madwifi.tar.gzForum: Networking Topic: madwifi.tar.gz started by: doobit Posted by doobit on Nov. 24 2005,21:06
I know I could compile this with a normal HD install, but I don't know what to do to make it work in a Frugal install since the file system is not writeable and the package wants to load all of the files into /lib/modules/2.4.31/net which is read-only
Posted by hawki on Nov. 24 2005,22:20
HiIf you use the mydsl function to load your files try renaming it to madwifi.dsl from madwifi.tar.gz. Mydsl deals with files named .dsl differently and makes more of the file system writeable while doing the load. good luck Posted by doobit on Nov. 24 2005,23:14
OK, thank you. That does allow them to go into the right place, however, that takes place after hardware detection, so they don't load. What should be the next step to make this work?
Posted by tempestuous on Nov. 24 2005,23:16
depmod
Posted by doobit on Nov. 25 2005,14:54
When I run depmod I get an error that says that /lib/modules/2.4.31/modules.dep is not able to be opened for writing.
Posted by roberts on Nov. 25 2005,16:34
You should be able to use the insert modules even from your home directory. You will probably not need all of those modules. Try using the command insmodLet us know. Posted by doobit on Nov. 25 2005,23:10
insmod will insert the module if I include the full path. Some modules were not accepted. The ones that loaded (ath_hal.o and wlan.o) did not drive the AT&T 6700g card anyway, so maybe there has been a project change on the madwifi end of it. (In DSL-1.5 , ath_pci.o was also loaded.) lsmod showed the modules loaded but the card didn't respond. I loaded DSL-1.5 back up and it loads them at boot up and works just fine. Posted by tempestuous on Nov. 26 2005,00:26
The main module you need is ath_pci.o, and this has wlan.o as a dependency.Here's how you can get depmod to work, by making certain files writeable. sudo su /etc/init.d/mydsl-install/<mylocation>/madwifi.dsl cd /lib/modules/2.4.31 cp modules.dep tmp1 cp modules.generic_string tmp2 cp modules.pcimap tmp3 cp modules.isapnpmap tmp4 cp modules.usbmap tmp5 cp modules.parportmap tmp6 cp modules.ieee1394map tmp7 cp modules.pnpbiosmap tmp8 rm -rf modules.dep modules.generic_string modules.pcimap modules.isapnpmap modules.usbmap modules.parportmap modules.ieee1394map modules.pnpbiosmap mv tmp1 modules.dep mv tmp2 modules.generic_string mv tmp3 modules.pcimap mv tmp4 modules.isapnpmap mv tmp5 modules.usbmap mv tmp6 modules.parportmap mv tmp7 modules.ieee1394map mv tmp8 modules.pnpbiosmap Now depmod will work. An easier option would be ndiswrapper. Posted by roberts on Nov. 26 2005,01:25
You should not have to make /lib/modules/2.4.31 area writeable! You should not have to use depmod.Just like in standard Knoppix you can load modules at boot time via a floppy! So too you can with DSL. Additionally with DSL you can have your modules loaded more automatic with no floppy by using the modules boot option with the modules in the /modules directory on the root area of the boot media. I setup this boot option so I could auto load some pctel winmodem. The madwifi.tar.gz is NOT a mydsl-load extension! It is additional modules only. Posted by doobit on Nov. 26 2005,23:09
Robert,does this /modules directory already exist? I can not find it if it does. I tried making one in the root area of the linux boot partition, and then copy the madwifi.tar.gz file into it, but it did not load on boot up. I will try that again and then put "modules" in the boot options line in menu.lst Posted by doobit on Nov. 27 2005,00:54
DSL does indeed see the contents of the /modules directory in the root of the boot partition, however it does not unpack them and load them for me. I also tried unpacking them and placing them in this directory. In this case it loaded them, except the ath_pci.o which is the one it needs to load to work. It still doesn't connect with my card. For some reason, no matter what I do, it won't load ath_pci.o
Posted by cbagger01 on Nov. 27 2005,13:37
Maybe ath_pci.o is loaded in alphabetical order and it depends on the other modules being loaded first.Either try manually loading ath_pci.o, IE: sudo su insmod /cdrom/modules/ath_pci.o and then run the appropriate networking configuration script for your needs. Or maybe you can rename it or symlink it to zzz_ath_pci.o Just a thought Posted by roberts on Nov. 27 2005,16:56
