Netgear WG311T and MadWiFi for FC3 x86_64

[NimBinDobbs 0]

Hello. Just started using Linux for the first time with Fedora Core 3 x86_64. I have a Netgear WG311T PCI adapter, and am trying to get the wireless networking functional with the MadWiFi drivers. I am pretty much stuck at the part of what file do I need to download and from where. THe next part is what do I do with the file once I get it? I have seen much on downloading source drivers, then rebuilding/recompiling them for the target computer, and then installing them. Is this correct, and what are the step by step, detailed procedures to do this? Thank you for any help and support this terrific forum can bring me. If anyone needs anymore info from me, just ask, I will be as quick as I can responding.

 

P.S. - Even though I can't get on the net, or get my nvidia drivers to install properly, I still love learning about Linux!

[martouf 0]

Have a look at this related thread, because there are two kinds

of Netgear WG311 hardware.

 

If you have the v1 hardware, then you probably already have the madwifi drivers

you need.

 

If you have the v2 hardware, then you can't use the madwifi drivers and you need to

go get the acx100 drivers instead.

 

[NimBinDobbs 0]

Thank you for the quick reply. I have the v1 with the atheros chipset. Are the MadWiFi drivers included with the FC3 distro? I just did a fresh install and selected to install everything that came on the 4 discs I downloaded, so if it was on those then they should be there? How do I find and activate them if they are there? Sorry for all the questions, but I am a noob to Linux, and just need a little help getting started, then I wish to contribute all I learn back to the forum. Thanks again.

[martouf 0]

1a. try 'rpm -qa | grep madwi' to see if you already have the madwifi package

installed.

In some distros, the madwifi drivers are just rolled into the kernel package

so for those you must check the kernel modules for 'ath_hal' and 'ath_pci'.

1b. "find /lib/modules -name \*ath\*" (you'll need the backslashes)

 

2. you need to check "/var/log/messages" or 'dmesg' for an indication the

madwifi drivers appropriate for your wireless card are loading.

 

-> "grep ath /var/log/messages" or "dmesg | grep ath"

-> "grep wlan /var/log/messages" or "dmesg | grep wlan"

 

3. if the drivers are loaded, then you should find an "ath0" interface

listed with 'iwconfig'. if they aren't loaded, you may need to 'modprobe ath_pci'

and go back to Step 2.

[NimBinDobbs 0]

I tried to follow your instructions the best I could without knowing much about what I was doing. I ran the command "rpm -qa" and searched thru the output and found no instance of madwifi. I also opened "var/log/messages" and searched thru that looking for an instance of ath and found nothing there either. I believe that I do not have the drivers installed. So I need to install them(?). I downloaded the madwifi source file rpm from ATrpms because I did not see a prebuilt one there for my kernal. The file I got was "madwifi-0.9.4.12-15.rhfc3.at.src.rpm". I followed ATrpms instruction to install which was just to type the command "rpm -Uhv madwifi-0.9.4.12-15.rhfc3.at.src.rpm". This placed a spec file in the directory /usr/src/redhat/SPECS and it also placed a file madwifi.xxxx.tar.bz2 in the /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES directory. I extracted the contents to the same location, and tried the "make" command. This resulted in an error about not being able to do something with elf in x86_64. I also tried to just run the command "rpmbuild --rebuild madwifi-0.9.4.12-15.rhfc3.at.src.rpm" which resulted in this error "error: line 1: Unknown tag: %Kmdl madwifi" I dont know if it helps any, but I am using the orginal kernel that came with the distro cds I downloaded. I think it is 2.6.9.677 or something like that. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? Thanks again.

[NimBinDobbs 0]

Sorry I mad a mistake in my last post. I downloaded "madwifi-0.9.4.12-15.rhfc3.x86_64.at.src.rpm" Please note that I am trying to use the x86_64 versions where I may have left that out in the above files listed. Thanks.

[martouf 0]

as I read the posts in the Red Hat forums, to build madwifi from sources means

you must first either install the 'kernel-debuginfo' package or you must build a new

kernel yourself. Building madwifi depends on having the full set of kernel build 'leftovers'.

 

This is not a thing for the noob.

 

Instead, visit http://atrpms.net/dist/fc3/madwifi/ and pick one of the pre-compiled

packages for your particular flavor of FC3 from the top of the list.

 

(Note the source RPM you've already grabbed is at the bottom of the list)

 

[NimBinDobbs 0]

Thank you for your time and help in this matter. There isn't a precompiled madwifi driver there for my kernel, and I am unable to to update my kernel with out the wifi adapter in my pc working. You have done more then I could have hoped for from a forum post. Again, thank you very much, and have a great day.