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La`res
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2003 9:26 pm    Post subject: Wlan functional, no wireless extentions... Reply with quote

I have a SMC2632W pcmcia card using the linux-wlan-ng prism2 driver. I have also emerged wireless-tools.
when I 'iwconfig',
Code:
lo        no wireless extentions
wlan0     no wireless extentions



Netwoking works, WEP works, everything works, but I can't use any wireless tools. I am unable to check signal strength, list available networks, etc.

Does this have to do with USE flags, modules, or... :?
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lghman
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2003 4:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I remember reading somewhere (hopefully someone else knows) that for some reason, linux-wlan-ng wasnt fully compatible with the wireless tools set.
Ah, here it is. :
Quote:
Q: How come iwconfig/iwspy/[random other wireless tool] doesn't work?

linux-wlan-ng only supports a subset of the wireless
extensions; generally read-only things. However, you won't
need any of those tools as wlan-ng comes with its own set of
tools that closely mirror the 802.11 spec. Have a look
through the documentation and supplied scripts.

That said, if more complete (ie read/write) wireless extension
support is really important to you, you're more than welcome to
implement it and submit a patch.

As of 0.1.16-pre1, the wireless extension plumbing has been
re-written, and further support is much easier now. And many
more bits are hooked up now than before.


--sonik
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Kesereti
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2003 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yup...sadly, only the HostAP driver set is functional with the standard wireless tools. Linux-wlan-ng uses it's own startup script and control programs (/sbin/wlanctl-ng and /sbin/wlancfg)...the documentation is a bit weird, but basically using linux-wlan-ng goes something like this:

A.) Figure out which driver you need (prism2_something), and add the following to the end of /etc/modules.d/aliases(using the PCI driver as an example):

Code:

alias wlan0 prism2_pci


Don't forget to run modules-update after editing it, so your changes take effect =)

B.) Edit /etc/conf.d/wlan.conf to your needs. Of special interest is the end part -- if you have a specific network you want to associate with, the SSID of that network goes here! For example, if your network's SSID is "mywireless":

Code:

SSID_wlan0="mywireless"
ENABLE_wlan0=y


C.) Create /etc/wlan/wlancfg-yournetworkSSID with the appropriate information. Take a look at, or just copy, /etc/wlan/wlancfg-DEFAULT for the format of that file. If you use WEP encryption (a good idea!), this is where your WEP key and type (64 or 128 bit) go.

D.) Add the appropriate entry in /etc/conf.d/net for wlan0, and copy /etc/init.d/net.eth0 to /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 to give yourself an init script to bring it up with. One change does need to be made in that script, though...change the dependency section to read:

Code:

depend() {
        use hotplug pcmcia
        need wlan
}


The change ensures that the wlan script, which inits the device, sets the WEP key, associates it with a network, etc. gets started before you try to assign an IP address and whatnot. This is necessary in some setups to avoid "unknown device: wlan0" errors.

At this point, you should be able to issue the following commands as root to bring your card up:

Code:

/etc/init.d/wlan start
/etc/init.d/net.wlan0 start


If all goes well, then you can add them to start up at boot with:

Code:

rc-update add wlan default
rc-update add net.wlan0 default


Let me know if you have any other problems, I've messed with this package way too much ^_^
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vvizard
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2003 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm using the hostap-drivers with my prism2-card, it works great. WEP and everything. I'm using the iwconfig (from wireless-tools) to administrate that card..
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lghman
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2003 3:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Yup...sadly, only the HostAP driver set is functional with the standard wireless tools.


Yea, thats what he said. Host-ap will work with the current wireless tools, but linux-wlan-ng will not.

--sonik
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Kesereti
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2003 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yup...and I would recommend the HostAP drivers over the other ones if your card is supported. Sadly, the HostAP drivers don't support USB devices yet, so I'm stuck with the Linux-wlan ones =P
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La`res
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2003 8:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My card is on the prism2 chipset. Which module is to be used??
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2003 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You could (I would) use the Orinoco drivers.

--sonik
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La`res
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2003 10:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would like to try the HostAP drivers but I can't seem to get them to work.

What Package are the Orinoco Drivers with??

In Case I got the chipset wrong I have a SMC2632W pcmcia Card.
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 17, 2003 10:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can either use the ones built into the kernel, or you can just do a
Code:
emerge pcmcia-cs
and use those. Same thing either way really, I havent noticed a difference between the two. I personally use the pcmcia-cs package. Just me. :smile:

--sonik
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