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#1 2005-07-17 09:09:11

dtw
Forum Fellow
From: UK
Registered: 2004-08-03
Posts: 4,439
Website

Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

A need some help guys - I'm trying to setup a new wireless network card but this one has some weird idiosyncrasies.  I odubt anyone has had this exact problem so I need some smart people to help me figure it out.

Here's what I know:

· The card is supported by prism54 or ndiswrapper
· It needs some sort of firmware update in the local FS to work in some cases
· There are numerous versions: I have Made in Taiwan and V2.0 - which as I understand it is great news
· The card works great in windows

All this is well and good but my problem is that when I insert the card in the pcmcia slot it gets no lights on at all - I can't tell if it is even working!

Here is the output of cardctl ident:

Socket 0:
  product info: "NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC", "Card", "Version 01.00", ""
  manfid: 0x0156, 0x0002
  function: 6 (network)
Socket 1:
  product info: "Intersil", "ISL3890", "-", "-"
  manfid: 0x000b, 0x3890
  function: 254 ((null))

Top one is my current working card.

iwconfig:

wlan0     IEEE 802.11-DS  ESSID:"GFSIT02"  Nickname:"Prism  I"
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.462 GHz  Access Point: 00:0D:54:FA:E8:ED   
          Bit Rate:11 Mb/s   Tx-Power=15 dBm   Sensitivity:1/3  
          Retry min limit:8   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:6F56-E1AB-77   Security mode:open
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=36/92  Signal level=-49 dBm  Noise level=-134 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

eth1      NOT READY!  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Channel:0  Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00   
          Tx-Power=31 dBm   Sensitivity=0/200  
          Retry min limit:0   RTS thr=0 B   Fragment thr=0 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

lsmod:

Module                  Size  Used by
uhci_hcd               33808  0 
ohci_hcd               22916  0 
ehci_hcd               37256  0 
usbcore               127228  4 uhci_hcd,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd
orinoco_cs              9864  1 
orinoco                43404  1 orinoco_cs
hermes                  7808  2 orinoco_cs,orinoco
snd_intel8x0m          20164  4 
snd_intel8x0           34752  3 
snd_ac97_codec         86652  2 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm_oss            55584  0 
snd_mixer_oss          20480  4 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                96644  6 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_page_alloc         10244  3 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
snd_timer              27140  1 snd_pcm
snd                    59492  13 snd_intel8x0m,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore              10464  4 snd
ppp_generic            31764  0 
slhc                    7424  1 ppp_generic
serial_cs              10376  0 
pcmcia                 28304  10 orinoco_cs,serial_cs
ide_scsi               18948  0 
sg                     36256  0 
sr_mod                 18852  0 
3c59x                  42792  0 
mii                     6272  1 3c59x
rtc                    14156  0 
pcspkr                  4172  0 
parport_pc             29124  0 
parport                38600  1 parport_pc
radeon                 79360  1 
nls_cp437               6144  1 
vfat                   14720  1 
fat                    54044  1 vfat
prism54                59272  0 
joydev                 10432  0 
evdev                   9984  1

lspci:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82830 830 Chipset Host Bridge (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82830 830 Chipset AGP Bridge (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801CA/CAM USB (Hub #1) (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801BAM/CAM PCI Bridge (rev 41)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801CAM ISA Bridge (LPC) (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801CAM IDE U100 (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Audio (rev 01)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801CA/CAM AC'97 Modem (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M6 LY
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado] (rev 78)
02:01.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1420
02:01.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1420

hwd -e

IDE interface
  piix            : Intel Corp.|82801 UltraATA IDE Controller
Ethernet controller
  3c59x           : 3Com Corp.|3c905C-TX [Fast Etherlink]
VGA compatible controller
  radeon          : ATI|Radeon Mobility M6 LY (AGP)
Multimedia audio controller
  i810_audio      : Intel Corp.|82801 AC97 Audio Controller
Host bridge
  intel-agp       : Intel Corp.|82830 Host-Hub I/F Bridge SDRAM Controller
ISA bridge
  i810-tco        : Intel Corp.|82801 LPC Interface
PCI bridge
  hw_random       : Intel Corp.|82801 Hub Interface to PCI Bridge
  unknown         : Intel Corp.|82830 Host-AGP Bridge
CardBus bridge
  yenta_socket    : Texas Instruments|PCI1420 PC Card Controller
Modem
  slamr           : Intel Corp.|PCTEL 2304 WT V.92 MDC Modem
USB Controller
  uhci_hcd        : Intel Corp.|82801 USB Controller
USB Hub
  hub             : Virtual|Hub
PCMCIA Network card
  unknown         : NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC|Card
Mouse
  msintellips/2   : Generic PS/2 Wheel Mouse [/dev/psaux]

