linux and the internet

[server_crash]

Does anyone know if I can use my linksys wireless g card on the linux platform?

I don't see any linux files on my setup cd, nor is there any initial downloads for it that I know of.

[DMR]

Give us the exact model # of the card please.

[server_crash]

Ok, it's WPC54G.

[server_crash]

If anymore info is needed, just let me know.

[DMR]

If anymore info is needed, just let me know.

Yeah, sorry- I should have asked for exact version of the card also just to make sure we get you the right driver.

[server_crash]

I hate to ask this: How can I get the exact version of my card? :o

[server_crash]

OK I think I found it. It says:

Wireless G Notebook Adapter v2.0

[DMR]

Grr!

For reasons that I won't go into simply because they p!ss me off, it looks like there is no manufacturer-supplied solution to getting that particular card working under Linux; you are going to have to jumps through some hoops to if you want it to happen.

Please have a read through the following links for A) one possible solution (ndiswrapper), and B) where the core of the compatibility problem lies:

http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=wpc54g+broadcom+linux&btnG=Google+Search
http://www.google.com/linux?q=WPC54G+driver&hl=en&lr=&start=0&sa=N

[server_crash]

Thanks DMR, I'll have a look at them after school.

Note: Linksys has been making me mad the past few days also. :twisted:

[DMR]

Note: Linksys has been making me mad the past few days also. :twisted:

I've got my gripes with Linksys as well, but most of those come from my work with their products in the "Windows world", and those are entirely different issues.

I think one of the more core problems in terms of Linux support in areas like this is the fact that Linksys (and others) use chipsets made by other companies in their products. In the particular case of the WPC54G cards, I think we're hobbled not so much by Linksys' willingness/unwillingness to support Linux, but by Broadcom's unwillingness to do so- Linksys uses Broadcom chips in many of their products.

[server_crash]

So basicly, it's depends on the chipset that linksys uses wether or not it will support linux?

I don't mean to bother you, but Is there a reason that linksys uses broadcom chips, are they better in quality or something?

Note: Even though I don't have a use for it, I've never liked how linksys doesn't have a port on their cards for an range - extending antenna. I just think this is something all cards should support...even though most don't use it for "ethical reasons"

[DMR]

Financial considerations and business partnerships/associations/contracts between the manufacturers of the final products and the makers of the specific components used in those products products usually have more to do with things than do issues of quality.

However- in terms of Linux hardware support, your question of "So basicly, it's depends on the chipset" is correct. This is true of network cards, modems, video cards, etc., because the makers of all of these cards use, to a large extent, chips manufactured by other companies. Linux drivers are written for the specific chipset in question, which is why, for example, the Linux "tulip" network driver/module works with Ethernet cards sold by a variety of manufacturers. The same is essentially true of Windows drivers when you get right down to it, but the "nitty gritty" of that is fairly transparent to the Windows end-user due to the *AHEM!* cooperative agreements that Microsoft has with most hardware manufacturers.

A large reason why no Linux drivers yet exist for certain hardware is that the chipset makers refuse to release their driver source code, so Linux developers are left with the task of having to write their own drivers "from scratch" as it were, with no help or input from the hardware makers themselves.

[Sphyenx]

Well linksys is built on cisco systems. Cicso is a big name out there, im sure youve heard it, and linux isnt compatible fully with wireless network cards because it cost money to make them, and linksys is cheap. There are alternatives, like linuxant. I am hardwired so i cant say i have the problem.

[server_crash]

Thank you so much. I've learned so much talking to you. Thank you again, DMR and Sphynx!

[DMR]

You're welcome, s_c. :)

By the way:

There are alternatives, like linuxant.

Sphynx has a good point- I've read reports of people getting their WPC54G cards working under Linux by using Linuxant's "DriverLoader" software. Unlike the "ndiswrapper" software I mentioned earlier, Linuxant does charge for the software ($20 USD), but they also have a free 30-day trial if you want to test it out first. Here's the link if you want to read more about it:

https://www.linuxant.com/driverloader/

Info on ndiswrapper can be found here:

http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/

What both ndiswrapper and DriverLoader basically provide is translation layer, or "wrapper", which allows you to use the Windows version of a wireless card's driver from within Linux. This provides a usable workaround for situations in which card manufacturers have not, fo whatever reason, released native Linux drivers for their products.

[server_crash]

I think I'll have to try that out and see how it works. I'll start with the trial version of course!

Thank you again!

[kc0arf]

Hi,

I had to use NDISWrapper on my Fedora Core 3 laptop with a wireless D-Link card. DLink also has a problem of having the same card product number, but different guts inside across multiple flavors.

I did have a problem though upgrading to the latest kernel revision of Fedora Core 3. Solution was to go backwards to the orig FC3 that came with the CD-ROMS. I did re-compile ndiswrapper and modified the libraries with the new version, but no luck. I noticed that there is a new version of ndiswrapper out there... I was too lazy to try it, so I just went back to the older Kernel, and we are online again.

Christian

[server_crash]

Hmm.. I'm not sure what distro to use right now. I have about 7 different distro's and don't even know how to do anything but install, or dual boot with them! :cheesy:

I've got mandrake on right now with windows, but I forgot my password. This means it's goinig to be even longer before I can try the wireless internet on linux. :evil:

[DMR]

I've got mandrake on right now with windows, but I forgot my password.

You can get around that by booting into rescue mode/single user mode and doing a bit of fiddling from there to reset the password. Links in the following G4L search have more instructions on that:

http://www.google.com/linux?hl=en&lr=&q=password+root+recover&btnG=Google+Search