ipw2200 and kernel 2.6.17

[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:

modprobe: Can't locate module ipw2200

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

lspci lists:

0000:00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (AGP disabled) (rev 03)
0000:00:07.0 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
0000:00:07.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
0000:00:07.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 USB (rev 01)
0000:00:07.3 Bridge: Intel Corp. 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI (rev 02)
0000:00:09.0 VGA compatible controller: Neomagic Corporation NM2160 [MagicGraph 128XD] (rev 01)
0000:00:0a.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1211
0000:00:0b.0 Multimedia audio controller: ESS Technology ES1969 Solo-1 Audiodrive (rev 02)
0000:00:0c.0 Network controller: Intel Corp. PRO/Wireless 2200BG (rev 05)

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]

elected to install support for this card during menuconfig (although not as a module, if I recall correctly).

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

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

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 :

Networking --->  (M) Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack
(M) IEEE 802.11 WEP encryption (802.1x)
(M) IEEE 802.11i CCMP support
(M) IEEE 802.11i TKIP encryption

Device Drivers ---> Network device support ---> Wireless LAN (non-hamradio) --->[*] Wireless LAN drivers (non-hamradio) & Wireless Extensions
(M) Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG and 2915ABG Network Connection

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

If you are using the ipw2200 module from the kernel, you need firmware version 2.4.

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)?

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.

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

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

dmesg | grep -i ipw2200

to make sure the firmware is loading correctly.

[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