So now i faced other nooobish problem...how do i setup wireless on my laptop ? this is the info i got after research =D

my card is Atheros AR5006EG

um... iwconfig shows lo and eth0 both with "no wireless exntions"

also.. i've read something about "windows partitions" and puttin some drivers in there.. but i dont think i have windows partitions lol.

madwifi should work but i dont know how to set it up properly..

any help would be great =]

I set up my wireless with the ndiswrapper package that uses the window's driver for your wireless card.

http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/joomla/

I don't know if that will help but it's very easy to use -just read the "install" file that comes with the package.

Here is how I set up my wireless WPA home network--->


network={
ssid="yourssid"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA
pairwise=TKIP
group=TKIP
psk="yourubersecretpassphrase"
}

Thats the wpa_supplicant.conf that goes in /etc.

Here is my command line in a teminal window (that black dos prompt looking thing)

wpa_supplicant -Dwext -iwlan0 -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

then in another terminal

dhcpcd wlan0 -that gets your router's ip

Do NOT use ndiswrapper unless you absolutely have to. Use the native Linux drivers, especially for an Atheros card which should be fully supported by madwifi. There's a HOWTO for madwifi here:
http://madwifi.org/wiki/UserDocs/FirstTimeHowTo

Make sure you have the kernel sources installed, you'll have to compile a kernel module.

what do you mean by kernel sources installed?

do i have to install something else ? compile ? =] tried google but didnt came up with anything similar what i wanted...

when tried to install madwifi i got error:

You can download a madwifi package for Slackware 12.0 here: http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slac...wifi/pkg/12.0/
Use the command "installpkg madwifi-*.tgz" to install it.
After reboot (or if you don't want to reboot just type "modprobe ath_pci") the command "iwconfig" should show that there is now a wireless interface ath0.

If you run another version of Slackware than 12.0 or use a non-SMP kernel, or compiled your own kernel, you can build a Slackware package yourself (which will be specifically built for the kernel you are running at the moment) by downloading all the files you find in http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slac...madwifi/build/ to your computer and then run "sh madwifi.SlackBuild". After the compilation finishes, you will find the new package in the /tmp directory, ready to install.

You have to have the kernel-source package installed if you want to compile any new kernel module (like the madwifi driver). For Slackware 12.0 that is the package "slackware/k/kernel-source-2.6.21.5_smp-noarch-2.tgz" on the CD/DVD.

Eric

thanks.. first link doesnt work ;-/ but ill try to find the package on dvd.

The slackware.com site seems to be down. Try the link again later, Eric's slackbuilds are the easiest way.

Brian

so i installed madwifi drivers... from alien bob website.. and then i installed the kernel package

when i installed kernel...

it went like that:

"Executing install script for kernel-source-2....." does that mean its installed ?

and when i type iwconfig it only shows lo and eth0...no wireless extensions.

by the way.. when you install slack and it asks to choose the modem etc.. did it matter which one i chose ?

Please read this:
http://madwifi.org/wiki/UserDocs/FirstTimeHowTo

It says how to set it up, you've already installed it properly (hopefully), but now you need to set it up.

just to make sure how i install

1. kernel-source package
2. madwifi package for Slackware 12.0
3. madwifi

? right ?

i installed all of them...but still nothing shows up or works.. did i mist on anything ? any packages.. or maybe i installed badly.. how do i check if i have installed properly ?

Without my crystal ball, I would need the following from you:

Output from the following commands (run as root):

After that, we can probe deeper.

Eric

You probably forgot modprobe ath_pci //this loads kernel module you've just installed

cat /etc/slackware-version
Slackware 12.0.0

uname -a
Linux darkster 2.6.21.5-smp #2 SMP

ls /var/log/packages/mad*
/var/log/packages/madmod /var/log/packages/madplay-0.15.2b-i486-1 Yes i renamed the package name lol >_>


ls /var/log/packages/kernal*
/var/log/packages/kernal And renamed this one..silly name isnt it..

lsmod
http://pastebin.ca/819412

ifconfig -a
http://pastebin.ca/819429


------

and yes.. i did write modprobe ath_pci..

and by the way does renaming packages change anything ? or should i reinstall them with their original names ? i just renamed them because it made easier for me to install.