WIRELESS Driver Packages Available for Puppy 1x

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tempestuous
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WIRELESS Driver Packages Available for Puppy 1x

#1 Post by tempestuous »

These are dedicated drivers for specific wireless chipsets, as a (better) alternative to ndiswrapper.
They were compiled with the 2.4.29 kernel, so are good for Puppy 1.0.4 - 1.0.9.

UPDATE August 2006: These files are no longer at http://mymirrors.homelinux.org/puppy/wireless/
They're now here http://dotpups.de/dotpups/Wifi/drivers-for-Puppy-1/

See http://www.murga.org/~puppy/viewtopic.php?t=8488
for wifi drivers compatible with Puppy 2.0/2.01.

There are 12 different driver packages plus a separate application for those brave people who want to use WPA encryption.
"_Puppy_wireless_README" contains overall information, particularly help with identifying the chipset in your wireless device ... achieved mainly by going to the Wireless Adapter Chipset Directory at http://linux-wless.passys.nl/

I have packaged these drivers as gzipped tarballs, designed to be uncompressed from the uppermost directory.
Some of these drivers involve multiple modules, and the only easy way for one module to call other modules is if they are located in /lib/modules/2.4.29/ (and "depmod" run).
This directory is not retained in the persistent pupfile. Similarly, certain modules expect to find their support files in specific locations, and some of these locations are not persistent either. So the value of using the DotPup format was negated.

These drivers can be made "permanent" by following the instructions in the README file(s).
Here is what's available -

CHIPSET - DRIVER
ADMtek ADM8211 - adm8211
Atheros - MADWiFi
Atmel AT76C5XXx - SourceForge atmelwlandriver
Atmel AT76C503/505A - BerliOS at76c503a
(USB versions only, these drivers already in Puppy 1.0.4)
Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 - ipw2100
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG/2915ABG - ipw2200
Intersil Prism2/2.5/3 - linux-wlan-ng
Intersil Prism2/2.5/3 (not including USB versions) - Host AP
Intersil Prism GT/Duette/Indigo/Javelin/Xbow/Frisbee - prism54
Ralink rt2400/2500/2570 - rt2x00.serialmonkey.com
Realtek RTL8180L - Realtek
Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111 - Acx100

NOTE: There is no dedicated driver for Broadcom-based devices. ndiswrapper should be used.

At this stage, the linux-wlan-ng and ipw2200 drivers have been tested and are known-good.

All drivers except linux-wlan-ng support the wireless extensions interface, so I think (?) they will work with keenerd's Wireless Access Gadget http://www.murga.org/%7Epuppy/viewtopic ... 0027#10027

Craig S
Last edited by tempestuous on Wed 16 Aug 2006, 00:51, edited 4 times in total.

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rarsa
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#2 Post by rarsa »

Have you tested all the drivers under Puppy?

I can test the RT2500 (serialmonkey) and the Intel PRO. I will let you know how it goes.

Hopefully more people will test with their own cards and will let us know so we can add it to the Hardware compatibility list on the wikki.

Thank you.

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BlackAdder
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#3 Post by BlackAdder »

Happy to report that the Texas Instruments ACX100/ACX111 package works well with the D-Link DWL-650+ and Puppy 1.0.4.

Then I wandered over to my neighbour's place and tried out the Ralink rt2400/2500/2570 package with an MSI PC54G2 (rt2500 chipset) and Puppy 1.0.4. It worked well too. When depmod is run it complains about unresolved symbols in rt2570, but I have no way of knowing if this might be serious or not.

Tail wagging....thanks.

Guest

#4 Post by Guest »

When you compiled the Realtek module you you even get it to load with out any complaints, if you used the one from Realtek, as this is tried in very closely with particular RedHat Kernels which are anything but a vanilla kernel.

tempestuous
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#5 Post by tempestuous »

Good to hear of success with TI and Ralink.

Yes, as I mentioned in the relevant README's, there are "*** Unresolved symbols" errors with the Ralink rt2570, Realtek rtl8180_24x, and all 13 atmelwlan modules.
In the case of atmelwlandriver, these errors are well known, and should not affect the modules' success.
And I would be cautiously optimistic that the rt2570 (USB) should be OK.

Regarding the rtl8180, this is the original version from Realtek, and as bladehunter has indicated does not have a good reputation.
I have just discovered a more "developed" version from http://rtl8180-sa2400.sourceforge.net/
I will upload this version soon. I'm not sure whether to keep the old version there as well?

