Firmware problem (tried everything)

veyron · 06-11-2009, 01:47 PM

Hi, I have a problem with my prism54 wireless firmware.

Im running CentOS on a old computer to mess around with it and use it as a test webserver.

Its a very dusty noisy computer and Im planning to hide it a closet somewhere downstairs and let it connect to my router wireless.

First of all, I got to say.
I love linux, I run a very basic text based version of CentOS5.3
without any extra's so I can learn it all. (Its my first time)
but the wireless is really giving me headaches

After 3 days of non stop googlin' Im stuck and even the powers of the searchengine can't help me anymore.

I have a wireless USB adapter (D-Link DWL-G112)
a quick google learns me that the firmware is p54 or prism54
(http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/...s/p54#firmware)

and its the 2nd generation USB.
This is the file: (.arm)
http://daemonizer.de/prism54/prism54...sb/2.5.8.0.arm

What is .arm anyway? Google can't find a answer for it.

The site tells me:

Quote:

put it into the right place... Normally this should be /lib/firmware. However some distributions put firmware in a different place.

whats the firmware directory of CentOS?
I googled it and most sites talk about udev and hotplug.
I know CentOS has udev and that the $FIRMWARE_DIR is located in /lib/udev/firmware.sh , but thats empty here.

So I rename the .arm file to isl3887usb_bare like they said and put it in /lib/firmware (because I have no other idea where to put it and the directory allready existed anyway)

this is my ifconfig and my wlan0 is not there.

Code:

th0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:10:A7:1E:19:7F  
          inet addr:192.168.0.149  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::210:a7ff:fe1e:197f/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:1830 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:988 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:923709 (902.0 KiB)  TX bytes:162718 (158.9 KiB)
          Interrupt:177 Base address:0xcf00 

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:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:560 (560.0 b)  TX bytes:560 (560.0 b)

but it is in iwconfig

Code:

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      no wireless extensions.

wmaster0  no wireless extensions.

Warning: Driver for device wlan0 recommend version 21 of Wireless Extension,
but has been compiled with version 20, therefore some driver features
may not be available...

wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:""  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Tx-Power=0 dBm   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2352 B   
          Encryption key:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

sit0      no wireless extensions.

I noticed that warning so I installed the driver with ndiswrapper and got the lastest driver from the D-Link website

ndiswrapper -l shows

Code:

dr71wu : driver installed
	device (07D1:3C03) present (alternate driver: rt73usb)

when I do ipconfig wlan0 up I get an error on my system.

Code:

phy0 -> rt2x00lib_request_firmware: Error - Failed to request Firmware.

and in my dmesg to

Code:

phy0 -> rt2x00lib_request_firmware: Error - Failed to request Firmware.

I have no idea what to do next, I've been googling for days and probally have read about a 100 forums, but nothing can fix it.

I know I have the right firmware and drivers (dubbel checked on different sites) But my system just can't find it, maybe its the wrong firmware dir.

first post here.
Greets.

jsteel · 06-14-2009, 12:33 PM

That directory should be that right one. You should look at this in two parts, try one and then the other.

Firstly try the normal method (not ndiswrapper). Type "rmmod ndiswrapper" to make sure ndiswrapper is not running. The firmware most often goes in /lib/firmware. This next bit is optional, but I recommend doing this so you know how to enable and disable your wireless card by finding its module. Type "lsmod | less" to scroll up and down all of them, or "lsmod | grep prism" for example to show all modules with prism in their name (try p54 if nothing shows up). Basically the module name should reference your wireless card in some way. Once you have the module, "rmmod modulename" should bring down the wireless device (no wireless devices should be shown with a iwconfig). "modprobe modulename" should then bring it up (you should see it with a iwconfig). Once you have got this far, type "ifconfig wlan0 up" and then "iwlist wlan0 scan"; does that give you search results?

If that did not help, try this second method using ndiswrapper. The optional bit mentioned above now is mandatory. Remove the module for your wireless card (as mentioned above). Your ndiswrapper configuration looks good; it can see the device. "modprobe ndiswrapper" should have the same affect as the modprobe command in the paragraph above (but obviously using ndiswrapper to manage your device instead). Now try "ifconfig wlan0 up" again, then "iwlist wlan0 scan" again; does that look any better?

Once you can see wireless networks the next step would be to connect to one, but this at least would be a start.

veyron · 06-15-2009, 10:16 AM

Thanks for the response

But I eventually fixed it with blacklisting the original driver from CentOS
and reading a chapter in an online book about wireless networking,
I dont know exacly what fixed the problem, I just followed all the instructions (a couple of times).

If anyone else has the same problem or any problem for that matter with his wireless connection, I would suggest to read this page

http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/w...ess_Networking

It helped me allot and its well explained.