Gigafast Wireless

Forum: Networking
Topic: Gigafast Wireless
started by: grambert

Posted by grambert on Dec. 07 2005,22:27

Hi,

i just got a Gigafast WF 729 AEX Wireless Cardbus Adapter. It's PCMCIA and i can't find information on it's chipset or if there are any linux drivers for it.

What are the things i should be doing to get this card working? DSL detects a PCMCIA card, but does not detect a wireless network card (which makes sense)
I think i'm using DSL1.5 would installing 2.0 be a useful step?
Is there a program that can probe the card to find out its chipset or any other useful information?
I've tried ndiswrapper with the XP/NT drivers and the win98 drivers. It takes a minute to think and doesn't give me any response. Wlanconfig says there is no wireless found still.

Since i'm very much a newb i guess i want any sort of direction to head in that will get this working.

Posted by AwPhuch on Dec. 07 2005,23:01

When in doubt go to the source

< http://www.gigafast.com/products/product_detail/WF729-AEX.htm >

You might have to use ndiswrapper

Brian
AwPhuch

Posted by cbagger01 on Dec. 07 2005,23:11

Your device seems to be an rtl8180:

< http://www.linuxaa.com/ftopic12026.html >

You may be able to get it to work with the ndiswrapper program that comes with DSL. Skip the install/compile ndiswrapper stuff:

NDISwrapper for RTL8180 mini-HOWTO
Posted by: coindood on 09-25-2004. (6113 views)
If you're tired of working on getting any wireless card based on the RTL8180 chipset, and don't want to downgrade to use the official linux drivers from Realtek or paying money for the LinuxAnt DriverLoader, then use Ndiswrapper. Getting Ndiswrapper to work is so much easier than the Realtek drivers! This is how I got my setup working on distros ranging from Debian, Knoppix, Slackware, and Gentoo:

Note: These are all console commands (for those VERY new to this!)

First you must download the newest version at
ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net

If you want to be on the edge, you can download the CVS by using:

code:

cvs -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ndiswrapper login

code:

cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ndiswrapper co ndiswrapper

Untar the ndiswrapper file and go to < http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...px?Keyword=8180 >
and downloaded the latest Windows XP drivers.

I unzipped the drivers into my ndiswrapper directory (/home/user_name/ndiswrapper/), and per the INSTALL text, I typed

code:

make install

then

code:

ndiswrapper -i NET8180.INF

to install the driver. Typing

code:

ndiswrapper -l

will tell you if the driver is present, and for good measure I typed

code:

dmesg | grep "wlan0"

and looked at the last line to see if it mentioned wlan0.

After all that I did

code:

modprobe ndiswrapper

to install the module, then proceeded to setup my card using iwconfig:

code:

iwconfig wlan0 mode Managed
iwconfig wlan0 key YOUR_KEY //if you use a key use this!
iwconfig wlan0 essid YOUR_ESSID
iwconfig wlan0 channel YOUR_CHANNEL
/sbin/ifconfig wlan0 192.168.0.10 up //an unused ip within your network!

/sbin/route add default gw 192.168.0.1 wlan0 //once again this is the AP ip
OR
dhcpcd wlan0

Test out the connection by doing a quick 'ping google.com' to make sure you are connected and the DHCP settings are all correct. If everything works, then congratulations and have fun with your new wireless setup!

To save the "modprobe" settings, use:

code:

ndiswrapper -m

Knoppix (and other Knoppix-based distros, or those with netcardconfig):
You can omit the last three lines (only configure with iwconfig up to setting the essid) and run "netcardconfig", either from the Knoppix menu under Network, where it is called "Network Card Configuration", and select "yes" in the "Use DHCP broadcast" window. Now you are all set!