Linksys WPC54G and Mandrake Linux

[Apropos 0]

Hi@all

 

I installed Mandrake 10 on my Dell inspiron 8200 laptop everything is working good but I can't install my wireless 802.11G Linksys Model WPC54G card. Can anyone help me to install my wireless card?

 

thanks

[RobKl 0]

I have the same adapter as you do, only I use Fedora instead of Mandrake. In all cases however I think this adapter is not supported in Linux at all. When you look at:

 

http://www.linux-wlan.org/docs/wlan_adapters.html.gz

 

you will see a list of all adapters and their support under Linux. Only a few are supported, and this one is not among them.

 

Also the website from Linksys itself doesn't state any Linux support for this adapter, though are adapters do.

 

So I think we shall have to be very patient, or by an adapter that is supported.

[matrix3000k 0]

hey guys i know the problem you are having. it turns out that the linksys WPC54G card has the broadcom chipset. sad enough broadcom will not support linux for some reason. i have a dell internal wireless card that is also made by broadcom. now there are two things you can do....

 

1. you can return the wireless card that you and look for a linksys card WPC11 version 1,2 or 3. DO NOT get version 4. version 4 is also made by broadcom. if you choose to do this then you will have to search for drivers for linux called prisim since prisim is the chipset in those cards. i know they are out there on the net as well sorry i don't have a link handy for you.

 

2. you can do what i did. now i don't use mandrake anymore im a suse user but thats besides the point. i went to http://www.linuxant.com and download driverloader from them for 19.99 which i think is a very very fare price. and with that i loaded up the windows binary drivers with linuxant driverloader and i had my wireless card up and running in the matter of 10 mins. but becareful, you have to download the right version of driverloader for your kernel. if you are unsure what kernel you are using you can simply execute the command in console

(uname -r). that will give you the kernel that is installed on your system. if you download any other version of driverloader that is not made for your kernel you will run into many problems trying to load up the drivers. now they have a trial for it as well if you wanna try it out and see if it will work out for you. that is what i did and i liked it and that is why i decided to buy it for 20 bucks.. you can't go wrong with a price like that.

 

 

you can also check this website http://www.seattlewireless.net/ for other cards that are supported in linux using source drivers. hope this will help you!!!

 

..:Mario:..

"The Linux Guru"

[Apropos 0]

Fist of all, thanks for replying guys..

 

@Matrix3000k

 

I can't return my card because I bought it more than 3 months ago. There is a link to download linux driver of my card on linksys website [url= http://www.linksys.com/download/driver.a...ver.asp?dlid=66 " title="httpwwwlinksyscomdownloaddriveraspdlid66 titlehttpwwwlinksyscomdownloaddriveraspdlid66 urlhttpwwwlinksyscomdownloaddriveraspdlid66 relnofollow targetblankhttpwwwlinksyscomdownloaddriveraveraspdlid66 " rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.linksys.com/download/driver.a...sp?dlid=66 . I downloaded and tried to install but I had a problem during installation. Linux asked me to show linux source. I couldn't answer the question.

 

Faq says that

 

Code:

 - Linux source directory [/usr/src/linux]: The config script will attempt to automagically find your kernelsource directory.  If found, the kernel source source directorywill be presented as the default selection.  If the default selection is wrong, you may correct it here.

 

I have to connect internet with wireless, and I am keeping windows for connecting internet.

 

 

 

[danleff 0]

apropos, the link that you gave is for the WPC11, not the WPC54G. Different chipset?

 

Anyway, you would need to install the kernel source package for the kernel version that you have in order to compile the driver. Do you have the kernel source package installed? It should be under /usr/src/linux, if it is installed.

[Apropos 0]

Hi danleff

 

I installed my card. Everything is fine now. I didn't use driver that I downloaded from Linksys website. I found another way to install my card. If someone needs help about it, I can tell what I did.

 

P.S. I made a mistake and I posted my treat twice.I tried to delete but I couldn't delete it. Please delete my previous treat. Click here to see my another treat.

 

 

@members

 

If you have the same problem, please don't buy a driver from linuxant.com. We already paid for wireless card. I think driver for card should be free.

 

 

thanks

[danleff 0]

Ok, the second one is deleted.

 

It would be nice, if you have the time, to post your solution. I lot of folks have posted about wireless cards and this may help others.

 

I used the Linuxant drivers for my wireless, that gave me a big headache (D-link) wireless. It was worth the low price for me, but many folks don't wish to pay for drivers.

[matrix3000k 0]

hey guys remember you are not paying for drivers but you are paying to help support the developers who made that software for us. now i know that linux is all open source and should all be free but these programers out there are working hard for us to write programs that will work for our probelms that we encounter in linux. and it would be nice to give back to them something to thank them for developing and taking the time to develop software. put it this way you are actually paying for something that WILL WORK. unlike microsoft where you pay hundreds of dollars where nothing will ever work. so help these guys out by make a small donation and showing them that you are thankful for their hard work and efforts.

