Belkin USB Wireless zd1211 in Debian 4.0 (works in Ubuntu)

IsaacKuo · 05-17-2008, 02:06 AM

I have a usb wireless adapter that works in Ubuntu 7.10, but I'd like to get it to work in Debian 4.0. In Ubuntu, it works using the nm-applet applet in roaming mode, which is what I want to use.

I am not familiar with how to get wireless hardware to work. Here is the output of iwconfig in Ubuntu:

Code:

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      IEEE 802.11b/g  ESSID:"ijkDynex"  Nickname:"zd1211"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:1C:DF:0D:9D:B2   
          Bit Rate=24 Mb/s   
          Link Quality=82/100a  Signal level=30/100  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

In Debian Etch, only the wired ethernet device appears. The nm-applet icon shows no devices found, if I only connect the USB wireless adapter.

I have no idea what the next step is. Documentation I've found related to getting Belkin wireless devices working seem old and rather intimidating. Is there a way for me to figure out what driver Ubuntu is using, and based on that figure out the correct way for me to get it working in Etch?

Thanks!

LordAnta · 05-17-2008, 03:42 AM

in a konsole as root type:

Code:

  modprobe zd1211rw

and see if it sees your wifi card.

IsaacKuo · 05-17-2008, 09:17 AM

In both Ubuntu 7.10 and Debian 4.0, "modprobe zd1211rw" returns no output. (No errors either.)

pentode · 05-17-2008, 10:35 AM

Try "lsusb" as root in Ubuntu and see what it tells you. Also try lsmod and look for your Belkin NIC. That should give you an idea of which driver is being used.

IsaacKuo · 05-17-2008, 11:17 AM

lsusb gives:

Code:

Bus 001 Device 004: ID 050d:705c Belkin Components 
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

lsmod gives:

Code:

...
usbcore               138632  3 zd1211rw,uhci_hcd
...

So, I'm guessing it is indeed using the zd1211rw module. Is that the open source driver?

Is this just a matter of Etch's zd1211rw module being too old, maybe? (I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of modules, so I don't know how to install or copy modules.)

LordAnta · 05-17-2008, 12:13 PM

Boot in debian, ant try these:

Code:

  modprobe zd1211rw
  dmesg | tail

post the outpout of dmeesg here, to see the card gets recognized.

(i succesfully configured and connected with a wifi card based on ZD1211 last year in september, so i have experience with it, a lot

)

L.E.:
According to these http://www.linuxwireless.org/en/user...1211rw/devices you need the zd1211b driver.

in a konsole as root:

Code:

    svn export https://zd1211.svn.sourceforge.net/svn/root/zd1211/trunk zd1211
    cd zd1211
    make ZD1211REV_B=1
    make install ZD1211REV_B=1
    rmmod zd1211rw
    modprobe -v zd1211b
    lsmod | grep zd1211  // to see if was loaded properly
    ifconfig wlan0 up

This should do it. Post any error messages here. Have fun !

IsaacKuo · 05-17-2008, 02:18 PM

Here's the output I got on the Debian 4.0 laptop:

Code:

debian:~# modprobe zd1211rw
debian:~# dmesg|tail
drivers/usb/net/rtl8150.c: eth0: intr status -84
drivers/usb/net/rtl8150.c: Rx status -84
drivers/usb/net/rtl8150.c: Rx status -84
drivers/usb/net/rtl8150.c: Rx status -84
drivers/usb/net/rtl8150.c: Rx status -84
drivers/usb/net/rtl8150.c: Rx status -84
usb 1-1: USB disconnect, address 4
drivers/usb/net/rtl8150.c: Rx status -108
usb 1-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 5
usb 1-1: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice

Quote:

(i succesfully configured and connected with a wifi card based on ZD1211 last year in september, so i have experience with it, a lot

)

Awesome! That gives me good hope that the same steps you used will work for my USB adapter.

Here goes...

