RHEL5 - How to Install driver and setup wifi network in dell inspiron 1525?

[sunita.chhetri]

Hi All,

This is my 1st post here...
I have just installed RHEL5 in my dell inspiron 1525.

Would like to know how to get wifi network running in my system.
I have downloaded the required drivers i.e.

iwlwifi-3945-ucode-15.32.2.9
ieee80211-1.2.18.tgz

and untared/installed it.. but it doesnt seems to work.
Can anyone help me with step-by-step process to install and setup wifi network?

I tried following ( if it helps )..
============ lspci ============
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile Memory Controller Hub (rev 0c)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI #2 (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation Mobile IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Mobile SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
02:09.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0832 (rev 05)
02:09.1 Class 0805: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)
02:09.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd Unknown device 0843 (rev 12)
02:09.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)
02:09.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 12)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Unknown device 4354 (rev 12)
0b:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)

============ lsusb ============
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 05a9:2640 OmniVision Technologies, Inc.
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 005 Device 002: ID 0a5c:4500 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 005 Device 003: ID 413c:8126 Dell Computer Corp.
Bus 005 Device 004: ID 0a5c:4502 Broadcom Corp.
Bus 005 Device 005: ID 0a5c:4503 Broadcom Corp.

============ lsmod ============
Module Size Used by
ipv6 251137 14
dm_mirror 29713 0
dm_mod 56665 1 dm_mirror
video 19269 0
sbs 18533 0
i2c_ec 9025 1 sbs
button 10705 0
battery 13637 0
asus_acpi 19289 0
ac 9157 0
parport_pc 29157 0
lp 15849 0
parport 37513 2 parport_pc,lp
joydev 13185 0
snd_hda_intel 21333 2
snd_hda_codec 144321 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_dummy 7877 0
snd_seq_oss 32705 0
snd_seq_midi_event 11073 1 snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 49841 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 11853 3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
sg 35933 0
snd_pcm_oss 42849 0
snd_mixer_oss 19137 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 71621 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_timer 24901 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 51909 13 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,sn d_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd _timer
soundcore 13217 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 13641 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
i2c_i801 11469 0
sdhci 21337 0
i2c_core 23745 2 i2c_ec,i2c_i801
mmc_core 27457 1 sdhci
sk98lin 166612 1
pcspkr 7105 0
hci_usb 20317 0
bluetooth 53925 1 hci_usb
ide_cd 40033 0
serio_raw 10693 0
cdrom 36705 1 ide_cd
ahci 21573 7
libata 96857 1 ahci
sd_mod 22977 8
scsi_mod 130637 4 sg,ahci,libata,sd_mod
ext3 123081 6
jbd 56553 1 ext3
ehci_hcd 32845 0
ohci_hcd 23261 0
uhci_hcd 25421 0

============ dmesg-firmware ============

============ kernel version ============
2.6.18-8.el5

============ ifconfig ============
eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1D:09:41:04:8B
inet addr:192.168.1.2 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::21d:9ff:fe41:48b/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:9610 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:10121 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:5504825 (5.2 MiB) TX bytes:2290909 (2.1 MiB)
Interrupt:169 Memory:fe8fc000-0

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:200 (200.0 b) TX bytes:200 (200.0 b)


============ iwconfig ============

[MikeTbob]

Hello and Welcome.
I'm sorry to report that the card you have, isn't support by the kernel you have installed. From the Gentoo WIKI page. Gentoo Wiki Archives - Iwlwifi

iwlwifi is Intel's open source driver for their newer wireless network adapters (Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG and newer). The driver is included in the linux kernel since version 2.6.24.

Yes it's for Gentoo but the kernel information is still the same. You can use that link for compiling your own kernel to include the correct modules to load as needed for iwlwifi.

If you'd like to try using compat-wireless code, then you will need to post the exact error messages you have and tell us what you have done so far.
Download - Linux Wireless

Or you could download a different version of GNU/Linux that will hopefully support your card out of the box.

[reed9]

Configure the RPMForge repos.

Then do

su -
yum install dkms-ipw3945
yum install iwl3945-firmware

You would need a wired connection for this.

[MikeTbob]

Configure the RPMForge repos.

Then do

su -
yum install dkms-ipw3945
yum install iwl3945-firmware

You would need a wired connection for this.

Nice!
I didn't see this little gem in my search.

[saivin]

@ reed9,
I guess we don't need dkms-ipw3945, whatever it is. But we need to install iwl3945-firmware.

I have CentOS 5.4 and I was having problem with wireless. I too had iwl3945 but then realised I needed the firmware too. Now, its working fine.

@ sunita,
Did you install the drivers manually(i.e., compiled from source)? Preferably you should enable RPMforge repo as suggested above and install the binaries using 'yum'.