 

..:Mario:..

"The Linux Guru"

[mihaisofti 0]

dear Apropos

 

Please post the solution to Linksys WPC54g linux driver. Clearly, I am not alone in my quest for this information.

 

Mihai softi

[Apropos 0]

I found this solution from another forum. I hope it works for you. It worked for me.

 

Code:

Hey guys,I just managed to get the WMP54G going under Mandrake 10 Official Download. I will try to give you as much detail as I can. The following instructions tell you how to download and setup ndiswrapper from scratch. Make sure that the package that comes with Mandrake 10 is NOT installed. If it is, go to "configure your computer", "software management" and remove it. While you are in there, make sure that teh "wireless tools" are installed.The commands below start with a dollar sign. The dollar sign represnts the prompt. Do not type the dollar sign.Download ndiswrapper from http://sourceforge.net/projects/ndiswrapper/Open a shell and go to where ndiswrapper-0.7.tar.gz is locatedUntar the file by running$ tar -zxvf ndiswrapper-0.7.tar.gzGo into the newly created directory$ cd ndiswrapper-0.7I would strongly reccomend reading the INSTALL file. All I did is follow the steps in it. You can open it vi.$ vi INSTALLTo exit vi type :q that's colon qTo install the ndiswrapper run$ make installNow you can install the windows drivers. I had problems with the windows drivers I downloaded from the internet. The once from the CD worked better.$ ndiswrapper -i /mnt/cdrom/Drivers/wmpci54g.infPlease substitude the path or filenames if different to match yours.To see if it worked$ ndiswrapper -lYou should seeInstalled ndis drivers:bcmwl5 presentLoad the module$ modprobe ndiswrapperTo see if the module loaded type$ dmesgI was getting some errors here. Rebooting seemed to make the module load ok. Eventually I removed ndiswrapper and started over again. To remove it I just did $ rm -f /usr/bin/ndiswrapper Do this only if you have problems.Now you should see it as wlan0 when you run the following:$ iwconfigSet the mode to managed by running$ iwconfig wlan0 mode ManagedI have not set up encryption yet, but you can set it up by running the following command and replacing the Xs with your own key composed of numbers and letters 0-9 A-F I believe. This same number will have to be entered into your access point as well.$ iwconfig wlan0 key restricted XXXXXXXXXXYour access point has SSID or ESSID. Enter it here$ iwconfig wlan0 essid ESSIDNow you should be able to see the information you just entered by typing$ iwconfigThis is where I had problems. The ESSID remained blank no matter how many times I entered it. Also the access pint came up as all Fs. This is when I started over by deleting ndiswrapper. Now it reports the proper ESSID and access pint.Here is where the INSTALL file tells you to setup the network parameters of wlan0. I did not change anything but you can look them up in Mandrake 10 by going to "Configure your computer", "Network and Internet", "Manage connetions". You should see wlan0 in the drop down menu. I made sure that "Start at boot" is checked under "Options". TCP/IP I left blank to be assigned by DHCP.At the command prompt run as root$ ifconfigIf you do not see wlan0 listed try$ ifconfig wlan0 uptry again$ ifconfigNow you should see wlan0 with an IP address assigned.To have ndiswrapper load at boot$ ndiswrapper -mHopefully this helps.Nickwritten by nrnickolov

 

good luck and thanks nrnickolov

[npirate 0]

Originally posted by Matrix3000k:

Quote:

i went to http://www.linuxant.com and download driverloader from them for 19.99

 

Finally something that works! I put Mandrake 10.1 on a Dell Latitude L400. And I have been trying for 3 days to get the wireless working. I have tried 5 different wireless cards (3 Linksys, a D-link DL-650 and my Orinoco/Proxim 8470-WD) After struggling with ndiswrapper (which was not easy to use) I remembered this post and downloaded the trial version from www.linuxany.com. It took a few tries but I got my Proxim card working and configured. I'm going to buy it now. Say what you want about paying for software bottom line is it works.

 

---

Nick

http://www.10thlegion.com

http://www.captainmighty.com

[danleff 0]

I have to agree. I just tried ndiswrapper and had all kinds of issues with getting wlan0 up correctly on my D-link DWL G520.

 

I use the Linuxant driver in my laptop with no problem. The data given for the ndiswrapper by apropos is on target too. But, on reboot in Fedora---nada. Worked the first time, then on reboot no.

 

I'll try both again and post back.

