* 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 designed 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 Prism2 11Mb/s reference design
PCMCIA wireless LAN (WLAN) card.
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:
./doc - source distribution documentation
./man - man pages
./etc - scripts used at run-time
./src - source code for various components
Note:
Some of the subdirectories have empty README files. This means we haven't
gotten to the contents of these directories. The empty README is just a trick
to prevent CVS from pruning the directory.
This release was tested on the following configurations:
Intel:
linux-2.2.16 + pcmcia-cs-3.1.8 + RedHat6.0
linux-2.2.19 + pcmcia-cs-3.1.22 + RedHat6.2
linux-2.4.7 + pcmcia-cs-3.1.28 + Debian woody
PowerPC:
linux-2.2.13 + an embedded target no-one's heard of ;-)
NOTE: This release supports building three different drivers:
prism2_cs Driver for prism2.x PCMCIA cards.
prism2_plx Driver for prism2.x PCMCIA cards when used with Eumitcom
and Global Sun PLX based PCI adapters.
prism2_pci Driver for prism2.5 (ISL3874) based _native_ PCI cards.
These are most commonly found as embedded mini-pci cards
in notebook PCs.
The following build and install instructions assume you have configured source
code for:
The linux kernel, and (if you want to build the prism2_cs driver)
pcmcia-cs.
It's important that the configured code for these packages match
the kernel and pcmcia-cs you currently have running.
Build Instructions:
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 or
prism2_plx 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' and respond
to the questions. The defaults should be sufficient for most
users. 'make config' must be run after a 'make clean' and
before 'make all'.
5) To build the package, run 'make all'
6) To install the package, run 'make install' (as root).
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=<your APs SSID> authtype=opensystem
ifconfig wlan0 <yourIP> netmask <yourNetmask> broadcast <yourBroadcast>
route add default gw <yourGateway>
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. ;-)