Trouble with Knoppix 3.6 and Belkin F5D7000

[jMon54]

In that thread could you tell me exactly where things hang?

The name of the driver you are using and the version of the card you are using?

It does not necessarily follow that if you fail to get Knoppix to work with your wireless connection you have to go back to M$ -- your choice of course. There are many other fine distributions of Linux that are likely to work -- indeed one comes from your neck of the woods -- MEPIS.

Cheers,

Grant D. Vallance

I have tried using the driver that came on the cd "rt2500" and two I got off the ndiswrapper site "bcmwl5" and "bcmwl5a". The most recurring problem is when I get to the iwconfig part of the installation. Knoppix just does not see the card. (Windows 2000 has no problem with it, though the signal isn't very stong.) I have tried removing then reinstalling every driver but no success. I just downloaded Mepis and will give it a shot. The short time I have spent with Knoppix has given me a strong fondness for both Linux and this devoted community of users.

[pureone]

i dont think belkin wireless cards work very well with linux. i havent got one to work so far(dont know anyone else thats got it working with wep). normaly once i install the drivers the system either REALLY starts to lag or will just freeze. i would also notice that the system would normaly crash when i do iwlist scan or iwconfig. when i do iwlist scan it will continue to press enter about 50 times.
if your not using wep or wpa on your ap you could try
pump -i wlan0 once you have done
modprobe ndiswrapper but make sure wlan0 is in the output of
ifconfig

what drivers give you the most trouble?

[grant_vallance]

In that thread could you tell me exactly where things hang?

The name of the driver you are using and the version of the card you are using?

It does not necessarily follow that if you fail to get Knoppix to work with your wireless connection you have to go back to M$ -- your choice of course. There are many other fine distributions of Linux that are likely to work -- indeed one comes from your neck of the woods -- MEPIS.

Cheers,

Grant D. Vallance

I have tried using the driver that came on the cd "rt2500" and two I got off the ndiswrapper site "bcmwl5" and "bcmwl5a". The most recurring problem is when I get to the iwconfig part of the installation. Knoppix just does not see the card. (Windows 2000 has no problem with it, though the signal isn't very stong.) I have tried removing then reinstalling every driver but no success. I just downloaded Mepis and will give it a shot. The short time I have spent with Knoppix has given me a strong fondness for both Linux and this devoted community of users.

I am going to make an assumption that I hope will not bite me on the a**(US)/a*** (UK). That the American Belkin F5D7000 uses the same chipset as mine ... I.e. Broadcom

However, we still need to know the version of the card, since this influences whether one should use the bcmwl5.inf or the bcmwl5a.inf file. I don't think the rt2500 is correct, unless there is another chipset on board.

Also have you checked to see whether there is a bcwml5 file on the CD?

Oh dear, perhaps we should check what the chipset and version actually is... So what is the output of: [in a console as root user] lspci -v

That will confirm it, and whether Knoppix 'knows' about some 'card' on the pci-bus ...

I'll do this step by-step; so report back and then we can proceed.

Grant D. Vallance

PS. While I have never used WEP; I have found my Belkin F5D7000/7010 perfectly stable, contrary to pureone's experience. Most cards & ndiswrapper seem to have indigestion with respect to encryption in my experience!

[pureone]

grant do you use wpa ? or no encryption at all? i wouldnt like to use no encryption at all. i have managed to get wireless cards working with no wep at all but thats not what i want so i have just stuck to ethernet untill theres better support for wireless cards with in the kernel.

the card i have made my attempts on i belive was F5D6001 but not 100% sure i could never get the driver files that the ndiswrapper site recomends so that could be one of the main reasons for no luck with it yet.

[jMon54]

The rt2500 driver came on the CD. There were no other drivers. I got the bcmwl5 from the Belkin site. The bcmwl5a I got from the ndiswrapper site (note: it is for a Dell, which I do not have). All of these drivers do nothing for me. Knoppix just does not see the card. Early on while working from the menus as a user I got the system frozen a few times. I switched to trying as root and sticking with command line options. But still no luck. I will do a "lspci -v" when I get home later and report back. (In the meantime, I'm burning a copy of Mepis!).

