USB wireless adaptor (802.11g)

[Larry Grover]

Shu Hung (Koala) wrote:
> On 3/11/06, Larry Grover <lgrover at zoominternet.net> wrote:
>> Shu Hung (Koala) wrote:
>>> Dear Larry,
>>>
>>> I brought the Planex GW-US54GZL adaptor.
>>> According to http://zd1211.ath.cx/ it uses zd1211 chipset.
>>> Actually, the box of the adaptor claims it support linux.
>>>
>>> I open the box and plug it in, nothing happened.
>>> I even insmod the module zd1211 and still nothing special happened
>>>
>>> What should I install / do before getting the wireless adaptor work?
>>> Is there any good starting guide / documentation for you to set things
>> up?
>>> Thanks a lot.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Koala Yeung
>>>
>> If you're running Dapper, the testing/unstable version of the upcoming
>> 6.04 release, you shouldn't have to do anything special.  Just plug it
>> in and configure the interface.  You should be able to use the GUI
>> network configuration utility, but I just added a couple of lines
>> manually to my /etc/network/interfaces file:
>>
>> iface wlan0 inet dhcp
>> auto wlan0
>>
>> If you're running one of the stable releases (Breezy or older), you may
>> have to do a little bit of work to get it running, though I don't
>> remember doing anything special on my Breezy-x86 system.
>>
>> There is a page on the wiki about zd1211 wireless adapters:
>>
>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WifiDocs/Driver/zydas_zd1211?highlight=%28zd1211%29#top
>>
>> There are also a number of threads on the forums about these adapters.
>> Go to:  http://www.ubuntuforums.org/
>> ...and search on "zd1211"  to find them, but I suggest you start with
>> the page on the wiki.
>>
>> Can you tell me which release are you running?  Breezy? and also what
>> architecture you're on (x86, x86-64, power-pc)?
>>
>> Can you also tell me what happens when you open a terminal window, and
>> execute the command, dmesg, immediately after you insert the USB device?
>>   Do you see any lines that indicate the device is recognized and the
>> module loaded?
>>
>> You may also find it helpful to open another terminal window and run the
>> command:
>> sudo tail -f /var/log/messages
>> which will let you see a continuously updated listing of kernel
>> messages.  Do you see any lines indicating that the adapter is
>> recognized and the correct module (zd1211) is loading?
>>
>> Regards,
>> Larry
>>
> 
> Dear Larry,
> 
> I'm using dapper but seems the module does not detect my USB
> adaptor. I used lsusb and obtained the USB ID number of my adaptor.
> It is not identified by the system and thus nothing happened.
> 
> I then search the web and saw in a forum that the zd1211 is not
> identifying my adaptor. It seems I need to apply a little patch to the
> adaptor module. You may also take a look here:
> http://www.nabble.com/Planex-GW-US54GZL-t1118042.html
> 
> I've reported the patch and issue to the launchpad. Hope the patch
> can be applied to the standard package as soon as possible.
> https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+source/zd1211/+bug/34404
> 
> Thanks for your help.
> 
> 
> 
> Cheer,
> Koala Yeung
> 


OK, I see what the problem is.

If you don't want to wait for the patch to get into Ubuntu (if it 
doesn't make it into Dapper, it won't make it until Dapper+1, sometime 
this fall), then you will have to compile the driver yourself.  It's 
really very easy to do, and the wiki page I posted earlier explains how 
to do it.

If you decide to compile your own driver, you will want to download a 
newer version than the one mentioned in the wiki.  I took a look in the 
-r59 release and it does indeed have the patch that you need for your 
adapter.  The URL for this version is:
http://zd1211.ath.cx/download/zd1211-driver-r59.tgz

If you decide you don't want to compile your own driver, perhaps you can 
return the adapter you have in exchange for a different model using the 
same chipset?  Of course, there's no guarantee you will have better luck 
with a different model, since the same thing could happen, but you might 
be better off with an adapter that has been on the market longer.  I'd 
guess that the longer a particular model has been around, the more 
likely it is that someone has already added it's USB ID to the diver.

Regards,
Larry