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Need help installing/running a linksys wmp54g in Ubuntu

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"make is not a command" Is that the actual error? Is it:

"bash: make: command not found"
or
"make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop."

If it's the first one then you don't have 'make' installed.

Did you install module-assistant and then run 'm-a update' and 'm-a prepare'? I thought that would of installed everything you need. (m-a is just short for module-assistant)

If I was wrong with that then install 'build-essential' package. Also you need then to make sure you have the kernel headers packages installed for your kernel.


If it's the second error then your probably in the wrong directory. It's the 'Module' directory in that tarball.
 
hard to say.

dmesg command will output the kernel log information. Always use that when loading/unloading modules to see what is going on. That way you can get a accurate error...

Try rebooting also. Sometimes unloading a old module will mess things up when you try to load a new one.
 
Ok, following your guide for installing the drivers, the .ko file gets sent to /lib/modules/2.6.15-23-386/extra. I dont believe this is where its supposed to be installed at, and I don't believe Linux uses the file in the extra folder (after the make and make install command).

When I move the file to the "correct" spot, and follow the instructions given in that link, it says I'm connected, but then I can not do anything online.

Your guide is similar to one just recently put up in the ubuntu forums. It ends with the make/make install command, which I do not believe gets it running on my system. Also, your guides mention module-assistant, and I believe you need to be connected to the internet to get it? What if I can't do that?

In the guide I linked to, it had a "insmod (directory of the rt2500.ko file)" command...what does this do, and the commands that follow? I do not see these in yours, or the ubuntu forums, guide. Are they needed? Why does the insmod not work for me (some "-1 files exist" error). I will try dmesg later and see, but does anyone know right now?

This is all quite frustrating, but I'm glad you've helped so far.
 
(note that most these commands need to be run as root. Use 'sudo su -' command, or sudo commands)


It doesn't realy matter if it's in the /lib/modules/2.6.15-23-368/extra directory or not just as long as there is only one rt2500.ko module. If you have 2 I don't know which one it will detect.



insmod is like 'insert module'. You manually specify the .ko file and it loads.

Most people use the 'modprobe' command. Modprobe command is more intellegent. It depends on the 'depmod' command though.

So after you copy the module to a /lib/modules/2.6.15-23-368/ subdirectory you run 'depmod'. Depmod scans that directory, finds all the modules and analizes which module depends on what. Then you should be able to run 'modprobe rt2500' and it will load the module and any other modules it needs to run, if it needs other modules.

After that if you reboot then the hardware should be detected and the stuff loaded automaticly. The udev scripts and hardware detection stuff should take care of that and gotten rt2500 module loaded.

Otherwise if you don't reboot you would have to rmmod (remove module) the rt2500 module and modprobe/insmod the new one in. The reason I tell you to reboot is because loading and unloading modules can cause instabilities. It may leave your hardware or your kernel in a inconsistant state.

Overview of module handling commands:
lsmod -- lists loaded modules.
rmmod -- removes modules
insmod -- manually load modules by file name
depmod -- scans /lib/modules/<yourkernelversion> directory intellegently.
modprobe -- intellegently loads modules by module name not file name (no .ko or path statement needed)


In order for your wifi card to work it needs to:
load the module driver
have the interface activated
scan the radio channels to find aviable access points.
find a access point and authenticate with it.
grab a DHCP lease from the AP or dhcp server on that network


In the guide I linked to, it had a "insmod (directory of the rt2500.ko file)" command...what does this do, and the commands that follow? I do not see these in yours, or the ubuntu forums, guide. Are they needed? Why does the insmod not work for me (some "-1 files exist" error). I will try dmesg later and see, but does anyone know right now?
Click to expand...

Probably because the old module is still running in memory. Removing the file does not stop it from running. Reboot and make sure that your new module is loaded.


Use lsmod to see if it's loaded.

If it didn't load automaticly then do:
modprobe rt2500


When I move the file to the "correct" spot, and follow the instructions given in that link, it says I'm connected, but then I can not do anything online.
Click to expand...


You need to do basic network troubleshooting. Remove the possible reasons WHY it's not connecting to anything.

lsmod|grep rt2500

That should show your module is loaded. If it's not then load it.

iwconfig

That should show information your wireless devices. The 'essid' is the name of the wireless network. Also it should have the address for your access point
sta0 IEEE 802.11b/g ESSID:"rhea" Nickname:"Broadcom 4306"
Mode:Managed Frequency=2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:13:46😀4:84:CE
Bit Rate:11 Mb/s Tx-Power=15 dBm
RTS thr😱ff Fragment thr😱ff
Encryption key😱ff
Link Quality=100/100 Signal level=2/3 Noise level=184/100
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
Click to expand...

See the 'Essid' and the 'Access Point' entries?

Those need to be present. If it's not then either your interface can't find or isn't authenticated or can't athenticate with the wireless access point.

Without being associated with a access point you won't be able to realy connect to the LAN.

If your associated successfully then you move onto connectivity issues.

Is your interface configured correctly?

ifconfig

That command should show all your network interfaces. Lets assume that your wifi card is wlan0.

iwconfig wlan0

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:24:27:88:A6
inet addr:192.168.50.100 Bcast:192.168.50.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::211:24ff:fe27:88a6/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:63231 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:47554 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:61269326 (58.4 MiB) TX bytes:5195399 (4.9 MiB)
Interrupt:52 Base address:0x4000
Click to expand...

