /sbin/route).

If you don't have a default gateway that involves your wireless card, I don't think traffic will be routed out via that card, and thus no connectivity.

I don't perfectly understand this, though, so take this with a grain of salt.
 
Old 10-25-2003, 11:32 PM   #8
gmoney
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heres the output for route:

[root@localhost sbin]# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 wlan0
169.254.0.0 * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
127.0.0.0 * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
default 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
[root@localhost sbin]#



looks like you were right...because a gateway is only assignment to eth0...so how do i assign a gateway to wlan0?

thanks
 
Old 10-25-2003, 11:40 PM   #9
cconvey
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route

Well, I think this is part of the solution:
/sbin/route add default gw w.x.y.z

where w.x.y.z is the IP# of your wlan0 interface.


What I don't know, however, is how to successfully remove that entry listing eth0 as your default gateway. I've taken a few stabs at doing that on my Mandrake 9.1 notebook, and never succeeded.

The best I could do is disable eth0 during startup (in ifcfg-eth0), and then reboot. Embarassingly crude, but at least it works.

All the stuff above describes what to do if your system is already up and running.

If you know that the next time you boot, you're going to be using your wlan0 card for networking, I would suggest this:
1. Alter ifcfg-eth0 to disable the interface on startup
2. Alter ifcfg-wlan0 to enable the interface on startup
3. reboot.
 
Old 10-25-2003, 11:47 PM   #10
gmoney
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ok...well, i plan on just using my wireless card permanently....but i would still like to have the option of booting up with eth0 in case something goes wrong with the wireless.....so isnt there a way where redhat can boot both of them...and check to see which one if available...and just take the first?

also...i did a search, and i dont have a ifcfg-wlan0....i have ifcfg-eth0...and i even have ifcfg-eth1...from an old wireless card i borrowed from a friend....he installed the card....and i dont know how he did it....he also took the card back....
 
Old 10-25-2003, 11:52 PM   #11
cconvey
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I'm affraid I can't help you much at this point. To be honest, I don't really understand the relationship betwenn ifcfg-* files, module names, and device names.

On Mandrake 9.1, I think I did something like this:
1. copied ifcfg-eth0 to ifcfg-ath0. (I'm using an Atheros-based card)

2. modified ifcfg-ath0 to have all of my specific settings, such as wireless keys. I may have had to specify the device name, ath0, in there somewhere.

3. Modified modules.conf to give module dependencies, and set up an alias. Don't remember details, I'm affraid.

And that was it. Now upon rebooting, everything works ok.


Regarding having multiple interfaces active at the same time: I sometimes do that, though rarely on purpose. Since both the wifi card, and my Ethernet card, both ultimately connect to my Linksys router, I never care which of those interface is my default gateway - they both work equally well.

HTH,
Christian
 
Old 10-26-2003, 10:59 AM   #12
rexford
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Two interfaces is no problem, but two interfaces to the same network were probably giving route some fits.

You could shut down eth0 first, which would be easiest, or if eth0 is still up when wlan0 comes up:

To remove your default gateway, just do: route del -net default
Then re-add a default gateway. It seems you have both interfaces to the same network, so do:

route add default gw wlan0

to make sure it tries going through wlan0 rather than eth0.
 
Old 10-26-2003, 01:46 PM   #13
gmoney
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ok....so i tried to add the default gateway...but this is what i got:

[root@localhost scripts]# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 wlan0
169.254.0.0 * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
127.0.0.0 * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
default 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
[root@localhost scripts]# route add default gw wlan0
wlan0: Unknown host
[root@localhost scripts]#



also...how can i get the card to boot up with linux? right now, i have to wait to login as root...and then run the ./start_net script...which gives me the output listed a few posts back...thanks
 
Old 10-26-2003, 03:42 PM   #14
rexford
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Sorry, fast typing make for mucho mistako.

put the word "dev" before wlan0 in that route line.

And keep in mind you can always put start_net in your rc.local or the like. If you want the network up before some other services, you will want to read up on the init scripts for your distribution.
 
Old 10-26-2003, 03:49 PM   #15
gmoney
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same deal....i got a different error:

[root@localhost hw3]# route add default gw dev wlan0
dev: Unknown host
You have new mail in /var/spool/mail/root
[root@localhost hw3]# route
Kernel IP routing table
Destination Gateway Genmask Flags Metric Ref Use Iface
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
192.168.1.0 * 255.255.255.0 U 0 0 0 wlan0
169.254.0.0 * 255.255.0.0 U 0 0 0 eth0
127.0.0.0 * 255.0.0.0 U 0 0 0 lo
default 192.168.1.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 eth0
[root@localhost hw3]#

thanks for your help
 
  


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