I tried to get this improved version on the Fedora Portal but it is
broken. So here it is again. And again if you see something wrong or a
change you would like to see pass it along. I have fixed a lot of
grammatical errors. They are a part of a new paper. You just through
things in.
How to get WiFi working on your lap-top
It has been hard to get the wifi that works so well on your Windows
XP to work when you select Linux at boot time. Windows XP has nothing
that helps you to get Linux working. In this paper you will see that
there is a step by step process that is most efficient getting your
system working.
I: First, in this example I MUST learn what the name of my WiFi
hardware. This can usually be done from a root Terminal and you
call # lspci. This will print a list of all the pci things in my
Sony laptop.
00:09.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212
802.11abg NIC (rev 01)
00:0a.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI7420 CardBus Controller
00:0f.0 IDE interface: ALi Corporation M5229 IDE (rev c4)
00:12.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
Notice there are two items called Ethernet controller. But notice the
Atheros says it handles 802.11abg which is what WiFi is, So now we know
this laptop has hardware made by Atheros Communications, Inc.
II: The second step is to find out what Linux software is written for
your hardware. I used a great web page at:
http://linux-wless.passys.nl/
I went to this web page and at the first choice selected Sony. I then
hit Show and in the green band was Atheros and it says I need the
MadWiFi package and directs me to their web page. There you look at the
HowTo page and learn the actual kernel module is called "ath_pci" and
that call will get it working and it will call all the other needed
modules. The next step is to find a kernel with this software in it that
will make my laptop work.
III: Now find a kernel that has my drivers in module form. Start with
your current kernel and as root type # modprobe ath_pci. If nothing
happens I am lucky, my kernel has the driver I need. Check with # lsmod
and see what modules were installed. In a more general case modprobe says:
[root@k5di ~]# modprobe ath_pci
FATAL: Module ath_pci not found.
Then you need to find a kernel with your modules or add the module(s) to
your kernel. Try older and newer kernels and try a Google search. To end
this example case I found that fedora 2.6.21-1.3232.fc7 has ath_pci
within it. I turned off network and turned on NetworkManager and
NetworkManagerDispatcher and rebooted. To my great delight it came up
with NetworkManager telling me I was connected to my WiFi source.
IV:
Listed next is four laptop hardware systems I know about.
Hardware Software modprobe
Atheros Comm madwifi ath_pci
Intel old IEEE80211 ipw2200
IntelPro 3945 IEEE80211 ipw3945
Broadcom BCM 4318 MAC80211 bcm43xx
V: There is a network system available in at least Fedora Core 6 and
Fedora 7 called NetworkManager. You will want to set that up at least on
your laptop. I have it on both computers. Caution! Turn off network if
your using NetworkManager. Be aware that not everyone likes this
software and some say that it will not work well with some WiFi systems.
I can only say it works just fine for me.
Do this, cd /etc/rc.d/init.d/ and you will see a lot of applications
listed. Now as root do # chkconfig network off and then
# chkconfig NetworkManager on and # chkconfig NetworkManagerDispatcher
on. Reboot and my new system was working.
When you have the right kernel you can now use # modprobe ath_pci
and that will work. Look at the two tiny computers near your name on the
top edge and click on them. It will tell you about what it is doing.
Also use the # nm-tool which will show you what Internet it is working
on and what is turned off.
Follow the same steps I did with my laptop and replace mine with
yours. I hope your laptop is using one of the about 50 hardware packages
in the the web page above. And you wind up quickly with a working Linux
laptop.
If you know about other Linux software please write. If you have a
laptop that is working and you forgot what you did, do this:
# lsmod and find the ones that sound like wifi stuff. Or look at
/etc/modprobe.conf and you should see them there. Include the kernel you
are using.
Karl Larsen