The base modules and not a .tar.gz is placed under the modules directory.Because at this point order is important you may need an additional module to be loaded first. I would look at your 1.5 setup and do a lsmod and look for any other module that would be in the madwifi collection. Then try to insmod that module first. cbagger is correct when he states the modules would be autoloaded in alphabetic order. It is easy to change the order with a prefix as he suggested. Once the module is accepted/loaded then you would still have to try the various wireless setup scripts, and you must know what your device name is. I wish I had such a device to help with you. When I did this for a pctel winmodem there were two modules that had to be insmod'ed and order was important, I ended up using prefix method like this 00- and 01- Now user tempestuous has experience with this and has stated that it depends on wlan.o So be sure to insmod wlan.o before ath_pci.o I would try to get it working manually first by insmod, then I would add to modules directory like 00-wlan.o and 01-ath_pci.o or at the bottom with the zz prefix. Posted by doobit on Nov. 28 2005,14:40
Thanks for sticking with me on this. I've tried every suggestion now and in several instances, with different methods of configuation, ath_hal.o and wlan.o with dependancies, both load fine, but ath_pci.o fails to load, sometimes with errors, and sometimes not. I tried different orders with and without using symlinks to do it, and then by eliminating all of the unused modules and using insmod to load them with bootlocal.sh, in the same order that DSL-1.5 loads them, and still, ath_pci.o fails to load, and iwconfig fails to connect to the card. I put DSL-1.5 back on the laptop for now. One thing I did not try is to boot from the LiveCD using the modules cheat code with the madwifi.tar.gz modules package in the root of the boot partition. I'll give that a shot later tonight.
Posted by roberts on Nov. 28 2005,15:08
As I said before the modules directory on the root of the boot media will not unpack a tar.gz. The madwifi is not an extension. The modules directory will try to insmod the individual modules located there is alphabetic order. If you cannot get the modules to work manually then no point in placing them there.
Posted by doobit on Nov. 28 2005,22:33
True. I guess that's why I didn't try it before. At the point where I wrote that report my brain was a bit fried from trying things.
Posted by Max on Nov. 30 2005,03:38
Ok guys...I got the madwifi modules to load in the correct order for the atheros, but I'm still stuck...insmod /yourpath/ath_hal.o insmod /yourpath/wlan.o insmod /yourpath/wlan_wep.o insmod /yourpath/ath_rate_sample.o insmod /yourpath/ath_pci.o All load with no errors, except the ath_hal.o proprietary driver warning. At this point I notice a new interface come up using iwconfig. It's called wifi0 instead of the old and familiar ath0 But iwconfig reports that wifi0 has "no wireless extensions" The system will let you do a "ifconfig wifi0 up" But a subsequent "pump -i wifi0" doesn't do anything. Any more ideas guys?? Posted by roberts on Nov. 30 2005,05:48
Ah, the pain of progress.Thanks for the update. Seems we are not alone. Lots to google using wifi0 Posted by doobit on Nov. 30 2005,12:53
Thanks Max. I remember seeing that ath_rate_sample.o loaded from ath_hal.o, but I never could get ath_pci.o to load. This helps.
Posted by tempestuous on Nov. 30 2005,14:19
doobit and Max,A suggestion ... can either of you can do a full HD install of DSL just for testing? Then uncompress the MADWiFi drivers, then run "depmod". Now you can try to load the driver (and all associated modules) with "modprobe ath_pci". Who knows, this might make a difference. Posted by Max on Nov. 30 2005,14:44
From the madwifi.net page and a couple of other sources, it looks like after you do the above then you have to run some utility called wlanconfig.From < here > the statement was made:
and an example on madwifi.net shows: wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta The wlanconfig command apparently makes an ath0 wireless interface from the wifi0 device. This utility is supposed to be in the madwifi-ng/tools directory. Any chance of getting that posted in the madwifi.tar.gz file?? Posted by roberts on Nov. 30 2005,19:54
OK. You got it.A new madwifi collection of modules are binaries is now posted in the current section of the download area. Posted by torben on Dec. 01 2005,14:13
hi,i've done a frugal grub install of dsl 2.0 on a harddrive (once i've got it configured the way i want, i'll boot it from compact flash). i can insmod the madwifi modules and i get a ath0 interface using wlanconfig. i get a connection to my router, but something is missing: i'm not able to surf to webpages. but i can already ping other computers on the network. i'm using dhcp in my network and i don't know how to set up damnsmalllinux to act as a dhcp client (it freezes when i click the button in dslpanel). well, and when i've got that going, how do i make those changes permanent? and how do i add wpa encryption? thanks, torben Posted by Max on Dec. 01 2005,17:33
Did you try "pump -i ath0" after you get ath0 up??