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Fox7777
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Re: WIRELESS Driver Packages Available for Puppy

#6 Post by Fox7777 »

tempestuous wrote: NOTE: There is no dedicated driver for Broadcom-based devices. ndiswrapper should be used.
We need a clear, illustrated, step-by-step howto for getting Puppy 1.0.5 wireless up and running on laptops similar to http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/feature/15484.html . We discovered we did need to download the perl PupGet but upon entering "ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf" in the /tmp directory on our HP ZE2113US laptop we got the following:

Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
# ndiswrapper -l
Installed ndis drivers:
bcmwl5 invalid driver!
# modprobe ndiswrapper
Note: /etc/modules.conf is more recent than /lib/modules/2.4.29/modules.dep
# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.

So we are closer but no cigar. What is the solution?

keenerd
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#7 Post by keenerd »

Hrm. That's odd.

I got equally funky error messages the first time I tried to make an ndiswrapper driver. My mistake was attempting to use ndiswrapper with only the inf. Turns out you need all the files from the drivers.

Ndiswrapper can convert the drivers without the hardware installed. It should work regardless, as long as all the files are in place.

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Fox7777
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Re: WIRELESS Driver Packages Available for Puppy (solved)

#8 Post by Fox7777 »

We copied the entire WLAN folder from the Windows XP disk into Puppy 1.0.5 and it appears to be up and running (although we still got the Forcing parameter messages). Apparently in Puppy you don't want to put the files in /tmp because they will disappear when you exit the program.

To summarize, we downloaded the Perl PupGet, copied the Windows WLAN folder from the Windows CD to root in Puppy. Then installed the wireless driver with "ndiswrapper -i /root/WLAN/bcmwl.inf". Then checked the install with "ndiswrapper -l". Then entered "modprobe ndiswrapper". Then entered "iwconfig". Then ran the Wireless Wizard in Puppy. We successfully connected to a wireless network to test the system so this problem is solved.

Guest

Unable to connect to router

#9 Post by Guest »

I had posted in another thread that I was able to set up a wireless connection with the intel pro 2200 drivers but unable to connect to the network. It was my WPA encryption that was causing the failure. When I turned off the encryption, I was able to connect.

I decided to try the WPA helper utility, wpa supplicant. I was uable to uncompress the files of wpa_supplicant-0.3.9.tar.gz in a terminal window in the "base" directory. I used cd / tar -zxvf wpa_supplicant-0.3.9.tar.gz. If I opened the file in a compression utility, I was able to uncompress. Therefore I was never able to successfully connect using these helper files.

tempestuous
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#10 Post by tempestuous »

When you run the tar command, you must specify the location of the wpa_supplicant tarball, thus -

cd /
tar -zxvf /path/to/my/files/wpa_supplicant-0.3.9.tar.gz

Guest

#11 Post by Guest »

I copied the wpa supplicant file to the uppermost directory from my mounted NTFS HDD. I opened an RXVT window there. ( I am very new to puppy linux and am not clear on the commands.) What is the path of the uppermost directory?

Thanks

tempestuous
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#12 Post by tempestuous »

I use the term "uppermost directory" to describe the root directory of the running filesystem (/).
I think the correct term is "root directory" but I find this term confusing since I think of it as "/root" ... even though "/root" is probably accurately referred to as "root home directory".

If you have copied the wpa_supplicant-0.3.9.tar.gz file to / then all you need to do is change directory here "cd /" then run "tar -zxvf wpa_supplicant-0.3.9.tar.gz".
In this situation, there's no need to specify the path to the file, since you are running the command from the same location as the file itself.
No matter where you locate the tarball, the tar command MUST be run from / because the files will uncompress relative to this location.

Some commandline tips -
"pwd" will display your current location
"ls" will list files and directories in your current location

It's unclear from your information thus far whether you are running Puppy from liveCD, USB, or hard drive type 1 (compressed) or type 2 installation.

Guest

#13 Post by Guest »

I am running puppy from a live multisession CD. I will double check to make sure I am in the root directory and will respond back with an outcome in the next couple of days.

Thanks

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Rhino
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#14 Post by Rhino »

I had little trouble running Puppy 1.05 and using the Wifi-Beta2 and WAG to connect to my wireless network. I have a Toshiba laptop with an Atheros wifi card and a Linksys WRT54G Router. Excellent job guys...it was "fairly" simple and works perfectly. I still need to figure out how to get it to set itself up each time I boot up Puppy so I don't have to set it up each time though. Puppy is really starting to mature.

Thanks! :D

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Marv
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#15 Post by Marv »

Ralink 2500 on a foxconn WLL-3350 works fine. Saved the tarball to /root, used guiTar to extract it it, checked that it was there in modules, opened a terminal, depmod, then modprobe rt2500 and I'm up. I have been using this card under ndiswrapper for the last 3 or 4 Pup versions but the native driver seems as stable, the setup is MUCH cleaner, and will stay in as I switch to 1.05/1.06.

