Hi. I'm completely new to Linux and I just installed SuSE 10.1 with XGL and it's awesome. That being said I don't know how to use Linux very well and I'm having trouble getting my wireless internet working. I have the MA111 USB adapter which seems to have caused lots of problems. I found a good tutorial here:

linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?t=113211
written by GenuineND

but I have problems getting it to work. I get lots of error 2's while making "all" and "install". I know this is long, but here is my Terminal output b/c I'm pretty sure it will help. (btw since linux doesn't have internet yet I had to type this by hand... so it is not a perfect match but I think i have the important stuff just ask for more if necessary)

--- Linux WLAN Config Script ---

The defaults are correct for most users...

Build Prism2.x PCMCIA Card Services: [n] *oh yea btw the stuff
Build Prism2 PLX9052 based PCI: [n] *in brackets after
Build Prism2.5 native PCI: [n] *colon is my answers
Build Prism2.5 USB: [y]

Linux source directory [default listed here...]: [] *i used default
Makefile:450: .config: No such file or directory

*I think the problem has something to do with that line...

The kernel source tree is version 2.6.16.13-4-default.
Kernel 2.5/2.6 support is highly experimental
WARNING: .config not present in kernel source tree. This will
screw up modversions detection and build optimizations. Is this a RedHat kernel? Workarounds enabled. For an optimized build, copy over the relevent file from /usr/src/linux-2.6.16.13-4/configs/ to /usr/src/linux...dada.../.config
Current kernel build date...

*I had no /configs folder to copy from...

Alternate target install root directory on host[]: []
Module install dir [/lib/modules/2.6.16.13-4-default]: []

It looks like you have a System V init file setup.

*now this line was different from the tutorial... System V...

Prefix for build host compiler? [n]: []
Build for debugging? [n]: []

Config successful.

# make all
*ok... my first error is here:
cp: cannot stat ' /usr/src/linux-2.6.16.13-3/.tmp_versions ': No such file or directory
make[2]: *** [default] Error 1
make[2]: Leaving directory ' /usr/src/linux-wlan-ng-0.2.1-pre20/src/p80211 '
make[1]: *** [all] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory ' /usr/src/linux-wlan-ng-0.2.1-pre20/src
make: *** [all] Error 2

#make install
*and now for my second error (set);
cp: cannot stat 'p80211.ko': No such file or directory
*the same errors as in make all followed

So... can anybody help me? I really would like to have internet on Linux

Thanks for your time!

EDIT: Well, I got all this typed out and I noticed what probably is your problem. I don't think you have kernel sources installed at all. Go into YaST (or whatever the package manager is called) and install the kernel sources that match your current kernel version. Then try the whole process again (starting from the config script). Good luck!

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Ok, I am seeing a contradiction in kernel versions from the output you have given here. The config script looks like it's detecting version 2.6.16.13-4-default, while during the build process, it's looking for files from version 2.6.16.13-3. This could be a hint of your problem, so lets look further into this.

First of all, what kernel version are you running? you can find the current kernel version by running 'uname -r'. You are going to have to have the kernel source tree from the exact version of your running kernel or the build won't work. So, once you have the kernel version, ensure that you have the proper kernel sources. I don't use SuSE, and so I don't know exactly how they provide kernel sources, but I assume that there is a package in SuSE's default package manager (YaST?) with the kernel sources.

Once you have made sure that you have all the right kernel sources, you should probably explicitly set the kernel source directory. This will be somewhere in /usr/src (you may have to look around for the exact directory, because I don't know it off the top of my head. It will have the exact kernel version number somewhere in the directory name.)

Hopefully, this will start you on the right path to fixing your problem. Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

hey thanks a lot for your input. btw i do have the kernel source installed, but i ran the uname -r command and the source is a different folder. im gonna try out what you told me. also, since the source that came on the install cd doesn't match where can i download it? or could i rename the folder (the only difference is -default)? ill post again once i try out some more stuff, and thanks again

it looks like im missing 3 files:

.config not present in kernel source tree -- should be in /usr/src/linux/.config
/usr/src/linux/.tmp_versions -- does not exist
p80211.ko -- does not exist (maybe comes from make all?)

i think this is related... maybe maybe not?

You are right in guessing that the p80211.ko file comes from the make command. That file is actually the driver itself, or will be once you get it compiled. Any *.ko file is a kernel module that you would load in order to give the kernel added functionality such as the ability to talk with a particular piece of hardware.

Now, I've never used SuSE in particular, and so everything from here out is speculation on my part. My guess is that the kernel sources that you have, (the ones with the same version number minus -default) are the right ones. The '-default' of your running kernel version is likely some designation that indicates that the kernel was compiled with default config options.

The .config file is what stores those options and is generated at some step during a kernel compilation. It seems unfortunate that the kernel sources you have don't come with a default .config matching the options the default kernel was compiled with.

You would normally start a kernel compile with the command 'make config' which would ask you a million questions and the create the .config file. Now, I think you can make that file by moving into the kernel source directory and typing 'make menuconfig' and then making the configuration without changing any of the default options. This is just speculation. If any of the default options that are set in that .config don't match the options set the the running kernel was built, your module might not work.

As for the .tmp_versions file, according to a brief googling, that appears to be a directory. Try creating that on your own before you compile (mkdir /usr/src/linux/.tmp_versions).

Like I said before, this is all coming dangerously close to territory I am unknowledgeable on. I can't guarantee that this will work. Best of luck, though.

EDIT: i tried "make config" in the linux source dir instead of make menuconfig and it worked. now i just have to fix the code in one file and the "make all" will be successful, and hopefully the process will work from there. thanks for the tip on building the config

ok... i made the .tmp_versions dir like u suggested and tried to "make menuconfig" but i received various errors from the compiler that were code related. strangely enough they all came from a file that is included in checklist.c i think that i may need to install some dev libraries to fix this.

also, i tried building each file manually (instead of using make all) and then running make install. this worked, and i was able to make install without any errors... but i can't get the drivers to load or something, because it still doesn't work. i may have messed up following the instructions on setting them up. maybe manually building each file required leaves out something or screws it up.

ill try some more stuff like installing libraries and stuff. thanks again for your help - it is helping