P.S.: You may consider updating your kernel. Mine is 2.6.18-164.6.1.el5

[sunita.chhetri]

Thanks.. reed9..

I followed your steps and looks like drivers/firmware are installed. Heres my output.

8<================================================ ======================
[root@localhost ~]# wget http ://packages.sw.be/rpmforge-release/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
--17:48:13-- http ://packages.sw.be/rpmforge-release/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
Resolving packages.sw.be... 85.13.226.40
Connecting to packages.sw.be|85.13.226.40|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 302 Found
Location: http ://rpmforge.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm [following]
--17:48:13-- http ://rpmforge.sw.be/redhat/el5/en/i386/rpmforge/RPMS/rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
Resolving rpmforge.sw.be... 85.13.226.40
Connecting to rpmforge.sw.be|85.13.226.40|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 16698 (16K) [application/x-rpm]
Saving to: `rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm'

100%[================================================== ================================================== ================>] 16,698 21.2K/s in 0.8s

17:48:16 (21.2 KB/s) - `rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm' saved [16698/16698]

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -Uhv rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
warning: rpmforge-release-0.3.6-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 6b8d79e6
Preparing... ########################################### [100%]
1:rpmforge-release ########################################### [100%]
[root@localhost ~]# yum install dkms-ipw3945
Loading "rhnplugin" plugin
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
This system is not registered with RHN.
RHN support will be disabled.
Setting up Install Process
Setting up repositories
rpmforge 100% |=========================| 1.1 kB 00:00
Reading repository metadata in from local files
primary.xml.gz 100% |=========================| 3.5 MB 02:58
################################################## 9713/9713
Parsing package install arguments
Resolving Dependencies
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Downloading header for dkms-ipw3945 to pack into transaction set.
dkms-ipw3945-1.2.1-1.nodi 100% |=========================| 6.5 kB 00:00
---> Package dkms-ipw3945.noarch 0:1.2.1-1.nodist.rf set to be updated
--> Running transaction check
--> Processing Dependency: dkms for package: dkms-ipw3945
--> Processing Dependency: ipw3945d for package: dkms-ipw3945
--> Processing Dependency: ipw3945-firmware for package: dkms-ipw3945
--> Restarting Dependency Resolution with new changes.
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Downloading header for ipw3945d to pack into transaction set.
ipw3945d-1.7.22-4.nodist. 100% |=========================| 3.7 kB 00:00
---> Package ipw3945d.i386 0:1.7.22-4.nodist.rf set to be updated
---> Downloading header for dkms to pack into transaction set.
dkms-2.0.22.0-1.el5.rf.no 100% |=========================| 6.1 kB 00:00
---> Package dkms.noarch 0:2.0.22.0-1.el5.rf set to be updated
---> Downloading header for ipw3945-firmware to pack into transaction set.
ipw3945-firmware-1.14.2-2 100% |=========================| 2.6 kB 00:00
---> Package ipw3945-firmware.noarch 0:1.14.2-2.nodist.rf set to be updated
--> Running transaction check

Dependencies Resolved

================================================== ===========================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
================================================== ===========================
Installing:
dkms-ipw3945 noarch 1.2.1-1.nodist.rf rpmforge 198 k
Installing for dependencies:
dkms noarch 2.0.22.0-1.el5.rf rpmforge 62 k
ipw3945-firmware noarch 1.14.2-2.nodist.rf rpmforge 66 k
ipw3945d i386 1.7.22-4.nodist.rf rpmforge 35 k

Transaction Summary
================================================== ===========================
Install 4 Package(s)
Update 0 Package(s)
Remove 0 Package(s)

Total download size: 360 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/4): ipw3945d-1.7.22-4. 100% |=========================| 35 kB 00:01
(2/4): dkms-2.0.22.0-1.el 100% |=========================| 62 kB 00:01
(3/4): ipw3945-firmware-1 100% |=========================| 66 kB 00:01
(4/4): dkms-ipw3945-1.2.1 100% |=========================| 198 kB 00:09
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Installing: ipw3945d ######################### [1/4]
Installing: ipw3945-firmware ######################### [2/4]
Installing: dkms ######################### [3/4]
Installing: dkms-ipw3945 ######################### [4/4]


Installed: dkms-ipw3945.noarch 0:1.2.1-1.nodist.rf
Dependency Installed: dkms.noarch 0:2.0.22.0-1.el5.rf ipw3945-firmware.noarch 0:1.14.2-2.nodist.rf ipw3945d.i386 0:1.7.22-4.nodist.rf
Complete!
[root@localhost ~]#
[root@localhost ~]# yum install iwl3945-firmware
Loading "rhnplugin" plugin
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
This system is not registered with RHN.
RHN support will be disabled.
Setting up Install Process
Setting up repositories
Reading repository metadata in from local files
Parsing package install arguments
Resolving Dependencies
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Downloading header for iwl3945-firmware to pack into transaction set.
iwl3945-firmware-15.28.1. 100% |=========================| 2.7 kB 00:00
---> Package iwl3945-firmware.noarch 0:15.28.1.8-2.nodist.rf set to be updated
--> Running transaction check

