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Distribution: Red Hat 8.0, Slackware 8.1, Knoppix 3.7, Lunar 1.3, Sorcerer
Posts: 771
Rep:
Linksys Wireless Networking Card WPC11
I'm trying to configure my newly acquired pcmcia wireless card on my RH 7.2 laptop. The following details might help someone identify the problem, I think.
What I tried doing: Downloaded linux-wlan-ng-0.1.10-RPMS.tar.gz . The package had 3 entries under Redhat7.2 as listed here.
kernel-wlan-ng-0.1.10-0rh72_k247.i386.rpm
kernel-wlan-ng-0.1.10-0rh72_k249.i386.rpm
kernel-wlan-ng-0.1.10-0rh72_k249x102.i386.rpm
I tried installing just the second rpm, but it didnt seem to work , so althought it sounds dumb I removed it and installed all 3. So rpm -qa | grep "wlan-ng" now shows all the
3 modules listed above. I then did a /etc/init.d/pcmcia restart
When I boot up, it says "Bringing up interface wlan0 - OK", but when the output of /sbin/ifconfig -a lists only my local-loopback and the ethernet interfaces as shown below.
Both the power and link LEDs light up on the card when I insert it it beeps a single low tone and stay lighted up.
When I try doing insmod prism2_cs I get the following errors.
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol p80211pb_alloc_p80211
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol skb_over_panic_Rf4a098c4
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol softnet_data_Rdff1d3e1
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol p802addr_to_str
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol alloc_skb_R2cc8f355
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol p80211pb_free
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol register_wlandev
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol p80211netdev_rx
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol unregister_wlandev
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol wlan_setup
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol p80211ind_sniff
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o: unresolved symbol wlan_unsetup
/lib/modules/2.4.9-21/pcmcia/prism2_cs.o:
Hint: You are trying to load a module without a GPL compatible license
and it has unresolved symbols. Contact the module supplier for
assistance, only they can help you.
wlancfg show wlan0 says `No such device'.
Here's the relevant part of my system log:May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM cardmgr[1763]: starting, version is 3.1.22
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM cardmgr[1763]: config error, file './wlan-ng.conf' line 2: no function bindings
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM cardmgr[1763]: config error, file './wlan-ng.conf' line 73: syntax error
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM cardmgr[1763]: watching 1 sockets
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM kernel: cs: IO port probe 0x0c00-0x0cff: clean.
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM kernel: cs: IO port probe 0x0100-0x04ff: excluding 0x378-0x37f 0x4d0-0x4d7
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM kernel: cs: IO port probe 0x0a00-0x0aff: clean.
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM cardmgr[1763]: initializing socket 0
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM kernel: cs: memory probe 0xa0000000-0xa0ffffff: clean.
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM cardmgr[1763]: unsupported card in socket 0
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM cardmgr[1763]: product info: "The Linksys Group, Inc.", "Instant Wireless Network PC Card", "ISL37300P", "RevA"
May 27 23:55:52 FLYINGM cardmgr[1763]: manfid: 0x0274, 0x1613 function: 6 (network)
May 28 00:00:52 FLYINGM gconfd (nnair-1077): 5 items remain in the cache after cleaning already-synced items older than 300 seconds
May 28 00:10:52 FLYINGM gconfd (nnair-1077): 1 items remain in the cache after cleaning already-synced items older than 300 seconds
May 28 00:12:31 FLYINGM modprobe: modprobe: Can't locate module all
May 28 00:12:49 FLYINGM modprobe: modprobe: Can't locate module wlan0
/etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.conf line 2 where syslog reported the first syntax error contains:
device "prism2_cs"
class "wlan-ng" module "prism2_cs"
I have this problem as well. I didn't download the RPM package, but instead opted for the newest PRE release. When I finally got the damned thing to compile and install, I got error messages saying that 'prism_2.o could not be located' I did a check and sure enough, it was not at the path it was looking.
I was trying to install this on a new installation of RH 7.3. I had to install the kernel-source SRPMS and had to locate the kernel-pcmcia-cs SRPMS package. The pcmcia-cs package would not install from GNO RPM. I did it manually from a terminal, and all it did was copy some scripts and a tarball to /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES.