See the inet addr entry? That needs to have a ip address for your network.

Other commands:
cat /etc/resolv.conf
to see your DNS settings
route (this command can take a while)
to see your routing tables. You should have a default gateway entry.
like such:
default 192.168.50.1 0.0.0.0 UG 0 0 0 wlan0

If it doesn't have a ip address or a proper dns address or a proper default gw then it's not going to work.

If your network is not configured correctly then it may not be getting a DHCP lease properly. Sometimes bad wifi drivers will allow you to associate with a access point but will crap out when you try to get dhcp working.


IF it looks like dhcp is working and everything is configured correctly...

Try pinging your 'gateway'. Substitute the IP address .

ping 192.168.50.1

That should reach it.

Try pinging a server on the internet:
ping 4.2.2.2
(that is a real address)

Try pinging a host:
ping www.google.com

If you can do all that then your network is correctly configured. Depending on were it fails and what is not working will determine what you do next to try to get it working.
 
Ok, wow. I think that's about everything I could possibly ask for. I'll be out of town for a few days, but when I get back I'll be sure to try that out. Thanks!
 
Ok, so I'm posting on my wireless computer now. I THINK I got the new drivers working. Any way to check that?

I set my speed up to 54mbps, and that helps. But, I still have this problem...it will connect, and load things up, but then drop the connection, pausing everything until it reconnects...this happens every few seconds, but the speeds is a lot better with these drivers.

So I think this may be that dropped packet thing? Not sure. Any possible ideas? troubleshooting ideas? It's got the connection (its a bit weak, it has been better. driver related?), but it just drops every few seconds.

Thanks!
 
Ok, so I'm posting on my wireless computer now. I THINK I got the new drivers working. Any way to check that?
Click to expand...

In dmesg sometimes drivers print versioning info when they are loaded. Otherwise you can check the time stamps on your kernel module

cd /lib/modules/<yourkernelversion>
ls -l `find |grep rt2500`

that may help.

I set my speed up to 54mbps, and that helps. But, I still have this problem...it will connect, and load things up, but then drop the connection, pausing everything until it reconnects...this happens every few seconds, but the speeds is a lot better with these drivers.
Click to expand...

The faster the wireless connection the more likely it is to drop the connection. It takes a strong signal to move things fast.

Try dropping the speed down to 2M for now and see if that clears it up. Also the position of the wifi point will be affected by metal objects. These things are microwaves so remember on your microwave oven that the screen in the door can stop all microwave radiation. IF the signal improves then you can bump the speed up. The speed should adjust automaticly, but it's not always very smart.

If it's by a television or by a CRT computer monitor (since they use big metal screens) or metal computer case it can block signals. I've had problems with washing machines and pipes in walls before. That sort of thing. Try to position the wifi point up and away.

That sort of thing.

I had problem with buggy wifi points dropping connections once. Try this trick:
open up a terminal and ping your gateway like such:
ping -i 3 192.168.1.254

or whatever the IP address is. The -i is for 'interval' and it will ping every 3 seconds. Maybe that will help keep the connection alive. It helped me with one wifi point.

Also if your not using NetworkManager that thing will take care of the connection in a fairly automatic way as long as your device is not preconfigured in the /usr/network/interfaces (delete the entry regarding your wifi card if it is).

 
Ok, I'll try that out, but now I have another problem. I got on the wifi computer this morning (after I shut it down) and it had some server error on any website, but it said it was connected...I then re-activated it, and it worked...but the connection speed was back down to 24Mbps. I was able to browse the web for like a minute and it came up with server errors again...

I've tried setting the speed to 1M, but that would be too slow to even load anything (it would disconnect to fast).

Also, how can I change the channel/frequency that it receives?

So, server errors, settings not sticking, and channel changing. That's my problems now.
 
The connection speed should be autonegotiated each time it connects. Setting it manually is only realy temporary.

The frequency is set by the wireless access point. If you want to change what setting it is using you're going to have to do it there. It's like channels on your TV set.. The 'server' sets it, not your television. You just choose which frequency to listen to and hope there is something on there.


It could be that the default frequency for your area is crowded.

I suggest changing the frequency and see if that helps, then go to the forums on rt2x00.sourceforge.com and tell them about your problems. Explain all that is going on and that your getting frequent drop-outs and such. They may have a setting or a specific driver that they may want you to try out. They'd know more about it then I do. 🙂
 
ok, setting the sudo ping -i 3 192.168.0.101 command really helps. I still get very slight connection drops while using firefox, but AIM never does that to it. So I do think this has mostly fixed the problem, since it only diconnects when loading a new page (not just being idle in firefox).

But, I dont believe this is a permanent thing? Do I have to keep putting it in the terminal each time i get on?

Knowing that this fixed it, what should I do based on that?
 
Ok wait, I shut down my computer and restarted it, and the ra0 connection was not working. It detected everything, but would not connect. So I deactivated it and activated it, and it still didn't work. I checked ifconfig and it only had an IPv6 address, nothing for IPv4. That's where my problem is. It would connect through IPv4 before, but now it isn't. And for some reason I can't get it to work at all now.
 
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