Hi there,

I have a Toshiba laptop that has an internal Toshiba (rebadged Prism2 I think) Wifi card. I'm running FC4 v2.6.11, and this card would auto detect and run without issues when I first installed linux. Now, I wanted to put this card in rf "monitor" mode, so I downloaded and configured the linux-wlan drivers.

cardctl shows the toshiba card is present. When I run ifconfig, WLAN0 shows up, but the HWaddr (mac address) is all zeros. I cannot bring up the interface. It says :

/sbin/ifup: configuration for wlan0 not found


What are some files I should check to verify my configuration ? Does the kernel have to be configured in a specific way to avoid any system conflicts ? Is there a way to verify the type of wifi chipset I have ?

Thank you for any assistance.

-K

First off, welcome to LQ!

There are a couple of bits about your post I find a touch confusing, namely:

And:

Cardctl is a PCMCIA control program, and I would expect from the first quote that your card is actually a PCI card, which shouldn't show up with cardctl.

In either case, you do need to make sure of the chipset. If it is a PCI card, you should see something in the output of lspci, or even better, cat /proc/pci.

If it is a PCMCIA card, cardctl ident would hopefully give some clues.

From the rest of your post, it kind of sounds like linux-wlan doesn't support your chipset, but lets find out what you've got and go from there.

You're right. It is strange. I can see the internal wifi card (I assume its a Mini PCI card), but it shows up in CARDCTL. Here's the output of those commands plus some other things. I also tried installing a Linksys WPC11 v3 card, which should be also supported by linux-wlan-ng drivers, but I am having the same issues. It says the device does not exist when I try bringing up the connection.

I edited /etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.conf to include the cardctl detail shown below. I added the alias lines in the /etc/modules.conf and /etc/modprobe.conf and /lib/modules/kernel version../linux-wlan-ng/modules.alias. The prism2_cs.ko files are present in the same /lib/.../../ linux-wlan-ng/ directory.

I believe my card is supported by linux-wlan drivers. Everybody says it is. I don't think both the Toshiba and Linksys cards both don't work or is not supported. I think its some sort of configuration that is messed up.

When I start PCMCIA services, it says it cannot find prism_cs. This could be the root of the problem. See the output of when I try restarting PCMCIA services. Where can I configure the cardmgr ?


Thank you so much for any help.

-Ken

> service pcmcia restart

Shutting down PCMCIA services: done.
Starting PCMCIA services: cardmgr[3844]: error in file 'config' line 1071: unknown device 'prism2_cs'
cardmgr[3844]: watching 3 sockets
done.



> CARDCTL
Socket 0:
product info: "TOSHIBA", "Wireless LAN Card", "Version 01.01", ""
manfid: 0x0156, 0x0002
function: 6 (network)
Socket 1:
no product info available
Socket 2:
product info: "The Linksys Group, Inc.", "Instant Wireless Network PC Card", "ISL37300P", "RevA"
manfid: 0x0274, 0x1613
function: 6 (network)

> LSPCI

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 (Brookdale) Chipset Host Bridge (rev 04)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82845 845 (Brookdale) Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 04)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB (Hub #1) (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB (Hub #2) (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM USB (Hub #3) (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 42)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801CAM ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801CAM IDE U100 (rev 02)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV17 [GeForce4 420 Go] (rev a3)
02:08.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82801CAM (ICH3) PRO/100 VE (LOM) Ethernet Controller (rev 42)
02:0a.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1410 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:0b.0 CardBus bridge: Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support (rev 32)
02:0b.1 CardBus bridge: Toshiba America Info Systems ToPIC100 PCI to Cardbus Bridge with ZV Support (rev 32)
02:0d.0 System peripheral: Toshiba America Info Systems SD TypA Controller (rev 03)

> CAT /proc/pci

PCI devices found:
Bus 0, device 0, function 0:
Class 0600: PCI device 8086:1a30 (rev 4).
Prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xf0000000 [0xf7ffffff].
Bus 0, device 1, function 0:
Class 0604: PCI device 8086:1a31 (rev 4).
Master Capable. Latency=64. Min Gnt=8.
Bus 0, device 29, function 0:
Class 0c03: PCI device 8086:2482 (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0xefe0 [0xefff].
Bus 0, device 29, function 1:
Class 0c03: PCI device 8086:2484 (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0xef80 [0xef9f].
Bus 0, device 29, function 2:
Class 0c03: PCI device 8086:2487 (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0x1000 [0x101f].
Bus 0, device 30, function 0:
Class 0604: PCI device 8086:2448 (rev 66).
Bus 0, device 31, function 0:
Class 0601: PCI device 8086:248c (rev 2).
Bus 0, device 31, function 1:
Class 0101: PCI device 8086:248a (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0xcfa0 [0xcfaf].
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x10000000 [0x100003ff].
Bus 0, device 31, function 5:
Class 0401: PCI device 8086:2485 (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0x1400 [0x14ff].
I/O at 0x1040 [0x107f].
Bus 0, device 31, function 6:
Class 0703: PCI device 8086:2486 (rev 2).
IRQ 11.
I/O at 0x1800 [0x18ff].
I/O at 0x1080 [0x10ff].
Bus 1, device 0, function 0:
Class 0300: PCI device 10de:0175 (rev 163).
IRQ 10.
Master Capable. Latency=64. Min Gnt=5.Max Lat=1.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xfd000000 [0xfdffffff].
Prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xec000000 [0xefffffff].
Prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xebf80000 [0xebffffff].
Bus 2, device 8, function 0:
Class 0200: PCI device 8086:1031 (rev 66).
IRQ 11.
Master Capable. Latency=64. Min Gnt=8.Max Lat=56.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0xfceff000 [0xfcefffff].
I/O at 0xdf40 [0xdf7f].
Bus 2, device 10, function 0:
Class 0607: PCI device 104c:ac50 (rev 1).
IRQ 11.
Master Capable. Latency=168. Min Gnt=64.Max Lat=5.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x10001000 [0x10001fff].
Bus 2, device 11, function 0:
Class 0607: PCI device 1179:0617 (rev 50).
IRQ 11.
Master Capable. Latency=168. Min Gnt=128.Max Lat=5.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x10002000 [0x10002fff].
Bus 2, device 11, function 1:
Class 0607: PCI device 1179:0617 (rev 50).
IRQ 11.
Master Capable. Latency=168. Min Gnt=128.Max Lat=5.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x10003000 [0x10003fff].
Bus 2, device 13, function 0:
Class 0880: PCI device 1179:0805 (rev 3).
IRQ 255.
Non-prefetchable 32 bit memory at 0x10000400 [0x100005ff].


