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Need help compiling driver

I own a media player (AC Ryan) which has a linux system in it. I telnetted into it today and ran # uname -r and noticed that it is a busybox system.

I've purchased a wifi usb dongle that I would like to attach to the media player but the only dongle they support is their proprietary dongle. The dongle that I have purchased (Dlink DWA-121) has drivers for linux but I don't know how to compile them and install them into the system on the media player.

Can anyone please help me with this?

If it is running Linux and BusyBox, then the source should be available for the device. If it isn't, then your first step would be to contact the manufacturer of the device and request they comply with the GPL and make everything available. At the absolute least, you need the complete sources for the kernel they used/modified. Though even with the source available, this is not going to be easy.

The main thing you need, and hopefully what the manufacturer supplies, is the toolchain to cross-compile binaries for the device. You will then need to set your machine up with the appropriate build environment and attempt to compile the DLink drivers for the kernel used by the device. I say "attempt", because there is no guarantee it will actually work; it depends on many factors. The kernel used on the device might not be of a sufficient version to support the drivers, or else their modified kernel might not even be compatible with the DLink drivers.

Code:

/ # uname -r

2.6.12.6-VENUS

This was the command and the output of the uname -r command that I ran.

I have checked the DLINK supplier site and there are drivers for the usb dongle that I have. I'm not sure what you mean by the toolchain, but there is a make file and the instructions say that you make / make install for it to install. The problem is that the BusyBox/media player does not have any build commands in there so I'm not sure what do to.

In addition I don't know if there is a compatibility issue either. Here is the readme.txt file from the driver:

Code:

ProductName_Version : DWA-121_linux_v2.0.1406.20110309







DriverName-Version  : rtl8192CU_linux_v2.0.1406.20110309







support OS and kernel version : LINUX (kernel 2.6.18 ~ 2.6.37)











install/uninstall procedure







install:



1. tar zxvf rtl8192CU_linux_v2.0.1406.20110309.tar.gz



2. cd rtl8192CU_linux_v2.0.1406.20110309



3. make



4. su 



5. make install 



6. reboot 







uninstall



1. cd rtl8192CU_linux_v2.0.1406.20110309



2. su 



3. make uninstall

It seems as though 2.6.16 is required (minimum) but I only have 2.6.12 installed.

Is there a way that I can update my BusyBox machine without totally destroying my mediaplayer?

You need to get the toolchain and the device sources from the media player manufacturer, it has nothing to do with DLink. But as you have seen, the kernel your device is running is too old to support the DLink driver anyway.

Is there nothing I can do? Maybe update the kernel?