Tuesday, November 28, 2006

How to enable Wireless Lan on [wifi] FC-6 .

Bingo!!! Fedora Core 6 comes with build-in support for ipw2200 drivers and ieee80211 modules. The FC6 kernel 2.6.18-1.2849.fc6 includes version 1.1.2 of the ipw2200 driver. So one needn't worry about the wifi on FC6 and don't need to use windows native driver using ndiswrapper.
FC6 needs only ipw2200-firmware [firmware v3.0], which is not shipped with FC6 because firmware is proprietary.

*** Steps to enable wifi on IBM T43


1. Download ipw2200-fw-3.0.tgz from
http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php

2. Unarchive ipw2200-fw to /lib/firmware


3. reload ipw2200
$/sbin/modprobe -r ipw2200
restart ipw2200
$/sbin/modprobe ipw2200
OR reboot the machine.

Look for the dmesg log as root
$ dmesg | grep ipw2200
Output:
ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.2.0dmq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: Detected geography ZZM (11 802.11bg channels, 0 802.11a channels)
$system-config-network and configure the
wireless card.



*** Steps to enable wifi on HP nx6110 using ndiswrapper on fedora core 6.

1. Ensure livna repo is added to the yum repos.

2. $yum install ipw2200-firmware

3. $yum install ndiswrapper

4. $yum install cabextract

5. Download HP windows native driver SP30290.exe

6.
Unpack the SP30290.exe to some directory. To do so run
$ cabextract SP30290.exe

7.
From the directory where the SP30290.exe file is extracted. As super user(root) run
$ /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5a.inf

8. $ /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -m

It will add an alias to /etc/modprobe.conf.
Alias means it will add a line "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper" at the end of /etc/modprobe.conf .
If above command fails, manually add "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper" to /etc/modprobe.conf.

9. Blacklist bcm43xx,
To do this add line blacklist bcm43xx to the end of file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist .

10.
Now you can reboot to have it activated,
or you can run
$ depmod -a
$ modprobe ndiswrapper

Use the System -> Administration -> Network application to create a new device for the wlan0 ndiswrapper device and configure as per the options there.

cheers,

make world open.

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

[root@localhost ipw2200-fw-3.0]# dmesg | grep ipw2200
ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.2.0
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.2.0
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.2.0
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
and my wireless card not fond?
can you tell me why?thank you
my computer:IBM T43 AT4

Arun Shrimali said...

Dear Vijay,

I am trying to install FC6 on my laptop (Compaq nx 6120). I have downloaded the file and copied as you said in the location. But on activation of wlan0 it gives an error " ndiswrapper device wlan0 does not seem to be present, delaying initialization"

can you help me

Arun
arunbkn@yahoo.com

Anoj said...

That was amazing. Been searchin for a fix for long. Thanks

Anonymous said...

Hi Vijay,
I have tried very hard to start wireless on my laptop, but all in vain. Nothing is working. This is my first time with Linux and I am already feeling dejected with this OS. I have a Dell Inspiron 1150 with Broadcom 440x wireless card. I am not able to start the wireless anyhow. Can you help please. Will greatly appreciate.
Thanks
Rajesh

Now said...

Sorry I forgot to tell you. It's Fedora 6. And I have Win XP Home also on it. Thanks
Rajesh

Vijay Kumar said...

Rajesh,

Don't get dejected with Fedora Core 6, it is really come up great after fc5.
meetvijaygupta@yahoo.com, this is my yahoo messanger id. You can find me online always and you can discuss your problem at length.
Looking forward for your working wlan on fc6.

Vijay Kumar.

Anonymous said...

Hi Vijay,
I'l be waiting for you this weekend. If possible be online sometime. I am not yet able to enable wireless on my FC 6 Laptop.
Thanks,
Rajesh Sharma

Vijay Kumar said...

Sorry, Rajesh...
I was on vacation for the weekend and cudn't be able to get connected.
You can talk to me anytime.. whenever you find me online.

Suresh Ghare said...

Hi Mr. Vijay,

I follow the instruction to install the wireless LAN but i got following error after upgrading the firmware.

dmesg | grep ipw2200

ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.1.2kmprq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: ipw2200-bss.fw request_firmware failed: Reason -2
ipw2200: Unable to load firmware: -2
ipw2200: failed to register network device
ipw2200: probe of 0000:02:02.0 failed with error -5
ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.1.2kmprq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: ipw2200-bss.fw request_firmware failed: Reason -2
ipw2200: Unable to load firmware: -2
ipw2200: failed to register network device
ipw2200: probe of 0000:02:02.0 failed with error -5


Could you give the solution on it please.

My gmail ID is suresh.ghare@gmail.com

Suresh Ghare said...