Thanks tempestuous :D
Pups currently in kennel :D Older LxPupSc and X-slacko-4.4 for my users; LxPupSc, LxPupSc64 and upupEF for me. All good pups indeed, and all running savefiles for look'n'feel only. Browsers, etc. solely from SFS.

tempestuous
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#16 Post by tempestuous »

Marv,
Nice to hear an endorsement.
Though in fairness, you sound like a knowledgeable Linux person. I don't think the process of installing and configuring these drivers would be so straightforward for a newbie. I make no apologies. I always intended these packages as "unofficial" add-ons for discerning users.

Newbies are probably better off with ndiswrapper, and the commendable systems by bladehunter, BlackAdder, keenerd and Barry to automate things.

Regarding the Ralink drivers, I didn't mention in the README file that I provided the earlier v1.x versions, not the later v2.x versions because v2 requires a 2.6 kernel. If Puppy moves to a 2.6 kernel we can move up to the newer Ralink driver.

berk0081
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Location: Minneapolis - USA

wlan-ng

#17 Post by berk0081 »

Hi All,

I've been trying to get the linux-wlan-ng drivers to recognize my D-Link DWL-650 revP. I use the same driver package and version with success in VectorLinux so I know it is possible.

I had spent some time trying to build the drivers myself before stumbling onto these packages and I must say thanks and keep up the good work.

However, I just can't seem to get the prism2_cs driver to see my card and I know I must be missing a step. I have added

Code: Select all

alias wlan0 prism2_cs
to my /etc/modules.conf but I guess I can't figure out how to correctly restart the pcmcia modules after loading the wlan-ng driver so that it sees my card on hotplugging. I would appreciate help from those of you who have tested this driver package.

Thanks lots,
-M
Raising puppies since 1.04

Guest

#18 Post by Guest »

Hi,
I have been trying as noted in previous posts to set-up intel 2200 wireless network drivers with WPA encryption. I had been using Chubby Puppy 1.05 multisession CD. I switched back to Puppy 1.05-Mozilla and have had far less problems expanding the tarballs.

I successfully expanded ipw2200-1.0.1.tar.gz and wpa_suppplicant-0.3.9.tar.gz. Ifconfig shows I have a network interface. The problem is the wpa_supplicant. After expanding the tar.gz file, the terminal window lists 4 files and their directories. I checked the directories and the files are there. However when I use the command; wpa_supplicant -ieth0 -Dipw -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -d, I receive the error messsage "command not found". I also tried modprobe wpa_supplicant and received error message, "can't locate module wpa_supplicant".

Any assistance is appreciated.

Thanks

tempestuous
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#19 Post by tempestuous »

Sorry, wpa_supplicant uncompresses into /usr/local/sbin/, which is its original location in Vector Linux, but this directory doesn't normally exist in Puppy. So that's why Puppy will complain that there is "No such file or directory".

I may update the wpa_supplicant package in the future, but for now just specify the full path for wpa_supplicant. Thus the full command would be -

/usr/local/sbin/wpa_supplicant -ieth0 -Dipw -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -d

Don't use "modprobe". wpa_supplicant is an application, not a module.

berk0081
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Location: Minneapolis - USA

Re: wlan-ng

#20 Post by berk0081 »

Hi all,
berk0081 wrote: I've been trying to get the linux-wlan-ng drivers to recognize my D-Link DWL-650 revP. I use the same driver package and version with success in VectorLinux so I know it is possible.
For the record, I've now managed to get this working with a "poor man's install" (i.e. kernel, image.gz, usr_cram.fs copied to HD). The trick was to kill cardmgr and restart it with prism2_cs already loaded. Rather than constantly untar the driver package, I rebuilt image.gz with the /sbin/wlanctl-ng* files and the necessary driver in /lib/modules/2.4.29/linux-wlan-ng/.

Restarting cardmgr usually causes the card to be picked up immediately and its firmware loaded.

The last step is to make sure the card is running with dhcp (if it's supposed to be). For some reason, I still have to delete /etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-wlan0.pid before I can get an IP, but I have a script that does:

Code: Select all

rm /etc/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-wlan0.pid
dhcpcd -d wlan0 
Curiously but thankfully, the DWL-650 revP on linux-wlan-ng runs much more reliably under Puppy than it does in VectorLinux 5.0, which also uses 2.4.29. Haven't figured out why yet, but am glad it does.

Best,
-m
Raising puppies since 1.04

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