New User needs help setting up wireless internet access

[mikedelo]

Good morning -

I am a new user of Linux, and have installed Debian on my computer. I would like to have internet access on my machine. Below is the output I get after typing

lspci -knn > lspci.txt

in the terminal.

Can someone give me a hand setting up my internet?

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE/PE DRAM Controller/Host-Hub Interface [8086:2560] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: agpgart-intel
	Kernel modules: intel-agp
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics Device [8086:2562] (rev 01)
	Kernel modules: intelfb, i2c-i810
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:24c2] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: uhci-hcd
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:24c4] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: uhci-hcd
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:24c7] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd
	Kernel modules: uhci-hcd
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:24cd] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
	Kernel modules: ehci-hcd
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 PCI Bridge [8086:244e] (rev 81)
	Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:24c0] (rev 01)
	Kernel modules: intel-rng, iTCO_wdt
00:1f.1 IDE interface [0101]: Intel Corporation 82801DB (ICH4) IDE Controller [8086:24cb] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: PIIX_IDE
	Kernel modules: piix
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller [8086:24c3] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
	Kernel modules: i2c-i801
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller [8086:24c5] (rev 01)
	Kernel driver in use: Intel ICH
	Kernel modules: snd-intel8x0
01:07.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Linksys, A Division of Cisco Systems WMP11v4 802.11b PCI card [17fe:2120]
01:08.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: ADMtek NC100 Network Everywhere Fast Ethernet 10/100 [1317:0985] (rev 11)
	Kernel driver in use: tulip
	Kernel modules: tulip

Thank you!!

[reed9]

Unfortunately, it looks like you will need to use ndiswrapper and the Windows XP driver for this card.

NdisWrapper - Debian Wiki

[nmset]

Can you install hwinfo and post the output of

hwinfo --netcard

? This is to see if your wifi chip is more precisely identified and if it can use a driver from your distro. (I don't know Debian though). Linksys doesn't always use the same chip in their wireless devices(RaLink, Texas Instrument...)

[HROAdmin26]

As Reed mentioned, Debian shows this card as unsupported and requiring NDISwrapper + Windows driver.

Wifi - Debian Wiki - InProComm IPN 2120 chipset [17fe:2120]

[mikedelo]

Can you install hwinfo and post the output of

hwinfo --netcard

? This is to see if your wifi chip is more precisely identified and if it can use a driver from your distro. (I don't know Debian though). Linksys doesn't always use the same chip in their wireless devices(RaLink, Texas Instrument...)

How do I install "hwinfo"? Just type that into the terminal screen?

[mikedelo]

As Reed mentioned, Debian shows this card as unsupported and requiring NDISwrapper + Windows driver.

Would it be easier to buy a linux friendly wireless card? Can you recommend any brand and model?

How do you install NDISwrapper and the windows driver version? I'm a very new user so I am not sure of the steps.

Thanks!

[mikedelo]

Unfortunately, it looks like you will need to use ndiswrapper and the Windows XP driver for this card.

Might be a stupid question to ask for such a new user, but what exactly in my output file states that the card will need to be installed using the Windows driver version?

Just wondering.


Thanks for your input!!!!!

[HROAdmin26]

The highlighted text in posts are *links.*

The USB ID (PCI ID in this case) identifies the vendor and device ID => 17fe:2120

[reed9]

Might be a stupid question to ask for such a new user, but what exactly in my output file states that the card will need to be installed using the Windows driver version?

Just wondering.


Thanks for your input!!!!!

As said, the pci id is the key to usb wireless adapters. The Debian Wifi Wiki WiFi - Debian Wiki lists your cards pci id and shows there is no native driver.

I posted a link previously to the Debian Ndiswrapper page, which gives a pretty good walkthrough on how to set it up. If you stumble over any particular step, ask for help here and we'll try and get you sorted.

If you are able to, buying a more compatible adapter would probably make our life easier. Unfortunately, it can be tough to tell which adapters are compatible. Vendors don't generally advertise it, and different versions of the same brand and model device can use different wireless chipsets. Some online places, particularly newegg.com, frequently have notes on linux compatibility in the comments.

This should also help you out.
USB - Linux Wireless

[mikedelo]

Can someone confirm if the "NETGEAR MA311 - Network adapter - PCI - 802.11b" wireless PCI card will work with linux?

What should I expect the install to be like? Plug and Play?!

Michael