autodetect wireless??

true_atlantis · 04-19-2004, 09:45 PM

i just got a new ibm thinkpad laptop, it has centrino wireless. i have never done anything with wireless before, is there a tutorial on how to get it started? or will slack self detect it? my school uses VPN in the library, can i just use that software?? so many questions, can anyone just give me a tutorial or somethin? thanks

ToniT · 04-19-2004, 10:03 PM

There are some howtos, like:
http://www.hpl.hp.com/personal/Jean_Tourrilhes/Linux/
http://www.linuxdownloads.org/miniho...sys-WPC11.html

But both of them are imho quite a mess.
What you need, is

have pcmcia support configured and working
have wireless-tools package installed
hit the card in
run iwconfig with proper parameters (what? see the net provider[your school]. how? see the manpage)
run ifconfig or dhcp client to set tcp/ip settings.
That's it.

The iwconfig/ifconfig step can be automated with the system scripts. Exact details depends on the distribution you are using.

spurious · 04-19-2004, 10:19 PM

Unfortunately, I doubt that Slackware will automatically detect the Centrino wireless. The problem is that Intel will not open source the Centrino wireless drivers.

Apparently, they may release binary-only drivers. You should google for 'linux centrino'.

Here are some links:
http://www.intel.com/support/noteboo...059-prd955.htm
http://developers.slashdot.org/devel.../1540234.shtml
http://tuxmobil.org/centrino.html