Debian 3.0rev2 with Linksys WPC54G
 

Hi,

I just installed Debian Linux 3.0rev2 on my laptop, which I use a Linksys WPC54G PCMCIA WLAN card to access the network. How to I configure the WLAN card to work? The power LEDs are on, but there's no connection.

TIA!


Regards,

Edwin

Check the card is being recognised and loaded at boot or when you plug it in if you have hotplug and/or discover by examining /var/log/syslog or messages. If not you are going to have to install the relevant driver (look for a howto on google). If it is being loaded then you are going to have to configure /etc/network/interfaces using static addressing or if the server you are connecting to uses dhcp configure the same file for dhcp (dhcp client should already be installed).

I did a search and found this site, which I think would be of good use:
http://tiefighter.et.tudelft.nl/~arthur/wpc54g/

However, :newbie:

What do these prerequisites (found on the site) mean? And how can I ensure them?

prerequisites
* Debian testing (or unstable)
* kernel with correct modules (pcmcia, etc) (I use a 2.4.25 kernel built with make-kpkg)
* kernel sources available (or correct kernel-headers package installed)

:confused:

TIA!!


Regards,

Edwin

Also http://linuxdrivers.foundries.source...id=12355#12529 deal with it in the same way. Looks like it could be quite a mission.

prerequisites

Debian testing (or unstable)
kernel with correct modules (pcmcia, etc) (I use a 2.4.25 kernel built with make-kpkg)
kernel sources available (or correct kernel-headers package installed)

i.e. you should be using either sarge or sid which would mean an upgrade, use at least the 2.4.25 kernel ( If you upgarde use the 2.6.X kernel ) and also install the relevant kernel headers or source because you'll need them to compile against.

Good luck

Rob

Hi,

How do I find out what kernel I'm using? And if its under 2.4.25, how do I get it upgraded?

Also, how do I install the relevant kernel headers/source?

Thanks!


Regards,

Edwin

uname -r

apt-cache search kernel-*

and then apt-get install the kernel image and headers you want.

To upgrade to sarge replace stable with sarge in you /etc/apt/sources.list and then
apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade

haha, this is getting more and more down to basics, but... :newbie:

ok in order to download the new kernel and all that, i need to establish a connection to the net. This is what I have (alternatively from the wireless LAN card):

a PCMCIA Ethernet card which I use to connect to my router.
the router also acts as a DHCP server, issuing IP addresses to machines connected to it.

i hooked them up, and started my laptop. halfway i was prompted to enter the IP address, subnet mask, broadcast IP, network IP, default gateway. So i entered the IP address that the router WOULD HAVE issued, as well as the other values, and saved them.

but after linux and the desktop environment finished loading, i still do not have a connection to the router (it didn't even recognise the router IP). when i ran ifconfig, there was only a single entry, that of the localhost.

the PCMCIA Ethernet card is recognised, and is active (has lighted LED).

what else must i do? :confused:


Many Thanks!!


Regards,

Edwin

If the router is broadcasting dhcp how do you know the exact IP address it would have issued? For dhcp you use dhclient. Try
dpkg-reconfigure dhclient
Then check to see if it is running
ps aux | grep dhclient

You may have to obtain the Sarge CD's

'cos i configured the router to assign IP addresses sequentially. :)


Regards,

Edwin

But it's not getting it's other information that is distributed via DHCP. You need to run the dhclient.

ic, so i should leave out the entries during startup, and run dhclient ya?

btw, digressing, what's the HCL for?

Thanks!


Regards,

Edwin

dhcp is made to do things easy. There is no reason to do things the hard way. Try dhclient.

In order for your card to pick up the dhcp lease you need to tell the network how. Modify your /etc/network/interfaces to;
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
then do /etc/init.d/networking restart
then check /var/log/messages or /var/log/syslog to see what has happened.

i did these two steps, and yup, it works! at least now i have a wired connection. :)

Thanks!

Now for the step of upgrading the kernel...


Regards,

Edwin

#uname -r
returns me 2.2.20-idepci
i suppose that means my kernel is version 2.2.20? what does the idepci mean?

#apt-cache search kernel-*
returns me quite a long list of packages... hmm... i don't really know what to make of them at the moment...

i then modified the sources.list file, and now they contain:
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US stable/non-US main
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US testing/non-US main

then i ran
#apt-get update
and
#apt-get dist-upgrade

but now my kernel is still 2.2.20-idepci.

did i do anything wrong, or missed out any step?

Thanks!


Regards,

Edwin

You have to specifically update your kernel. It is the one thing dist-upgrade doesn't do. To install a new kernel for woody then do apt-cache search kernel-image then install by name. 2.4.18 I think is the latest. Make sure you configure your LILO correctly. If I remember correctly that kernel installs initrd and you need to modify the LILO configuration to get it to boot.

When i do
#apt-cache search kernel-*
i think it shows the packages that i have installed, it doesn't show any new kernel 2.4.18 or any new kernel versions.

what do you mean by "kernel installs initrd", and how do i configure the LILO to boot correctly?