When I ran 'make config' for the pcmcia-cs package, and gave it the path to my kernel source, it said it was '2.4.18-3custom'. I then ran 'make config' for the w-lan driver. When I gave it the location of my kernel source, it too said that it would install the driver to a directory called /lib/modules/2.4.18-3custom. This resulted in the error message we both received. Obviously this problem is because we are not working off of a kernel which we compiled ourselves.
I tried it again, this time forcing the correct path for the module. This time, the error messages consisted of unresolved externals, and version inconsistencies.
Yipes, I can't believe I let this thread slip by. First off, the linux-wlan project work is great, interesting, very involved, and a complete nuisance.
The joker that re-wrote the driver for the Lucent/Orinoco/Agere series of cards tweaked his driver to work with the prism2 series as well, of which the wpc11 is one. Is the card v2.5 or 3? If not, then this is very easy, and even if it is, its not that much harder.
Go to Jean's page, who wrote the api for wireless devices under Linux, that the Linux-wlan project doesn't pay any attention to... unlike every other wireless driver out there. Anyway, download the file hermes.conf and copy it into /etc/pcmcia and then restart pcmcia, and since both of you are talking redhat, then it would be with the command:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia restart
Then check "dmesg" to see if the drivers bound to the card. The device name will be ethX, whatever is next in line, so eth1 if you already have an onboard eth device. That wlan0 goop is strictly those jokers.
Afterwards you can bring the card up with "ifconfig" and manipulate the settings of the wireless goop like essid and encryption and mode with "iwconfig". If iwconfig isn't installed, its an RPM on the RedHat CDs called wireless_tools.
There's even a dozen ways to Sunday to automate configuration on card insertion, post back if you need any help.
Do I leave hermes.conf named as is in /etc/pcmcia??
I have the following hardware setup:
Dell Inspiron 8000 running RH7.1
Linksys wpc11 ver.3 (--> BEFW11S4 etherfast/WAP/DSL router)
I started with the 0.1.10 rpm intended for the stock RH7.1 kernel downloaded from 'linux-wlan.com' and made the /etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.opts and /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-wlan0 changes listed in the 'README' file.
...
I might as well have been washing the car or working in the garden as opposed to trying to get the above to work, as every tweek and retry was met with bitter disappointment.
... 2 days of frustration pass ...
Sing halleluiah!! I came across this here thread that recognizes that the wpc11 does not work out of the box with this driver ... I am encouraged. I downloaded and copied the 'hermes.conf' file into /etc/pcmcia as I understood from the above post and:
(1) restarted pcmcia services ... nothing changed, no sign of an new i/f when running /sbin/ifconfig
(2) I then rebooted ... still nothing. My dmesg output shows no sign of 'eth' or 'wlan'.
Any other pointers? Please, keep your streak going and save my day!!
The card will work out of the box with the addition of the hermes.conf file if you change the hermes.conf file to reflect a change in Linksys's versioning system.
Whoops, whoa, okay RedHat 7.1 runs on a kernel where the drivers included, the orinoco_cs series, are too old to have Prism2 support in them, I think, 2.4.7 right? You might want to upgrade kernels and then upgrade the drivers.
At 2.4.10 there was a major re-work of wireless API in the kernel so the newer orinoco drivers may not compile correctly unless you upgrade your kernel. Another guy, nxny, got the V3. to work by changing the information in hermes.conf according tio this thread:
This might seem like an unholy heap of crap to go through, but it sure beats the hell out of the linux-wlan driver goop.
If simply modding the hermes.conf file doesn't do it, you might have to go through upgrading kernels. RH 7.1 is kinda old now, about a year, so you might just want to upgrade distros.
Well, I wish I had better news. To summarize, neither the hermes.conf or kernel upgrade remedied my problem. When running linux, the wpc11 is still a useless wafer sized piece of metal sticking out of the pcmcia slot. I felt I was at a point where I should post what I've done so far to make sure I don't go too far down a long dark road and find myself without a way back.
