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Old 11-13-2008, 08:40 AM   #1
linuxisgreat
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Cant get Wireless adaptor to work


Hi all

I have a Realtek 2500 Wireless USB adaptor and I can't get it to work in puppy linux and knoppix linux.

Right now I'm using puppy linux so I want help with that for the time being.

In windows it says that the device is Realtek 2500 Wireless USB adaptor but it's I assume it's inside my PC as there is no wireless adaptor plugged into my USB port.


I found this site http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page and it also says that rt2500 is a PCI adaptor, but I don't know which instructions in the Howto's for which distribution of linux I should use, is puppy linux a Debian based distribution?

Please help.
 
Old 11-13-2008, 09:12 AM   #2
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It appears to me as this is a new chip set, and the driver code is still under development. I went to the link you posted, and did some reading.

First of all, there are two ways to get this device working. One is to compile the code into the kernel. I very much dought either Puppy or Knoppix has done that yet. In order to use that code, the kernel must be a 2.6.24 kernel. To find out what kernel either distro is using, open a konsole ( command line ) as root run the command 'uname -a' and look at the output. This will list the running kernel version. If you are below 2.6.24, the only other way is to download the legacy driver, build the module, use modprobe to insert it, configure it...

To build the module you have to have the kernel source installed. These are live distros, so I don't know if that is even possible.

Here is the download page for the legacy stuff, if you want to give it a try.

Note there is a version for the USB version.

BTW the rt2500 is the chip set, not the type of buss connection; USB or PCI.

To see if either distro can "see" the hardware, open a konsole, run the command 'lsusb' ( all commands without quotes ). If the USB stuff is loaded, you should see the card listed with this command.

Hope this helps.
 
Old 11-13-2008, 11:31 AM   #3
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Could I get step by step instructions on what to do?


I've never had a problem like this before.
 
Old 11-13-2008, 12:22 PM   #4
camorri
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1. Run the command 'uname -a' ( without the quotes ). Copy and paste the results here.

Here is a sample of what it will look like.

Quote:
uname -a
Linux duelie 2.6.24.7-desktop-2mnb #1 SMP Thu Oct 30 18:03:14 EDT 2008 i686 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ GNU/Linux
I'm running kernel 2.6.24.7. This is the kernel version. If the kernel version is older than 2.6.24, you can only use the legacy driver.

2. Run the command as root, 'lsusb' and copy and paste the results here. That will show us if your USB adapter is seen by the linux system. Here is a sample of the output.

Quote:
lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 04f9:0028 Brother Industries, Ltd
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Note, the Brother device is my printer, not a USB card. If you get some output here, then you can start looking for the kernel source. It will need to be installed. Then you can compile the driver. The source code is at the download link I posted.

Last edited by camorri; 11-13-2008 at 12:30 PM.
 
Old 11-13-2008, 02:31 PM   #5
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The output from uname -a was Linux puppypc 2.6.25.16 #1 Tue Aug 26 GMT-8 2008 i686 GNU/Linux


lsusb doesn't work though, when I typed the command there was a message saying command not found.

Last edited by linuxisgreat; 11-13-2008 at 02:32 PM.
 
Old 11-13-2008, 06:34 PM   #6
camorri
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Command not found - implies the command is not in the path. It is there.

Here is how to find it, and get it to run.

1. Open a konsole, use the 'su' command, and when prompted for a password, enter the root password.

2. Run the command 'updatedb' This will take a few minutes to finish.

3. Run the command 'locate lsusb'

It will return something like this :
Quote:
locate lsusb
/usr/sbin/lsusb
This shows the file in the /usr/sbin/ directory. This was on my system, it may be in a different directory on your system. One you know the directory, just add the directory to the beginning of the command. Here is what it looks like on my system.

Quote:
/usr/sbin/lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 04f9:0028 Brother Industries, Ltd
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
 
Old 11-14-2008, 08:29 AM   #7
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I still can't get lsusb to work in puppy linux. It works in knoppix though and knoppix sees my Realtek adaptor.


I think puppy linux sees it too though because ifconfig works and my network card shows up in the list and when I click connect and choose connect to wireless network it shows up in the list of network cards I can configure.



I think I should have been more specific about my actual problem with my network card in puppy linux.


when I try to connect to my router a message comes up with a really strange IP it set for my computer to use, with the options to click Ok Try again or Rescan.
I read up and assumed this was because WPA isn't supported with the linux driver that is built in and turned my router's security settings to a 128-bit WEP key instead and still the same thing.
I then turned off encryption on my router and used an open network with MAC address control only ans still the same thing.

I haven't tried using a fully open network with no mac address control, I don't want to.

My problem continues and I have now turned WPA back on and I don't intend to turn it off while I'm fixing this problem FYI.

I'm assuming that puppy sees my Wireless card so now I just need step by step instructions on installing the modules in puppy linux as I have never done anything like that before.

Any help is much appreciated.

Last edited by linuxisgreat; 11-14-2008 at 08:33 AM. Reason: I forgot to put something in-DOH!
 
Old 11-14-2008, 09:19 AM   #8
camorri
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Quote:
I read up and assumed this was because WPA isn't supported with the linux driver that is built in and turned my router's security settings to a 128-bit WEP key instead and still the same thing.
Did you create a WEP key on your router, and enter the matching key on your system?

In order for your system to 'see' the card, there has to be a driver loaded that will work with the hardware.

At this point, in light of the information in your last post, I need you to run two commands, and post the results.

