Problems with a PCMCIA Wifi Card
 

I am having a problem with a pcmcia wifi networking card and my laptop. While the laptop is off, I insert the card and then turn the laptop on. Linux recognizes the card and it has power. In linux i go and configure the cards wifi settings. I save the changes and then restart the computer. After the restart the pcmcia card had no power, and linux doesnt detect it. I am not sure what is going on here. I am a complete noob with linux. I was reading a linux book about pcmcia cards and there is a comand called cardctl. I figured maybe using this command to jump start the card or somethin. I tried using this command, but the terminal says it doesnt exist. Maybe I am typing it wrong. Can anyone give me pointers please !!!!
Thanks

Pointer # 2.
It generally helps to know what distro so we know what tools are available

ifconfig and iwconfig will help. If it isn't brought up when the system boots, type

ifconfig eth0 up
Now, if this is the second network card, it would be eth1 not eth0.

use iwconfig to set the ESSID and channel.

If you are having more trouble, post the outputs of those but remove the IP address's

It would help to check output to see what happens during the boot time. It seems to me that the module (card driver) is not probed during the startup.

The odds you do not have cardctl installed is not high. Check and you'll see it is there: /sbin/cardctl. You just need to be root to execute it. Can you provide output.

Oscar Rines

I am running Fedora Core 2. While logged in as super user I tried using ifconfig, and i got the following:
bash: ifconfig: command not found.
Next I tried using the cardctl command and I still got:
bash: cardctl: command not found.

That card I am workind with is a Cisco aironet 340 series.

hi ccerino.
the ifconfig/cardctl are not in the search path for exectutable programms by default. simply open ~/.bashrc and add:
export PATH=$PATH:/sbin:/usr/sbin (includes /sbin and /usr/sbin to search path)
after doing so save and open the bash again and ifconfig/cardctl should work without typing the whole path. (btw: when you think you have a programm installed you can also try "whereis <command>", what gives you the path to the programm).

for your main problem: don`t know where the problem is but maybe try using ndiswrapper. this allows you to use the windows- driver for your card with linux: ndiswrapper

hope it helps you solving your problems.

greetings, grimse

I have no clue what I did but it works. I am still wondering why I can use the ifconfig and cardctl while i am in su.

ifconfig and cardctl are in the /sbin directory, which is generally only accessable to the root user.

Ok now i am trying to do this with another laptop(same card). This time the distro is Mandrake 10.1 community. I am doing that same thign i did in Fedora to get the wifi card work, but for some reason the card still has no sign that it has power to ( flashing lights) and linux says that the card isnt present. Any suggestions?

I am trying to give this ndiswrapper a chance, but when i do make install i get this :

[root@ Driver]# make install
make -C driver install
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/ccerinojr/Desktop/Driver/driver'
Can't find kernel sources in /lib/modules/2.6.8.1-10mdk/build;
give the path to kernel sources with KSRC=<path> argument to make
make[1]: *** [prereq_check] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/ccerinojr/Desktop/Driver/driver'
make: *** [install] Error 2

do you have the kernel-source installed correctly?

the installation manual gives a good advise how to handle the installation. maybe take also a look at the distribution specific instructions, or google :). there are some very good howtos about ndiswrapper on the web.

i really dont think this is a driver issue, because it was working fine with linux's auto detect, but once you restart the computer it is almost like the pcmcia is turned off

First, the issue with not being able to find commands with root; I suppose you are using `su` only to switch to root. If so, since this will not read /etc/profile your search paths will not be set properly as the user root. You must do `su -`. Then you will see you have no problems with the commands like ifconfig or cardctl.

Second, can you (as root) issue and post the output Odds are the pcmcia daemon somehow is disabled (though I still think the issue is with the driver.

Oscar Rines

It says that :
pcmcia: 0:off 1: off.
3-5 are on and 6 is off. I dont know if this matters because we are focusing on 0 and 1 .

Carmen

Moved: This thread is more suitable in Wireless Networking and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Just a tip first: whatis command generally can show you what the command is about.
So the result you received shows the run status of pcmcia daemon in different runlevels. When you are running X, you are in runlevel 5. And chkconfig shows 5:on. So far so good.

You say the card is not lit up. I am not pretty sure where to start checking but a few tips :

Do >scanpci -v. Check if your card is there.

What is the model/make of your card? Find it out and check if it is mentioned in /etc/pcmcia/config. If you find you then the card must have a driver loaded.

Check cardctl ident (card inserted). If card is recognized (driver loaded) then you will get something like:
If so, try cardctl insert n (n the number of socket in prev. output. See if the card lights up.

These may help to narrow down the area.

Oscar Rines