Dependencies Resolved

================================================== ===========================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
================================================== ===========================
Installing:
iwl3945-firmware noarch 15.28.1.8-2.nodist.rf rpmforge 133 k

Transaction Summary
================================================== ===========================
Install 1 Package(s)
Update 0 Package(s)
Remove 0 Package(s)

Total download size: 133 k
Is this ok [y/N]: y
Downloading Packages:
(1/1): iwl3945-firmware-1 100% |=========================| 133 kB 00:03
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Installing: iwl3945-firmware ######################### [1/1]

Installed: iwl3945-firmware.noarch 0:15.28.1.8-2.nodist.rf
Complete!
================================================== ===============>8

BUT,

#dmesg | grep firmware -> still doesnt show anything.
Am i missing anything here? What should be done next?

[saivin]

ipw3945 is deprecated. uninstall it. use only iwlwifi(iwl3945). also as per my system, dkms*** package is not required.

lsmod | grep iwl

modprobe -r iwl3945
modprobe iwl3945

if no issues,

/sbin/ifconfig wlan0 up
/sbin/iwconfig wlan0 essid "yourESSID"
/sbin/dhclient wlan0

[sunita.chhetri]

Hi SaiVin...

Strange but i rebooted my system ( i hate this )...

When i opened my Network Config... I could see the hardware ( it was not getting detected earlier )
Description "PRO/Wireles.."
Deive eth0 <- ??? Why???
Status Ok!

And when i tried to activate this.. obviously it dint.

I there any settings i can change? or, have to uninstall driver as you suggested!

Could you help me briefy on this?

[sunita.chhetri]

Can you help me with uninstalling ipw3945?
I cannot locate iwl3945. Guess this module is not install...

#lsmod
[root@localhost /]# lsmod
Module Size Used by
ipv6 251137 14
dm_mirror 29713 0
dm_mod 56665 1 dm_mirror
video 19269 0
sbs 18533 0
i2c_ec 9025 1 sbs
button 10705 0
battery 13637 0
asus_acpi 19289 0
ac 9157 0
parport_pc 29157 0
lp 15849 0
parport 37513 2 parport_pc,lp
snd_hda_intel 21333 2
snd_hda_codec 144321 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_seq_dummy 7877 0
snd_seq_oss 32705 0
snd_seq_midi_event 11073 1 snd_seq_oss
joydev 13185 0
snd_seq 49841 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_seq_device 11853 3 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_pcm_oss 42849 0
sg 35933 0
snd_mixer_oss 19137 1 snd_pcm_oss
ipw3945 179112 1
ieee80211 47852 1 ipw3945
snd_pcm 71621 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
ieee80211_crypt 10112 1 ieee80211
ide_cd 40033 0
snd_timer 24901 2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 51909 13 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq,sn d_seq_device,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd _timer
sk98lin 166612 1
i2c_i801 11469 0
sdhci 21337 0
soundcore 13217 1 snd
cdrom 36705 1 ide_cd
snd_page_alloc 13641 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
pcspkr 7105 0
mmc_core 27457 1 sdhci
hci_usb 20317 0
i2c_core 23745 2 i2c_ec,i2c_i801
serio_raw 10693 0
bluetooth 53925 1 hci_usb
ahci 21573 7
libata 96857 1 ahci
sd_mod 22977 8
scsi_mod 130637 4 sg,ahci,libata,sd_mod
ext3 123081 6
jbd 56553 1 ext3
ehci_hcd 32845 0
ohci_hcd 23261 0
uhci_hcd 25421 0

[reed9]

I have CentOS 5.4 and I was having problem with wireless. I too had iwl3945 but then realised I needed the firmware too. Now, its working fine.

My bad. It was late at night and I wasn't thinking clearly. Figured you had to build the module and get firmware, but completely missed that the module package in there was ipw and not iwl.

To remove, you should just be able to do

su -
yum remove dkms-ipw3945

It's loading the ipw module by default. When you reboot, any changes made by manually removing/inserting modules is lost.

To prevent ipw3945 from loading at boot, do

su -
echo "blacklist ipw3945" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

Or otherwise edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist to include the line blacklist ipw3945.

Blacklisting that should default it back to using the iwl3945.

Just a note, since it looks like your RHEL version is unregistered, you might consider using a free RHEL clone like Scientific Linux or CentOS.