WLAN stuff [was: Re: 5 years of support..!!??]

gene heskett gheskett at wdtv.com
Sat Mar 3 08:11:51 UTC 2012


On Saturday, March 03, 2012 02:58:18 AM Nils Kassube did opine:

> gene heskett wrote:
> > Well, at this point it is all moot.  I haven't powered up this lappy
> > in about 6 months.  6 months ago ndiswrapper, using bcmwlhigh5
> > worked absolutely bullet proof, in the shop, against Linda's
> > frontier supplied router up in NY, and in a motel in Orlando.  So I
> > plugged it in and edited the interfaces file even before I'd plugged
> > in a cat5 in case I needed something.  But no led can be seen on the
> > dongle, and when I check the logs, loadndisdriver is failing to load
> > bcmwlhigh5, giving no reason.  So I try to install the driver again
> > but it claims its already installed.
> > 
> > To top that off, I apparently lost the pw to the router I was using
> > as an AP out there in the shop(its been 6 months since I used it),
> > so I did the powerup, holding the reset button down for 30 seconds
> > thing, and now its disappeared.  Brand new router, 7 months ago,
> > only been powered up 3 or 4 days in that time.  I am beginning to
> > develop an extreme distaste for netgear crap.  Which means I am
> > about to order another buffalo running dd- wrt.  I can at least get
> > good support from dd-wrt when it turned out that buffalo's branded
> > version of dd-wrt was broken.
> 
> I don't know about that buffalo thing you're talking about, but if it
> isn't capable of 802.11n, I can recommend the TP-Link TL-WN1043ND. I'm
> using it with openwrt, but maybe there is also a dd-wrt port for it, if
> you prefer that software.
> 
> > That may be fixable, but dammit, where can I buy a 802-11g/n dongle
> > that linux supports right out of the GD box?
> 
> I'm using the TP-Link TL-WN821N USB dongle here. It is supported out of
> the box from Natty onwards. For 10.04 you need the
> linux-backports-modules-wireless-2.6.38-lucid-generic package (or
> *-generic-pae depending on your kernel version) or at least the 2.6.38
> kernel (there are backported kernels from Natty and Oneiric in the
> repos). And you need a newer linux-firmware package, e.g.
> <http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/l/linux-firmware/linux-firmw
> are_1.60_all.deb>.
> 
> BTW: Router and dongle are both using Atheros chips, so no Broadcom
> involved.
> 
> 
> Nils

Hi Nils;

It turns out the fix was available via synaptic.  The 2.6.32-38 kernel it 
was running had no real contents in the /lib/modules/`uanem -r` tree, as in 
plumb empty except a ~build link.  Muttering to myself, I fired up synaptic 
to see if there were any newer kernels available, and it turned out that 
synaptic didn't even know it had installed 2.6.32.38!  

But, there was a nice selection of newer kernels available, so I had it 
install 3.0.13-generic-pae.  That box doesn't need the pae, only a gig of 
ram in it.  So that will be about 2-3% slower.

Installed, rebooted and everything Just Works(TM).  In fact, wpa-psk was 
asking me for my pass phrase before kde was fully initialized!  Not only 
that, but it then connected to this Buffalo router, 90 feet and a layer of 
alu siding separating them.  But while it did work, the signal was only 
about a 1.2, so I pulled the cable, then plugged it back in and when it had 
found the SSID of the shops router setup as an AP, that connected with a 5 
9's signal.  So that particular problem seems to have been solved.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get started on that taper lock hub. ;-)  Right now its 
getting sleepy out.

Cheers, Gene
-- 
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
 soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order."
-Ed Howdershelt (Author)
My web page: <http://coyoteden.dyndns-free.com:85/gene>
If time heals all wounds, how come the belly button stays the same?




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