* README * * Copyright (C) 2001 AbsoluteValue Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. * -------------------------------------------------------------------- * * linux-wlan * * The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public * License Version 1.1 (the "License"); you may not use this file * except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of * the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ * * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS * IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or * implied. See the License for the specific language governing * rights and limitations under the License. * * Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the * terms of the GNU Public License version 2 (the "GPL"), in which * case the provisions of the GPL are applicable instead of the * above. If you wish to allow the use of your version of this file * only under the terms of the GPL and not to allow others to use * your version of this file under the MPL, indicate your decision * by deleting the provisions above and replace them with the notice * and other provisions required by the GPL. If you do not delete * the provisions above, a recipient may use your version of this * file under either the MPL or the GPL. * * -------------------------------------------------------------------- * * Inquiries regarding the linux-wlan Open Source project can be * made directly to: * * AbsoluteValue Systems Inc. * info@linux-wlan.com * http://www.linux-wlan.com * * -------------------------------------------------------------------- * * Portions of the development of this software were funded by * Intersil Corporation as part of PRISM(R) chipset product development. * * -------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================= Description: The linux-wlan package is a linux device driver and subsystem package that is intended to provide the full range of IEEE 802.11 MAC management capabilities for use in user-mode utilities and scripts. The package currently supports the Intersil 802.11b Prism2, Prism2.5, and Prism3 reference designs for PCMCIA, PCI, and USB. Additionally, the package includes support for PLX9052 based PCI to PCMCIA adapter with a few different PCMCIA cards. For a list of elements that are still undone, see the TODO file in this directory ======================================================================= License: See the COPYING and LICENSE files. ======================================================================= Top level directory for linux-wlan-ng: ./add-ons - additional programs that are not build from the top level make file ./doc - source distribution documentation ./etc - scripts used at run-time ./man - man pages ./scripts - contributed scripts that may do useful things ./src - source code for various components ======================================================================= Test Configurations: This release was tested on the following configurations: Intel: Kernel | pcmcia_cs | Distribution | Device Types -------+-----------+--------------+--------------------------------------- 2.2.20 | 3.1.29 | Debian woody | Prism2-PCMCIA-PFlash | | | Prism2.5-PCMCIA-PFlash | | | Prism2.5-PCI-PFlash | | | Prism2.5-USB-PFlash | | | Prism3-PCMCIA-PFlash -------+-----------+--------------+--------------------------------------- 2.4.14 | 3.1.28 | Debian woody | Prism2-PCMCIA-PFlash | | | Prism2.5-PCMCIA-PFlash | | | Prism2.5-PCI-PFlash | | | Prism2.5-USB-PFlash | | | Prism3-PCMCIA-PFlash PowerPC: Kernel | pcmcia_cs | Distribution | Device Types -------+-----------+--------------+--------------------------------------- 2.2.13 | 3.1.10 | Custom | Prism2-PCMCIA-PFlash | | | Prism3-PCMCIA-PFlash ======================================================================= Build Instructions: NOTE: You may not need to build at all. Check the linux-wlan ftp site for binary packages built by AVS. At the time of this writing the following targets were supported: RedHat 7.1 RedHat 7.2 Mandrake 8.1 NOTE: This release supports building four different drivers: prism2_cs Driver for Prism2.x & Prism3 PCMCIA cards. prism2_pci Driver for Prism2.5 (ISL3874) based _native_ PCI cards. prism2_plx Driver for Prism2.x PCMCIA cards when used with a PLX9052 PCI/PCMCIA adapter. prism2_usb Driver for Prism2.x USB adapters. Prerequisites: To build linux-wlan-ng you will need: - Configured kernel source code for the kernel you are running. Ideally, this will be the resulting tree after building your own kernel. Configured means that you have at least run 'make config', 'make menuconfig', or 'make