I have core 5 installed on my dell inspiron 9300 and istalled firmware via yum.
The interface does not work, I have to rmmod ipw2200 and then modprobe ipw2200 a number of times and keep checking /var/log/messages ??
Can anyone help me so I can get it to work on boot. 2.6.15 kernel was to do away with having to compile the modules, it does have them but can't get it to work - or only sometimes. My hardware is ok.

Thanx for any help (looks like back to windows......)

some more info o/p of messages

Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop kernel: ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, git-1.0.8
Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop kernel: ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2005 Intel CorporationMar 30 08:45:58 laptop kernel: ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:03:03.0[A] -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop kernel: ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop firmware_helper[4313]: Loading of /lib/firmware/ipw-2.4-boot.fw for ipw2200 driver failed: No such file or directory
Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop firmware_helper[4316]: Loading of /lib/firmware/ipw-2.4-bss_ucode.fw for ipw2200 driver failed: No such file or directory
Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop firmware_helper[4319]: Loading of /lib/firmware/ipw-2.4-bss.fw for ipw2200 driver failed: No such file or directory
Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop firmware_helper[4369]: Loading of /lib/firmware/ipw-2.4-boot.fw for ipw2200 driver failed: No such file or directory
Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop firmware_helper[4372]: Loading of /lib/firmware/ipw-2.4-ibss_ucode.fw for ipw2200 driver failed: No such file or directory
Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop firmware_helper[4375]: Loading of /lib/firmware/ipw-2.4-ibss.fw for ipw2200 driver failed: No such file or directory
Mar 30 08:45:58 laptop kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth1: link is not ready
Mar 30 08:45:59 laptop kernel: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): eth1: link becomes readyMar 30 08:46:02 laptop avahi-daemon[2359]: New relevant interface eth1.IPv4 for mDNS.
Mar 30 08:46:02 laptop avahi-daemon[2359]: Joining mDNS multicast group on interface eth1.IPv4 with address 192.168.2.2.
Mar 30 08:46:02 laptop avahi-daemon[2359]: Registering new address record for 192.168.2.2 on eth1.

What the hell does it mean nos uch file or directory??? Wot a crock. Its definately there. I'm really begining to think that Linux is a load of crap. I mean, what use is it when the network interfaces won't work. Atleast in windows everything worked.

You need to download the firmware part of the driver. You can get it on ipw2200-project homepage. Remember to select the right version according to your driver version. In case you allready have the firmware, check the version number.

I have even followed this guide to the letter and it still won't work???

http://www.ces.clemson.edu/linux/fc2-ipw2200.shtml

what do you get in the kernel log? what version do you use?

I have a Inspiron 9100 and it works out of the box.

As you see form the message, you need the firmware for the driver version 2.4

You can get the firmware at the ipw2000 Linux project

http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php

Once you have the firmware, unzip the archive. You should find seven
files within it:

LICENSE A copy of the firmware license
ipw--boot.fw Boot strap image
ipw--bss_ucode.fw Used in BSS mode
ipw--bss.fw Used in BSS mode
ipw--ibss_ucode.fw Used in IBSS mode
ipw--ibss.fw Used in IBSS mode
ipw--sniffer.fw Used in Monitor mode
ipw--sniffer_ucode.fw Used in Monitor mode

Put all the files into the hotplug firmware directory, /lib/firmware.

Alternatively, get the rpm package from Livna

http://rpm.livna.org/fedora/5/i386/i...vn5.noarch.rpm

which will do the work for you, and put the firmware for various driver versions in the firmware directory.

At this point I restart the computer (I know, I could activate the module ...)

Go into Network Devices and set up a New Wireless link: the ipw2200 shoud be available.

So, did you get your wlan working or not?

Sorry, been away for a few days. It works, in a fashion??
Can't get it to work on boot yet, but if I rmmod and modprobe it seems to work.
Annoying but its better than it was before.