Hi Mr. Vijay,

I follow the instruction to install the wireless LAN but i got following error after upgrading the firmware.

dmesg | grep ipw2200

ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.1.2kmprq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: ipw2200-bss.fw request_firmware failed: Reason -2
ipw2200: Unable to load firmware: -2
ipw2200: failed to register network device
ipw2200: probe of 0000:02:02.0 failed with error -5
ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.1.2kmprq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: ipw2200-bss.fw request_firmware failed: Reason -2
ipw2200: Unable to load firmware: -2
ipw2200: failed to register network device
ipw2200: probe of 0000:02:02.0 failed with error -5


Could you give the solution on it please.

My gmail ID is suresh.ghare@gmail.com

Rachel Rosen said...

Hi, Vijay,

I am having the same problem as your anonymous user on 11/30/2006. It seems that my wireless card isn't being found. I've tried everything on your site (plus some) and it didn't seem to work. Were you able to find a solution? Any advice please!?

I have a Dell X300. I previously got the card working under Fedora Core 4 by using a driver off of linuxant.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

H vijay,
i'm using hp compaq nx6120 with an intel pro/wireless 2200bg. can u help me to get the wireless? i already tried the steps that you mention, but it doesnt work. thanks a lot.
my e-mail
zh_cheah@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Thanks Vijay,
Got my wireless working on fedora6!

Anonymous said...

got an answer for suresh's problem

Anonymous said...

most on us seems to be facing suresh's problem,
any soln to this ?

Anonymous said...

VJ,
r u following u blog ? if u do, then do u have a reply to suresh' problem.
i tried increaching the timeout. i didnt help

Vijay Kumar said...

suresh,

Sorry Bungos,
I am out of station on vacation since couple of weeks.

Anyway, Can you please paste me the long listing [$ls -lhX ] output of /lib/firmware directory.

-Vijay Kumar.

Sameer Kumar said...

i am having compaq presario 6102AU, followed you steps for Hp laptop one. But there is no wlan0 coming up for `ifconfig`. am i missing something?

sara said...

hi, do you know if it's possible to download the drivers for HP notebook nx6120 NOT from hp.com or compaq.com?
I had to re-instal Windows etc etc and now I'm loking for the drivers, but both hp and copaq website are not loading. Seems like they don't exist anymore?! Is it me or...
Anyway, thanx for any help you can give.
Ciao,
Sara
thefoolishvet@gmail.com

Unknown said...

Thank you very much! :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the IBM T43 info. You saved me much time and effort...

Anonymous said...

I did installed fedora core6 on my (fujitsu siemens ) Amilo Pro 2040 , and i did have this Wifi Problem , i did everything you said and ALL WORKED REALLY MORE THAN fine .. :):) .. THANXXXXXXXXXX :):) ..

I just wonna ask one more Question , do i need to install any kind of antivirus or firewall with Fedora ???

Anonymous said...

I received the same error as suresh. I do not see the solution posted here. Suggestions anyone? email: jordonsilverleaf@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Mr. Vijay,

I follow the instruction to install the wireless LAN but i got following error after upgrading the firmware.

dmesg | grep ipw2200

ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.1.2kmprq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: ipw2200-bss.fw request_firmware failed: Reason -2
ipw2200: Unable to load firmware: -2
ipw2200: failed to register network device
ipw2200: probe of 0000:02:02.0 failed with error -5
ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.1.2kmprq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: ipw2200-bss.fw request_firmware failed: Reason -2
ipw2200: Unable to load firmware: -2
ipw2200: failed to register network device
ipw2200: probe of 0000:02:02.0 failed with error -5


Could you give the solution on it please.

hieppm@gmail.com

ravishbhupesh said...

Hi Vijay,
I hv just installed fc6 on my sony-vaio VGN c25G laptop. but I m not able to setup the wireless connection on dat. It recognises the hardware and the drivers both. but it does not shows the network card in Network manager. it does not show my hardware in the list. Can u help me out...

ravishbhupesh said...

u can reply me on ravishbhupesh@gmail.com

Eric Keller said...

I did this on Fedora 7, and it seems that the driver is looking for ipw2200-bss.fw, but the firmware is named ipw2200_bss.fw
Haven't gotten my machine to work yet

Anonymous said...

hey i have tryed what you did on fedora 7 i get one problem with the last commend
>>>>[root@??????]# modprobe ndiswrapper
FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found.
any ideas ....
i want my wireless card work to connect to
my lan
my laptop (fujitsu siemens(amilo pro))
thanx

Chiru bhatt said...

hi vijay,
How can i enabel wireless linksys modem on fadora , its installed on acer laptop 2428 model

Mark Tebong said...

Copy the files in /lib/firmware/ipw2200-fw-3.0 (or [path-to-unzipped-files]/ipww2200-fw-3.0) to /lib/firmware/ and reboot the computer. I would make sure I am obtaining IP using DHCP forst before being fancy.

-bon chance

tosh said...

Hi Vijay,
I have recently purchased a sony vaio vgn c25g with vista from malaysia.
However on returning to london, I have discovered that it doesn't have the software to run the cd or dvd's and is practically useless.
Do you know what I need to download and from where?
regards,
Tosh
London

Samuel said...