xconfig'. If you are trying to build linux-wlan-ng for a previously existing kernel binary (one you did not build yourself), look for help on the mailing lists because it can be tricky. I always run against kernels I've built myself, so I'm not much help in this area. - If you are building a driver for a PCMCIA card, you will also need the configured PCMCIA source code for the pcmcia_cs subsystem you are currently running. Building linux-wlan-ng: 1) untar the package using the command: tar zxvf linux-wlan-ng-X.Y.Z.tar.gz 2) Make sure you have configured kernel and (optionally) pcmcia sources on your system. Note that if you are _only_ building the prism2_pci, prism2_plx, or prism2_usb drivers you don't need the pcmcia-cs source tree. 3) To clean up any unwanted files accidentally included in the tar package, run 'make clean'. If make clean behaves badly (infinite loop, for example), you may have a date/time mismatch. Run the command: find . -type f -exec touch {} \; to fix the date&time stamps, then run 'make clean' again. 4) To configure the linux-wlan-ng package, run 'make config'. The following set of questions will be asked. The default answer is in braces (e.g. []). Just press to select the default answer: - "Build Prism2.x PCMCIA Card Services (_cs) driver? (y/n) [y]: " Select "y" if you want to build the Prism PCMCIA driver. If you select "n", the PCMCIA related questions below will not be asked. - Build Prism2 PLX9052 based PCI (_plx) adapter driver? (y/n) [y]: Select "y" if you want to build the Prism driver for PLX PCI9052 PCI/PCMCIA adapter based solutions. - Build Prism2.5 native PCI (_pci) driver? (y/n) [y]: Select "y" if you want to build the Prism driver for Prism2.5 ISL3874 based native PCI cards. This includes PCI add-in cards and the mini-pci modules included in some notebook computers (but not all, some use internal USB modules). - Build Prism2.5 USB (_usb) driver? (y/n) [y]: Select "y" if you want to build the Prism driver for Prism2.5 ISL3873 based USB adapters. This includes USB add-on modules and the internal modules included in some notebook computers. - Linux source directory [/usr/src/linux]: The config script will attempt to automagically find your kernel source directory. If found, the kernel source source directory will be presented as the default selection. If the default selection is wrong, you may correct it here. - pcmcia-cs source dir [/usr/src/pcmcia-cs-3.1.29]: If the "_cs" driver is selected above, the configure script will attempt to present a reasonable default for the pcmcia source directory. If the presented directory is incorrect, you may change it here. If the "_cs" driver is not selected, this prompt will not appear. - Build for Kernel PCMCIA? (y/n) [n]: If the "_cs" driver is selected, we need to know if you are intending to use the kernel pcmcia code rather than pcmcia_cs. This prompt will not appear if the "_cs" driver is not selected. NOTE: AVS in-house testing is done almost exclusively using the pcmcia_cs package with kernel pcmcia disabled. Therefore, your results with kernel pcmcia may vary. - PCMCIA script directory [/etc/pcmcia]: If the "_cs" driver is selected, this prompt allows you to change the location where the pcmcia scripts will be installed. Only do this if you have installed the rest of the pcmcia_cs scripts to a non-default location. - Alternate target install root directory on host []: This prompt allows you to specify an alternative root directory for the install process. - Module install directory [/lib/modules/2.2.20]: Select where you want the driver modules to be installed. The script constructs a default location using the output of uname. If you have not yet installed the kernel you will run linux-wlan with, and the new kernel has a different version string, you will need to change this value. - Target Architecture? (i386, ppc, or alpha) [i386]: On some targets, we can't identify the target processor from compiler settings or predefined symbols. Therefore, we need an explicit setting that identifies the target CPU. - Prefix for build host compiler? (rarely needed) []: When cross-compiling or using different compilers for kernel and user-mode software, it is sometimes (but rarely) necessary to specify a different compiler prefix to use when compiling the _tools_ that are built to run on the build host during the linux-wlan-ng build process. - Compiling with a cross compiler? (y/n) [n]: If you are cross compiling, we need to enable the building of the linux-wlan-ng build-time tools using the local host compiler rather than the cross-compiler. - Build for debugging (see doc/config.debug) (y/n) [y]: This option enables the inclusion of debug output generating statements in the driver code. Note that enabling those statements requires the inclusion of insmod/modprobe command line arguments when loading the modules. See the document doc/config.debug for more information. 