Serious Linux noob trying to get Realtek driver installed

Hello out there,

I am REALLY new to Linux and am having a whirlwind of issues just trying to figure out how to run stuff and the like. I'm using Mepis right now, it's version 5.something if that matters.

I have a wireless LAN card I am trying to use for the internet, and initially it obviously wouldn't recognize. I got online on my laptop and found linux drivers for the nic card, it's a realtek RTL8185L. Now, I burned the driver onto a CD, put it in the desktop, extracted the tar fil and don't know what to do from there. I don't even know if extracting it was the right option, or if I did it correctly.

I can go to the folder it was extracted to and I see ten files. One is a readme. I tried some of the command prompts in the read me and none worked. I don't know how to unpack this driver or build it or whatever. Can someone help walk me through this?

Thanks in advance!!!

Luke

First off you didnt need to burn it to a cd you just wasted a cd there. What exactly does the readme say?

You may need to install more applications before you can install things like a new driver. If something is not installed, you will get an error. When you get an error, make sure you post it exactly as you got it. That way we can tell you what it means.

Two things that you most likely need:
Kernel sources
GCC

You should be able to get these through the Mepis repository. I never used Mepis, so I don't have specific info on that.

It may be that you just need to tweak a few things, and not install drivers. Post the output of this command, if it is a PCI wireless:

Code:

lspci

And for USB:

Code:

lsusb

This will showw all of the driver modules loaded in your system. Post the output:

Code:

lsmod

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debian Linux Geek

First off you didnt need to burn it to a cd you just wasted a cd there. What exactly does the readme say?

I'm not sure I like your tone! :confused: I had to get it from the laptop to the desktop somehow, and I didn't think to use my USB storage. Blank CDs only cost about .05 cents each so I think I'll manage, somehow.

Now to Waterhead's productive post. Here is the output of the lspci command. I did notice that the Wireless controller is, indeed, listed there:

00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 Host Bridge (rev 10)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge
00:11.0 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc ATI 437A Serial ATA Controller (rev 80)
00:12.0 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc ATI 4379 Serial ATA Controller (rev 80)
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller (rev 80)
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller (rev 80)
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB2 Host Controller (rev 80)
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 SMBus Controller (rev 81)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller ATI (rev 80)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-ISA Bridge (rev 80)
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-PCI Bridge (rev 80)
00:14.5 Multimedia audio controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 80)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RS482 [Radeon Xpress 200]
02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8185 IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 20)
02:02.0 Communication controller: Conexant HSF 56k HSFi Modem (rev 01)
02:05.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)

Here is the lsmod output:

HTML Code:

Module Size Used by udf 73896 0 ipv6 257384 8 binfmt_misc 11020 1 cpufreq_ondemand 8464 1 cpufreq_userspace 5152 0 cpufreq_powersave 3072 0 powernow_k8 13280 0 freq_table 5184 2 cpufreq_ondemand,powernow_k8 rfcomm 36776 0 hidp 18304 2 l2cap 22144 10 rfcomm,hidp bluetooth 49796 5 rfcomm,hidp,l2cap ppdev 8840 0 lp 11848 0 thermal 13968 0 fan 5768 0 button 8352 0 processor 30216 2 powernow_k8,thermal ac 5896 0 battery 10632 0 xt_tcpudp 4608 95 xt_limit 4096 2 nf_conntrack_ipv4 16912 66 xt_state 3584 66 ipt_LOG 7168 2 ipt_REJECT 5248 2 nf_conntrack_ftp 10336 0 nf_conntrack_irc 7840 0 nf_conntrack 59612 4 nf_conntrack_ipv4,xt_state,nf_conntrack_ftp,nf_conntrack_irc nfnetlink 6344 2 nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conntrack iptable_filter 3968 1 ip_tables 17704 1 iptable_filter x_tables 16392 6 xt_tcpudp,xt_limit,xt_state,ipt_LOG,ipt_REJECT,ip_tables fuse 41776 1 ndiswrapper 209792 0 dm_crypt 12432 0 dm_snapshot 15968 0 dm_mirror 19840 0 dm_mod 51440 3 dm_crypt,dm_snapshot,dm_mirror usbhid 25024 0 hid 26112 2 hidp,usbhid snd_atiixp 18580 1 snd_ac97_codec 111192 1 snd_atiixp ac97_bus 3840 1 snd_ac97_codec snd_pcm_oss 39840 0 snd_mixer_oss 16256 1 snd_pcm_oss snd_pcm 74888 3 snd_atiixp,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss snd_timer 21256 1 snd_pcm serio_raw 7172 0 parport_pc 34984 1 parport 35596 3 ppdev,lp,parport_pc psmouse 39964 0 snd 53608 8 snd_atiixp,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_timer soundcore 8352 1 snd k8temp 6272 0 8139cp 21120 0 pcspkr 4096 0 floppy 59048 0 snd_page_alloc 9744 2 snd_atiixp,snd_pcm 8139too 25088 0 mii 6016 2 8139cp,8139too i2c_piix4 9740 0 ohci_hcd 20356 0 i2c_core 22656 1 i2c_piix4 shpchp 31004 0 pci_hotplug 30084 1 shpchp evdev 9984 3

Here is the text from the readme file as well:

RTL8185 Linux Driver v1027.0823.2007 for linux kernel 2.6

- Support Client mode for either infrastructure or adhoc mode
- Support WEP and WPAPSK/WPA2PSK connection

================================================== =============================================
< Component >
The driver is composed of several parts:
(1)source code
rtl8185.tar.gz
stack.tar.gz

(2)Script ot build the modules
makedrv

(3)Script to load/unload modules
wlan0up
wlan0down

(4)Script and configuration for DHCP
wlan0dhcp
ifcfg-wlan0

(5)Supplicant source code
wpa_supplicant-0.4.9.tar.gz

(6)Example of supplicant configuration file
wpa1.conf

< Installation >
Running the scripts can finish all operations of building up modules from source code and start the nic:

(1)Build up the driver from the source code
./makedrv

(2)Load the driver module to kernel and start up nic
./wlan0up
(if "insmod: error inserting 'r8180.ko': -File exists." met,
./wlan0rmv
./wlan0down
./wlan0up
should be OK.
)
(3)Refer to < Set wireless lan MIBs > to set Wireless LAN specific parameters.

