little problem here

i had my wireless working just fine a few days ago. then i did a clean install of the same OS, (le 2005) and now i can't get it to work right.

i did everything the same as last time, and it shows that i'm connected. it even has the essid.

wifimanager says i'm connected with great reception and 11mbps

but when i click on the network icon on the taskbar(it shows the connected icon), it won't connect. i hit "connect wifi" and 10 seconds go by( it sends and recieves packages. about 600 packages for each side) then says "connection failed::check your MCC"

what am i missing?

You're right i think. That is why the comp. is locking up. I was able to configure the module, but it does lock up. Ralinktech has the linux drivers for my card. I tried to install the module, but i am having trouble w/ the make. In the ReadMe file (the instructions on how to install), it says something for /path/to/source to run a command, where /path/to/source is the target for the built and configured kernel. So i type "*something* /usr/src" and it starts to do something but then then has errors and tells me its leaving /usr/src. Now i know that's a little vague, and i'll try to get the commands and the output here a little later. In that ./src directory are 3 items. 1. A directory for Linux-2.6.11, 2. a "file?" linux-2.6.11, and another directory of which i can't remember. Is my path to source the "file" or the folder?.

I'm just babbling...i need to get that info posted here. I am having a blast w/ this, but this wireless is driving me into fits. At least the video was easier this time, so i am learning.

BBL w/ that info.

Sweet, I think this is something I might actually be able to help with. When they ask for a configured kernel source, it means they need a kernel source that has mostly been compiled already. So first thing is you need to download the source for your kernel. It sounds like that is already done since you have the kernel source directory in /usr/src so don't worry about that part. Next, you'll need to follow SOME of the directions at this site.

Read my additional instructions FIRST though.

http://www.digitalhermit.com/linux/K...ild-HOWTO.html

make sure you start with a back up of your .config file. You'll need to cd into the directory that looks like this:
/usr/src/Linux-2.6.11
and there should be a .config file inside. Since it starts with . it's hidden and you'll need to use ls -a in order to see it. You'll need to be super user, but then just do cp ./.config ./config.old and the new config.old file will be your back up.

Now, follow all the commands up to the part where you have to do make config.

Inside the Linux-2.6.11 folder, there should be a file called Makefile. You're going to have to open that up with kwrite or nano or some other text editor. Look for the place where the name of the kernel is, it should be toward the top. It will look something like 2.6.11-mdkcustom. You have to take off the custom part. This is because you'll need to have the kernel you build be exactly the same as your current one and this will fix the name. If you ever have to actually recompile your kernel, remember to change it back though.

I haven't tried this part before, but it MIGHT work (and if so it'll be easier). See if you can skip the entire make menuconfig part and just go on to make clean then make bzImage. If that works then you're set, if not, follow the directions in the next paragraph.

The make menuconfig is probably the easiest because mandrake doesnt come with some of the dependencies you'll need to do make xconfig. Now, in make menuconfig don't make ANY changes. What you are trying to do is make the exact same kernel as the one you have installed already. So you have to look around in menuconfig for an option that lets you load a previous config file, it's quite a bit to look through, but the option is in there. You need to load your config.old file so that you make an identical .config file to the original. When that works, go on to make clean then make bzImage. To build the kernel it will take 15-20 minutes or more.

DO NOT do anything after this. You are done now. Don't do the make modules command or install anything. Your kernel is fully configured now. You should be able to build the module by putting in the full path to source, /usr/src/Linux-2.6.11.

Just as an explanation, you SHOULDN'T have to do any of the last two paragraphs and in many distros you wouldn't have to. However, I've had to deal with this in Mandrake before because it doesn't let you do the make dep command. The make dep command is required for a "configured kernel" or else most builds will just fail. The only alternative is to actually build the kernel.

Icepack.

I have issues like this because I go back and forth between a University and home. Seems that Linux just doesn't play too well with having to switch networks on a daily basis. It's not that I NEVER get it to connect, it's just that there will be days when my computer will decide to be a pain in the a$$ and not connect. I haven't found a good solution yet.

