OK, I have Debian installed (from Lenny) and updated (to unstable) on my laptop and now I have several things to rectify...
for starters I understand the "Debian way" to install new drivers is using module assistant. but I am not sure how to use module assistant for my particular setup...
for starters, for reasons of performance I need to build a new kernel from source (don't worry, I know how to do that) and after Im done there I need to install my Nvidia drivers (I can use module assistant for that) and after that I need to isntall my wireless drivers (ipw3945) now THAT is where the trouble begins.
the ipw3945 module does not work in the 2.6.24 kernel and in the 2.6.22 and 2.6.23 kernels it has issues with non secure networks (which I have to use regularly at school) so I have to use the iwl3945 driver. which works great under my circumstances. however I am not sure how to install it.
as I can tell there are 3 parts (much like ipw3945); iwl3945, iwl3945-ucode, and something called mac80211... I am not sure what mac80211 is... It looks to be similar to ieee80211 but the "mac" heading leads me to think this is a PPC thing... I dont know.
next comes the issues with installation. the mac80211 component appears to install as a kernel patch. I have no Idea how to install a patch...
Quote:
From the mac80211 README:
Quick steps
If you're a user that just wants to try and get up and running
as quickly as possible, here are the simplest steps we have so
far:
% make patch_kernel
The above, if it succeeds, should patch your current running
kernel source tree to contain the mac80211 subsystem sources. Now
you need to configure your kernel build to build the mac80211
modules:
% cd /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build
% make menuconfig
You will want to set the following to <M>:
CONFIG_MAC80211=m
Networking --->
Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (dscape)
You can turn on the sub-options for that subsystem if you want.
Select 'Exit' until it prompts to save your kernel configuration
and select 'Yes'. Now you can build the module:
% make modules
% make modules_install
NOTE: As of mac80211-2.0.0 you must also enable CONFIG_CFG80211 and
rebuild your main kernel image. This is because the latest mac80211
changes re-implement the kernel built-in from net/core/wireless.c as
part of the net/wireless/ sources.
% make all
% make install
You will then need to reboot into the new kernel (vs. just loading the
new 80211 modules)
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now in reading this, I want to assume that I should actually build my kernel BEFORE installing this patch, but then it gives me the impression I need to do it BEFORE building... Im confused... shoudl I build my kernel then do this and build AGAIN? is there an easier way?
also is it possible to use module assistant on any of this?
