Networking :: Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Again - please be gentle



Please help me...I'm completely lost!

Firstly, I'm far from being a techie. I'm reasonably competent with Windows, and managed to set up a Wireless network when I got my ThinkPad.

I've tried searching for information, but the advice I've found looks like a foreign language to me.

DSL looked like a good way for me to "dip my toe in the waters" of Linux, but now I'm starting to think that it's for people who are already comfortable "under the hood." Please convince me I'm wrong!

My laptop contains an Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG wireless card.

I booted from the DSL CD I created, but my wireless card was apparently not recognized. That didn't come as a great surprise, and searching here has revealed that others have had problems with this too. But I don't understand the various responses - they look scary.

If I can't access the Web via my wireless network, DSL is pretty much useless to me. To try to find help, I have to keep booting back to Windows just so I can get on the Web!

It looks like I have to obtain a driver from somewhere, but I don't know how to install it or where to put it.

I need someone to walk me through this step by step. For all its faults, Windows at least mostly does all this for you.
The driver of your card is ipw2200

See Robert's post on it in the recent thread:
http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....t=14495

No one has compiled it for the most recent version of DSL (yet) though.

The reason why Windows would detect your card is because Intel is probably a MS partner.  Bear in mind that DSL is created to genericly support as many machines within 50mb.  You could also try another distro since you're just starting out with Linux.
^thehatsrule^ - I do appreciate your response...I really do, but...

Your answer, and the recent post you refer me to (which I'd already found but didn't understand) is precisely my problem. I don't understand the terminology.

You say "The driver of your card is ipw2200" - now in Windows, I'd download this from somewhere, and it would be ready to go. But you say:

"No one has compiled it for the most recent version of DSL (yet) though."

Huh?

So there's one available, but it won't work? How would you compile it? I can't just download it and it's ready to roll?

In the post you refer me to, Robert says:

"1. Try DSL-N which has prowireless and a 2.6 kernel.
2. Use DSL v 2.1b which has a 2.4.31 kernel
3. Try to compile the modules for 2.4.26 yourself.
4. Check ndiswrapper site to see if it is supported."

I just tried DSL-N, booted up, and I wasn't connected to the Internet. Why?

Is 2. saying that an older version of DSL will work for me?

3. How would one go about "trying to compile the modules for 2.4.26"? Remember, I have no idea of where to start.

4. I followed a link to the ndiswrapper site which seemed to mention my wireless card, but whatever I downloaded didn't seem to work. It looked like it was just re-downloading the windows driver.

You mention "another distro" - is there a free, very friendly version of Linux that will support my wireless card?

Please don't think I'm being ungrateful. I know I'm coming across as needy, but I'm going to need someone to take the time to walk me through this.

Thanks
I'll try to refer my replies to this post:

Code Sample
In the post you refer me to, Robert says:

"1. Try DSL-N which has prowireless and a 2.6 kernel.
2. Use DSL v 2.1b which has a 2.4.31 kernel
3. Try to compile the modules for 2.4.26 yourself.
4. Check ndiswrapper site to see if it is supported."

---

Code Sample
"No one has compiled it for the most recent version of DSL (yet) though."

Huh?

So there's one available, but it won't work? How would you compile it? I can't just download it and it's ready to roll?

That's for #2 - you can use DSL v 2.1b, in which you said right
Code Sample
Is 2. saying that an older version of DSL will work for me?

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Code Sample

I just tried DSL-N, booted up, and I wasn't connected to the Internet. Why?

Says you have to use prowireless.. maybe here?
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts....ID=1784
I'm not too sure about this myself.
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Code Sample
3. How would one go about "trying to compile the modules for 2.4.26"? Remember, I have no idea of where to start.

Yea, compiling is different... you could download the ipw2200 sources and compile it, using gcc*.dsl.  That would probably be too much for you unless you got some time.
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Code Sample
4. I followed a link to the ndiswrapper site which seemed to mention my wireless card, but whatever I downloaded didn't seem to work. It looked like it was just re-downloading the windows driver.

ndiswrapper works by "wrapping" around windows drivers.
See "Ndiswrapper" under: http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/DSLPanel
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Code Sample
You mention "another distro" - is there a free, very friendly version of Linux that will support my wireless card?

Probably a lot since anyone can compile it.  I can't say any operating system can be easy to set up, but bigger distros will probably have some read-to-go package or something - I can't say from experience for this cause I don't use wireless.


[ OK so I used code tags instead of quote tags.. :P ]
Thanks for not giving up on me thr!

"ndiswrapper works by "wrapping" around windows drivers.
See "Ndiswrapper" under: http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/DSLPanel"

This sounds like something I could use. I must already have the driver, since my card works with Windows. So, I just need to find out the name of the driver, and plug it into ndiswrapper - is that it?
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