It's saying check your mcc... I don't know what that means except mandrake control center. Anyone know if there is some networking term that is mcc? You could go into configure your computer (that's the icon for mandrake control center), hit the internet tab, then configure a connection I think. I'm not on my laptop, so I can't check that all these names are exact. Anyway, pick out the correct interface (on my laptop, wireless is eth1 because I have a wired ethernet card that shows up as eth0). Then hit the wireless tab and see if everything in there looks correct. Compare the results to what you get if you run "iwlist ethx scan" as super user in a console. Replace ethx with your wireless interface, it might be eth0, eth1, wlan0, etc. I'm not sure what it'll be on yours. Make sure your frequency is right (you can either put in the exact frequency OR the channel, either will work. i.e. I put in 2 and it recognizes that I mean channel 2. You can also put in 2620000000 for 2.62 gHz I believe. I think channel is easier.) Make sure the essid is right. Make sure encryption key is right. One thing I should mention is that I've had problems getting wireless connection to work on a network that had the essid blank (It showed up as "" in iwlist). I tried fiddling with all sorts of options for quite awhile and never could quite get it to work. Might be some bug, I'm not sure.

Ok. That was a lot of scary information. I wanted to post some stuff before i went through with this. And ask a few questions. Below is my Instructions and how i went about following them, and the errors i recieved. Then you can tell me if i need to redo my kernel or not.

**DRIVER README TEXT***
For 2.6 series kernel:
a. run 'cd STA/Module'
'cp ./2.6.x/Makefile .'
'cp ./2.6.x/load .'

b. $make -C /path/to/source SUBDIRS=$PWD modules
Where /path/to/source is the path to the source directory for the (configured and built) target kernel.

c. run '/sbin/insmod rt2500.ko' (as root)
'/sbin/ifconfig ra0 inet YOUR_IP up'

