[SOLVED] Getting RT2561/RT61 wireless to work

[Zef_]

Hey guys, was just wondering, as the rt2500 is supposed to be recognised by Fedora out of the box, albeit with not so great drivers I hear. But my card is alas not showing up it seems. I've tried lspci and get a command not found, so I guess thats a debian based thing, as I've only used ubuntu thus far really.

So I don't really know if this is normal, and I should just go ahead and try to manually install the drivers or what. I can't be lugging my machine down to the router to connect it with a normal ethernet cable as it sits in a narrow hall, so will need to do all configuring on my desktop manually. I was hoping it would just work, as I had Sabayon installed previously and the rt2500 *kind of* worked on there without any config needed.

So should i just do the ndiswrapper method which to be honest is slightly confusing for someone new who expected his rt2500 to just work as it's in the list of supported wireless cards at the fsf hardware page.

Any help for the clueless newbie much appreciated. :D

Edit: Ok, KInfoCenter tells me that it is a RT2561/RT61 rev B 802.11g, but that's the only place that the card shows up.
Sooo, does that mean it's not specifically an rt2500 or what? The fsf list the Conceptronics C54Ri as being compatible, and that is definitely the model I have.

[FriedChips]

try

/usr/sbin/lspci

[Zef_]

nope, /usr/sbin/lspci gives a 'no such file or directory'. But I have found out that the card lists itself as an RT2561/RT61 in KInfoCenter. I'm using the KDE version of Fedora 64bit.

[leigh123linux]

try

/sbin/lspci

[root@localhost ~]# /sbin/lspci
00:00.0 Memory controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 Memory Controller (rev a3)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 ISA Bridge (rev a3)
00:01.1 SMBus: nVidia Corporation CK804 SMBus (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a2)
00:02.1 USB Controller: nVidia Corporation CK804 USB Controller (rev a3)
00:06.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 IDE (rev f2)
00:07.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:08.0 IDE interface: nVidia Corporation CK804 Serial ATA Controller (rev f3)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCI Bridge (rev a2)
00:0a.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 Ethernet Controller (rev a3)
00:0b.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0d.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
00:0e.0 PCI bridge: nVidia Corporation CK804 PCIE Bridge (rev a3)
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
01:07.0 Network controller: RaLink RT2500 802.11g Cardbus/mini-PCI (rev 01)
01:09.0 Multimedia audio controller: Creative Labs SB Live! EMU10k1 (rev 0a)
01:09.1 Input device controller: Creative Labs SB Live! Game Port (rev 0a)
05:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G70 [GeForce 7600 GT] (rev a1)
[root@localhost ~]#

[Zef_]

Thanks, that worked, It gives the output, same as KInfoCenter:

Network Controller: RaLink RT2561/RT61 rev B 802.11g

How will I go about making the network manager actually see this as a network device though? So far I can only see my standard ethernet connection in there.

[leigh123linux]

try this

su -
rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-7.rpm
yum install kmod-ndiswrapper
reboot

then follow this guide from #9 onwards

http://www.suseforums.net/index.php?showtopic=37581&pid=195963&st=0&#entry195963

[Zef_]

sorry, double post, dunno how that happened

[Zef_]

Thanks man. I assume I can do all this installation manually, i.e without being connected to the internet? It'll be a bit of a pain to lug the machine down into hallway to get it working. I'm writing this from my laptop atm.

I have to say, looking at those instructions I am rather intimidated. This card was supposed to be supported 'well' by linux. I bought it so as not to have an insane amount of hassle installing it. Is this going to be the case with this card on all distros, or is it something that Fedora has specific trouble with?

Oh and those suse instructions mention YaST, but Wikipedia tells me that is a Suse tool. How do I do those steps on Fedora? I don't get it :(

[leigh123linux]

Sorry you will need to be connected to run these commands ( it is unlikely that you installed enough to compile this from source so this would be the easiest method )

as for yast stop at # 14 and post back

[Zef_]

Righto - will shift the pc downstairs and give it a whirl. Thanks a lot for you very prompt feedback dude.

[Zef_]

Ok I have ndiswrapper installed and I have rebooted successfully. In order to start step 9 of thost instruction, I need to use some windows drivers, so should I just use the drivers included on the network card's install cd, and if so should I use the windows 64 bit drivers since i'm on Fedorax64, or should i use some other drivers?

[leigh123linux]

Ok I have ndiswrapper installed and I have rebooted successfully. In order to start step 9 of thost instruction, I need to use some windows drivers, so should I just use the drivers included on the network card's install cd, and if so should I use the windows 64 bit drivers since i'm on Fedorax64, or should i use some other drivers?


Yes use the 64 bit drivers on your cd

[Zef_]

Ok I have completed step 13 successfully it seems.

[leigh123linux]

Ok I have completed step 13 successfully it seems.