1. Run the command '/sbin/ifconfig' This will show the status of all interfaces.

2. Run the command '/sbin/lsmod' This will show all modules that are loaded. Modules are the drivers.

It is sounding more like a configuration ( or lack there of ).

Do you know how to access your routers configuration? I can only assume you do if you know how to turn WPA on and off.

It helps a great deal when you supply more information.
 
Old 11-15-2008, 04:52 AM   #9
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#/sbin/ifconfig
lo LINK ENCAP:Local Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16434
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)


That's all from ifconfig in puppy linux. ifconfig -a showed my wireless device wlan0 though, and when I did lsmod in puppy it showed that the rt2500 driver was loaded.

Sorry I couldn't put the ifconfig -a or lsmod details here because I don't know how to copy and paste from the console in puppy linux and there were too many things to type out.
 
Old 11-15-2008, 05:11 AM   #10
camorri
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Quote:
That's all from ifconfig in puppy linux. ifconfig -a showed my wireless device wlan0 though, and when I did lsmod in puppy it showed that the rt2500 driver was loaded.
Run the command in a konsole 'ifconfig wlan0 up' as root ( without the quotes ) then run 'ifconfig'. That should attempt to bring up the interface. Let me know what happens. Do you get an error? Does the interface come up? ( it should ). If it comes up, then we can work on configuration.

Quote:
I don't know how to copy and paste from the console
From a konsole, try to highlight the text, drag the mouse pointer backwards over the text you want to highlight. Once it is highlighted, a keyboard sequence of ctrl + c ( keys pressed together ) will copy the text to the clipboard. Switch to your web browser, and the input box for the forum, and paste the data from the clipboard using the ctrl + v key combination. It stays more readable if you use the buttons at the top of the editing box(s) on the forum, there is one for quote. Click it, put the cursor between the quotes, and crtl + v.
 
Old 11-15-2008, 10:42 AM   #11
linuxisgreat
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I did ifconfig wlan0 up and then ifconfig and when I enabled wlan0, all my network cards including wlan0 activated and were in the ifconfig list.


And I already tried to copy and paste the lsmod info using Ctrl+C Ctrl+V, and I just tried again but copy and paste still doesn't work.

Last edited by linuxisgreat; 11-15-2008 at 01:15 PM.
 
Old 11-16-2008, 06:01 AM   #12
camorri
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Quote:
And I already tried to copy and paste the lsmod info using Ctrl+C Ctrl+V, and I just tried again but copy and paste still doesn't work.
I have never used Puppy linux. What desktop does it run? What console are you using? Bash? or some other one? If you can not figure it out, I'll download a copy, burn it, and see. Copy and paste has worked in any distro I have used.
 
Old 11-17-2008, 04:45 AM   #13
linuxisgreat
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Thx. Just to update on my problem, I'm pretty sure linux sees my wireless card it's just that I can't connect to WPA/TKIP networks, and I'm not really sure I can connect at all.


From what I've read the drivers for that card built into linux are defunct, and I need to download the driver I posted a link to but I don't know how to do that in puppy linux or knoppix.

I should also add that I can't get on the internet at all with my linux computer as I depend fully on the WiFi connection and have no other way to get on the internet.
 
Old 11-17-2008, 08:48 AM   #14
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Have you installed either Puppy or Knoppix to your hard disk? These distors are intented to be run as live distros. I have used Knoppix as a live CD for some time, for rescuing systems, and experimentation.

Knoppix does not recommend you do a HD install, although you can find lots of information on how to do it.

You end up with a system not properly supported with a package manager. I suspect this is the case with Puppy also, ( not positive, I would have to do some reading.

The problem becomes, if the kernel code does not work, you would have to recompile the kernel, removing the code for the card. Then download the new code, compile either a module to load with the command modprobe, or compile the new support into the kernel.

There are many big challenges there. You need the kernel source installed for the kernel. You would have to look at the either site to find out if that is available.

If you can not get the existing code going, install a fully supported distro. There are many good ones to choose from.

If you want to try and get the card working with the existing kernel code, then we can try that also.

Let me know what way you have decided to do.

Last edited by camorri; 11-17-2008 at 09:16 AM.
 
Old 11-22-2008, 06:44 AM   #15
linuxisgreat
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I haven't installed either distro to my hard disk and I can't install any distro to my hard disk as there are important files which I cannot back up right now.

Also I have to use either puppy linux or knoppix as they are the only linux distros my computer can use right now.


Not even windows XP is working with my computer right now which is why I cannot boot from hard disk.


What I mean by this is that I have has some problems with my memory recently which I now think I should have mentioned before, and I can only sort these out by using boot parameters mem=512MB so knoppix or puppy linux thinks I only have 512MB I actually have 1GB and I am guessing that half of it is faulty.

Windows keeps crashing so I cannot use that, and I cannot change my RAM yet so the only way to use my PC is to use puppy or knoppix.

Unless there is a way to configure Ubuntu to use a specific amount of memory, but I haven't seen anything like that on the boot screen when I put the CD in.

I think I should also say again no matter what wether my ram is faulty or not I cannot install any distro to my hard disk because of important files.


I should also add that I have never installed anything like this before in linux, usually I just use redhat or some other package to install a program so I don't know how to install stuff like this.

Basicly I'm new to this sort of stuff so I'd appreciate easy step-by-step help with this too. I don't understand this. What instrutions should I look for on the knoppix and puppy linux sites?

Last edited by linuxisgreat; 11-22-2008 at 06:53 AM.
 
  


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