RaLink rt61 - Access Point Connection problem for Slackware 11.0 on AMD 64

briander43 · 10-27-2006, 04:51 PM

I'm unable to get my WMP54G4.1 wireless card to work with Slackware 11 (nor on Ubuntu 6.06 for that matter) on my AMD 64. It works fine in Windows {sigh}.

I've gotten further with Slackware than I did Ubuntu Dapper, but still it doesn't seem to work correctly.

I downloaded and compiled the latest RaLink driver from their site (RT61_Linux_STA_Drv1.0.4.0), and compiled it. Like many others, I got the make: ./Configure: Command not found error. I ended up modifying the config.mk file to point to my kernal files (2.4.33.3) and, still, the make config would fail. I ran make all anyway and it apparently compiled. I followed the rest of the instructions for the RaLink build, fired up KDE and I was able to get online. I logged off, and haven't been able to get on since.

Here's a run of lspci right after logging in:

Code:

root@darkstar:/# lspci | grep RaLink
03:07.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI

I then check modprobe:

Code:

root@darkstar:/# modprobe -c | grep ra0
alias ra0 rt61

So far so good. I then run ifconfig ra0 192.168.1.101 up like it says in the RaLink driver instructions and it comes back with an error (obviously I forgot to capture this) indicating
ra0 doesn't exist.

I then do:

Code:

root@darkstar:/# iwlist scan 
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

root@darkstar:/# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:15:58:37:54:CE  
          inet addr:192.168.1.101  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  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:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
          Interrupt:10 Base address:0x8000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:65 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:65 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:5762 (5.6 KiB)  TX bytes:5762 (5.6 KiB)

Figuring the module got dropped somehow, I run:

Code:

root@darkstar:/# /sbin/insmod /usr/RT61_Linux_STA_Drv1.0.4.0/Module/rt61.o

Warning: loading /usr/RT61_Linux_STA_Drv1.0.4.0/Module/rt61.o will taint the kernel: no license
  See [...link removed...] for information about tainted modules
Module rt61 loaded, with warnings

BTW: How do I get the license to load(?) so I won't the the "tainted kernel" warning?

I then redo my checks listed above along with a couple others:

Code:

root@darkstar:/# ifconfig ra0 inet 192.168.1.101 up
root@darkstar:/# iwlist scan
lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

ra0       Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:06:25:F1:64:06
                    ESSID:"Minglanilla"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:10
                    Encryption key:off
          Cell 02 - Address: 00:0F:B3:55:58:C7
                    ESSID:"ACTIONTEC"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:9
                    Encryption key:on
          Cell 03 - Address: 00:09:5B:51:75:4C
                    ESSID:"NETGEAR"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:11
                    Encryption key:off

root@darkstar:/# ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:15:58:37:54:CE  
          inet addr:192.168.1.101  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  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:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
          Interrupt:10 Base address:0x8000 

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:65 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:65 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:5762 (5.6 KiB)  TX bytes:5762 (5.6 KiB)

ra0       Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:16:B6:98:97:AD  
          inet addr:192.168.1.101  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:113 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:27 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:8053 (7.8 KiB)  TX bytes:24 (24.0 b)
          Interrupt:5 Base address:0x2000 

root@darkstar:/# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

ra0       RT61 Wireless  ESSID:"Minglanilla"  
          Mode:Managed  Channel:10  Access Point: 00:06:25:F1:64:06   
          Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Link Quality=82/100  Signal level:-57 dBm  Noise level:-79 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

root@darkstar:/# route -n
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
192.168.1.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 eth0
192.168.1.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 ra0
127.0.0.0       0.0.0.0         255.0.0.0       U     0      0        0 lo
0.0.0.0         192.168.1.1     0.0.0.0         UG    1      0        0 eth0
root@darkstar:/# cat /etc/resolv.conf 
NAMESERVER 192.168.1.0.1
NAMESERVER 205.171.3.65

In my route listing above, the gateway is correctly listed for the etho (my network card),

but not for my wireless (ra0) and I can't figure out how. I've done everthing I could find

in this and other forums but it doesn't seem to connect to my router (AP).

I also noticed that eth0 and ra0 both have an IP ADDR of 192.168.1.101 - I brought down eth0 but that didn't seem to help any.

I'm at a loss as to what to do next.

Fluxx · 10-28-2006, 12:51 PM

I start my rt61 device without the rt61sta.dat, only the firmware rt61.bin in /lib/firmware.

I use a script for a WPA2 connection to my AP (rt61 doesn't need wpa_supplicant, it is able to run WPA/WPA2 intern):

Code:

#!/bin/bash
/sbin/ifconfig eth0 down
/sbin/ifconfig ra0 up
/sbin/iwconfig ra0 mode managed
/sbin/iwpriv ra0 set ATE=STASTOP
/sbin/iwpriv ra0 set ATETXPOW=1
/sbin/iwpriv ra0 set ATE=STASTART
/sbin/iwpriv ra0 set NetworkType=Infra
/sbin/iwpriv ra0 set AuthMode=WPA2PSK
/sbin/iwpriv ra0 set EncrypType=AES
/sbin/iwpriv ra0 set SSID="my_essid"
/sbin/iwpriv ra0 set WPAPSK="my_secret_key"
/sbin/iwpriv ra0 set SSID="my_essid"
/sbin/ifconfig ra0 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
/sbin/route add default gateway xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
/sbin/iwconfig ra0 rts 1401
/sbin/iwconfig ra0 frag 1400

You may change the WPA2 configuration according to your preferences. More informations you can find in the file iwpriv_usage.txt in the sources of RT61_Linux_STA_Drv1.0.4.0/Module/.

The kernel modul is loaded during startup with udev, I run the script called wpara (stored in /root/) out of rc.local with these lines:

Code:

if lspci | grep RT61 > /dev/null ; then
   sh /root/wparp
fi

I hope these lines will give you something which will help you ...

Fluxx.

Tux-Slack · 01-01-2007, 04:46 PM

i have a little problem with this driver as well...
i can't compile it
i use kernel 2.6.17.13 on slackware 11
instead of the 2.4.x
and i have installed a MiniPCI card on my laptop(MSI M630)

and when i try to make the driver
it starts compiling, and then changes to rt61 folder and outputs
no rule to make target 'modules'

anyone have any idea bout this one?

P.S: im not changing to 2.4.x cuz i had some USB problems with this kernel...

Fluxx · 01-02-2007, 07:30 AM

Did you follow the README in the driver sources?

There is the line mentioned to copy the Makefile concerning your kernel to the Makefile you need to compile the driver.

If you use a 2.6-kernel: cp Makefile-2.6 Makefile

and the it should compile without a problem.

Fluxx.

Tux-Slack · 01-02-2007, 08:28 AM

Fluxx i did and the error continued...
i now reinstalled the kernel sources and everything compiled ok