[grant_vallance]

grant do you use wpa ? or no encryption at all? i wouldnt like to use no encryption at all. i have managed to get wireless cards working with no wep at all but thats not what i want so i have just stuck to ethernet untill theres better support for wireless cards with in the kernel.

the card i have made my attempts on i belive was F5D6001 but not 100% sure i could never get the driver files that the ndiswrapper site recomends so that could be one of the main reasons for no luck with it yet.

Pureone:

Currently, I do not use encryption at all, although that is about to change, once I have time to play -- sometime soon -- hopefully. [Anyone who attempts to write a Ph. D. with a family is mad! Ergo I am mad.]

However, how I do wireless at home has altered since I first started using GNU/Linux. So using encryption won't be via my Belkin cards and ndiswrapper.

A while ago I decided the easiest/best (although not the cheapest) way to connect all my computers which run M$ XP and GNU/Linux was to use two wireless routers connected via WDS. This means that all my computers are wired, but linked wirelessly (if you understand). I.e. upstairs I have my GNU/Linux box and M$ laptop connected to a router (#2), and this is wirelessly connected to another router (#1) downstairs which connects to the internet and another M$ box (for playing games). It functions well.

All the Linux Distros I have tried just "work" under the arrangement since the wireless side is taken care of by the routers and Linux is perfectly at home in a wired ethernet world :-)

Hope that answers you question ...

Grant V.

[pureone]

yes it does i have thought about doing the same type of setup but i dont think its worth my time really i may as well buy some primis2 cards that should work.

[jMon54]

Oh dear, perhaps we should check what the chipset and version actually is... So what is the output of: [in a console as root user] lspci -v

I forgot to put the "-v" after the "lspci" but here's what I gather is the relevant part of the output:

"0000:00:09.0 Network controller: RaLink RaLink RT2500 802.11 Cardbus Reference Card (rev01)"

Does this help anyone help me with getting Knoppix to use my wireless card?

[grant_vallance]

Oh dear, perhaps we should check what the chipset and version actually is... So what is the output of: [in a console as root user] lspci -v

I forgot to put the "-v" after the "lspci" but here's what I gather is the relevant part of the output:

"0000:00:09.0 Network controller: RaLink RaLink RT2500 802.11 Cardbus Reference Card (rev01)"

Does this help anyone help me with getting Knoppix to use my wireless card?

Yes, it does: but it probably means that you DO NOT have a Belkin F5D7000. According to my sources they use the Broadcom chipset in that model.

It appears that you CD was correct. Its the rt2500.inf driver you want

We will go with the chipset I think ...

It appears that this chipset actually has native linux drivers; not that I know how to install them. Type in Google "Ralink linux" and that could get you started. Better I suppose would be to go direct to the Ralink website. See: http://www.ralinktech.com/supp-1.htm

Someone else will have to help you if you want to try and do the native driver route. I have no idea. However, if you want to pursue ndiswrapper -- I would try and get the latest .inf file by downloading the driver .exe -- hopefully all the .exe is is a self-extracting zip file.

Once you have the latest rt2500.inf file we can take it from there.

[jMon54]

Yes, it does: but it probably means that you DO NOT have a Belkin F5D7000. According to my sources they use the Broadcom chipset in that model.

It appears that you CD was correct. Its the rt2500.inf driver you want

We will go with the chipset I think ...

It appears that this chipset actually has native linux drivers; not that I know how to install them. Type in Google "Ralink linux" and that could get you started. Better I suppose would be to go direct to the Ralink website. See: http://www.ralinktech.com/supp-1.htm

Well I KNOW for a fact the card I have is a Belkin F5D7000 because I just bought it and the box it came in is sitting on top of my printer. However, if Knoppix wants to call it something else, I won't argue as long as it works. I have gotten a hold of the files and instructions for installation of native Linux drivers for the RT2500 and will attempt to install. I'll report back the results. Stay tuned...

[grant_vallance]

Yes, it does: but it probably means that you DO NOT have a Belkin F5D7000. According to my sources they use the Broadcom chipset in that model.

It appears that you CD was correct. Its the rt2500.inf driver you want

We will go with the chipset I think ...

