coDWL-G122 DSl 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 Info to pass on.

Forum: Networking
Topic: coDWL-G122 DSl 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 Info to pass on.
started by: eljudo

Posted by eljudo on Aug. 06 2005,17:03

Hi guys.

for the better good, I have decided to do a brain dump on how I managed to get the the DWL-G122 on my dsl lappy. Please be aware, I am not a linux expert, but a nOoBie, and what I have done to get my setup working may be unorthodox, but it did do the job. I may say something you dont fully agree with, understand, or perhaphs you could have done better...but then again, this is just a brain dump on the steps and experince I have gained.

First.

the dwl g122 wifi card has a two revisions that I am aware of. Check on the back of your usb wifi for correct code. Mine is Rev A2. You need to know this to download the proper drivers. if you do not select the right revision, no matter what you do, it will Not work. believe me, part of my ongoing problem was by downloading the wrong drivers. I found going to dlink.ca the best to obtain drivers for my setup.

Secondly,

for the life of me, I couldnt compile ANY versions of Ndiswrapper on my dsl. I tried compiling in version 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4. I kept getting tons of errors during the make, make install process. Even although I have downloaded the Gcc+.dsl and source.dsl from the Resp. I kept getting the dreaded module dependecies error. Tried multiple versions of Ndiswrapper as well.

Thanksfully, after many stressful days and after a good six pack of Molson Candian Cold shot rated at 6.0 % alcohol.. I came across a web site that mentioned that no matter what you do, any version of ndiswrappr higher than 1.1 would not compile in his mandrake box. he mentioned that he needed 1.1 to work/compile. So I downloaded Ndiswraper 1.1 once again.

I am not sure what came to me, but i had an idea regarding the GCc+ modules. since the compiling errors seems to be caused by missing libs.. i decided to enable apt-get in my dsl, and obtained and installed gcc directly from the sources.

apt-get install gcc

after doing the above, i installed the the gcc+.dsl from the resp. also installed the gnu tools.

next, i ran the compile process as stated in the ndiswrapper site. It compiled! tears started flowing out of my retina, blood pressure shot up a few pints, bowel movements started.. and off to the bathroom i went.

After having a nice time @ the john, i followed the rest of the install process at Ndiswrapper site. Worked beautifully. The key point. You need to have the RIGHT drivers... dlink.ca to obtain it.

Since I have wpa encryption enabled on my router, I needed to make sure I installed a so called supplicant in order to communicate with the router. so i followed the following instructions.

< http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/index.php/WPA >

I am a noobie, and believe me the above link is as easy as staling candy from baby.. very nicely done.. again, i started to feel quite uneazy insides my bowels, so i ran to the bathroom again.......

after I came back..i attempted at connecting to the router.. BINGO connected! worked awesome.. well for about 10 minutes then lappy froze as tight as a frozen doorknob on a cold canadian winter....this is about 3:00am pacific.. by this time my eyes wanted to shut closed, and brain function started to decline rapidly.. so before having a stroke sitting in front of the pc, i decided to go to bed.

next day, I started again. every 5 minutes or so.. the lappy would freeze. I noticed that it would freeze up mostly when attempting at wpa connection to the router. sometimes it would freeze during a listing of available APs,. ( iwlist eth0 scan )

tried new drivers, tried new version of ndiswrapper.. carefully downloading the latest revision of each.... started again...3 -4 times.. no matter what i did, the darn thing would freeze.

then i came across a driver loader.. called... you guess. " driverloader" by linuxant.

cost of internet access to obtain driver loader. 39.99 cad
cost of beer to relax 30.00 bucks.. yes beer in canada is expensive.
toilet paper... not about 1.00
cost of driverloader 19.00 US

cost of having freeze-free laptop, working CORRECTLY for once wifi , without locks up.. and as easy as you are gonna get to install a driver in linux....... PRICELESS..................

the idea of moving to linux from windows for me..... is mostly to learn and also save some money by using open source software. I am not rich by any means. I learned a bit about installing drivers, compiling, and the such by fighting with this darn thing for several days.. at the end of the day, I can assure anyone with a G122 USb wifi adapter... that driverloader is your friend for the time being. so far, everything works.

driverloader also has wpa supplicant that you can install as well. its very easy to do.. and yes, it works perfectly fine!. no locks up at all.

for 19.99 bucks..the darn software is awesome.

good luck everyone....