Posted by doobit on Dec. 13 2005,17:25
Max,Is this all working for you? I have yet to get it going. Can you please outline the steps you used to make these modules work? Did you use the code as stated on the hack page? Thanks! <edit> Actually, I got the interface, so I must be nearly there. I'm going to go through the madwifi Wiki step-by-step and see If I can figure out where I'm going wrong. Posted by Max on Dec. 14 2005,13:25
No I haven't got it working yet and I've spent way to many hours trying all kinds of permutations and searching hundreds of posts. It's unfortunate, as my "top of the line" Thinkpad can't use it's built-in atheros wireless any more. It always *smarts* a little more when you had something working perfectly well and then it's pulled from a subsequent kernel version. Who knows, maybe they'll decide to put it back in later.I've been running DSL on this notebook since version 0.8 something, but it looks like I'm now stuck at 1.5. Without wireless, I'm going to have to start looking for another distro. I really loved DSL because I was very happy using (and tweaking) a single distro on both my low and high end machines. Guess I'll try Puppy or Ubuntu. Even found a UbuntuLite version. Posted by doobit on Dec. 14 2005,16:17
Same here. I went back to 1.5 for a while, but I really like the other changes in DSL-2.1, so I'm hoping to somehow make this work. I've even tried copying the modules from 1.5 and putting them in /modules in 2.1. If I get it working, I will post.
Posted by doobit on Dec. 15 2005,02:13
I think I may go buy a compatible card because I can't get ath_pci to load properly. Madwifi Wiki says it loads with modprobe, but I keep getting some version of the "not found" error.
Posted by Max on Dec. 15 2005,20:09
My card is a mini-PCI located above the mobo with the antenna around the screen. I don't really feel like having two cards running...
Posted by doobit on Dec. 15 2005,20:56
That's understandable. I have heard here on the board that some have gotton other Atheros based cards (like the D-link) working with NDiswrapper just using the control panel interface. I tried that too, but it wouldn't work for me. I may mail my card to Robert or John to see if they can get it going, that is, if they are willing.
Posted by roberts on Dec. 15 2005,23:00
I would be most willing to do so.PM or email me. Posted by roberts on Dec. 20 2005,19:52
By far the easiest solution to get this card working is by using ndiswrapper. The card's driver can easily be found on the ndiswrapper.souceforge site then as user root using the WinXP Driverndiswrapper -i net5211.inf modprobe ndiswrapper iwconfig wlan0 essid cloudscape pump -i wlan0 or use the ndiswrapper GUI. Thanks to doobit for sending me the card for testing. Posted by doobit on Dec. 20 2005,21:49
I have tried ndiswrapper with it using the control panel interface, and was unable to get it to work. I didn't try to modprobe manually. Anyway, when I get it back, now I know what to do! Thanks Robert for seeing this through!
Posted by tempestuous on Dec. 21 2005,07:55
As well as wlanconfig, there are some other utilities that come with the new MADWiFi package, namely80211debug 80211stats athchans athctrl athdebug athkey athstats Perhaps the main driver requires some, or all, of these to be present? Posted by roberts on Dec. 21 2005,20:22
OK. Great news guys.I have everything working with the madwifi.tar.gz in a liveCD/frugal environment. Thanks again to doobit, I have a card to test with. I will repackage the madwif.tar.gz as a mydsl extension. I just need to add one script to load (insmod) the modules required and make the ath0 device. Thanks to those who posted with most all of these steps required to make this all come together. Then having madwifi.dsl in your mydsl directory will install the all the necessary files and modules at boot time. Or you can download and mydsl-load it as usual. A setup script will be in the /opt directory. So all one will have to do is add /opt/madwifi_setup.sh to /opt/bootlocal.sh. Then upon further boots the madwifi becomes transparent and works the same way the as before. That is you will be able to use the iwconfig GUI in the control panel, using ath0, and your in business. Also, as before, you can optionally add the myiwconfig.sh to /opt/bootlocal.sh and .filetool.sh to persist your particular wireless settings. It is not there yet! I will post this later today in the mydsl testing area. I am going to take a break and celebrate! Then I will make an announcement in the mydsl testting area of the forums when I have it all together. Thanks again, this was indeed a community process. Robert Posted by doobit on Dec. 21 2005,23:10
ieooo hoooo!!! Excellent!