Quote:

According to these http://www.linuxwireless.org/en/user...1211rw/devices you need the zd1211b driver.

in a konsole as root:

Code:

    svn export https://zd1211.svn.sourceforge.net/svn/root/zd1211/trunk zd1211
    cd zd1211
    make ZD1211REV_B=1
    make install ZD1211REV_B=1
    rmmod zd1211rw
    modprobe -v zd1211b
    lsmod | grep zd1211  // to see if was loaded properly
    ifconfig wlan0 up

This should do it. Post any error messages here. Have fun !

Hmm...I got stuck at the first step. I don't have "svn" installed, and apt-cache search pulled up a lot of stuff. I wasn't sure what to install. I decided to try and install "subversion", which seemed to be the correct thing to install.

Then I retried the command, and got this:

Code:

debian:~# svn export https://zd1211.svn.sourceforge.net/svn/root/zd1211/trunk zd1211
svn: PROPFIND request failed on '/svn/root/zd1211/trunk'
svn: PROPFIND of '/svn/root/zd1211/trunk': 405 Method Not Allowed (https://zd1211.svn.sourceforge.net)

I tried directly browsing https://zd1211.svn.sourceforce.net/svn/root/zd1211/ in my web browser without luck.

LordAnta · 05-17-2008, 02:27 PM

Sorry, typo

this is the adress:

Code:

 svn export https://zd1211.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/zd1211/trunk zd1211

IsaacKuo · 05-17-2008, 06:55 PM

Thanks! That was the correct path.

I got an error on the second step:

Code:

debian:~/zd1211# make ZD1211REV_B=1
/lib/modules/2.6.18-6-486/build
/root/zd1211
-I/root/zd1211/src/include -fomit-frame-pointer -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -pipe -DZDCONF_WE_STAT_SUPPORT=
1 -DHOST_IF_USB -DAMAC -DGCCK -DOFDM -DHOSTAPD_SUPPORT -DUSE_EP4_SET_REG -DDOWNLOADFIRMWARE -DfTX_GAIN_OFDM=0
 -DfNEW_CODE_MAP=1 -DfWRITE_WORD_REG=1 -DfREAD_MUL_REG=1 -DENHANCE_RX=1 -DZD1211B
src/zd1205.o src/zdasocsvc.o src/zdauthreq.o src/zdauthrsp.o src/zdmmrx.o src/zdshared.o src/zdhci.o src/zdgl
obal.o src/zdencrypt.o src/zdpmfilter.o src/zdpsmon.o src/zdsynch.o src/zdbuf.o src/zd1205_proc.o src/zdhw.o
src/zddebug.o src/zdtkipseed.o src/zdmic.o src/zdusb.o src/zd1211.o
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.18-6-486/build SUBDIRS=/root/zd1211 modules
make: *** /lib/modules/2.6.18-6-486/build: No such file or directory.  Stop.
make: *** [all] Error 2

I thought maybe the error was because I didn't have any kernel sources installed. I tried using "apt-get install kernel-package" to install the kernel sources, but maybe that wasn't correct. (I have never installed the kernel sources for anything other than running the nvidia installer, but that was ages ago so I've forgotten how to do it.)

IsaacKuo · 05-17-2008, 10:34 PM

Quick non-update. I still haven't figured out how to install the kernel sources (if, indeed, that's my problem).

References on the internet seem to indicate I should install with "apt-get install kernel-source-x.x.xx" (i.e. apt-get install kernel-source-2.6.18). However, it says this package is not found. If I try "apt-cache search kernel-source", it returns only the following matches:

Code:

debian:~/zd1211# apt-cache search kernel-source
cpad-common - common files to support the Synaptics cPad driver kernel modules
cpad-kernel-source - source for the Synaptics cPad driver
oprofile - system-wide profiler for Linux systems
wacom-kernel-source - source for the wacom binary modules
wacom-tools - utilities for wacom tablets and other hid devices
xserver-xorg-input-wacom - X.Org X server -- wacom input driver

There is no "kernel-source-x.x.xx" listed.

