Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 and Intel wifi link 5100 card is not getting activated.
 

I have kernel version 2.6.19 and Intel wifi link 5100 card. Somehow I am not able to activate wireless card in Linux. On same laptop I have Windows Vista installed with dual boot, and the card works fine in Vista.
When I try and activate the connection I get the following error.

Error for wireless request "Set Bit Rate" (8B20):
SET failed on device wlan0 : Input/output error.

Determining IP information for wlan0...SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory.
I am new to Linux and this forum. Please help.
Thanks. Any help would be appreciated.

intel wireless driver already part of the kernel as of 2.6.26

load the firmware (microcode) for the card.. http://www.intellinuxwireless.org/?n=Downloads

Firmware README file

thanks Farslayer, I have already downloaded this code but how do I install it. I mean just issue cp command as given in readme file, or is there any other command i need to issue?
Thanks

It just has to be extracted fro the tar.gz compressed file, then copied into the appropriate directory on your system. That location varies between distributions, the README file explains how to determine the proper place to put it..

I believe on Centos the extracted file goes into /lib/firmware/

Just noticed your kernel version.. too old for the driver to be built into the kernel for this wireless card.
Too old for the Compat-wireless project..

Hopefully RedHat has backported the driver into that old kernel you have. If it's still not working withthe Firmware, then you need to go back to that Intel wireless page and download the driver and compile them for your kernel..

So should I just install Linux that has the latest kernel? Which Linux has the latest kernel version so that my card can work?
Thanks

If you don't have your heart set on Centos, then I would suggest one of the 'top 5' Distros..

Ubuntu
Fedora
Suse
Debian
Slackware

Many other options out there, but getting help with any of the above should be easy since they are so popular.


Take the Distro Chooser Quiz to see what Distro might be a good fit for you..
http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

Does Ubuntu support the wireless card I have, because I really need my laptop up and running for my studies? Thanks a lot for all ur help.

Debian - http://wiki.debian.org/iwlagn
Functional with a bit of work and a newer kernel


This Ubuntu how to shows the iwl5100 working out of the box with Ubuntu 8.10
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Instal..._Thinkpad_T400
Fedora (how to shows 5100 is supported in Fedora 10, but not 9 )
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Instal...ora_on_an_X200

Thanks for ur help, the card is active now but not able to connect to internet. I have supplied all the information, like DNS and all.
thanks