Arch Wireless Trick?

jimbo-62 · 2005-07-31 18:29:47

I have two wireless PC cards. One is a D-link DWL-G650 with the Atheros chip set and the other is a Netgear WG511 with the Prism GT chip set. I have only one card installed at any one time. I just have the two cards available for my use.

Both of these card work perfectly in three other distros, Debian, Slackware and Vector. I know how to install the madwifi drivers and the Prism54 firmware. I know how to use iwconfig and ifconfig and route and lsmod and modprobe.

Well, despite my success with these cards in the other distros, I have been unable to get either to work in my Arch 0.7 hard drive installation. As an example here is what happens when I try to activate the Netgear card.

The Prism54 firmware has been installed to the /lib/firmware directory and renamed to isl3890. Modprobe loads the Prism54 driver which I verify with lsmod.

But iwconfig doesn't show any wireless interface. And ifconfig -a doesn't show any interfaces except lo and sit0 (Whatever that is.) So or course nothing else works because there is no recognized interface.

If I install the D-link card and try to activate it, the same thing happens, modprobe ath_pci loads the madwifi drivers which I verify with lsmod. But iwconfig doesn't show any wireless interface and ifconfig -a doesn't show any interface except for lo and sit0.

So, what am I missing in this Arch 0.7 hard drive installation that is keeping my wireless PC cards from working?

Note: My wired ethernet connection works perfectly. I just modprobe sis900, then ifconfig eth0 <ip address>, then route add default gw <gateway address> and everything works. I will work on automation later when I get the wireless PC cards to work.

Thanks for any help, jimbo

dtw · 2005-07-31 19:02:16

I'd guess it is your pcmcia setup not your wireless set up at all - I have a WG511 that works perfectly so it must be possible!

jimbo-62 · 2005-07-31 20:19:04

OK, loading yenta_socket gets me to the next step. But now I get an error message that I believe means the Prism54 firmware is in the wrong directory. When should the isl3890 file be installed?

PS Edit: I installed the D-link card with the Atheros chip set and it works OK. I think the Prism setup must have the firmware in the wrong directory. I put it in /lib/firmware and renamed it to isl3890. But I get the flags message about no such file or directory.

Thanks, jimbo

dtw · 2005-07-31 21:51:07

run:

grep -i FIRMWARE_DIR /etc/hotplug/firmware.agent

Thought it was the pcmcia

jimbo-62 · 2005-07-31 22:14:33

More and more confusing. Your suggestion shows the firmware directory to be /lib/firmware and that is where my isl3890 firmware file is located. Now that I load yenta_socket , iwconfig shows a wireless interface, eth0. But when I try to bring eth0 up with "ifconfig eth0 up", it gives me an error message: "SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory.

I got the same message when I was working with Slackware 10.1. It turned out to be the firmware was in the wrong directory.

Thanks for any insight, jimbo

tomk · 2005-07-31 22:29:06

Are you using the stock Arch kernel, or a custom-built one? If custom-built, have you the right options selected i.e.

CONFIG_PRISM54=m
CONFIG_FW_LOADER=y or m

jimbo-62 · 2005-07-31 22:31:34

I used Archie 0.4.1 to do a hard drive installation. I accepted the installation option to install kernel-2.6.12.2-1.

Thanks for the help, jimbo

jimbo-62 · 2005-08-01 18:29:42

OK, I recompiled kernel 2.6.12.2 and included everything that I have included in Slackware, same kernel. Still no good.

When I try to activate the Prism PC card, it gives the same error message:

"SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory."

This is the exact message I got in Slackware 10.1 when the isl3890 firmware file was in the wrong directory. But firmware.agent shows /lib/firmware as the directory. So something else must be going on.

I still need advice on how to proceed.

Thanks, jimbo

xor · 2005-08-01 20:23:42

Hello,
I don't remember exacly how I did the setup for my Zyxel G110 (prism54) but it does work (using it now).
Running prism on eth0.

Ehh, kernel version 2.6.11 (not arch pkg.gz)
kernelconfig:
CONFIG_NET_RADIO=y
CONFIG_PRISM54=m

ls -l /lib/firmware/
total 192
-rwxr--r-- 1 root root 93996 2005-04-07 20:32 1.0.4.3.arm
-rwxr--r-- 1 root root 93996 2005-04-07 20:58 isl3890
(.arm is just to remember firmware version, not used)

#lsmod
Module Size Used by
prism54 52744 0
firmware_class 7424 1 prism54

/etc/rc.conf:
INTERFACES=(lo eth0 eth1)
WIRELESS_PROFILES=(home-eth0)

DAEMONS=(hotplug iptables !wireless pcmcia)

Disable wireless in DAEMON's section, wait until firmware and modules have been loaded!
(not sure about the need of pcmcia bcause I'm also using another pcmcia nic that is using it)

reffering to WIRELESS_PROFILE in rc.conf
cat /etc/conf.d/wireless-profiles/home-eth0/config