Thanks!


Regards,

Edwin

I am not sure whether you have net connectivity or not. It will also load off your install cd if its configured for apt but either way you must do apt-get update first then apt-cache search kernel-image-* then apt-get install kernel-image-kernel-image_version_you_want. If a initrd.img is used then you must add a line to LILO;
initrd=/boot/initrd.img-kernel_version
Have a look in /boot for the exact details.

I have net connectivity through a PCMCIA Ethernet card.

I did this:
#apt-get update
#apt-cache search kernel-image-*

but no result was returned.


Regards,

Edwin

Question: in Post #3 you said one of the prerequisites was
"Debian testing (or unstable)"

If you want testing, then I would change "stable" in the /etc/apt/sources.list to "sarge". Then do a
apt-get update && apt-get dist-upgrade
Then when you do a search for kernel-image-*
you will have more choices

this is the contents of my sources.list, it only has one line:
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US sarge/non-US main

then i did these:
# apt-get update
# apt-get dist-upgrade
# apt-cache search kernel-image-*

still nothing returned...

:confused:


Regards,

Edwin

You said you have a wired connection. What did you mean? If it's not doing anything it appears you aren't connected. Are you able to view web pages, etc?

Here are the lines from/etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ testing main non-free contrib
deb-src http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian/ testing main non-free contrib

just change the "uk" bit to your region eg if in the us to "us"

also have a good read of this;

http://www.debian.org/doc/user-manuals#apt-howto

Yup, the thing is i am able to surf the net as per normal...


Regards,

Edwin

Then you need to change you sources.list per
TigerOC, cause the one you have now is not working.

i followed TigerOC's URLS and yup, it works now.

think the problem was with sarge/non-US. Is it because non-US version only applies to stable?

Thanks for the help guys!
Think i'll be needing more of your help later on, 'cos right now i just ran apt-get dist-upgrade, and its like downloading 500+ MB of packages...

right now i need to run out for a bit... shall be back to carry on the next step...

Thanks again! :)


Regards,

Edwin

Hi all,

I have done
# apt-get update
# apt-get dist-upgrade

now i'm on to upgrading the kernel.

i did a
# apt-cache search kernel-image-*
and found a few upgrades that is relevant to my system (i use an intel pentium 3), namely:

• kernel-image-2.4.27-1-686 - Linux kernel image for version 2.4.27 on PPro/Celeron/PII/PIII/PIV
• kernel-image-2.4.27-1-686-smp - Linux kernel image for version 2.4.27 on PPro/Celeron/PII/PIII/PIV SMP
• kernel-tree-2.4.27 - Linux kernel tree for building prepackaged Debian kernel images

what's the difference between the image and the tree?

and what does SMP stand for?


Thanks!


Regards,

Edwin

Included in the repositories is the debian source archive. The last item is the source for compiling a new kernel. You need the first one as the smp version is for a multi-processor platform.

icic thanks, then what's the difference between kernel-tree-* and kernel-source-* ?


Regards,

Edwin

Sorry not sure what they use the tree for

Ok, so i should do a

#apt-get install kernel-image-2.4.27-1-686

and then modify /boot/lilo/lilo.conf to boot the new kernel right?

erm what do i actually modify in there?


Regards,

Edwin

Debian will modify the lilo.conf for you :) If it gives you any directions on adding a line to it, make sure you write it down. If you dont have an initrd line it will ask you to then add one. If it does, it is importatnt you do or you won't be able to bring the box back up.

Yup, not able to bring the box back up, that's what i'm most wary of... :tisk:

Anyways, could anyone kindly explain what initrd is? what am i actually doing when i add the line?

Thanks!


Regards,

Edwin

initrd is the kernel which is loaded into a ramdisk (ie memory) and then the system boots from this ramdisk. I think I gave the line above. Check your /boot and check the initrd.img it is likely to be initrd.img-2.4.27-1-686 so the line to add to lilo would be;
initrd=/boot/initrd.img-2.4.27-1-686
then from the command line do lilo to write it ro the mbr
The install will configure the old kernel as well to Linux.old so you will still be able to boot the old kernel

have managed to successfully upgraded the kernel and rebooted... phew... thanks!

But now, my PCMCIA Ethernet card no longer initializes (doesn't even have LED on).

What can i do about it? I think the PCMCIA modules weren't loaded?


Regards,

Edwin

do modconf from a consol and go down the list for the relevant driver something like /kernel/drivers/net/pcmcia and then select the one you need

hmm... this is a bit disturbing, but i ran modconf and there isn't any PCMCIA package... looked under /kernel/drivers/net, but i think that isn't the place to look, 'cos the drivers there don't seem to be for PCMCIA Ethernet cards...


Regards,

Edwin

I just checked a 2.4.25 kernel on my system (I use 2.6.3) and the pcmcia modules are separate in /lib/modules/kernel_version_#. If you know which module you need then check this directory as you can use insmod to install the module. Also check your /var/log/syslog or messages and see what the kernel has done with the ethernet.