Posted by Bisirat on Jan. 01 2006,18:06
I am having the same trouble. DSL does not recognize my wireless card(Atheros ar5005g) so even after ndiswrapper installs a working driver, i still am not able to see or use any wirless card. Any ideas?
Posted by doobit on Jan. 01 2006,18:20
Try the new madwifi modules package and the instructions that roberts gave in the testing area thread. There is a script that he included that automates the correct install order for the modules.< http://damnsmalllinux.org/cgi-bin....t=10389 > Posted by Bisirat on Jan. 02 2006,12:38
Thanks, i've got madwifi.dsl installed and working, although the chipset and manufacturer is not recognized.iwconfig is giving me problem with "set mode", but i think i should be making a new topic about that. Posted by Bisirat on Jan. 02 2006,14:11
I found out that iwconfig was giving me problems because I had the wrong madwifi driver.Now, whenever I try to install the right madwifi driver: # make makefile.inc:113: *** KERNELPATH: does not exist. Stop. It seems like it can't be the kernel path, but neither could I! Help. Posted by doobit on Jan. 02 2006,14:45
I don't know about having the wrong madwifi driver.Both worked for my card. DSL-1.5 had them compiled in the kernel and would load on boot up. With the new ones, if you put madwifi.dsl from the DSL download site, testing area, into the top of the same partition that DSL is on, then it will unpack the drivers. Then you need to run the script madwifi_setup.sh as root in a terminal. That will load the drivers in the correct order. Then you need to run iwconfig. You can do that from the terminal or from the DSL control panel. After you have it running you can put the lines /opt/madwifi_setup.sh and then /opt/myiwconfig.sh in your /opt/bootlocal.sh script and they will load at bootup just like DSL-1.5 did. Posted by roberts on Jan. 02 2006,20:35
It is much easier to use the madwifi.dsl extension than to use the raw modules and bins of madwifi.tar.gz. You can find the extension files < here >. Be sure to read the info file. Maybe, I should delete the raw madwifi.tar.gz? Posted by Max on Jan. 02 2006,20:48
I think it would cause less confusion...
Posted by Bisirat on Jan. 02 2006,21:55
Yeah, the madwifi.dsl has already worked for me but it does not support monitor mode. That is why i need to install from madwifi source (madwifi-cvs-current.tar.gz). But the makefile won't complete because the KERNELPATH is not found. Any ideas where it could be?usually it should be /usr/src Posted by Bisirat on Jan. 04 2006,14:03
ha, i keep on answering my own questions. After a while of research I found out that I need my kernel package because madwifi depends on it during building. DSL doesn't include it in /usr/src because it is a live cd or something. The kernel package is about 37MBs and since I use dial-up I would rather get a precompiled madwifi module (2.4.31). Or does anybody have a madwifi-cvs.dsl? there is a regular madwifi.dsl driver but as i've said before i need a cvs version.So, if anybody could help me with a madwifi-cvs dsl package, Thanks. Posted by tempestuous on Jan. 04 2006,15:01
At the MADWiFi site < http://madwifi.org, > downloads are only available as svn (subversion) or svn snapshot, not cvs. There are 2 basic choices - the "old code" and "new code" versions.Robert compiled and packaged the "new code" version recently. It's here - < http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub....ifi.dsl > I just checked the README contained in the "new code" source, and I see that it does support monitor mode, but the normal setup commands for this are different to those contained in Robert's package. So open /opt/madwifi_setup.sh in a text editor, and delete the last line. Now read the source README (around line 220) for the commands you will need. Posted by doobit on Mar. 30 2006,13:43
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