As a refresher, I started with a stock RH7.1 load running on a Dell Inspiron 8000. My goal is/was to get the wpc11 ver.3 to work on linux as it currently does when I run Win2000 (it's a dual boot win2k/rh7.1 laptop).
The advice given was to (a) doctor the hermes.conf file to include my card and/or (b) upgrade the kernel to a version >= 2.4.10 to take advantage of a more recent driver and wireless API.
Well, I've gone down a couple paths that have not beared any fruit as follows:
Dinking with the hermes.conf:
=============================
First on my stock RH7.1 load I doctored the hermes.conf file as refereneced in http://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ss&pagenumber=3.
Result: Nothing different. The card is not picked up.
Upgrading the kernel (using up2date):
=====================================
Using up2date (redhat network) I did a complete upgrade on RH7.1. This brought me to kernel 2.4.9-34. I also included the modified hermes.conf file.
Result: No change. Card is not recognized. That's not completely true ... there was a change as my mouse stopped working.
Upgrading the kernel (by hand to 2.4.18):
========================================
RH7.1 and RH7.2 don't appear to go higher than a kernel of 2.4.9. Since you said that 2.4.10 was the major rework of the wireless api, the next logical step would be to get at or past 2.4.10. I then proceeded to upgrade the kernel by hand to 2.4.18 (following the kernel HOWTO @ linux.org). Everything was humming along until I rebooted and did an lsmod. There are no loadable modules listed when I do an lsmod. I presume this is not good. Again, I followed the HOWTO which means 'loadable module support' was enabled, and I ran 'make modules' and 'make 'modules_install' after the reboot. There's a new 2..4.18 directory under /lib/modules with stuff in it, but no listing when I run lsmod.
Ultimately I prefer doing things by hand as opposed to RPM, but in this case things didn't work that well. On the 2.4.18 kernel, I didn't bother digging any further (loading a new orinoco_cs driver etc...) cause I didn't feel I had successfully upgraded to a stable load.
This brings up a couple questions:
==================================
(1) Is it possible to upgrade a kernel successfully by hand without being a total guru? I apply my knowledge and follow the instructions, but the *&^%$#@ thing doesn't work.
(2) Do I have to upgrade to RH7.3? If yes, can I do this without purchasing CDs for 50 bucks or waiting for a $10 CD to arrive from 'linuxcentral.com'.
I'm going on a trip from Thurs and was hoping to have the wpc11 working, but I currently have my tail between my legs, have reverted back to the stock RH7.1 load (the mouse works!!), and plan on settling on taking my xircom wireline ethernet card with me (sigh...).
In suggesting all that other crap, I was pretty sure you were going to have to do your own kernel jokey-ing. First off, I never used 7.1, skipped from the buggy as hell 7.0 to the more or less sane 7.2, which I've gotten to work with my WPC (before I smoked it), but the first thing I do is grab the newest kernel and compile that anyway.
With pcmcia modules, you should never have to do an insmod or modprobe, cardmgr needs to do that to bind things properly. First off, the tones: if upon pcmcia start-up or card insertion, the machine beeps twice and noticably the same, then the right module loaded for the job. If it beeps only once, and then there's a low toned bonk, the card failed to match anything in the /etc/pcmcia/config file (the last line of that file tells cardmgr to look for any other file ending in .conf, hence how hermes.conf gets sourced).
The question of the day then is... is RH 7.1 using in-kernel pcmcia? or pcmcia-cs? This might be causing issues.
Using up2date is cool, great toy, for the time I had RH 7.2 on my extra partition it was nifty to have all the updates auto-download. However, I would never let a toy like that touch my kernel or lilo, too much bad mojo.
I recommend taking another shot at getting a hand compiled kernel running, it'll probably take a few shots. Personally I use make menuconfig, so here's what you have to check and where:
Loadable Module Support: Set Kernel Versioning on blah blah blah, check that off... it'll make compiling a module on its own easier later on if you want.
General Set-up: PCMCIA/carbus support: Check everything but tcic, which you won't have unless this laptop is pre-P2.