5) To build the package, run 'make all' 6) To install the package, run 'make install' (as root). ======================================================================= Configuring: ------------------------------ FOR PCMCIA USERS: A) Edit the /etc/pcmcia/wlan-ng.opts file to configure. These options are set every time you insert a card. If you want to change an option after the initial configuration, a) pop your card out, b) alter the file, c) insert your card. For more information see the file(s) linux-wlan-ng*/doc/config.* B) Edit your network.opts file to set up your IP settings. Note: for a station, the SSID you're connecting to will be appended to the current pcmcia scheme name. You can use this to have different IP setups for different wireless LANs you connect to (e.g. home vs. work). C) Restart pcmcia-cs with the command: /etc/rc.d/init.d/pcmcia restart D) Insert the card. For most cards, a solid LED indicates that the SSID you specified was found, a bss was joined, and the firmware completed the authenticate and associate processes. E) Run ifconfig and route to determine if your IP and route settings are listed as you wanted them. It's also a good idea to look at the file /etc/resolv.conf to see if your nameserver address has been set up correctly. ------------------------------ FOR PCI OR PLX USERS: A) You must make sure that the drivers get loaded at boot time and that the necessary initialization takes place. The simplest way to do this is to add the following commands to your rc.local file: modprobe prism2_pci wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_autojoin ssid= authtype=opensystem ifconfig wlan0 netmask broadcast route add default gw Also, don't forget to set up your resolv.conf to point at your DNS server. B) If you are daring, you can try out the rc.wlan and wlan.conf scripts. They do work, and they are installed into your */init.d directory and /etc directory. We don't currently create the soft-link from the runlevel directory to the wlan startup script because the distributions vary too much in this respect. You'll need to create the soft-link yourself. Just make sure it is early in the process, namely, before the the network interfaces are brought up. The actual setup of the SSID and such is in the file /etc/wlan.conf. Note that you'll also need to add an modules.conf alias statement for the driver that you wish to load (pci or plx), we don't explicitly load a module in init.d/wlan because we don't know which one you want. ;-) ------------------------------ FOR USB USERS: A) Make sure your kernel usb support is running B) Plug in the Prism2.x USB device C) Run 'modprobe prism2_usb prism2_doreset=1' to load the driver into memory. D) Run 'ifconfig wlan0 up' to initialize the MAC E) Run 'wlanctl-ng wlan0 lnxreq_autojoin ssid= authtype=opensystem' to enable the MAC in Infrastructure Station mode. F) Run 'ifconfig wlan0 ' NOTE: USB devices can use the /etc/init.d/wlan script for initialization. Integration with usbmgr/hotplug is still a TODO item. IMPORTANT: Due to an issue with the current firmware in Prism USB devices, the driver must do a port reset (which is normally handled by usbcore). Some usb low-level drivers don't like this, they see it as a new device connect (of something that's _already_ in the connected state). When that happens things go very awry, possibly crashing and/or hanging the machine. Some low-level drivers handle it just fine. Since it appears to be a combination of the underlying USB host hardware _and_ the usb low-level driver _and_ the linux usb version, I haven't been able to put together a description of precisely which hardware/software will work. Some of my hardware here in the lab works, some hardware (with exactly the same software) does not. You will have to experiment on your own. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it until new firmware becomes available. The good news is that the firmware developers are aware of the problem, they have a fix, and the new firmware is coming, we just don't know precisely when it will be available. It all depends on how quickly they can get it through their QA process. When it does become available, install it in your device using the Windows firmware update utility, remove the "prism2_doreset" on the modprobe command line above and everything will work just peachy.