[SOLVED] Setting up Wireless on Eee PC 900HD

[waterhead]

You never posted the system information that rokytnj asked for, so there is no way of knowing what chip you have. Read through the post linked to below, and provide the information that it tells how to find.

Wireless Setup - Start Here

[Canas]

Sorry, I'd forgotten to do that. I've attached the file here.

[waterhead]

Thank you for the accurate info, it is much appreciated. I know have a clearer picture of your situation.

It appears that the driver module is not loading. According to LinuxWireless.org, where you got your quote from, the driver should be in this folder:

/lib/modules/2.6.29.4-167.fc11/kernel/drivers/staging/rtl8187se/rtl8187se.ko

I guessed the folder name (2.6.29.4-167.fc11), based on your kernel version. So, the folder may have a slightly different name. If the driver is in that folder, try manually loading it. Use the su command to first gain root privileges.

modprobe rtl8187se

If the module doesn't exist in that folder, then it wasn't compiled into your kernel. I don't know why it would have been omitted, but you can try to add it. Download and compile the compat-wireless driver package from LinuxWireless.org.

Download - Linux Wireless

Or you can get just the Realtek driver from here:

Main Page - Realtek Linux wireless driver

[waterhead]

Upon further review, I don't think that the rtl8187se driver will be found in either the compat-wireless or the Realtek Linux driver packages. I don't know where to find the Linux driver for your card. Even Realtek doesn't have it at their web site.

You may have to use NDISwrapper, along with the WinXP driver. That driver can be found here:

Realtek

EDIT: I found a copy of the Linux driver. It can be downloaded from here:

http://msi-wind-linux.googlecode.com...nux-04.tar.bz2

Here's the original site that I got that info from:

msi-wind-linux - Project Hosting on Google Code
MSi Wind 802.11b/g RTL8187SE Linux Driver

There is no guarantee that you can compile this to work on the latest kernel.

[reed9]

It looks like the driver might be somewhat experimental, according to the Debian Wiki

The RTL8187SE chipset is not supported by the project at this time. An experimental vendor driver is available, which is included in the mainline Linux kernel since 2.6.29-rc1. It is present in Debian kernel images since 2.6.29.1

There appears to be some issues with kernel panics and this driver as well. There's a patched version available for Arch Linux to fix the problem.
AUR (en) - rtl8187se-patched

If it worked fine for you under Ubuntu, have you considered switching back?

[Canas]

Upon further review, I don't think that the rtl8187se driver will be found in either the compat-wireless or the Realtek Linux driver packages. I don't know where to find the Linux driver for your card. Even Realtek doesn't have it at their web site.

You may have to use NDISwrapper, along with the WinXP driver. That driver can be found here:


EDIT: I found a copy of the Linux driver. It can be downloaded from here:


Here's the original site that I got that info from:


There is no guarantee that you can compile this to work on the latest kernel.

This may be a silly question, but how do I install the driver after downloading it and extracting it?

[Canas]

It looks like the driver might be somewhat experimental, according to the Debian Wiki

There appears to be some issues with kernel panics and this driver as well. There's a patched version available for Arch Linux to fix the problem.
AUR (en) - rtl8187se-
If it worked fine for you under Ubuntu, have you considered switching back?

It originally stopped working in Ubuntu, and that's the main reason I switched to Fedora. I like Fedora better, but I'll try reinstalling Ubuntu to see if the driver works.

[waterhead]

This may be a silly question, but how do I install the driver after downloading it and extracting it?

There is a readme file that contains the installation instructions. There usually are prerequisites you need to install first, before you can compile a kernel module.

kernel-devel (kernel source)
gcc (Linux C compiler)

[Canas]

Alright, I'm feeling pretty incompetent right now, so thanks for bearing with me.

I installed the driver, and the internet worked fine. I was able to connect wirelessly with no problems.

I just turned my computer back on (after shutting it down a about an hour ago) and now the driver isn't there, and I can't detect any of the networks just like before.

I tried installing the driver again, but it won't work now.

[waterhead]

Is the driver module automatically loading at boot? Take a look for it in the output of this command.

lsmod

If it isn't there, then load it. Use su first to gain root privileges.

modprobe rtl8187se