It appears that this chipset actually has native linux drivers; not that I know how to install them. Type in Google "Ralink linux" and that could get you started. Better I suppose would be to go direct to the Ralink website. See: http://www.ralinktech.com/supp-1.htm

Well I KNOW for a fact the card I have is a Belkin F5D7000 because I just bought it and the box it came in is sitting on top of my printer. However, if Knoppix wants to call it something else, I won't argue as long as it works. I have gotten a hold of the files and instructions for installation of native Linux drivers for the RT2500 and will attempt to install. I'll report back the results. Stay tuned...

Well speaking as Ph. D. student in philosophy you don't "KNOW," you have the Belkin F5D7000 merely because of the box it came in.... :-) The evidence could be suggestive though.

However, I am puzzled with the contradiction between the chipset in all other Belkin F5D7000s I know (including my own) i.e. Broadcom; and yours, which ostensibly is using a Ralink chipset -- at least according to Knoppix. What does M$ say?

Its interesting in any case. Maybe Belkin is beginning to see sense and use a chipset vendor that supports Linux. But I think that something screwy is going on. Maybe someone is trying to pull a fast-one ... Hmmmm ....

I take it that you have just bought the card? I take it you bought it from a reputible supplier?

In any case I'd phone Belkin on their 1-800 number, or email them and ask if they have suddenly switched to Ralink chipsets! I had a look at their website (for N. America), and there is nothing in the support section that indicates they have changed; such specifying a different driver for the new chipset.

Has anyone else heard about the change?

Regards,

Grant D. Vallance

[jMon54]

However, I am puzzled with the contradiction between the chipset in all other Belkin F5D7000s I know (including my own) i.e. Broadcom; and yours, which ostensibly is using a Ralink chipset -- at least according to Knoppix.

Its interesting in any case. Maybe Belkin is beginning to see sense and use a chipset vendor that supports Linux. But I think that something screwy is going on. Maybe someone is trying to pull a fast-one ... Hmmmm ....

I take it that you have just bought the card? I take it you bought it from a reputible supplier?

I bought the card at Staples, a giant office product chain, quite reputable. Oh and Knoppix does know it's a Belkin based on what I got when I used "lspci -v". So maybe Belkin has seen the light and is supplying Linux friendly cards. However, I tried to install the ndiswrapper RT2500 driver and got totally overwhelmed. The instructions may as well be in Chinese for me! Here's what they say:

run 'cd STA/Module'
'cp ../2.6.x/Makefile .'

$make -C /path/to/source SUBDIRS=$PWD modules
where /path/to/source is the path to the source directory for the (configured and built) target kernel.

run '/sbin/insmod rt2500.ko' (as root)
'/sbin/ifconfig ra0 inet YOUR_IP up'

Help!!! I can make no sense of this... I tried keying it all in best as I could but am totally in over my head. :?

[grant_vallance]

However, I am puzzled with the contradiction between the chipset in all other Belkin F5D7000s I know (including my own) i.e. Broadcom; and yours, which ostensibly is using a Ralink chipset -- at least according to Knoppix.

Its interesting in any case. Maybe Belkin is beginning to see sense and use a chipset vendor that supports Linux. But I think that something screwy is going on. Maybe someone is trying to pull a fast-one ... Hmmmm ....

I take it that you have just bought the card? I take it you bought it from a reputible supplier?

I bought the card at Staples, a giant office product chain, quite reputable. Oh and Knoppix does know it's a Belkin based on what I got when I used "lspci -v". So maybe Belkin has seen the light and is supplying Linux friendly cards. However, I tried to install the ndiswrapper RT2500 driver and got totally overwhelmed. The instructions may as well be in Chinese for me! Here's what they say:

run 'cd STA/Module'
'cp ../2.6.x/Makefile .'

$make -C /path/to/source SUBDIRS=$PWD modules
where /path/to/source is the path to the source directory for the (configured and built) target kernel.

run '/sbin/insmod rt2500.ko' (as root)
'/sbin/ifconfig ra0 inet YOUR_IP up'

Help!!! I can make no sense of this... I tried keying it all in best as I could but am totally in over my head. :?

Unfortunately, its over mine too ... For all intents and purposes I am a Knoppix noob ... My only claim to fame is that I have managed to get ndiswrapper working with my wireless cards and written a vaguely comprehensible HowTo, which a number of folks have found helpful. Oh and a willingness to learn by helping and doing research ...

Now I can help if you want to go through the ndiswrapper route ...

Grant D. Vallance