Hello,

I am moving back to LQ because I did not get useful responses in OpenSuse forums...

I have a Dell 6500 laptop that came with an "Intel WiFi Link 5050" that does not work in my OpenSuse 11.1 x32 installation. In fact the OS detects the followings:

"/sbin/lspci":

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Graphics Port (rev 07)
00:03.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset MEI Controller (rev 07)
00:03.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset PT IDER Controller (rev 07)
00:03.3 Serial controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset AMT SOL Redirection (rev 07)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
00:1a.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M-E LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 RAID bus controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 82801 SATA RAID Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Device 06eb (rev a1)
03:01.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ba)
03:01.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 04)
03:01.2 SD Host controller: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 21)
03:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev ff)
0c:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Device 423c

"sudo /usr/sbin/lsusb":

Bus 008 Device 003: ID 8086:0182 Intel Corp.
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 004: ID 0c45:63f8 Microdia
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0a5c:5800 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 011: ID 413c:8158 Dell Computer Corp.
Bus 001 Device 010: ID 413c:8157 Dell Computer Corp.
Bus 001 Device 009: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

HARDWARE INFORMATION:
udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8086_182_noserial'
info.subsystem = 'usb_device'
usb_device.configuration_value = 1 (0x1)
usb_device.max_power = 0 (0x0)
usb_device.num_configurations = 1 (0x1)
info.product = 'Intel(R) WiMAX Link 5150'
usb_device.num_ports = 0 (0x0)
usb_device.num_interfaces = 1 (0x1)
usb_device.linux.device_number = 2 (0x2)
info.udi = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_8086_182_noserial'
usb_device.device_class = 0 (0x0)
linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb8/8-5'
usb_device.device_subclass = 0 (0x0)
info.vendor = 'Intel Corp.'
usb_device.speed = 480.000
info.parent = '/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/usb_device_1d6b_2_0000_00_1d_7'
usb_device.device_protocol = 0 (0x0)
usb_device.version = 2.00000
usb_device.vendor_id = 32902 (0x8086)
usb_device.is_self_powered = true
usb_device.product_id = 386 (0x182)
usb_device.can_wake_up = true
linux.hotplug_type = 2 (0x2)
usb_device.vendor = 'Intel Corp.'
usb_device.bus_number = 8 (0x8)
linux.subsystem = 'usb'
info.linux.driver = 'usb'
usb_device.product = 'Intel(R) WiMAX Link 5150'
linux.device_file = '/dev/bus/usb/008/002'
usb_device.linux.sysfs_path = '/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb8/8-5'
usb_device.device_revision_bcd = 0 (0x0)

"dmesg | grep firmware" returns nothing.

"/usr/sbin/iwconfig" returns:
eth0 no wireless extensions

"/usr/sbin/iwlist scan" returns:
eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning

I am a puzzled penguin. Any help appreciated.

Blancfang

You could try using the latest kernel version adding the module related to your wireless card and recompiling it of course.

See that there's no wireless controller when you get the output of "lspci", so it means there's no kernel support. So just find the right module, recompile it and it will gonna work.

This sounds a little bit difficult to me, but I would try it. Basically, I am afraid of messing up my not-so-new installation... Any links that could give me some guidance on how to do this kind of operations? What is a module? How do I compile a kernel?

Thanks very much

Is your wireless an internal mobile radio device?
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=224547

Can you show lsusb?

From this Kernel News Log it looks like WiMAX support was introduced in kernel 2.6.29:
http://www.h-online.com/news/Kernel-...WiMAX--/112393

You probably have a 2.6.27 kernel.

Another thing to look for is that the pciutils-ids package is out of date. I've seen bug reports where a bad entry identifies a device improperly.

Thank you very much jschiwal.

These links are quite useful, yet I am still searching
how to update the kernel (indeed, I am running on 2.6.27).
I would like to make an image of my Linux partition before
I proceed with such works; do you have any free software
to recommend for this task?

Can an out of date "pciutils-ids" really be my problem?

Thanks again

Out of date pciutils-ids can cause a device to be misidentified or unknown. In your case, newer ids would allow proper identification, but the device wouldn't be supported.

You can use "dd" to create an image backup. You don't need to install a software program, just use the shell. If I were to produce an image backup, I would use "dd" to fill up the partition with zeroed files, then delete them. This would allow better compression. If the unused areas of the filesystem used to have files saved there, the contents of the files would remain, and be handled by dd & bzip2 (or gzip) no differently from actual files.
Here is a live example:
Reverse the process to restore:
However, if you backup your /boot directory and /lib/modules/<current kernel version>/, that should be all that is needed. I'm not saying you shouldn't regularly backup your system. If you build a new kernel correctly, there will still be the old kernel in /lib/modules, and a grub entry for your new kernel in grub's menu.lst file. Be sure to save your old /boot/grub/menu.lst file. IMO, always use "sudo /sbin/fdisk -l" and "sudo /sbin/fdisk -lu" results printed out. That allows you to rebuild your partition table if it gets mucked up. If booting from the new kernel causes problems, simply select your old kernel in the grub menu.

There is a SuSE 11.2 preview out. If the kernel rpm package is available or at least the kernel-source rpm, that may be easier than starting out with a generic kernel. SuSE adds some patches to their kernel. I don't know what they will be.

Before running "make xconfig" when rebuilding the kernel, run "make oldconfig". This will copy your current config settings and prompt your for new items. This will save a lot of time, and you won't have to wade through selecting options unrelated to WiMax.

To get the WiMAX part working, you can get the official driver modules and connection manager from http://www.linuxwimax.org/. Not sure what the WiFi module name is for your chipset though....

I don't think this is right... It doesn't necessarily mean no kernel support, but it probably does mean that the driver module needs to be manually installed (sorry OP - I don't know the manual install sequence, but it CAN be done).

This is the case for some Toshibas that have their wireless card on a USB address, instead of a PCI address.

I'm thinking this Dell has the same setup - wireless card on a USB address...

I am still stuck with this network cart problem. I have figured that it is necessary to update the kernel (2.6.27 -> 2.6.29). Can somebody provide some step-by-step instructions on how to do this? Kernel .rpm that I downloaded would not install with Yast. Any ideas ?

Thanks a lot,

Ibex

It would probably be easier to just upgrade to OpenSUSE 11.2 which uses kernel 2.6.31.5. See their instructions on how to update with zypper dup.