Can you post the output from the last few commands that you did

[Zef_]

[root@localhost WINX64]# ndiswrapper -i rt61.inf
installing rt61 ...
[root@localhost WINX64]# ndiswrapper -l
rt61 : driver installed
device (1814:0302) present (alternate driver: rt61pci)
[root@localhost WINX64]# ndiswrapper -m
adding "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper" to /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper ...
[root@localhost WINX64]# depmod -a
[root@localhost WINX64]# modprobe ndiswrapper
[root@localhost WINX64]#

[leigh123linux]

Ok

su
gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

and add this to the end

blacklist rt61pci

then save and exit

gedit /etc/modprobe.conf

and add this to the end

alias wlan0 ndiswrapper

then save and exit

su -
rmmod ndiswrapper
modprobe ndiswrapper
system-config-network

and see if you can see wlan0 ( wireless ) listed

[Zef_]

wlan0 is listed now, status is inactive

[leigh123linux]

wlan0 is listed now, status is inactive

What encryption do you use ( wpa or wep )

[Zef_]

wpa personal atm.

[leigh123linux]

ok


su -
system-config-network

and edit the wlan0 settings

1. check the box allow users to enable/disable device
2. select mode = auto
3. network name = specified and enter your SSID
4. select the right channel for you router
5. transmit rate = 54 Mb/s
6. check to make sure that automatically obtain ip is also enabled
7. Dont try to enter any key (this is wep only and wont accept wpa ) as I will give further help after you reboot

save the changes and exit

then run these commands

su -
chkconfig --level 345 NetworkManager on
chkconfig --level 345 NetworkManagerDispatcher on

then reboot

[Zef_]

ok, I've followed those steps and rebooted.

Gotta say thanks again for your patience and time man - way cool of you.

[leigh123linux]

Ok you should have a Network icon in the top righthand corner ( called networkmanager )

left click on it and see if your network is listed , if it is click on and you will prompted for your wpa key and key type
and sometimes it might ask for your SSID then Ok ( and it should connect )

[Zef_]

Hahaha, that's cool man. It works!

Only thing is that the network manager didn't open automatically on startup, so I had to open it from the KDE menu.

[leigh123linux]

Hahaha, that's cool man. It works!

Only thing is that the network manager didn't open automatically on startup, so I had to open it from the KDE menu.

Thats good :cool:

[Zef_]

Can't thank you enough Leigh - I'll amend the title so that it'll be easier for other people with the same chipset to find this thread if they have trouble getting it to work.

[Zef_]

Hi man appreciate your help, but there is something funny that I have noticed with the connection. When I rebooted the wireless would not work until i logged in as root and entered 'system-config-network' and then I click on the wlan0 and click 'activate'.

If I don't go through those steps I can't connect to the network. Is that normal, or is there a way that I can configure the wireless to connect at startup?

[leigh123linux]

Hi man appreciate your help, but there is something funny that I have noticed with the connection. When I rebooted the wireless would not work until i logged in as root and entered 'system-config-network' and then I click on the wlan0 and click 'activate'.

If I don't go through those steps I can't connect to the network. Is that normal, or is there a way that I can configure the wireless to connect at startup?

Did the Pm sort it ?

[JackPo]

would appreciate it if someone posts the PM so I can get wireless on boot.

[Zef_]

would appreciate it if someone posts the PM so I can get wireless on boot.
here's the whole message tree:

Hi man appreciate your help, but there is something funny that I have noticed with the connection. When I rebooted the wireless would not work until i logged in as root and entered 'system-config-network' and then I click on the wlan0 and click 'activate'.

If I don't go through those steps I can't connect to the network. Is that normal, or is there a way that I can configure the wireless to connect at startup?


Hi

In system-config-network there is a option to start at boot up just check the box . ( If you edit wlan0 you will find it )

Sorry for the late response, but no, that box is checked and I still have to manually activate the wlan at each startup. I notice that in the period while booting up, there seem to be two checks for the wlan0 device, of which one says [FAILED]. However, it does work when I activate it from the Network Device Control GUI.

I also have another problem at the moment, where my wireless throughput drops out completely after a random period of being connected. It can be after 30 minutes, or even 30 hours. Normally it's somewhere between 4 and 12 hours before the connection drops out. It's still connected, but when I try to reconnect, it will no longer connect to the network. Rebooting fixes it, and I can connect again. Yet the drop-out problem remains.

[leigh123linux]

Try wlassistant instead of networkmanager

su -
yum install wlassistant
chkconfig --level 12345 NetworkManager off
chkconfig --level 12345 NetworkManagerDispatcher off
wlassistant


There should also be a menu entry for wlassistant


It's still connected, but when I try to reconnect, it will no longer connect to the network

This can happen because dhclient is still running and needs to be stopped for the new connection to work.

It seems easier with wlassistant as it stops dhclient for the reconnection

[Zef_]

ok i've done those steps and will see how it goes next time the connection drops out. Should I still be using KNetworkManager? I have that running in my tray.

