wireless card not working - via technologies

[olacelle]

Hi,

I'm setting up a mini-pc with iMedia Linux as my OS (embedded linux) and I can't get my wireless network card to work. I followed waterhead's "Sticky: Wireless Setup - Start Here" instructions and here's the result of the commands suggested.

========== lspci ==========
00:01.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] Host Bridge [1022:2080] (rev 33)
00:01.1 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Geode LX Video [1022:2081]
	Kernel modules: lxfb
00:01.2 Entertainment encryption device [1010]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Geode LX AES Security Block [1022:2082]
	Kernel modules: geode-aes
00:09.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6105M [Rhine-III] [1106:3053] (rev 96)
	Kernel driver in use: via-rhine
	Kernel modules: via-rhine
00:0c.0 Network controller [0280]: VIA Technologies, Inc. Unknown device [1106:3253]
00:0f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] ISA [1022:2090] (rev 03)
	Kernel modules: cs5535_gpio
00:0f.2 IDE interface [0101]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] IDE [1022:209a] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: AMD_IDE
	Kernel modules: pata_amd
00:0f.3 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] Audio [1022:2093] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: cs5535audio
	Kernel modules: snd-cs5535audio
00:0f.4 USB Controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] OHC [1022:2094] (rev 02)
	Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
	Kernel modules: ohci-hcd
00:0f.5 USB Controller [0c03]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] CS5536 [Geode companion] EHC [1022:2095] (rev 02)
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
	Kernel modules: ehci-hcd
 
========== lsmod ==========
Module                  Size  Used by
fuse                   24596  2 
agpgart                15408  0 
cifs                  174056  0 
snd_intel8x0           17180  0 
snd_cs5535audio         5052  0 
snd_hda_intel         207516  0 
snd_via82xx            13208  0 
gameport                5512  1 snd_via82xx
snd_ac97_codec         66208  3 snd_intel8x0,snd_cs5535audio,snd_via82xx
ac97_bus                1280  1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_mpu401_uart         3328  1 snd_via82xx
snd_rawmidi            10656  1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device          3340  1 snd_rawmidi
snd_pcm_oss            25632  0 
snd_pcm                42248  6 snd_intel8x0,snd_cs5535audio,snd_hda_intel,snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer              11396  1 snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc          4360  5 snd_intel8x0,snd_cs5535audio,snd_hda_intel,snd_via82xx,snd_pcm
snd_mixer_oss           9472  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd                    24468  12 snd_intel8x0,snd_cs5535audio,snd_hda_intel,snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mixer_oss
soundcore               3012  1 snd
thermal                 8092  0 
processor              13872  1 thermal
fan                     2052  0 
button                  3600  0 
battery                 6536  0 
ac                      2180  0 
ndiswrapper           121548  0 
orinoco_pci             2816  0 
orinoco                28564  1 orinoco_pci
hermes                  3968  2 orinoco_pci,orinoco
ath_pci                67744  0 
wlan_acl                2176  0 
wlan_ccmp               4736  0 
wlan_tkip               8448  0 
wlan_wep                4096  0 
wlan_xauth               768  0 
wlan_scan_sta           7424  0 
wlan_scan_ap            2560  0 
ath_rate_sample         8704  0 
ath_rate_onoe           3336  0 
ath_rate_amrr           3588  0 
wlan                  134092  11 ath_pci,wlan_acl,wlan_ccmp,wlan_tkip,wlan_wep,wlan_xauth,wlan_scan_sta,wlan_scan_ap,ath_rate_sample,ath_rate_onoe,ath_rate_amrr
ath_hal               175056  2 ath_pci,ath_rate_sample
sis900                 12544  0 
tg3                    81796  0 
r8169                  14468  0 
8139too                12928  0 
pcnet32                19700  0 
forcedeth              32392  0 
via_velocity           18436  0 
crc_ccitt               1280  1 via_velocity
via_rhine              13064  0 
3c59x                  25384  0 
typhoon                61572  0 
dl2k                   13068  0 
tun                     4480  0 
sr_mod                  8484  0 
usb_storage            38660  0 
tsdev                   4032  0 
keyspan                22788  0 
usbserial              18056  1 keyspan
evdev                   4992  3 
usbmouse                2560  0 
usbkbd                  3584  0 
usbhid                 26084  0 
ff_memless              2952  1 usbhid
emlog                   3080  4 
sd_mod                 16144  0 
uhci_hcd               13964  0 
ohci_hcd               13444  0 
ehci_hcd               19468  0 
usbcore                75776  11 ndiswrapper,usb_storage,keyspan,usbserial,usbmouse,usbkbd,usbhid,uhci_hcd,ohci_hcd,ehci_hcd
sata_vsc                2948  0 
sata_via                4228  0 
sata_uli                2180  0 
sata_sis                3204  0 
pata_sis                5636  1 sata_sis
sata_sil24              8196  0 
sata_sil                4360  0 
sata_nv                12680  0 
sata_mv                10632  0 
ata_piix                7428  0 
ahci                   13188  0 
BusLogic               55900  0 
libata                 84152  11 sata_vsc,sata_via,sata_uli,sata_sis,pata_sis,sata_sil24,sata_sil,sata_nv,sata_mv,ata_piix,ahci
 
========== dmesg ==========
drivers/usb/serial/usb-serial.c: USB Serial support registered for Keyspan - (without firmware)
 
========== kernel version ==========
2.6.23-imedia-alix

After looking at it and reading other posts it seems that my problem is that I don't have the correct driver/module installed.