There isn't any PCMCIA under /lib/modules/2.4.27-1-686 either.

There are 2 directories (under them, are similar to what i see in modconf):
kernel
init

And there are 8 files:
modules.dep
modules.generic_string
modules.ieee1394map
modules.isapnpmap
modules.parportmap
modules.pcimap
modules.pnpbiosmap
modules.usbmap

There is a pcmcia sub-directory under /lib/modules/2.2.20-idepci (previous kernel), and there is a xirc2ps_cs.o which i think is the driver for my card (i use a Xircom card), but i can't insmod that one (different compiler ver).


Regards,

Edwin

You have a couple of options now. You can up and download a 2.6.x kernel-image and install that through dpkg-install or go backward. I have a 2.4.24 kernel with the pcmcia modules.

well i guess before i go to 2.4.24 or 2.6.x, i first have to go all the way back to 2.2.20? 'cos without the PCMCIA support and hence the Ethernet connection, i can't do anything right?

now how do I go back to my previous kernel?

btw, 2.6.x is an unstable release right? is it really *unstable*?


Thanks and Regards,

Edwin

If the second number is odd then it is considered unstable
2.3, 2.5, 2.7

2.6 is the stable branch.

icic... how do i "roll-back" to the previous 2.2.20 kernel?


Regards,

Edwin

Post you /etc/lilo.conf If can be set with no timeout and you can choose which kernel to boot.

Problem solved. I had a look at the package details for the kernel-image-2.4.27 here and you need to install the pcmcia modules as a package and this should rectify the situation.

icic... thats good, thanks!

just curious, why is it that when i did apt-get update, apt-get dist upgrade, and subsequently upgraded the kernel, this package wasn't upgraded together?

The description for this package in the link above reads:
Mainstream PCMCIA modules 2.4.27 on PPro/Celeron/PII/PIII/PIV
or pcmcia-modules-2.4.27-1-686
Package not available

erm... "Package not available"?


Regards,

Edwin

Package is available as I have gone via the browser and got a download.
Some important things here;
1. your sources.list should be pointing to stable or woody and this is in testing (Sarge)
2. you should only alter your sources.list to testing to get things like a new kernel as mixing packages can lead to serious instability.

To answer your question an upgrade and a dist-upgrade will never upgrade your kernel as it the base of your system. The choice to upgrade the kernel is an individual one.
When you installed woody you could have installed the 2.4 kernel using the switch bf24 in the very first stage of the install.
You can install the pcmcia package by downloading via your browser and moving it to either /usr/local/src or /usr/src and then cd to the directory and then use the command dpkg -i package_name.deb. Doing this means not having to alter your sources.list.

Hihi, thanks, but i still don't quite understand what went wrong (as in how come the pcmcia package wasn't downloaded)...

Review of steps which i took:

First i modified sources.list to point to the testing (sarge) release.

Then i did the following commands:
# apt-get update
# apt-get dist-upgrade
# apt-get install kernel-image-2.4.27-1-686

Then i modified lilo.conf to point initrd to the new kernel image.

Then i ran
# lilo

and rebooted the system.

hmm... what did i miss out?



btw, regarding your point about mixing packages...

since i did
# apt-get update
# apt-get dist-upgrade
after i modified sources.list to point to testing,

i'm not mixing packages right, since i upgraded the whole distribution?



then again, like you said, some things such as the kernel are not upgraded during dist-upgrade... i am in fact mixing packages, since some packages are upgraded with dist-upgrade and some aren't?

oh dear... i'm confused... :scratch:

Since you did a dist-upgrade after pointing to testing your system should now be sarge not woody anymore. Can you confirm that you had a download of around 500MB? If you want to use a package from a higher flavour eg as in this instance you only do apt-get update since you want to update the packages cache on your own system. With an updated cache you can now apt-get a specific package like the kernel. If you do apt-get dist-upgrade then you upgrade all packages to the distribution specified in sources.list.
There is another quirk of apt. If you do an apt-get update and then upgrade you may see a certain number of packages held back. At that point you can do a dist-upgrade since there are new updated versions of the packages available.

You sound like a pretty intelligent person and should get on well with Debian. If I might make some suggestions from own experiences.
This contains some very useful and important information on Debian. Since APT plays such a big and important role within Debian read it carefully.
Second I personally keep a file of printed stuff like the APT document. When I do things on the system I use a text editor to record what I did and save it as little howto's on my system and also print them and keep them in my file. As you work with the system and configure so many things you tend to forget what you did. Well I do (maybe my age) and having a record of how I did it is extremely important to me when I have to do it again and cannot remember what I did or why I did it. Also very useful when someone else has a problem here and you can just cut 'n paste the answer into the forum reply.

Yup, that's right! > 500MB it was... :)



Sorry, but i don't quite understand this point... :confused:


Thanks and Regards,

Edwin