Network Device Support: (under both of the following):
---Wireless LAN: Hermes Chipset 802.11b support (as modules, might also want to put some other cards in there too) Just check everything that says Hermes to make as a module.
---PCMCIA Network Device Support: PCMCIA Wireless LAN: AT&T Lucent Wavelan Wireless Support.
Then of course anything else you think you might need.
Compiling your own kernel is easy, especially if you're doing it with clean source from Kernel.org; however, getting everything you need compiled into it may take a few tries. At least this isn't the days of 5-6 hour compiles
I'm sending this via a WPC11 with the wlan-ng driver, RH7.3, had never a problem with any version from 6.1 through 7.3.
I installed the tar files, and use the pcmci-cs (not in-kernel) pcmcia drivers.
I tried the other variants but came back to wlan-ng because it works so wonderfully with the APM - I close the lid, machine goes to sleep, wakes up, and goes online right away. I also toggle gracefully between various WEP settings at work and at home, all nice.
Here are the relevant modules... By the way, I think you shouldn't just insmod the prism2 but modprobe it - it needs the p80211 first, that's why you have some unresolved syms.
Try a depmod -a then
modprobe prism2_cs
that will figure out that p80211 is needed, and load it first.
Code:
Module Size Used by Tainted: PF
prism2_cs 50424 1
p80211 11128 1 [prism2_cs]
I have linux-wlan-ng-0.1.8-pre13 and pcmcia-cs-3.1.28, both installed form tar.gz files.
Send a reply if you don't get it to work, we'll see what's wrong.
p.s. I had written a much more elaborate post thanking you for your help etc etc ... and was so involved in my kernel rebuild I rebooted before posting to the thread so this is all I'm writing.
Whenever you compile a new kernel, you should read
/usr/src/linux/Documentation/Changes. This document
lists the requirements for getting your kernel to build
and work correctly. It may be that you need an upgraded
modutils.
Originally posted by finegan The card will work out of the box with the addition of the hermes.conf file if you change the hermes.conf file to reflect a change in Linksys's versioning system.
I was having the same problem as bauld and the others.
So I tried the hermes.conf approach as you suggested...
but hermes.conf didn't have anything in it relating to Linksys, WPC11 or a manfid that correlated!
cardctl ident gave me
Socket 1:
product info: "The Linksys Group, Inc.", "Instant Wireless Network PC Card", "ISL37300P", "RevA"
manfid: 0x0274, 0x1613
function: 6 (network)
so I simply added to the hermes.conf file
card "Linksys WPC11"
manfid 0x0274, 0x1613
bind "orinoco_cs"
and now I get the two beeps when I insert the card, and ifconfig binds an address to it. I haven't checked it's functionality yet, but I just thought you should know that the hermes.conf at the link you gave seems to be missing an entry for the linksys card.
Any suggestions? Is there a better way around my kludging? Couldn't I have simply added an appropriate line in the /etc/pcmcia/config and skipped hermes.conf altogether?
RedHat 7.3 (2.4.18-5 kernel) out of the box (laptop install selected).
Not really, the entirety of RH's, Mandrake's, and I think SuSe's /etc/pcmcia directories are a bit of a kludge as it is. With the move to in-kernel pcmcia, David Hind's package of .conf and .opts files is not necessarily applicable to the newer kernel modules and all of the configuration is in user-space so its not a kernel problem. The major distros have sort of ignored the need to fix a lot of problems and just relied on Hind's package as it stands.
Right now there is technically no way to load the orinoco_cs module without hacking up some .conf file. I don't know why Jean's hermes.conf is missing a Linksys mention, so its probably best to try the one straight from the driver maintainer's site:
(In the future that is, I'm going to just link people straight to your workaround for the most part. What version of the WPC11 was this offhand? v.3?)
Thanks for keeping me up to date man,
You could have just added the entry in /etc/pcmcia/config, but when cardmgr reads that file, the last line in it by default tells it to read anything else with a .conf suffix. It may seem kinda krufty, but the original idea was to be able to build drivers outside of the pcmcia-cs tree and have the apparatus there to keep from having to hand edit a file.
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