[leigh123linux]

ok i've done those steps and will see how it goes next time the connection drops out. Should I still be using KNetworkManager? I have that running in my tray.

You can disable KNetworkManager if you want, but I have no idea how to do this as I don't use KDE

[Zef_]

Hey Leigh, I am actually unable to connect to the wireless at all any more, as the only way I could get it to work before was to manually enable it in Network Device Control at startup. I would need KNetworkManager running in the tray when I did this, and it would detect the activation of the wireless device and connect to the network.

Now, when I try and run wireless assistant, I get an 'unknown error' message and it won't start. Also, when I try and enable the wlan0 connection now through Network Device Control, KNetworkManager cannot pick up the connection, as Network Manager is not running...

Edit: I turned on NetworkManager and NetworkManagerDispatcher again, so was again able to manually enable wireless at startup. So just back to where I started :p

[leigh123linux]

Does the unknown error only occur when you use the menu entry ? ( I get this error in F8 )

try starting it from a terminal

su -
wlassistant

[Zef_]

Yep starting it from the terminal works... But I assume I'm still going to have to manually enable my wireless at startup... Let's see on a reboot.

[Zef_]

Ok, Rebooted, still had to enable the wlan0 device manually in Network Device Control before wlassistant could see it. But wlassistant couldn't connect to my network... Gave these output, first the user output, then as root.

User:
localhost ~]$ wlassistant
ScimInputContextPlugin()
~ScimInputContextPlugin()
ScimInputContextPlugin()
Loaded application options.
All interfaces: eth0, wlan0
Wireless interface(s): wlan0
warning: /etc/resolv.conf not writable
Permissions checked.
DHCP Client: dhclient
All executables found.
scan: /sbin/iwlist wlan0 scan
Networks found: 3
ACTION: CONNECT.
No DHCP client running.
No pre-connection command specified.
iwconfig_set: /sbin/iwconfig wlan0 mode managed channel 11 key off essid Zen
==>stderr: Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not permitted.
iwconfig_ap: /sbin/iwconfig wlan0 ap 00:1A:70:79:4F:DB
==>stderr: Error for wireless request "Set AP Address" (8B14) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not permitted.
==>stderr: Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory
Using wpa_supplicant driver: wext
WPA client started. Waiting for status...
==>stderr: Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory
CONNECTION FAILED.
disconnect: /sbin/iwconfig wlan0 mode managed key off ap off essid off
==>stderr: Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not permitted.

root:
[root@localhost ~]# wlassistant
kbuildsycoca running...
DCOP Cleaning up dead connections.
ScimInputContextPlugin()
~ScimInputContextPlugin()
ScimInputContextPlugin()
Loaded application options.
All interfaces: eth0, wlan0
Wireless interface(s): wlan0
Permissions checked.
DHCP Client: dhclient
All executables found.
scan: /sbin/iwlist wlan0 scan
Networks found: 3
ACTION: CONNECT.
No DHCP client running.
No pre-connection command specified.
iwconfig_set: /sbin/iwconfig wlan0 mode managed channel 11 key off essid Zen
iwconfig_ap: /sbin/iwconfig wlan0 ap 00:1A:70:79:4F:DB
==>stderr: Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory
Using wpa_supplicant driver: wext
WPA client started. Waiting for status...
==>stderr: Failed to connect to wpa_supplicant - wpa_ctrl_open: No such file or directory
CONNECTION FAILED.
disconnect: /sbin/iwconfig wlan0 mode managed key off ap off essid off

[451422]

It's nice to know NDISWrapper works, but it's rather ironic how Windows drivers are necessary to work with Linux.

One would have thought native drivers would have been available way long ago. This is one reason it is very difficult to promote Linux as a viable option to most laypeople.

[Zef_]

It's nice to know NDISWrapper works, but it's rather ironic how Windows drivers are necessary to work with Linux.

One would have thought native drivers would have been available way long ago. This is one reason it is very difficult to promote Linux as a viable option to most laypeople.

Yeah one of the reasons I got a Ralink Wireless Card was because it was listed as being compatible on the FOSS website... Although I think I got a later revision, as its not an RT2500. Ah well. It works well enough, though it can be annoying if it decides to keep dropping out 3 or 4 times in one day... The last 2 days it has behaved extremely well without one dropout. Not sure why.

[451422]

Yeah one of the reasons I got a Ralink Wireless Card was because it was listed as being compatible on the FOSS website... Although I think I got a later revision, as its not an RT2500. Ah well. It works well enough, though it can be annoying if it decides to keep dropping out 3 or 4 times in one day... The last 2 days it has behaved extremely well without one dropout. Not sure why.

I know there is a site that keeps track of WLAN cards for Linux as a whole. It would nice if there was a compatibility list similar to Microsoft's. What brand card did you end up getting?
I tried the Linksys WMP54G (has the atheros chipset that supposedly works). No luck.

I am still scratching my head on this one. It would be nice to sell a solution.