00:0c.0 Network controller [0280]: VIA Technologies, Inc. Unknown device [1106:3253].

I've searched for the correct driver/module and havn't had any luck yet.

Thanks. Olivier.

[Segfault]

VT6655 Driver

I'm not sure if it is included in latest kernel.

[reed9]

Googling 1106:3253 reveals that the module you're looking for is likely VT6655. VIA released the driver under an open source license fairly recently. I'm not sure if it's included with the 2.6.30 kernel or not, yet, but you're using a very old kernel.

Since the device isn't recognized, you might want to try updating your pci ids. In many distros this is done just by running (as root)

update-pciids

I don't know much of anything about iMedia or embedded linux deployments, however.

update-pciids(8)

You may also be able to get it working with ndiswrapper and the windows xp driver.

The linux driver source.

[olacelle]

Your're both right about VT6655. I'll look at the drivers and the pci ids and post my results back.

[Segfault]

Good luck. PCIID update is not critical, Linux kernel does not use it to recognize hardware.

[olacelle]

Not having any luck with the driver from the viaarena (see links above). The instructions aren't to clear and my iMedia system doesn't even have 'make' on it. I tried compiling the driver on my CentOS machine but that didn't work either. Neither OS is said to be supported anyway in the driver's instructions.

I didn't know much about ndiswrapper but after reading about it it seems to be fairly straightforward, I'll try going that route now and post my results back.

[olacelle]

I downloaded the Windows XP driver.

Then I read that I needed the driver's inf file and sys file for ndiswrapper to work.
I extracted VNWL.inf, VNWL5A.sys and VNWL5B.sys from the exe file downloaded, created a temp folder an copied them there.

On the first attempt to run

ndiswrapper -i VNWL.inf

I got the following message:

bash: /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper: /usr/bin/perl: bad interpreter: No such file or directory.

That was because perl wasn't installed.

After installing perl, i reran ndiswrapper and it said "installing vnwl ..." and came back to the command prompt so I assume it worked.

I reran lspci to see if anything changed but nothing did. I rebooted and ran lspci again and nothing changed.
When I run

ndiswrapper -l

I get this:

net5211: driver installed
vnwl: driver installed
  device 1106:3253 present

I feel I'm getting closer. I'll continue and post back. Any help is always welcome.

Olivier

[reed9]

Once you've installed the driver with ndiswrapper, you need to load ndiswrapper as a module.

su -
modprobe ndiswrapper

There are a couple of options to load the module at boot, but I think the recommended one for Red Hat/CentOS is to

su -
echo modprobe ndiswrapper >> /etc/rc.modules 
chmod +x /etc/rc.modules

EDIT: Note that the double >> is very important or you'll overwrite the whole file. Doing two >> appends the line to the file.

[waterhead]

Hello.

I notice in your original post that you already had two wireless modules loading. One is NDISwrapper, and the other is ath_pci.

You didn't list the lsusb output. Do you have another wireless card installed, maybe USB? Otherwise, if the ath_pci module is meant for the VIA wireless, it will compete with ndiswrapper, and the wireless won't work.

[waterhead]

I downloaded a slightly newer version of the Linux driver source, from here.

http://www.viaarena.com/Driver/vt665....19.12_x86.zip

I was able to compile it on my Ubuntu 9.04 install, with the regular make and make install commands. The module is called viawget (what an odd name), and I was able to load it without error.

The instructions say that it is compatible with these distros:

Kernel & Linux Supported 

========================

    This driver supports linux kernel version 2.6.x and have been tested under

    FC serial:

    1. Fedora core 2

    2. Fedora core 3

    3. Fedora core 4

    4. Fedora core 5

    5. Fedora core 6

    6. Fedora core 7

    

    Ubuntu serial:

    1. Ubuntu 6.06

    2. Ubuntu 7.04

    3. Ubuntu 7.10

    4. Ubuntu 8.04



    Debian serial:

    1. Debian 3.0

    2. Debian 4.0

    

    SUSE serial:

    1.suse 10.1

    2.suse 10.3

    

  XANDROS serial:

    1.xandros 4.2

You should be able to install it, if you install your kernel sources, gcc and make, first.