Netgear WN111 v2 doesn't work, but kernel should support it

Hello,

I'm trying to get my Netgear WN111 V2 to work with knoppix. The same card will work on the same box when booted with lucid puppy or WattOS R3.

These 2 distributions seem to have the driver built-in. It doesn't appear to be using ndiswrapper. How would I test if I'm using ndiswrapper? Puppy and wattOS just "plug-and-played" it.

According to: http://linux-wless.passys.nl/query_h...php?hostif=USB :

Driver included in mainline kernel as of 2.6.30-rc1. Firmware is required, see http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/ar9170

I'm using knoppix 6.4 which appears to be using the 2.6.37 kernel. Any idea why it's working with some linux distributions, and not others?

Thanks,
Charlie

Hi Charlie Foxtrot and welcome to the Knoppix forums.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Charlie Foxtrot

How would I test if I'm using ndiswrapper?
Charlie

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I don't know but I think the answer is «don't care». See first few lines of the first web page you reference.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Charlie Foxtrot

Any idea why it's working with some linux distributions, and not others?
Charlie

---

You already have the answer to that one: the second web page you reference states the driver is in the mainline kernel since 2.6.30 but that it requires firmware. It is unlikely a distribution would leave out the driver but it is up to those who produce the distribution as to which firmware they do or do not include.

Here's a simple check you can do from a Knoppix terminal;

Code:

---

find /lib/modules -name 'ar9170*'
find /lib/firmware -name 'ar9170*'

---

I don't know about yours, but my Knoppix has the driver but not the firmware.

Another way of check is to use ctrl+alt+F12 to get to the syslog console and then plug-in your wifi receiver. You should see Linux recognises that something has been plugged in; it recognises your wifi receiver for what it is; it loads the correct driver and the driver complains that it cannot find the firmware. It should even tell you which firmware files are missing.

You need to download the firmware files and copy them to a convenience USB stick.

If you are using a USB install with persistent store you need to do is boot Knoppix, mount the USB stick, copy the firmware files to the right directory and then plug-in your wifi receiver. If that works, next time all you have to do is plug-in the receiver.

If you are using a CD/DVD for evaluation purposes you will need to go through the procedure every time your boot Knoppix. A bit of pain but then you do want to make sure it works before you do a USB install don't you ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Forester

Hi Charlie Foxtrot and welcome to the Knoppix forums.



I don't know but I think the answer is «don't care». See first few lines of the first web page you reference.



You already have the answer to that one: the second web page you reference states the driver is in the mainline kernel since 2.6.30 but that it requires firmware. It is unlikely a distribution would leave out the driver but it is up to those who produce the distribution as to which firmware they do or do not include.

Here's a simple check you can do from a Knoppix terminal;

Code:

---

find /lib/modules -name 'ar9170*'
find /lib/firmware -name 'ar9170*'

---

I don't know about yours, but my Knoppix has the driver but not the firmware.

Another way of check is to use ctrl+alt+F12 to get to the syslog console and then plug-in your wifi receiver. You should see Linux recognises that something has been plugged in; it recognises your wifi receiver for what it is; it loads the correct driver and the driver complains that it cannot find the firmware. It should even tell you which firmware files are missing.

You need to download the firmware files and copy them to a convenience USB stick.

If you are using a USB install with persistent store you need to do is boot Knoppix, mount the USB stick, copy the firmware files to the right directory and then plug-in your wifi receiver. If that works, next time all you have to do is plug-in the receiver.

If you are using a CD/DVD for evaluation purposes you will need to go through the procedure every time your boot Knoppix. A bit of pain but then you do want to make sure it works before you do a USB install don't you ?

---

I guess i"m not clear on what is meant by "firmware", my understanding is that you have hardware: silicon chips, etc.; software: programs written in C, etc. loaded into RAM; and firmware which is programs that are loaded into ROM, or EPROM.

In this context I would think that firmware would be drivers loaded on the USB wireless device itself, but it's working with the the other linux distributions, so how could that be the problem?

Thanks,
Charlie

So here are the messages that I see from dmesg in knoppix:

[ 470.833883] [drm] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Setting dpms mode 0 on vga encoder (output 0)
[ 470.833889] [drm] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Output VGA-1 is running on CRTC 0 using output A
[ 481.140739] usb 1-1: USB disconnect, address 2
[ 485.903327] usb 1-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
[ 486.078049] usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0846, idProduct=9001
[ 486.078056] usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=16, Product=32, SerialNumber=48
[ 486.078062] usb 1-1: Product: USB2.0 WLAN
[ 486.078067] usb 1-1: Manufacturer: ATHER
[ 486.078071] usb 1-1: SerialNumber: 12345
[ 486.189999] usb 1-1: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 6
[ 487.388796] usb 1-1: ar9170.fw firmware file not found, trying old firmware...
[ 487.434616] usb 1-1: file with init values not found.
[ 523.771543] [drm] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Setting dpms mode 3 on vga encoder (output 0)

Here are the messages that I see in puppy linux:

# dmesg | grep 'ar9170'
usb 1-1: firmware: requesting ar9170.fw
usb 1-1: ar9170.fw firmware file not found, trying old firmware...
usb 1-1: firmware: requesting ar9170-1.fw
usb 1-1: firmware: requesting ar9170-2.fw
Registered led device: ar9170-phy0::tx
Registered led device: ar9170-phy0::assoc
usbcore: registered new interface driver ar9170usb
#

So are you suggesting that I need to burn new firmware on the USB wireless adapter?