***COMMANDS I PUT IN***
[root@localhost user]# uname -r
2.6.11-6mdksmp
[user@localhost RT2500-Linux-STA-1.4.6.2]$ ls
LICENSE Module/ Utility/
[user@localhost RT2500-Linux-STA-1.4.6.2]$ cd Module/
[user@localhost Module]$ ls
2.4.x/ iwpriv_usage.txt RT2500STA.dat rtmp_wep.c
2.6.x/ load* rt2560.h sanity.c
assoc.c Makefile rt_config.h STA_iwpriv_ATE__usage.txt
auth.c Makefile.BigEndian rtmp_data.c sync.c
auth_rsp.c md5.c rtmp_def.h unload*
config.mk md5.h rtmp.h wpa.c
config.new mlme.c rtmp_info.c wpa.h
Configure* mlme.h rtmp_init.c wpanone*
connect.c oid.h rtmp_main.c wpatkip*
eeprom.c README rtmp_tkip.c
ifcfg-ra0 ReleaseNote rtmp_type.h
[user@localhost Module]$ cp ./2.6.x/Makefile .
cp: cannot stat `./2.6.x/Makefile': Permission denied
[user@localhost Module]$ su
Password:
[root@localhost Module]# cp ./2.6.x/Makefile .
cp: overwrite `./Makefile'? y
[root@localhost Module]# cp ./2.6.x/load .
cp: overwrite `./load'? y
[root@localhost Module]# make -C /usr/src
make: Entering directory `/usr/src'
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.
make: Leaving directory `/usr/src'
[root@localhost Module]# make -C /usr/src/l
linux/ linux-2.6.11-6mdk/
[root@localhost Module]# make -C /usr/src/linux-2.6.11-6mdk/
make: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.11-6mdk'
CHK include/linux/version.h
UPD include/linux/version.h
SPLIT include/linux/autoconf.h -> include/config/*
CC scripts/mod/empty.o
MKELF scripts/mod/elfconfig.h
HOSTCC scripts/mod/file2alias.o
HOSTCC scripts/mod/modpost.o
HOSTCC scripts/mod/sumversion.o
HOSTLD scripts/mod/modpost
CC arch/i386/kernel/asm-offsets.s
CHK include/asm-i386/asm_offsets.h
CC init/main.o
CHK include/linux/compile.h
UPD include/linux/compile.h
CC init/version.o
CC init/do_mounts.o
CC init/do_mounts_devfs.o
CC init/do_mounts_rd.o
CC init/do_mounts_initrd.o
CC init/do_mounts_md.o
LD init/mounts.o
CC init/initramfs.o
CC init/calibrate.o
LD init/built-in.o
HOSTCC usr/gen_init_cpio
CHK usr/initramfs_list
UPD usr/initramfs_list
CPIO usr/initramfs_data.cpio
GZIP usr/initramfs_data.cpio.gz
AS usr/initramfs_data.o
LD usr/built-in.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/process.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/semaphore.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/signal.o
AS arch/i386/kernel/entry.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/traps.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/irq.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/vm86.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/ptrace.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/time.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/ioport.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/ldt.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/setup.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/i8259.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/sys_i386.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/pci-dma.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/i386_ksyms.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/i387.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/dmi_scan.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/bootflag.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/doublefault.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/quirks.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/acpi/boot.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/acpi/earlyquirk.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/acpi/sleep.o
AS arch/i386/kernel/acpi/wakeup.o
LD arch/i386/kernel/acpi/built-in.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/common.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/proc.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/amd.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cyrix.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/centaur.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/transmeta.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/intel.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/intel_cacheinfo.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/rise.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/nexgen.o
CC arch/i386/kernel/cpu/umc.o
LD arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/built-in.o
CC [M] arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/powernow-k6.o
arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/powernow-k6.c: In function `powernow_k6_cpu_init':
arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/powernow-k6.c:163: error: `CPUFREQ_DEFAULT_GOVERNOR' undeclared (first use in this function)
arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/powernow-k6.c:163: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/powernow-k6.c:163: error: for each function it appears in.)
make[3]: *** [arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq/powernow-k6.o] Error 1
make[2]: *** [arch/i386/kernel/cpu/cpufreq] Error 2
make[1]: *** [arch/i386/kernel/cpu] Error 2
make: *** [arch/i386/kernel] Error 2
make: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.11-6mdk'
[root@localhost Module]# cd /sbin
[root@localhost sbin]# insmod r
rdump rmmod-25 rpc.lockd
reboot rmmod.old rpc.statd
remove-from-netprofile rmt rrestore
rescuept rmt-dump rtacct
resize2fs rmt-tar rtmon
restore route runlevel
rmmod routef
rmmod-24 routel
[root@localhost sbin]# insmod rt
insmod: can't read 'rt': No such file or directory

OK. Now. What happened here? In MDK 10.1 i didn't have to redo the kernel to load the module, i followed the above and bob's your uncle, i loaded. My only problem was getting SU Privilages to run the config tool. I moved to 10.2 cause i thought it would be easier. Anyway. I backed up my .config file like you said. Then:
you mean follow the instruction in Digital Hermit. Starting from the beginning? Or the instruction in the Install Text of the driver?

This makes me wonder if you have the wrong kernel source downloaded. The smp version is for multiple processors or hyper threading Pentium 4's. But if this is the kernel you have on your computer then the source that you have might not be right one or it might not be configured correctly. I use AMD processors almost exclusively because they are so much cheaper, so I've never had to install an smp version of a distro. I'm not exactly sure if you need to just configure it differently or download a completely different kernel source package from the standard one. I'm leaning towards probably having to configure it that way manually though I don't know how to do it. I'm sure plenty of other people have done this before. If that's the case then you probably will have to compile it, but my directions won't be enough. You'll probably have to change some options in the .config file.

Just compiling your kernel isn't a big deal. My directions don't have you installing anything, so as long as you follow those directions you can't mess anything in your computer up. You aren't changing anything, you're just making a copy of your kernel in some other folder. As long as you don't copy it over your old kernel, nothing is changed. The very worst thing you could really do would be mess up your kernel source. In that case you'd just uninstall and reinstall the kernel source package. No big deal.

