Linux Drivers for Prism WLAN mini-howto
Hardware:  PrismI PCMCIA 11MB / Teletronics PCMCIA 11MB
OS:  RedHat Linux 6.1 / 6.2
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This mini-howto is a simple instruction for compiling and installing Intersil Prism PCMCIA drivers for various Linux distributions.  The sources for the Prism driver are from http://www.linux-wlan.org.


Redhat Linux 7.1 and 7.2
pre-compiled binary driver installation method (linux-wlan-ng version)

This procedure works with RedHat Linux 7.1 and 7.2 by using the RPM's provided by linux-wlan. This should be the easiest installation method.

GETTING REQUIRED PACKAGES


INSTALLING PACKAGES

  • LINUX-WLAN DRIVER
    Please install the pre-compiled linux-wlan driver with the following procedures:

    tar xvfz linux-wlan-ng-0.1.10-RPMS.tar.gz
    cd linux-wlan-ng-0.1.10
    rpm -Uvh <RPM_PACKAGE>    (see chart)

    RPM path + file name
    		 RedHat
    version
    		 kernel
    version
    		 pcmcia-cs
    version
    redhat-7.1/kernel-wlan-ng-0.1.10-0rh71_k242_cs3124.i386.rpm
    		 7.1
    		 2.4.2-2
    		 3.1.24
    redhat-7.1/kernel-wlan-ng-0.1.10-0rh71_k249_cs3124.i386.rpm
    		 7.1
    		 2.4.9-12
    		 3.1.24
    redhat-7.2/kernel-wlan-ng-0.1.10-0rh72_k247.i386.rpm
    		 7.2
    		 2.4.7-10
    		 3.1.27
    redhat-7.2/kernel-wlan-ng-0.1.10-0rh72_k249.i386.rpm
    		 7.2
    		 2.4.9-13
    		 3.1.27
    redhat-7.2/kernel-wlan-ng-0.1.10-0rh72_k249x102.i386.rpm
    		 7.2
    		 2.4.9-13SGI_XFS_1.0.2
    		 3.1.27


POST-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION

  • WLAN-NG CONFIG FILE
    In order to modify the parameters (SSID, WEP keys, and other options) to fit your wireless LAN system, please edit the following file with your favorite editor:      /etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.opt


    Normally, modification of this file is enough to get wlan card to work.  If this is not the case, please refer to "POST-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION " section...




Redhat Linux 7.2
pre-compiled binary driver installation method (ieeegroup version)

This procedure is tested with RedHat 7.2 using linux-wlan-ng-0.1.12 driver.  It should also work for other versions of Mandrake distributions with proper Kernel upgrades.  The links to the matched kernel packages are also included in the following instructions.

GETTING REQUIRED PACKAGES


INSTALLING PACKAGES

  • KERNEL UPDATE
    Please update your Linux kernel with the downloaded files by:

    rpm -Uvh kernel*.rpm

  • LINUX-WLAN DRIVER
    Please install the pre-compiled linux-wlan driver with the following procedures:

    tar xvfz linux-wlan-ng-0.1.12-compiled-rh7.2.tar.gz
    cd linux-wlan-ng-0.1.12-compiled-rh7.2
    make install


POST-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION




Redhat Linux 7.2
source compilation/installation method

This procedure is tested with RedHat 7.2 using linux-wlan-ng-0.1.12 driver.  It should also work for other versions of RedHat distributions with proper Kernel upgrades.  The links to the matched kernel packages are also included in the following instructions

GETTING REQUIRED PACKAGES


COMPILING / INSTALLING PACKAGES

  • KERNEL UPDATE
    Please update your Linux kernel with the downloaded files by:

    rpm -Uvh kernel*.rpm

  • KERNEL SOURCE PACKAGE INSTALL
    Please install the Linux source:  (if not using package manager)

    rpm -Uvh kernel-source-2.4.9-13.i386.rpm

  • KERNEL COMPILE
    Please follow the procedures for building Kernel in the proper howtos.  Follow these instructions for quick reference:

    cd /usr/src
    ln -s linux-2.4.9-13 linux
    cd /usr/src/linux

    download this file, Makefile , and copy it into /usr/src/linux/ directory.


    the following steps will build the kernel and they are optional:
    make bzImage
    make modules
    (this only compiles the kernel, please install the kernel after you read the kernel documents in order to avoid restart problems

  • PCMCIA-CS PACKAGE
    pcmcia-cs is necessary for linux-wlan driver, please install with the following instructions:

    rpm -Uvh kernel-pcmcia-cs-3.1.27-10.src.rpm
    cd /usr/src
    tar xvfz redhat/SOURCES/pcmcia-cs-3.1.27.tar.gz
    ln -s pcmcia-cs-3.1.27 pcmcia-cs
    cd pcmcia-cs
    make config  (press enter for all questions)

  • LINUX-WLAN DRIVER
    Please compile and install the linux-wlan driver with the following procedures:

    tar xvfz linux-wlan-ng-0.1.12.tar.gz
    cd linux-wlan-ng-0.1.12
    make config  (press enter for everything, except "/usr/src/pcmaic-cs" for "PCMCIA source dir:" and "y" for "Build for Kernel PCMCIA?" questions.)
    make all
    make install


POST-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION





POST-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION

POST-INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION

  • PCMCIA SYSTEM CONFIG FILE (/etc/sysconfig/pcmcia)
    Please edit file, /etc/sysconfig/pcmcia, to have the following options set correctly:
    PCMCIA=yes
    PCIC=i82365      (this depends on the PCIC you have)
    PCIC_OPTS=do_scan=0
    CORE_OPTS=
    CARDMGR_OPTS=-f

    Depending on your system, the configuration will need to be modified to fit your system.  Normally, the above configuration should work on most system correctly.  If you encounter error messages regarding conflict in resource, here are some examples:

    PCIC examples:
    PCIC=i82365
    PCIC=tcic
    PCIC=yenta_socket

    PCIC_OPTS examples:
    PCIC_OPTS="p2cclk=1 irq_mode=1"
    PCIC_OPTS="p2cclk=1 irq_mode=1 irq_list=5,7,9,11,12,13"
    PCIC_OPTS="do_scan=0"

    CORE_OPTS examples:
    CORE_OPTS="io_speed=300 probe_io=0"
    CORE_OPTS="io_speed=300"

  • PCMCIA SYSTEM CONFIG FILE (/etc/pcmcia/config.opts)
    Please edit /etc/pcmcia/config.opts to change the options for io and IRQ to include or exclude in PCMCIA resource used by the PC Cards.  Especially, if you have ISA cards in your system, please exclude those IRQ and io using this file in order for PCMCIA to work correctly.
  • PCMCIA -CS CONFIG FILE (/etc/pcmcia/config)
    Please download this     config file by right-click and "Save Link As...".  Please save this file to /etc/pcmcia directory.  This is a modified PCMCIA config file that is configured to work with linux-wlan driver.  (the Prism config lines are commented out in order to allow the system to find the correct lines in wlan-ng.conf file)
  • WLAN-NG CONFIG FILE (/etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.opts)
    In order to modify the parameters (SSID, WEP keys, and other options) to fit your wireless LAN system, please edit the following file with your favorite editor:      /etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.opts
  • IFCFG-WLAN0 TCP/IP NETWORK CONFIG FILE (/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-wlan0)
    Please download this     ifcfg-wlan0 file and place it under /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ directory.  Use your editor to edit this file to fit your current network.  (DHCP, IP address, etc.)