[snwright 0]

jeez i wish i had read these forums before i bought this thing. this is a pain...

i'm trying to lay this wpc54g on my Debian Thinkpad390, and it's hard. i got ndiswrapper first, installed it and everything, executed this:

 

# ndiswrapper -l

Installed ndis drivers:

lstinds driver present, hardware present

#

as you can see, i have the card plugged into my pc slot; if i unplug it, the last "hardware present" bit doesn't show up. so it's seeing my card. however, the card's lights are NOT on.

 

so then i go and:

 

# /sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper

FATAL: Error inserting ndiswrapper (/lib/modules/2.6.8-1-386/misc/ndiswrapper.ko): Invalid module format

#

 

so no dice. i did it a few times, went back through the whole thing, did it again... nothing.

so i figure i'd pay the twenty bucks and go to linuxant. i ended up doing the trial install. in the end, i got to their graphical web-configuration, where i get, after installing my drivers and all:

 

"It seems that your device is either not present or not supported by the installed driver(s). Either:

1. Plug-in your device and click [Refresh] to retry,

OR

2. Upload a new driver using the [upload Windows Driver] button below.

If your device still does not appear, please look at the Kernel Messages for possible clues and check that no conflicting Kernel modules are loaded."

 

i don't get it. i checked my kernel messages, and found the following (interesting, useful) message:

 

*clip*

ndiswrapper: no version for "struct_module" found: kernel tainted.

ndiswrapper: version magic '2.6.8-20050102 PENTIUMII gcc -3.3' should be '2.6.8-1-386 preempt 386 gcc -3.3'

...

 

that might make sense, actually. see, i started a kernel recompile in order to get the kernel headers in the right place, but didn't finish it cause it was taking a damn long time and i thought i could get around it by using either apt-get or linuxant's stuff. which i did, and both seemed to work...

 

any ideas?

spencer

[riseringseeker 0]

Apropos;

 

You offered the following:

 

> The following instructions tell you how to download and setup

> ndiswrapper from scratch. Make sure that the package that

> comes with Mandrake 10 is NOT installed. If it is, go to

> "configure your computer", "software management" and remove

> it. While you are in there, make sure that teh "wireless

> tools" are installed.

 

OK, I admit, though I've read various threads and instructions for the last week, I have no idea how to remove the package that comes with mdk10.1. I also fully and freely admit to being a Linux novice. According to the "distributions" info for ndiswrapper:

 

> Mandrake 10.1 have build in the ACX100/111 Sourceforge

> project driver as a kernel module, you will need to remove

> this before install the ndiswrapper

 

I have had a few suggestions on how to remove the module, but none seem to do the job. I tried rmmod while waiting for suggestions, which seemed to work (until the next boot). I installed ndiswrapper per instructions, and got as far as it reporting the networks available, but that's as far as I've gotten, and of course, at the next boot, it's gone, mdk has put the ACX100_PCI module back in.

 

I thought one of the reasons for having modules was to be able to choose them or not, so something that wasn't always needed wasn't loaded at every boot, or am I having a blond hair day?

 

Short of recompiling the kernel (which I will try, but am hesitant to), is there a way to make mdk10.1 NOT load a "default" module?

[cbouch35 0]

okay. After a very very VERY long time of trying to get my linksys WPC54g card working on a 3 year-old IBM thinkpad (running mandrakelinux 10.1) i thought this post was a dream. I downloaded the driverloader from //www.linuxant.com/ ... but after much fusturation.. nothing. no attempt of the config of my card works.... what's this 10 mins? what exactly did you do in 10 mins that got this working??

 

help!

 

Christina

[danleff 0]

cbouch35, what did you try already to get it going?

 

There are two possible solutions, the linuxant drivers or ndiswrapper.

 

Remember, you found this post, but it is quite old. Your situation is complicated by this being a pcmcia adapter. But, it still should work.

 

The Linuxant driver installation is somewhat complicated and hindered by the need to have the correct Windows drivers available to load via the http config screen.

 

The other issue is the kernel that comes stock with Mandrake, which does not handle the windows drivers well, unless you use one of the modified Mandrake kernel packages provided by Linuxant to deal with the stack overflow issue.

 

I thnk the original solution posted was using ndiswrapper.

 

So, with the linuxant driver package, at what point did it fail? Did it allow you to install the windows drivers from your installation cd OK?

[iosik 0]

Originally posted by apropos:

Quote:

I found this solution from another forum. I hope it works for you. It worked for me.

 

good luck and thanks nrnickolov

 

I´ve just installed my linksys wpc54g wireless stuff in dell inspiron 5000 laptop with Mandrake 10.1!

Ndiswrapper worked ok using driver for windows9X that came with the card. I´ve tried also with conceptronic, it didnt work...but i think something was wrong with the card. Any way linksys works fine with solution posted by apropos. Thks a lot, i was about to give up, and this saved me!