< Set wireless lan MIBs >
This driver uses Wireless Extension as an interface allowing you to set
Wireless LAN specific parameters.

Current driver supports "iwlist" to show the device status of nic

iwlist wlan0 [parameters]
where

parameter explaination [parameters]
----------------------- -------------
Show available chan and freq freq / channel
Show and Scan BSS and IBSS scan[ning]
Show supported bit-rate rate / bit[rate]
Show Power Management mode power

For example:

iwlist wlan0 channel
iwlist wlan0 scan
iwlist wlan0 rate
iwlist wlan0 power

Driver also supports "iwconfig", manipulate driver private ioctls, to set MIBs.

iwconfig wlan0 [parameters] [val]
where

parameter explaination [parameters] [val] constraints
----------------------- ------------- ------------------
Connect to AP by address ap [essid]
Set the essid, join (I)BSS essid [mac_addr]
Set operation mode mode {Managed|Ad-hoc}
Set keys and security mode key / enc[ryption] {N|open|restricted|off}

For example:

iwconfig wlan0 ap XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX
iwconfig wlan0 essid "ap_name"
iwconfig wlan0 mode Ad-hoc
iwconfig wlan0 mode essid "name" mode Ad-hoc
iwconfig wlan0 key 0123456789 [2] open
iwconfig wlan0 key off
iwconfig wlan0 key restricted [3] 0123456789

< Getting IP address >
After start up the nic, the network needs to obtain an IP address before transmit/receive data.
This can be done by setting the static IP via "ifconfig wlan0 IP_ADDRESS" command, or using DHCP.

If using DHCP, setting steps is as below:

(1)connect to an AP via "iwconfig" settings
iwconfig wlan0 essid [name] or
iwconfig wlan0 ap XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

(2)run the script which run the dhclient
./wlan0dhcp
or
dhcpcd wlan0
(Some network admins require that you use the
hostname and domainname provided by the DHCP server.
In that case, use
dhcpcd -HD wlan0)

< WPAPSK >
WPA_SUPPLICANT help the network to communicate under the protection of WPAPSK mechanism

(1)Unpack source code of WPA supplicant:
tar -zxvf wpa_supplicant-0.4.9.tar.gz
cd wpa_supplicant-0.4.9

(2)Create .config file:
cp defconfig .config

(3)Edit .config file, uncomment the following line:
#CONFIG_DRIVER_IPW=y.

(4)Build WPA supplicant:
make

If make error for lack of <include/md5.h>, install the openssl lib:
1. Install the openssl lib from corresponding installation disc:
Fedora Core 2/3/4/5/6/7(openssl-0.9.71x-xx),
Mandrake10.2/Mandriva10.2(openssl-0.9.7x-xmdk),
Debian 3.1(libssl-dev), Suse 9.3/10.0/10.1(openssl_devl),
Gentoo(dev-libs/openssl), etc.
2. Download the openssl open source package from OpenSSL: The Open Source toolkit for SSL/TLS, build and install it.

(5)Edit wpa_supplicant.conf to set up SSID and its passphrase.
For example, the following setting in "wpa1.conf" means SSID to join is "BufAG54_Ch6"
and its passphrase is "87654321".

network={
ssid="BufAG54_Ch6"
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=CCMP TKIP
group=CCMP TKIP WEP104 WEP40
psk="87654321"
priority=2
}
Note: 1. proto=WPA for WPA, proto=RSN for WPA2.
2. If you want to connect an AP which works under WPA2 mixed mode, you'd better
use Realtek customed wpa_supplicant package.

(6)Execute WPA supplicant (Assume 8185 and related modules had been loaded):
./wpa_supplicant -D ipw -c wpa1.conf -i wlan0 &

There is a driver in the kernel for your wireless. It is the rtl8180 module. The bad news is that you are running an old version of Mepis. The latest release is version 7. I doubt that the driver is in your kernel, but you could give a try to load it (as root):

Code:

modprobe rtl8180

If you get an error about the module not being found, I guess you could try and install it. But you would still have an older version of Mepis. It may be difficult to add anything, because they are not supported for ever.

I would recommend installing a more recent version. It should then have the wireless driver in the kernel.

If you want to try and run the install, then do this:

Change the terminal window to the folder that the makedrv file is in. To do this you use the cd (change directory) command.

Code:

cd /path/to/file

To install something like a driver, you need root privileges. This is usually done with the su (super user) command.

Code:

su <enter> Password: <enter root password>

You then should be able to run the makedrv script by entering this command:

Code:

./makedrv

If all goes well, you can run the other scripts listed in the README file the same way.

One more thing.

I see that you have ndiswrapper installed. If you configured it to use the wireless card, then you should uninstall it before using the rtl8185 driver. Otherwise they will conflict with each other.

Quote:

Originally Posted by waterhead

One more thing.

I see that you have ndiswrapper installed. If you configured it to use the wireless card, then you should uninstall it before using the rtl8185 driver. Otherwise they will conflict with each other.

I didn't install ndiswrapper, it must have come pre-installed. I don't know anything about it.

I'll get to work on these steps and keep posting my progress.

Thanks a ton for your help,

Luke