I am having problems getting my Netgear wireless PCMCIA card to work in my Sony laptop running Sarge. If I use the built in ethernet port, everything works perfectly. If I boot to Knoppix 3.8.1 from the Live CD, wireless works perfectly. But under Sarge, the card appears to be unpowered, no led lights.

I have used iwconfig to configure the card. I tried to use pump to start the card, but there is no pump command available. Is there another way to try to activate the card?

So, my question: Is there a file(s) that I could look at when Knoppix is running that might give me a hint about how Knoppix is using the wireless card?

Thanks for any help, jimbo

ifconfig wlan0 up
before anything.
(check modules too)

Thanks for your reply. "ifconfig wlan0 or wlan1 up" gives error, "No such device".

Do you think I am missing a package?

Thanks for any suggestions, jimbo

Did you install a module for it? Does your card have a specific model name so it's easier to search for a native driver. If a native driver exists (which I think it does since it works automatically when you install knoppix) it's better to install that instead of ndiswrapper. With ndiswrapper you can use windows drivers for the device.

Run "lsmod" as root on both, and compare so you can see which driver you need. Post the outputs here.

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. The card is a Netgear W511 Mfg. Taiwan. The driver is supposed to be prism54, which shows up in the module list from lsmod. But the led on the card never lights up. I just went partially through the installation from the netinst CD and the card does not show up as one of the network interfaces.

As additional information: I have a Zoom 4100 wireless PCMCIA card in my spare parts box. I put this in the slot and booted. I was able to get this card configured and connected to the network/Internet. While this card works, it is only 802.11b, while the Netgear card is 802.11g. It would be desirable to have an 802.11g card that works with Debian.

Any additional thoughts/insight/sugggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks, jimbo

Well you can try ndiswrapper. It's strange that it doesn't work with the proper driver. You could ask in the wireless forums. I don't have much experience with that particular card but others over there have.

If you haven't already try "modprobe prism54". Also you might need to do stuff with the firmware:
http://prism54.org/phpwiki?pagename=...Debian%20HowTo

OK aaa! You da man!!!

I "stuffed" the prism54 firmware, reconfigured and wonder of wonders, my Netgear WG511 works! I can put the Zoom 4100 back in the spare parts box.

Thanks for all of the help from everyone here. I received more help from this forum than any other that I tried.

jimbo

how did u get it to work?
I stuffed the firmware as well, but what do i reconfigure?
I ran "modprobe prism54" and prism is there, but still no light on my netgear card, seems i'm in the same position as you were

I think the Netgear WG511, version 1, which was manufactured in Taiwan is the only one that works with the prism54 driver. My card doesn't have a version number, but it does say "Made in Taiwan".

OK, first try this manual method. Boot up and open a terminal window. Then enter the command:

# iwconfig ( Check for an interface listed for wireless.) When I execute this command, I get a response that says: lo no wireless extension
eth0 no wireless extension
eth1 A lot of information about eth1 wireless.

If you have a wireless interface showing execute these commands:

# ifconfig ethx up (The light on your card should now be on.)
# ifconfig ethx 192.168.0.103 (Enter the IP address you want for ethx.)
# route add default gw 192.168.0.1 (Enter IP address of your router.)

Now check that everything is up and connected:

# ping -c 3 www.google.com You should see three packets sent to www.google.com and statistics about
packets received, loss, etc.

If everything work, you can automate the process by adding lines to the file /etc/network/interfaces.


Good luck, jimbo

Hello
Im having trouble with my Netgear W511v2 card adapter. My wireless ADSL router works perfectly, but when installing my card software unto my Compaq Presario V5000, after the Smart wizard asks to insert the card, which i did, the program, jus finishes, without moving onto the next stage (which according to the install guide is setting up my location) And also when trying to access the installed program, it refuses to open up, im open to any suggestions!! Urgent!
Please & thank U

~P3~