#! /bin/sh
#----
# The following sample contains the bare minimum working wireless
# profile. Other options are commented below. Copy this script
# and modify for a working profile.
#----

INTERFACE="eth0"
#
# Interface options (same as in rc.conf) - either dhcp or paramters for ifconfig

IFOPTS="eth0 192.168.0.2 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255"
#
# Wireless ESSID (extended network name)
ESSID="your_acesspoint_essid"

# This value is free-form, used for informational scripts
# INFO="W-Profile"
#
# Network/Domain ID
# NWID=""
#
# Mode [Ad-Hoc, Auto, Managed, Master, Repeater, Secondary, Shared]
MODE="Auto"
#
# Frequency or Channel of Wireless Radio
# FREQ=""
CHANNEL="6"
#
# Signal Sensitivity
# SENS=""
#
# TX/RX Bit Rate
# RATE="auto"
#
# Encryption Key (see `man iwconfig` for extended information
KEY="secretkey"
#
# RTS Threshold
# RTS=""
#
# Fragmentation Threshold
# FRAG=""
#
# Misc Parameters for iwconfig
# PARAMS=""

Let hotplug install the firmware before running /etc/rc.d/wireless start

Hope something here will help you!

//xor

jimbo-62 · 2005-08-02 14:48:20

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I have the isl3890 firmware in the /lib/firmware directory with the correct permissions. Prism54 has been compiled into the kernel. I have never seen the firmware_class result from lsmod on Slackware, Debian or Vector and all three work perfectly.

All of the configuration stuff is meaningless unless I can activate the interface. Here is the problem again.

iwconfig shows eth1 as a wireless interface. ifconfig eth1 up fails with a message: "SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory." I had the same message in Slackware 10.1 when the isl3890 file was in the wrong directory. Based on that experience, I think Arch 0.7 with the 2.6.12.2 kernel is looking in a directory other than /lib/firmware or is looking for a firmware file with a different name. The 2.6.12.2 kernel works with Slackware 10.1 and Vector, so it must be something different in Arch 0.7.

I still need some help with a course of action to solve this problem.

Thanks, jimbo

dtw · 2005-08-02 14:55:21

Well, as I already said jimbo i have the exact same card as you and i have my firmware in the same place.

Are you using udev?

jimbo-62 · 2005-08-02 15:03:31

What kernel are you using? I guess you are using Arch 0.8?

And to display my ignorance, what is udev and how do I tell if I am using it?

Thanks, jimbo

dtw · 2005-08-02 17:04:51

jimbo-62 wrote:

What kernel are you using? I guess you are using Arch 0.8?

That's a bit of joke to be honest - people ask when Arch 0.8 is coming out quite often and as Arch operates a rolling release we are all using the Arch 0.8 beta...

I'm using a custom kernel but have not made any changes to the firmware settings.

jimbo-62 wrote:

And to display my ignorance, what is udev and how do I tell if I am using it?
Thanks, jimbo

hmmmm

Ok then - there is a good chance you aren't then. This is the Arch guide to setting up udev - you can also use it to check if you do have udev running i.e. if the changes have already been made you are using it already

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Udev

Work through that step by step - it might a good idea to print it and make sure you have your installation disk handy just in case.

Switching to udev is a good move anyway as Arch will be soley supporting it in the future

I should clarify that I am using udev, which uses hotplug to load firmware which may help your situation

You can also stop before "customizing udev " you don't need that part

jimbo-62 · 2005-08-02 18:09:05

OK dibblethewrecker, You da man!! I installed udev and now when I execute ifconfig eth1 up, it activates eth1 with no error messages. And I can configure eth1 and get Internet access.

Thanks, jimbo

phrakture · 2005-08-02 18:13:51

hah, that's the first time udev actually fixed someones problems 8)

dtw · 2005-08-02 23:00:09

no worries jimbo - PLUS you have the big + of not having to upgrade udev later - cos you already did it

Arch Linux

#1 2005-07-31 18:29:47

Arch Wireless Trick?

#2 2005-07-31 19:02:16

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#3 2005-07-31 20:19:04

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#4 2005-07-31 21:51:07

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#5 2005-07-31 22:14:33

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#6 2005-07-31 22:29:06

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#7 2005-07-31 22:31:34

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#8 2005-08-01 18:29:42

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#9 2005-08-01 20:23:42

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#10 2005-08-02 14:48:20

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#11 2005-08-02 14:55:21

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#12 2005-08-02 15:03:31

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#13 2005-08-02 17:04:51

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#14 2005-08-02 18:09:05

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#15 2005-08-02 18:13:51

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

#16 2005-08-02 23:00:09

Re: Arch Wireless Trick?

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