LordAnta · 05-18-2008, 06:32 AM

In debian for the linux source do this:

Code:

  apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.18-6-486

Use Synaptic so you can search better

IsaacKuo · 05-18-2008, 08:53 AM

Thanks for your patience! That got the first "make" statement to work.
The "make install" statement had a bunch of errors, which I fixed with "apt-get install build-essential".
Here's the output for the rest:

Code:

debian:~/zd1211# rmmod zd1211rw
debian:~/zd1211# modprobe -v zd1211b
insmod /lib/modules/2.6.18-6-486/net/zd1211b.ko
debian:~/zd1211# modprobe -v zd1211b
debian:~/zd1211# lsmod | grep zd1211
zd1211b               260460  0
usbcore               109444  4 zd1211b,rtl8150,uhci_hcd
debian:~/zd1211# ifconfig wlan0 up
wlan0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device

It didn't work, but maybe if I reboot the system...

...hmm. I think maybe I've got a hardware problem. I'm actually using two different laptops right now; one with Debian and a different one with Ubuntu. I was hoping to get this Belkin wireless adapter working on both of them--both with Debian and not Ubuntu. I only put Ubuntu on that other laptop because the Belkin wireless adapter didn't work out-of-box with Debian (neither Etch nor Lenny). But it seems that when I plug the adapter into the older laptop, the green light blinks on but then blinks off within a couple seconds. Maybe it's some sort of USB hardware incompatability. (Neither laptop has USB 2.0, but maybe the newer one has USB 1.1 while the older one only has USB 1.0.)

Anyway, I have suspicions about hardware compatibility. When I get the chance in a day or two, I'll do a fresh Debian 4.0 install on the newer laptop and see how it goes. I was really hoping to get wireless working on the older laptop, but it looks like I'll have to give up on that.

Anyway, it looks like the steps you've provided will work for the software side. I'll be happy if I can replace Ubuntu 7.10 with Debian 4.0 on the newer laptop. (The newer laptop is a 400mhz Pentium M with 192megs of RAM. The older one is a 300mhz AMD of some sort with only 64megs of RAM.)

LordAnta · 05-18-2008, 09:26 AM

Show me

Code:

 ifconfig -a

Code:

 iwconfig

and

Code:

 dmesg | tail

after your inserted the module zd1211b

IsaacKuo · 05-19-2008, 07:46 AM

Here it is:

Code:

debian:~# ifconfig -a
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:34 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:34 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:3248 (3.1 KiB)  TX bytes:3248 (3.1 KiB)

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)

debian:~# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

sit0      no wireless extensions.

debian:~# dmesg|tail
zd1211:bulk out: wMaxPacketSize = 40
zd1211:bulk in: wMaxPacketSize = 40
zd1211:interrupt in: wMaxPacketSize = 40
zd1211:interrupt in: int_interval = 1
zd1211:bulk out: wMaxPacketSize = 40
EEPORM Ver = 4810
zd1211:USB Download Boot code success
zd1211: failed intr_urb
zd1211:USB ST Code = -22
zd1211b: probe of 1-1:1.0 failed with error -5

IsaacKuo · 05-20-2008, 11:40 PM

Okay, I did a fresh Debian 4.0 install on the laptop which used to have Ubuntu on it. The Belkin USB wireless adapter had worked out-of-box with Ubuntu 7.10. I went through all of the same steps as on the other laptop, and the results were the same. Same results from "dmesg|tail".

Well, I'm stuck.

Now, neither laptop works with the wireless adapter (they both have Debian 4.0; neither has Ubuntu). I'd rather not install Ubuntu again on the newer laptop (400mhz Pentium M with 192megs of RAM). For the older laptop, I'd really rather not install Ubuntu at all (it only has 64megs of RAM, so I'd have to download the Debian style installer just to even do the install).

Really, I'd rather not use Ubuntu at all. The Debian "universal" software menu is non-existent, which means I'd have to manually configure individual menu items for every single software application in IceWM.

But, I suppose, the bottom line is that the hardware works in Ubuntu, but doesn't in Debian. At this point, it may be impossible to get Debian working with this hardware.