WPC11 version 4 PCMCIA wireless NIC... aaargh!!!!!!!

Ledneh

Okay, here's the reason for my despair and woe.

I have a Version 4 WPC11 PCMCIA wireless NIC from Linksys. Works pretty well in Windows XP, but naturally when I try and go make it work in Gentoo, it farts in my face. So, since no one quite seemed to know what to do about a v4 card (there's plenty of advice abound on 2.5 and 3, but not 4...), I had to strike out on my own.

At some point, I learned about the cardctl and dump_cis commands. So I use them, and it identifies the chipset on the card as "Realtek", "Rtl8139". I thought that was a wired card. But what the hell, I enable it in the kernel. No go.

So next, I turn off all the stuff in the kernel except wireless LAN support, then get pcmcia-cs, linux-wlan-ng, wireless-tools -- the whole nine yards. I try every damn driver in the book, to no avail. (The prism2_cs one seemed to come closest, identifying the error as a possible "vcc mismatch" or somesuch).

Now I'm desperate enough to try my hand at Linksys technical support--which actually turned out to be pretty good on some other stuff I needed support with anyway. When I got to the card, I asked them what chipset it uses.

They said it uses an Atmel chipset. I kinda scratch my head at that, based on what dump_cis told me, but I went ahead and tried the atmel drivers (from sourceforge, can't remember the url right now). No go.

So, if anyone can offer any advice before I pull out my hair, I'd appreciate it. I value what little hair I have.

*edit* Forgive the lousy formatting, I'm in lynx. Also, I probably missed something I tried here, so if you suggest something and I denounce it "tried", don't be angry, just pity my poor memory.

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EvilTwinSkippy · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2003 10:06 pm Post subject: I feel your pain...

I'm having the same trouble. I do have some more details though...

First off, the card is loaded, but it seems that the OS can't pass any useful information to it. During one mud against the wall session, I did get the card to see the access point. It worked for a few hours, and then idiot me rebooted the machine.

I can't remember WHAT the steps where, but it CAN work. Well... It will work if you prep it with some special incantations.

Ack, If I re-stumble upon the magic formula I'll e sure to post it.
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beakmyn · n00b Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 31

I just bought the linksys wireless kit and then discovered the dreaded version 4 problem in the forums. Anxiously awaiting arrival of my new PITA.

Anyway, I just saw there's new RTL8180L drivers on the realtek site
dated: 6/24/2003
[url]
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/downloads1-3.aspx?lineid=2002111&famid=2002111&series=2002121&Software=True
[/url]

Maybe these will work better. If you get them to work let me know.
Check out finegan's post around page 7 or so.
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?s=84279054abdd3454c19f4a957a1

EvilTwinSkippy · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2003 2:06 pm Post subject: Followup

It turns out my NIC has bit the dust. It doesn't even work under windows, whereas another NIC in the same laptop talking to the same access point
will.

Carry on, there is nothing to see here...
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beakmyn · n00b Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 31

It turns out Version 4 is doesn't work with a few PCMCIA chipsets. Mine's one of them TI PCI-1500. The NIC and router are being shipped back tomorrow.

lebouf · n00b Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 12 Location: Austin, Texas

Just adding my name to the list of people infuriated by the WPC11V4...I am off to Fry's to get myself a 3, or a completely different card altother...

Does anyone know what pcmcia chipset a Sony VAIO V505AX uses? Or where to find it?
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nullpuppy · n00b Joined: 28 Mar 2003 Posts: 3 Location: Bothell, WA

I've got a wpc11 v.4 as well... I've had it for just over a month now....

It works with the realtek drivers... and theres a post somewhere on the forums with a modified /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 script that works rather well....

Unfortunately, it won't work with kismet, and iwconfig doesnt report the card info right.

lebouf: you should be able to find out what pcmcia chipset you have by running lspci, or cat /proc/pci ... It should be listed there... (not on my laptop at the moment, so i can't verify that....).

If anyone can manage to get this card workin with kismet... that'd be sweet....

I'm going to try and pick up a netgear MA401 or something else that i know is supported by wlan-ng later today .... We'll see how that goes...

--nullpuppy
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xcham · Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2003 7:57 am Post subject:

If it does use the atmel chipset then that's why it won't work. The atmel chipset (upon which my SMC 2632W v.2 is based) doesn't support passive monitor mode :cry:

I believe only the prism2 and some of the cisco aironet cards do... I got my SMC 2632W card working under Linux (Slackware, not Gentoo) by getting the "atmel-wlan" package from somewhere...

As far as the Linksys cards go I have a v.3 myself, it worked on one laptop but not on the new one... the wlan-ng drivers really blow. Consider yourselves lucky you don't need to deal with them.

Best of luck.

proto · n00b Joined: 12 Jun 2003 Posts: 21

I'm on the list of frustrated users but am getting closer.... This is what I get after following ALL the directions for this card on all the linux sites:

Kernel 2.4.22-rc2-ac3 is what I am using for my notebook.

bash-2.05b# insmod -f rtl8180_24x.o
Warning: loading rtl8180_24x.o will taint the kernel: forced load
See http://www.tux.org/lkml/#export-tainted for information about tainted modules
rtl8180_24x.o: init_module: No such device
Hint: insmod errors can be caused by incorrect module parameters, including invalid IO or IRQ parameters.
You may find more information in syslog or the output from dmesg

Here's my dmesg:

******** RTL8180 Wireless Lan Driver Version 1.1 <2003-05-22> loaded********
RTL8180: : region #0 not a PIO resource, aborting
unregister_netdevice: device wlan%d/d84bb800 never was registered
RTL8180: wlan driver load failed
rtl8180: No devices found, RTL8180 Wireless Lan Driver Version 1.1 <2003-05-22> unregistered

Please let mek now what this issue could be.