> IFCONFIG -a

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:00:39:1C:4C:B6
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:1718 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1718 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1894854 (1.8 MiB) TX bytes:1894854 (1.8 MiB)

sit0 Link encap:IPv6-in-IPv4
NOARP MTU:1480 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:00:00:00:00:00
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:11 Base address:0x100


> IFUP wlan0

SIOCSIFFALGS: No Such device
Failed to bring up wlan0

Also, the mod is loaded.. but looking at the system logs from /var/log/messages .. looks like the Linksys card is actually a Prism3 ?? and I don't know what's going on with the Toshiba card.

I think the latest linux-wlan drivers (i'm using pre26) should also support prism3. The mystery continues...


Jan 2 18:08:55 localhost cardmgr[3845]: socket 0: TOSHIBA
Jan 2 18:08:55 localhost kernel: cs: IO port probe 0xa00-0xaff: clean.
Jan 2 18:08:55 localhost cardmgr[3845]: 'prism2_cs' already bound to socket 0
Jan 2 18:08:55 localhost cardmgr[3845]: executing: './wlan-ng start wlan0 2>&1'
Jan 2 18:08:55 localhost cardmgr[3845]: + message=lnxreq_ifstate
Jan 2 18:08:55 localhost cardmgr[3845]: + ifstate=fwload
Jan 2 18:08:55 localhost cardmgr[3845]: + resultcode=success
Jan 2 18:08:55 localhost kernel: prism2mgmt_readpda: hfa384x_drvr_readpda() failed, result=-61
Jan 2 18:08:55 localhost cardmgr[3845]: + load_cardpda failed, exiting.
Jan 2 18:08:56 localhost cardmgr[3845]: + Unknown prism2 hardware type (), assuming SSF
Jan 2 18:08:56 localhost cardmgr[3845]: + prism2dl: warning: Failed to find PDR for plugrec 0x0003.
Jan 2 18:08:56 localhost cardmgr[3845]: + prism2dl: warning: Failed to find PDR for plugrec 0x0005.
Jan 2 18:08:56 localhost cardmgr[3845]: + prism2dl: warning: Failed to find PDR for plugrec 0x0006.
Jan 2 18:08:56 localhost cardmgr[3845]: + prism2dl: warning: Failed to find PDR for plugrec 0x0007.

Plug in Linksys Card:

Jan 2 18:48:33 localhost wlan.agent[3520]: WLAN Hotplug bypassed for pcmcia
Jan 2 18:48:33 localhost cardmgr[3228]: stop cmd exited with status 1
Jan 2 18:48:38 localhost cardmgr[3228]: socket 2: Bromax OEM 11Mbps 802.11b WLAN Card (Prism 3)
Jan 2 18:48:38 localhost kernel: prism2_cs: index 0x01: Vcc 5.0, irq 3, io 0x0180-0x01bf
Jan 2 18:48:38 localhost wlan.agent[3555]: WLAN Hotplug bypassed for pcmcia

Update: I also have a Proxim Orinoco Gold based on a Atheros Chipset. I installed madwifi drivers, and everything seems to be working okay with this card. I still would like to figure out why my my other cards are not working.

Well, if this certainly could be the root of the problem. It suggests that the prism_cs module wasnt' compiled or wasn't properly installed. However, in the log output you posted, prism_cs is referenced a few times without any errors associated. How did you install the linux-wlan drivers? If you're compiling from source, check out theREADME file and make sure that you set up the PCMCIA config files as well.

There are also other ways to check if the module is there. If you look in your /lilb/modules/kernelversion you can see if it is there. It also might be worth looking at the output of lsmod to see if it actually is loaded and we're just looking at a config problem. Also, for what it is worth, after some googling I've seen some hints that the error message:

is somewhat typical for a firmware problem. You might want to have a read through the FAQ as it has some hints on how to check, and maybe upgrade, your firmware.

Thanks HangDog. You're probably right. I'll look into it.

-Ken