I have wlan0 (USB WiFi)... Now what???

theYinYeti · 08-19-2005, 03:44 PM

As the title says, it seems I managed to install my D-Link Airplus DWL-G122..B1 USB2 WiFi adaptor (

)

I installed latest Mandriva (Cooker) kernel and ndiswrapper. Then I downloaded latest XP driver for this device from D-Link site. I did this:

Code:

# ndiswrapper -i ./NetRTUSB.inf
# modprobe ndiswrapper
(...seemed locked somehow... so I unplugged the thing... and plugged it again...)
# modprobe ndiswrapper (worked this time!)
# iwlist wlan0 scan
# iwconfig wlan0 mode Managed  (I have a WiFi-enabledADSL modem-router as AP)
# iwconfig wlan0 essid <the BSSID of the modem>

according to this excellent URL:
http://www.wlanfr.net/forum.php?op=mess&pid=3838

So now, as advised, I tried to do dhclient wlan0 but to no avail...

Code:

# dhclient wlan0
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client V3.0.2
Copyright 2004 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/products/DHCP

sit0: unknown hardware address type 776
eth1: unknown hardware address type 24
/sbin/dhclient-script: configuration for wlan0 not found.
sit0: unknown hardware address type 776
eth1: unknown hardware address type 24
Listening on LPF/wlan0/00:11:95:bf:XX:XX
Sending on   LPF/wlan0/00:11:95:bf:XX:XX
Sending on   Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 4
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 4
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 8
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13
DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 14
...

So you see, it seems that wlan0 can be used and is configured as it should (LNK led is lighted, but ACT led is off), but now I don't know what to do to get an IP from the modem (or even a static address: I don't absolutely need a dynamic one).

Yves.

kz26 · 08-19-2005, 11:12 PM

It seems there is a problem modprobing, even though you got it to work the second time.

Try looking for a native linux driver?

theYinYeti · 08-22-2005, 03:36 AM

Hello,
Unfortunately, I've found no evidence that a native driver exists; I don't even know what chipset is used by the "B1" model of D-Link G122.

However, it seems I've got a little further with ndiswrapper

Seeing the "/sbin/dhclient-script: configuration for wlan0 not found." message from dhclient, I decided to let Mandriva do as much as it could. So I started from the beginning:

Code:

# ndiswrapper -e netrtusb  (start anew)
(... At this point, the WiFi device is not plugged...)
# ndiswrapper -i ./NetRTUSB.inf
# modprobe ndiswrapper     (no error)
(... Now, I plug the WiFi device...)
(... I wait a little, until iwconfig reports wlan0...)
# drakconf &

There I choose "Configure new network connexion" in the Control Center. I choose DHCP for the IP, I set the mode (managed), the ESSID, and no key (key disabled on the WiFi modem); any other needed info, I set to "auto".

I reboot the computer after unplugging the WiFi device. Then I do:

Code:

# modprobe ndiswrapper

I unplug the RJ45 plug, and soon "route" gives an empty routing table. Then I plug the WiFi device, I wait a minute or so, and then

!! "route" gives a new routing table (same as the old one actually) with wlan0 appearing instead of eth0

And from another computer that is connected on the modem, I can see (on the modem web page) that there is one DHCP lease for "salon/192.168.1.3" (eth0) and one DHCP lease for "salon.local/192.168.1.10" (wlan0)

And I can see my WiFi device registered in the "Wireless status" web page of the modem

.

Yet when I ping anything other than 192.168.1.10 on my WiFi-enabled computer, I only get hundreds of failures

... even for the gateway (192.168.1.1) itself!
And on the modem's web page for wireless status, the line for my WiFi device is checked under the column header "Attached", but not checked under the column "Authorized", even thougt I think that I've disabled all kinds of securities.

On the modem, "Hide Access Point" is unchecked, the "BSSID" is the one I used as "ESSID", the mode is "Access Point", the key is disabled, most configuration items are set to auto.
Next, I even tried to force both devices to 802.11b @9Mb/s, and force the chanel to 5 on both sides... no change

So what is wrong with my WiFi configuration?

Yves.

Edit: I just found this page where they say that my WiFi may actually be Ralink-based, in which case I may hope to find a native driver eventually.
And on this page, they say to execute "ndiswrapper -m", which I did not do (and other tutorials don't mention this...), so I may try.

theYinYeti · 08-25-2005, 02:50 AM

There's good news and there's bad news (two pieces of that actually).

The good news first: The OpenSource rt2570 driver does work with the D-Link G122 model B1. It even works with WPA-PSK! I did it for real, so I'm really sure

Now the bad news:
1/ It only works for 5 minutes or so, and then the driver freezes, stopping the connexion, and keeping the computer from cleanly shutting down

2/ Next... I'm really stupid sometimes!!! The problems I previously had with ping or dhcp failing were related to the firewall, that was letting some packets go only for eth0...

Conclusion: I'll have to try again with ndiswrapper and the now properly configured firewall.

Thanks anyway to those who took some time to ponder on my issue.
I'll report back as I progress.

Yves.

theYinYeti · 08-26-2005, 01:32 PM

It seems I finally did it. I compiled my own kernel, then my own ndiswrapper, installed it all as usual (see previous posts).
In Mandriva Control Center, I configured eth0 and wlan0 the exact same way (DHCP) and the first to be plugged becomes active. Nice setup

To make ndiswrapper work, I had to configure the modem not to hide itself.

Yves.