Link-sys WPC11 install on Debian

Link-sys WPC11 Mini-HOWTO
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3. Link-sys WPC11 install on Debian

3.1. Why Debian and why just this card?

I have been trying for months to get wireless working on Debian and after reading far and wide and getting help from irc.debian.org, I realized that there really is no Cookbook in getting wireless set up. Thus having just done it I want to commit to 'paper' so that you all can use it and I can refer to it knowing it is safe somewhere. :)

3.1.1. Redhat installation

I have gotten a few requests for help on getting the card installed on other distributions. I will try to address the RedHat Installation in this mini-how-to

3.1.2. Suse Installation

My girlfriend got the WPC-11 card working on Suse. I am waiting for her to give me her how to

3.2. Required Hardware

By required I mean, here is what I used to get this to work, and may serve as guide to anyone who wants to know what really works.

BEFW11S4- EtherFast? Wireless AP + Cable/DSL Router w/4-Port Switch. I really really like this WAP (Wireless Access Point). It is OS independent (read, linux friendly) and is configured using a browser so no need to touch Microsoft software at all, even to configure it. And if you don't know what a switch is, let me tell ya, they rock. Essentially they allow the NIC to communicate in both directions at the same time. I highly recommend one.

Link-sys WPC11. I have a version 3.0 and don't recommend any thing less than a version 2.5 Cost about 80 dollars

3.2.1. What is the linksys card based on?

It is an Inersil Prism 3-based card

3.3. Software Requirements

3.3.1. Debian Software Requirements

Table 1. Debian Software Requirements

Software

Version

URL link

notes

Debian Distribution

Stable ("Woody")

www.debian.org

linux-2.4.20.tar, patched with patch-2.4.21-pre3.bz[a]

Absolute Systems

0.1.16-pre8

Absolute systems

Make sure you download the 11Mbps version. Works for 0.1.16-pre8

pcmcia-source

Stable

apt-get install pcmcia-source

<---type this

pcmcia-cs

stable

apt-get install pcmcia-cs

<---type this

wireless-tools

Stable

apt-get install wireless-tools

<--type this

pump

stable

apt-get install pump

Useful to see if card works

kernel-package

stable

apt-get install kernel-package

Good way to build kernel and the one I describe.

Kernel

2.4.20, patched with patch-2.4.21-pre3.bz2

www.kernel.org

You must know how to build and patch a kernel to do this. Its not hard and I will show you[b]

Notes:
a. This new patched kernel worked amazingly well
b. Note to patch a kernel you type

bzip2 -dc patch-2.4.21-pre3.bz2 | patch -p0

3.3.2. RedHat Software Requirements

Table 2. RedHat Software Requirements

Software	Version	URL link	notes
Redhat 8.0	stock kernel	*	RedHat

3.4. Notes on additional helpful software

You will also need some way to setup you IP address on your wireless card, I recommend either

apt-get install DHCP-client

to install the DHCP-client that will automatically configure your IP address, if you have a DHCP server. The WAP-11 hardware does provide DHCP server capabilities

Or at least have the pump application, which also will query a DHCP server and get you an IP address from the DHCP server. Note I tend to use pump when I am trying out new hardware to see if there is a connection, since to test a particular device, say eth0 I would type

pump -i eth0

where the option -i tells pump what device to try to get an IP address. In this particular case, when I could not get Debian to automatically set up my wireless card, which was device wlan0, I would type

pump -i wlan0

and pump would try to set up the device. Anyway, the point is, that it is a good trouble shooting command, and you should know about it, and I talk more about it later.

I also recommend you use the "kernel-package" package when you want to build your new kernel, which I will get to. This tool is very good and you should be using it anyway when you are building new kernel for the Debian distribution. You can install it by typing

apt-get install kernel-package

Also, be sure to read the documentation it comes with, in case I don't do a good job explaining how to use it, later in this document

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