st0nk

Recently bought an Intel PRO 2200BG Mini PCI card for my notebook (old Thinkpad 240), on which I've been running Debian Sarge for a month or two. Very new to Linux so pls be kind!

I can't get it working (which, obviously, is the reason I'm posting here).

I've upgraded to (& configured etc) kernel 2.6.17.3, as ipw2200 doesn't support the default 2.4.x...elected to install support for this card during menuconfig (although not as a module, if I recall correctly).

Anyway, it's not working and I'm starting to get sick of reading how easy it's supposed to be to install this thing...

What I've done:

Installed ieee80211-source (v.1.1.6-4) from a .deb package.

I've put the firmware (from ipw2200-fw-3.0.tgz) into /usr/lib/hotplug/firmware/

I tried running modprobe ipw2200 and I get:
Fair enough...but when I try and make fresh ipw2200-source drivers from ipw2200.sourceforge.net, I get the same damn error.

lspci lists:

My questions:

1.
Is the problem something to do with the fact that 2.6.17 has older, tried and tested ipw2200 drivers built in (perhaps a conflict with the newer ieee80211 or firmware versions I'm using)?

2.
Does the fact that it's detailed in lspci mean that drivers are already installed and ready to go?

3.
Is there something incredibly obvious that I'm forgetting to do - or a final set of commands I need to run in order to use this card?

Sorry for the barrage of questions - been doing my best to figure it out for myself up until now, and any help anyone can give will be greatly appreciated!

antidrugue

You should compile it as a module, or else you won't be able to modprobe it, obviously.

You don't need to do that, ieee802.11 is part of the kernel, just enable it (as a module, like ipw2200).
Like that, in make menuconfig :
If you are using the ipw2200 module from the kernel, you need firmware version 2.4.

That's right, either you use ipw2200 and ieee802 from the kernel with firmware 2.4, or you compile those yourself (ipw2200 and ieee802) and use firmware 3.0.

It just means that the card is physically installed in your computer.


The simplest solution is to use ipw2200 and ieee802 from the kernel (check the kernel documentation to know which version ships with the 2.6.17 kernel -- it's version 1.08 for IPW2200) and use firmware version 2.4.

Check out the ipw2200 homepage to know which driver version goes with which firmware version :
http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php

Plus, verify the output of
to make sure the firmware is loading correctly.

__________________
"To express yourself in freedom, you must die to everything of yesterday. From the 'old', you derive security; from the 'new', you gain the flow."

-Bruce Lee

st0nk

Whoa sorry!! Wasn't expecting such an excellent response so quickly!!

Feeling awful about deleting original post, will reinstate it immediately. Damn...

You answered all my questions - thanks so much mate, will get right onto what you've suggested

st0nk

That worked a treat, all going now (driver 1.1.1, firmware 3.0).

Thanks Antidrugue, think you saved me from another sleepless night

antidrugue

Cool, this way you can upgrade ieee802 and ipw2200 quite easily, without changing kernel.

Some pointers here :
http://www.ces.clemson.edu/linux/fc2-ipw2200.shtml

__________________
"To express yourself in freedom, you must die to everything of yesterday. From the 'old', you derive security; from the 'new', you gain the flow."

-Bruce Lee