lshwd

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp.|82830 Host-Hub I/F Bridge SDRAM Controller (intel-agp)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp.|82830 Host-AGP Bridge (unknown)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp.|82801 USB Controller (uhci_hcd)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp.|82801 Hub Interface to PCI Bridge (hw_random)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp.|82801 LPC Interface (i810-tco)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp.|82801 UltraATA IDE Controller (piix)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp.|82801 AC97 Audio Controller (i810_audio)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp.|PCTEL 2304 WT V.92 MDC Modem (slamr)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI|Radeon Mobility M6 LY (AGP) (radeon)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corp.|3c905C-TX [Fast Etherlink] (3c59x)
02:01.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments|PCI1420 PC Card Controller (yenta_socket)
02:01.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments|PCI1420 PC Card Controller (yenta_socket)
001:001 USB Hub: Virtual|Hub (hub)
--:00.6 PCMCIA Network card: NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC|Card (unknown)
---:--- Mouse: Generic PS/2 Wheel Mouse [/dev/psaux] (msintellips/2)

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#2 2005-07-17 09:46:14

dtw
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From: UK
Registered: 2004-08-03
Posts: 4,439
Website

Re: Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

OK - I have it working but in a tricky to start way - once I have it working in an easy way I'll let you know how i did it!

Briefly, i had the firmware in the wrong place, should have been in /lib/firmware not /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware

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#3 2005-07-17 17:14:46

dtw
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From: UK
Registered: 2004-08-03
Posts: 4,439
Website

Re: Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

basically, with the firmware in the correct place, it works perfectly, even without loading the prism54 module - which is odd!

I made a PKGBUILD to install the firmware - nice and simple:

pkgname=prism54-firmware
pkgver=1
pkgrel=2
pkgdesc="Firmware for prism54 wireless cards"
url="http://prism54.org/"
license=""
depends=()
makedepends=()
conflicts=()
replaces=()
backup=()
install=
source=(http://prism54.org/~mcgrof/firmware/isl3890)
md5sums=('8bd4310971772a486b9784c77f8a6df9')

build() {
  mkdir -p $startdir/pkg/lib/firmware
  cp -P $startdir/src/isl3890 $startdir/pkg/lib/firmware
}

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#4 2005-07-17 17:25:41

iphitus
Forum Fellow
From: Melbourne, Australia
Registered: 2004-10-09
Posts: 4,927

Re: Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

maybe name the pkgbuild  prism-firmware, as it's the name of the chipset. plenty of cards use the same chipset, driver and firmware as yours.

btw, mind if we include in next archie?

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#5 2005-07-17 17:59:26

dtw
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From: UK
Registered: 2004-08-03
Posts: 4,439
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Re: Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

dunno if that is allowed - you'll have to check the license on the firmware

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#6 2005-07-18 01:59:26

iphitus
Forum Fellow
From: Melbourne, Australia
Registered: 2004-10-09
Posts: 4,927

Re: Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

dibblethewrecker wrote:

dunno if that is allowed - you'll have to check the license on the firmware

http://prism54.org/firmware/
http://prism54.org/~mcgrof/firmware/

there isnt a license, although they say "We do not have a "usage" license but should we get one, I'm pretty sure it'll just say you can use the firmware in whatever way you want except reverse-engineering."

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#7 2005-07-18 21:49:57

tomk
Forum Fellow
From: Ireland
Registered: 2004-07-21
Posts: 9,839

Re: Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

I've been running the 3Com prism54 variant since I first went wireless on Debian, and the change of firmware directory was the principle issue I had changing to Arch. How it works for you without the module is beyond me - I have to have the module, and I also have to have it loaded by hotplug, so that the firmware is taken care of by hotplug's firmware agent.

Incidentally, these are Cardbus (aka pci) devices, so the info in cardctl is irrelevant - you don't need pcmcia-cs to run them.

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#8 2005-07-19 08:54:28

iphitus
Forum Fellow
From: Melbourne, Australia
Registered: 2004-10-09
Posts: 4,927

Re: Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

tomk: you dont have to run hotplug on boot, or have it load the module to have it load up the firmware.

I have an intel wireless card that has firmware, that goes into the same directory. when the module is loaded with modprobe, the kernel calls hotplug to load the firmware.

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#9 2005-07-19 09:40:08

tomk
Forum Fellow
From: Ireland
Registered: 2004-07-21
Posts: 9,839

Re: Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

Yeah, that's what I expected too, but modprobing never worked for me, and as long as I could get it working with hotplug, I didn't feel the need to debug it.

Thanks anyway.

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#10 2005-07-19 10:34:13

dtw
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From: UK
Registered: 2004-08-03
Posts: 4,439
Website

Re: Setting up a WG511 - i need google buddies!

I started a new thread about using udev with this card here but it seems to be coming full circle to answer these questions - you guys might like to have a look

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=102070

[Fixed link]

Last edited by dtw (2007-05-07 15:17:43)

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