I meant the digital hermit site. My directions only take you through making a "configured kernel source". I don't have your card, so I actually don't know anything about the drivers for it and any advice I give you about installing it is going to be pretty limited by that.

I'm also an AMD Fan. Love em. Not too fond of Intel's stuff. Espically since they're the backbone of microsoft...but that is another arguement for another time...

I am wondering also...I have an Intel 640 processor. Which is 3.2GHz, but more specifically, the 6xx series of Intel's support EMT64 (Intel's equivelent of AMD 64), which is to say it's intel's first desktop 64-bit proc. I wonder...even if i am using a 32-bit OS, could that 64-bit extensions be causing the problem. Take Nvidia for example. They have 2 versions of their drivers. One for 32-bit. The other is specifally for EMT64. Now i'm using the 32-bit version, due to my having a 32-bit OS installed. Seems to be no problems so far. Ralink, however, doesn't make that distinction. One driver. Hmmm...

Hi, I'm really sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Got busy for a day or two then lost track of some of my old emails.

My understanding is that no, this can't be a problem. Supposedly both AMD and Intel's 64-bit chips are fully 32-bit compatible. That means if you're running 32 bit apps in a 32 bit os, your processor is basically a really nice 32 bit processor. Nothing bad about that, in fact it's really nice that they can do that.

I'm wondering if maybe the easiest way for you to get your wireless stuff working would be to stop trying to compile it and just try different rpm packages of ndiswrapper. Even if you there are specific linux drivers for your card, sometimes ndiswrapper works better anyway. Usually the newest rpm is the best (and the one that came with 10.1 is VERY old). The 10.2 rpm of ndiswrapper is even a little old. This looks like the newest if it works:

http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat....i586.rpm.html

You can download it to a folder, add that folder as a local source in rpmdrake, then use urpmi or rpmdrake to install it. With ndiswrapper, sometimes older version are better as well, but usually it's best to start with the newest.



If you scroll down to R at this site:

http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/m...index.php/List

it appears ndiswrapper does support your card and they have the firmware that you would need to install as well. It's worth a shot.

Would the same problem happen if trying to connect to an ESSID with periods or other strange characters in the name

I don't think so. I believe that the essid is in quotes in whatever config file uses it. That should eliminate most errors that you would get from that. I know spaces are fine. A blank essid is the only thing that has caused me issues... and I really don't know why. It's possible the iwlist simply couldn't find the correct essid or something.

Well, I've gotten it to the point that the icon says its connected on interface ra0(My wireless nic) and it sends and receives packets. When I click the connect button it connects, but as soon as I open a web browser and try to go to a website it says Not Connected again(under network monitor)...though the interface still shows as up/connected(on the taskbar). And both "iwlist scan" and "ifconfig" list the network detected by ra0. They have no issues with listing the ESSID

I'd really like to get the internet working. What am I missing here

no prob. shades, i've been incommunicado myself

I installed Ndiswrapper .2-0.rc1.4.mdk10.2. I then went into terminal an su'ed. THen typed:
ndiswrapper -i /home/user/Ralink\ Drivers/windowsdrive/WinXP/Rt2500.INF
came back as OK. Then typed:
[root@localhost user]# ndiswrapper -l
Installed ndis drivers:
rt2500 driver present, hardware present
then typed:
[root@localhost user]# modprobe ndiswrapper
FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found.
Now what? Does that "Fatal" mean i need to try different versions if NDIS?
Also, after this, then what? How do i get the card to go. Bear in mind i'm using non-broadcasted ssid, WPA-PSK TKIP encryption and static IP's
I was reading something in the tutorials about creating a wlan0 file and creating a script. Say what? there's got to be an easier way.

after loading the .inf type
ndiswrapper -m


then modprobe ndiswrapper

thanks, but i still got the fatal error. When i went ndiswrapper -m, it said something about writing to modprobe.config or whatever. Looks like it did what supposed to do there. Then I typed Modprobe ndiswrapper and it gave me the afore said fatal error. On a good, not related note, i got Neverwinter Nights to work in linux. Yeah.