Orinoco WiFi drivers

[gtsquirrel]

I recently ran into some issues with the Orinoco drivers and the monitor-mode patch. After much work and some helpful postings in the GT newsgroups from the Gentoo PCMCIA-CS maintainer, I found a workaround. I thought others might enjoy the information.

NOTE: This fix is for pcmcia-cs version 3.2.2 or lower.

Compile your kernel with cardbus services set to "N". (Disable kernel-level PCMCIA/Cardbus services.)
Add Wireless LAN to the kernel proper, but do not add any of the kernel drivers. We will use the PCMCIA-CS drivers since these will have the patch.

Once those two steps are accomplished, reboot into the new image. Get back to a terminal and prepare to emerge.

Type in the following commands: (# is the cmd prompt)
# export USE="wavelan"
# emerge pcmcia-cs
# emerge pcmcia-tools
# emerge wireless-tools

At this point, go edit your /etc/conf.d/pcmcia file to use the correct PCIC. My PCIC line reads as:
PCIC="i82365"
If you do not do this, you will get errors upon pcmcia-cs coming up.

Now add pcmcia-cs to your 'boot' level:
rc-update add pcmcia boot

From here, you will have the orinoco drivers patched with the monitor-mode patch. Upon a reboot, all should work. To test, try:
# modprobe orinoco_cs

This has worked successfully on 2 Dell Laptops, both running the Orinoco WiFI card. Mine is a Orinoco Gold, the other an Orinoco Silver. Hope this helps someone out. Feel free to e-mail me if you note any errors with this posting. (squirrel@mail.headnut.org)

chris