Linksys WUSB12 / "block-major-2" err terminates au

[phillfri]

I'm totally new to Linux so I apologize if my questiona are somewhat ignorant.

Firstly, I have no floppy on my Desknote computer, so I'm getting "Can't locate module block-major-2" error that terminates autoconfiguration on bootup. Google search indicates that solution is "alias block-major-2 off" entry in the modules.conf file.

Secondly, I note that the Knoppix probe configuration file (/etc/modutils/linux-wlan-ng) is set up to probe for a prism2_pci. The WUSB12 is obviously usb, and it would seem that the appropriate line item in the linux-wlan-ng file would be the prism2_usb line item - which is currently commented out. (The instructions in the file say to select the appropriate line item.)

My problem comes when I try to change either of these files, they will not let me write to them, even in root. So how can I accomplish these adjustments without being able to edit the necessary configuration files?

[phillfri]

Well, I've narrowed this down a bit. Found usbview, and it shows that usb recognizes my usb floppy, my wusb12 prism2 wireless adapter and my usb mouse. The usb mouse works and the usb floppy works (once I figured out that I had to manually mount sda to get at it). But, running wavelan configuration still shows "No wireless network card found" despite the fact that usbview shows the adapter.

I tried the commands indicated in other threads:
added "iface wlan0 inet dhcp" to the network interface file.

then ran:
"wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_ifstate ifstate=enable" (ran ok)
"wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_autojoin ssid="SpeedStream" authtype=opensystem" (ran OK - yes, I have SpeedStream router)

But when I run the "ifup wlan0" command, I get the following error: "IBSS not started, result code=invalid_parameters. run parts: \etc\network\if-pre-up.d\linux-wlan-ng_pre-up exited with return code 1."

At this point I can run wlcardconfig in a root console with all defaults except for setting ssid=SpeedStream. I get an error that says "Error for wireless request 'Set ESSID' (8B1A) : SET failed on device wlan0 ; function not implemented."

Can anyone help me out here?

[phillfri]

Still working on this. Found command iwconfig and ran it. I get the following error message:

"Warning: Driver for device wlan0 has been compiled with version 15 of Wireless Extension, while this program is using version 16. Some things may be broken..."

No matter what I do, trying to set the SSID always returns the failure indicated in my last post (see above).

Have I run into something here that isn't going to work until these modules are brought into synch? Any advice would be appreciated.

[phillfri]

Circumvented my block-major-2 by doing a hdinstall. Lost my KNOPPIX menu options though. They don't seem to work anymore.

Got my WUSB12 wireless adapter working. For those of you looking to do the same, go to \etc\usr\share\doc\linux-wlan-ng\README.Debian.gz. Turns out you do have to edit the \etc\modutils\linux-wlan-ng file to select the prism2_usb driver rather than the prism2_pci driver (as I had guessed). How one can do that on the Knoppix CD I don't know. When I tried it wouldn't let me edit the file. Doing a hdinstall of course resolved that for me also.

The README also gives a short explanation of the different commands that can be put into the \etc\network\interfaces file to set up the WUSB12 for your scenario.

Now if I could just figure out how to alter my settings in the network\interfaces file on the fly, since I have both managed and ad-hoc needs depending on where I'm at. There's a new program that's been added to the Debian CVS called KWifiManager that looks like it will do the job nicely. Maybe we'll see it in a future Knoppix release? I'd guess a linux demo disk would have a need for on the fly wireless configuration adjustments? Just a suggestion :>)