Finally got the wireless working; with the help of the Linux community, driverloader and setting the AP to its default configuration (which is no security at all).

Now I need to know which file/s needs configuration so I can enable WEP. Mandrake 9.1 (2.4)

All assistance is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
tomap

It's been a bit since I used MDK, but I think:
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-ethx
(x being 0, 1, or whatever the number of your wireless interface.)

Is there a "specific" order that the statements need to be in ??

Regards,
tomap

Here's my current file and the proposed (new) file. Do the statements look correct and should it work properly ??

/ect/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth1 (current file)

DEVICE=eth1
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
ONBOOT=yes

the new " ifcfg-eth1 " file (?)

MODE=Managed (or should it be Auto?)
ESSID=abcdefghijk
CHANNEL=0 to 11
RATE=Auto
KEY=00fc63b1ea (for WEP - what about WPA?)
DEVICE=eth1
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
ONBOOT=yes

I pulled the "Mode;ESSID; Channel; Rate; Key" information from the comments in the "ifup-wireless" file.

/ect/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifup-wireless

#!/bin/bash
# Network Interface Configuration System
# Copyright (c) 1996-2002 Red Hat, Inc. all rights reserved.
#
# Based on PCMCIA wireless script by (David Hinds/Jean Tourrilhes)
#
# This software may be freely redistributed under the terms of the GNU
# public license.
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
# Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
#
# Configure wireless network device options. See iwconfig(8) for more info.
# Valid variables:
# MODE: Ad-Hoc, Managed, etc.
# ESSID: Name of the wireless network
# NWID: Name of this machine on the network. Hostname is default
# FREQ: Frequency to operate on. See CHANNEL
# CHANNEL: Numbered frequency to operate on. See FREQ
# SENS: Sensitivity threshold for packet rejection.
# RATE: Transfer rate. Usually one of Auto, 11, 5, 2, or 1.
# KEY: Encryption key for WEP.
# RTS: Explicit RTS handshake. Usually not specified (auto)
# FRAG: Fragmentation threshold to split packets. Usually not specified.
# SPYIPS: List of IP addresses to "spy" on for link performance stats.
# IWCONFIG: Extra parameters to pass directly to IWCONFIG
# IWPRIV: Extra parameters to pass directly to IWPRIV

# Only meant to be called from ifup.

# Mode need to be first : some settings apply only in a specific mode !
if [ -n "$MODE" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE mode $MODE
fi
# This is a bit hackish, but should do the job right...
if [ -n "$ESSID" -o -n "$MODE" ] ; then
NICKNAME=`/bin/hostname`
iwconfig $DEVICE nick "$NICKNAME" >/dev/null 2>&1
fi
# Regular stuff...
if [ -n "$NWID" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE nwid $NWID
fi
if [ -n "$FREQ" -a "$MODE" != "Managed" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE freq $FREQ
elif [ -n "$CHANNEL" -a "$MODE" != "Managed" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE channel $CHANNEL
fi
if [ -n "$SENS" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE sens $SENS
fi
if [ -n "$RATE" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE rate $RATE
fi
if [ -n "$KEY" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE key $KEY
else
iwconfig $DEVICE key off
fi
if [ -n "$RTS" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE rts $RTS
fi
if [ -n "$FRAG" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE frag $FRAG
fi

# More specific parameters passed directly to IWCONFIG
if [ -n "$IWCONFIG" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE $IWCONFIG
fi

if [ -n "$SPYIPS" ] ; then
for IP in $SPYIPS; do
iwspy $DEVICE + $IP
done
fi
if [ -n "$IWPRIV" ] ; then
iwpriv $DEVICE $IWPRIV
fi
# ESSID need to be last : most device re-perform the scanning/discovery
# when this is set, and things like encryption keys are better be
# defined if we want to discover the right set of APs/nodes.
if [ -n "$ESSID" ] ; then
iwconfig $DEVICE essid "$ESSID"
else
# use any essid
iwconfig $DEVICE essid any
fi

All assistance is greatly appreciated,
tomap

Set the mode to Managed.
I've never seen the order of the entries matter.
WPA will require a supplicant.
Your ifup-wireless file might be Mandrake's preferred location for this stuff, looking at it. If it works in ifcfg-eth1, great. Otherwise, copy the info into the wireless file. NetDrake or whatever the MDK gui is for network config will overwrite the appropriate file.

Thanks for that information. I'll give it a try later tonight when I have more free time. I'll post the results when completed.

Thanks again for the assistance,
tomap

Thanks 2Gnu,

Inserting that additional data into the "ifcfg-eth1" file did the trick. I did need to reboot after eth0-down and eth1-up failed to make the connection, so I rebooted and here I am.

I was a little upset on the reboot as I received the same warning on the reboot as I did on the initial boot:
-modprobe: couldn't find the module-
Received this message just before driverloader initialized - is this expected behavior ??? Somewhere (in some file) should driverloader be called before eth0/1 ????

Anyway, thanks for the help - I'll be back when I attempt the ndiswrapper !!

Regards,
tomap

Loading modules on boot is usually done in /etc/modules.conf.
There are other ways/places, but that one is pretty standard.