I' need hel whit a broadcom 14e4:4318 (rev 02) en F7.
Thanks

Amil Waduwawara said...

Dear Vijay,

Your remedy was right. I must be very vry greatful to you.

But after putting the firmware, my computer hp Compaq nx6120 with `ipw2200 couldn't connect to the wireless access point with Fedora Core 6 though wireless interface is working.

Things I did additionally (using the KDE GUIs):
a. Start -> Administration -> Network
b. select the profile for Wireless (in my case it's `eth1`)
c. click `Edit` to open up `Wireless Device Configuration` dialog
d. you may specify a static address or opt for DHCP
e. select `Wireless Settings`
f. set `Channel` to the one selected in the wireless access point
g. set the `Key` (WEP key in my case) to the one used in the wireless access point
if the WEP key you used is `ABCD1234AB`, specify the value as `0xABCD1234AB`.
h. press `OK` to get rid of `Wireless Device Configuration` dialog
i. select `File` -> `Save` from the menu
j. activate the wireless network interface by clicking on `Activate`
k. use `KWiFiManager` (`Start` -> `Internet` -> `More Applications` -> `KWiFiManager`) to see the status

Affected files:
1. `/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth1`
=======================================
# Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
DEVICE=eth1
ONBOOT=yes
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
NETMASK=
DHCP_HOSTNAME=
IPADDR=
DOMAIN=
HWADDR=AA:EF:AA:11:00:EA
TYPE=Wireless
USERCTL=no
IPV6INIT=no
PEERDNS=yes
ESSID='AWW Wireless'
CHANNEL=6
MODE=Auto
RATE=Auto
=======================================

2. `/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/keys-eth1`
=======================================
KEY=ABCD1234AB
=======================================


Thanks a lot. I think this may be helpful to many.

Regards.
- Amil (Sri Lanka)

Unknown said...

Hey Vijay,

It worked for me also. I was trying installing firmar2-v2 in RHEL-5,it was failing. I installed with-v3 working fine
thanks a lot

Unknown said...

Hay Vijay,

It was not working for me in RHEL5 with firmare-v2 but with firmware-v3 it worked.

Thanks a lot,
Aravind

Unknown said...

hello everyone...

I tried using the method described by Vijay. This is what i get on dmesg | ipw2200:

ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.2.0kmprq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: Detected geography ZZM (11 802.11bg channels, 0 802.11a channels)
ipw2200: Failed to send SCAN_ABORT: Command timed out.
ipw2200: Failed to send CARD_DISABLE: Command timed out.

I have installed v3 of the firmware and using RHEL5 with kernel version of 2.6.18-8.el5.

On activating the card i get "no link present" check the cable.

My linksys router is WRT54G with Security Mode as WPA Personal and Algorith is TKIP. My key is 6y7u8i9o0. What setting should I do in wireless settings in linux. Shd it be adhoc or managed. And how should i enter the key..will it be prefixed with 0x or not ?

Thanks in advance

Unknown said...

oh I am sorry i forgot to mention that i am installing it in my laptop Acer Aspire 1642wlmi with Intel Centrino...

శ్రీకాంత్‌ బాబు said...

Vijay, My laptop is Dell Latitude D520,I have Fedora 6 on this when i tryed the reload command it says there is no reload command. ??
Can you plz help me out.

Vijay Kumar said...

To reload the modules. One need to use:
$/sbin/modprobe -r ipw2200

qadir52786 said...

hello vijay
how r u buddy ? hay i need your help can u halp me . i am using radhat5 El on acer aspire 1652wlmi. i am not able to run wifi on it i need your help
following is the outout of dsmg
ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.2.0kmprq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: ipw2200-bss.fw request_firmware failed: Reason -2
ipw2200: Unable to load firmware: -2
ipw2200: failed to register network device
ipw2200: probe of 0000:06:03.0 failed with error -5
[root@localhost ~]#
plz halp me my mail add is qadir52786@gmail.com

waiting for your reply thankx in advance

Bassem said...

I encountered the problem of failed firmeare loading. My solution was to extract the files directly on to /lib/firmware not inside the directory ipw2200-fw

Abhi said...

Hi Vijay, I have a C795TU Compaq laptop, but it's WLAN is not getting enabled, when I press the wireless button, it says 'this device has been disabled by the Device Manager', but in the device manager, I can only see one entry in the Network Adapters section, i.e. for the Relatek Ethernet NIC device.
I guess the motherboard is not able to detect the hardware itself.
I have installed the wireless drivers for C795TU, but in vain.

Can you please suggest something?

Srishti said...

hi vijay
M getting error for wireless request set mode error 8B06 on fedora12??i have bsnl nokia seimens network wireless modem.Wan0 does not get activated.it works well with eth0 interface.
M screwed up..plz solve my problem.