-Charlie

Hi again Charlie Foxtrot,

Thanks for giving us the dmesg output from both Knoppix and Puppy.

You can see both look for the driver, which then looks for the firmware and then the legacy firmware but only Puppy finds it.

Not you don't need to burn new firmware into your wireless adapter. The Linux driver will upload the firmware to the device but it needs you to put the firmware where it can find it.

The second web-page you referenced talked about the firmware (one file good, two files legacy) and gave you the opportunity to download them. You just have to put them in the right place. Since the two legacy files work with Puppy you might want to just copy those. Look for them under /lib/firmware (they might be in a subdirectory). Copy then to a USB flash device, boot Knoppix and copy them into /lib/firmware under Knoppix (eventually into the 'same' subdirectory). Now plug in your adapter and see what happens. The dmesg output should be good and you should be able to configure a wireless connection.

If that is not clear, just say so. You are so close there is no reason to give up now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Forester

Hi again Charlie Foxtrot,

Thanks for giving us the dmesg output from both Knoppix and Puppy.

You can see both look for the driver, which then looks for the firmware and then the legacy firmware but only Puppy finds it.

Not you don't need to burn new firmware into your wireless adapter. The Linux driver will upload the firmware to the device but it needs you to put the firmware where it can find it.

The second web-page you referenced talked about the firmware (one file good, two files legacy) and gave you the opportunity to download them. You just have to put them in the right place. Since the two legacy files work with Puppy you might want to just copy those. Look for them under /lib/firmware (they might be in a subdirectory). Copy then to a USB flash device, boot Knoppix and copy them into /lib/firmware under Knoppix (eventually into the 'same' subdirectory). Now plug in your adapter and see what happens. The dmesg output should be good and you should be able to configure a wireless connection.

If that is not clear, just say so. You are so close there is no reason to give up now.

---

Thanks,

I put the firmware in /lib/firmware and replugged the adapter. After that I see:

Code:

---

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ ifconfig
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:15:e9:2d:eb:fb 
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
          Interrupt:18 Base address:0x2800

eth1      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 80:00:60:0f:e8:00 
          inet addr:169.254.2.2  Bcast:169.254.2.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::8200:60ff:fe0f:e800/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:21 errors:6 dropped:11 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:1889 (1.8 KiB)  TX bytes:1504 (1.4 KiB)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback 
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
          RX packets:1863 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:1863 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:121153 (118.3 KiB)  TX bytes:121153 (118.3 KiB)

wlan0    Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:26:f2:f6:ca:76 
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

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However, I can't figure out how to connect with the tool. I tried it manually based on:

http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Network_...ppix_5.1.1_FAQ with the following results:

Code:

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knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ iwconfig wlan0 essid MYROUTER channel 5
Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) :
    SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not permitted.
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$
#

---

Channel 5 is what puppy uses.

-Charlie

Thanks Forester,

I put the firmware in lib/firmware, I seen wlan0, but I can't connect to it:

# cat /mnt/sdc1/AfterFirmware.txt
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

eth1 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:15:e9:2d:eb:fb
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:18 Base address:0x2800

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 80:00:60:0f:e8:00
inet addr:169.254.2.2 Bcast:169.254.2.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::8200:60ff:fe0f:e800/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:21 errors:6 dropped:11 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:8 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:1889 (1.8 KiB) TX bytes:1504 (1.4 KiB)

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:1863 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1863 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:121153 (118.3 KiB) TX bytes:121153 (118.3 KiB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:26:f2:f6:ca:76
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$


I tried to connect to it using iwconfig, similar to what is show at:
http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Network_...ppix_5.1.1_FAQ

knoppix@Microknoppix:~$ iwconfig wlan0 essid MYWIRELESSROUTER channel 5
Error for wireless request "Set ESSID" (8B1A) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not permitted.
knoppix@Microknoppix:~$
#

Channel 5 is what I'm using in puppy linux.

-Charlie

I was able to get it to work by using a different USB port on the same USB/PCI card, not sure what was wrong with the other one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Charlie Foxtrot

I was able to get it to work by using a different USB port on the same USB/PCI card, not sure what was wrong with the other one.

---

Hi Charlie Foxtrot,

Glad to hear you have got it working.

I think you may have been trying too hard. If you are using the Network Manager then it should just work without you fiddling around with iwconfig and stuff (the wiki page you have been using is old). In fact, your fiddling may explain why it didn't work until you tried another USB port ...

If you fiddle with the configuration of a network interface at the command line the Network Manager may decide you don't want it to manage the interface and so you are on your own.

One possibility:

First time you plug it in, Linux sees your adapter and names it wlan0, which you have fiddled with, so the Network Manager ignores it. Plug your adapter into another port and Linux may see this as wlan1, which you haven't fiddled with, so the Network Manager handles it and it all appears to work.

Another possibility:

When you unplugged you adapter, Linux removed all your fiddling so when you plugged the adapter back in, the Network Manger was happy and so were you.

I think the second is more likely but I can't see over your shoulder. Have a look in the file /etc/network/interfaces. The Network Manager is inclined to ignore any interface declared in here. The only one you should find in here is loopback.

I'm not aware of any other configuration files in /etc that iwconfig et al use or that may put the Network Manager off but you may want to sweep under /etc for files that contain the string wlan0. You probably want to remove any iwconfig stuff you've added to knoppix.sh or /etc/rc.local.

Alternatively, if you are not using the Network Manager .... well I have done that using just /etc/network/interfaces with no iwconfig at all but quite what you do depends on whether your WLAN is using WEP or WPA etc.