[2002-05-14 Heiko Kirschke: Please note the addtions below] Hi, this package contains the patches needed to Linux get support for ELSA's 2 Mbit WLAN cards, namely the AirLancer MC-2 and the AirLancer MC-2 FR (french version with reduced channel range). It is also usable for the Siemens 'twin' I-Gate M2. Note that the WLAN card used by Siemens in the I-Gate N2 access point uses a different card firmware and is not usable with this driver! What you need to get this driver running: - the source tree of the Linux kernel you are using (usually found under /usr/src/linux). Both kernels versions 2.0.x and 2.2.x should work. - sources of the PCMCIA package. This driver has been tested with version 3.0.12 and version 3.0.14, but later 3.0 versions should work either. To get this driver compiled, the following steps are required: - configure and compile the Linux kernel (you might already have done this...) - copy the archive of this driver into the PCMCIA package's root directory - unpack: tar xvf wl24_cs.tar.gz - apply the necessary patches: patch -p0 < patch-wl24_cs - configure and compile the PCMCIA package: Configure; make; make install At this point, you should have a PCMCIA package installed with support for the AirLancer MC-2. See the PCMCIA package's documentation for the remaining installation, e.g. how to automatically start things at boot-time. What remains to be said? To configure the network parameters, of your WLAN, edit the options for the wl24_cs driver in /etc/pcmcia/config.opts : --> Networkname: the symbolic name of your ESS, equivalent to the WLAN domain set in the LANCOM Wireless access point or the AirLancer Windows driver. This is an ASCII string of max. 32 characters. --> Networktype: the type of wireless network you have installed. There are tho types of network: infrastructure (networktype=0) for workstations connected to each other and to a LAN via an access point, and adhoc (networktype=1) for a number of workstation interconnected to each other without an acecess point. --> Channel: the RF channel to be used for communication. Valid numbers range from 1 to 13. Note that for 'french cards', the card will only accept values between 10 and 13. This setting is only relevant if you are using an adhoc network and your system is the first one on the ether; in all other cases, it will accept the channel given by other stations or the access point since selection of the WLAN to join is solely based on the WLAN domain string. In case of questions or problems, contact the ELSA support. Note that this driver is considered *ALPHA*, i.e. it didn't undergo extensive quality assurance tests. Corrections and comments are welcome! Happy testing and best regards Alfred Arnold, ELSA AG 2002-05-14 Heiko Kirschke: Additions Another hello, the package has been updated to run with Linux kernel 2.4. Neither care has been taken for backward compatibility for pre-2.4 kernels, nor has the Free BSD version of the package been updated, nor has the code been beautified or rewritten more than necessary. The installation procedure has not been changed compared to the instructions given above. Read the following hints carefully, since they explain what consequences it has for your system's stability when using this driver. And read the disclaimer below :-) - Compiling the kernel is not necessary as long as: * the installed Linux kernel sources match those of the installed kernel binary * a new version of pcmcia-cs is used which loads its drivers by insmod commands at runtime (these are the actual versions and presumably all future versions of pcmcia-cs) This holds especially for the SuSE 8 distribution. For doing the installation, compiling & installing using makefile wl24_cs.mk was sufficient: make -f wl24_cs.mk all make -f wl24_cs.mk install called in the pcmcia-cs-* top level directory. - A 2.4 Linux kernel version might have builtin PCMCIA kernel support; this package has been tested with builtin PCMCIA kernel support, but not with an `external' PCMCIA package (although this should run, too). - Hotplugging works fine, both plug in and plug out. - It was not possible (on my system)-: to make the `cardctl eject' and `cardctl suspend' commands work correctly. As a workaround, both functions signal a `function not existent' by the driver when being called. Please note that when your system is shut down a `cardctl eject' command might be issued by the shutdown scripts; afterwards, the driver might be unloaded ungracefully, which in turn might halt the system ungracefully if the AirLancer MC-2 is left in its socket. If you would like to try if these commands work on your installation, comment out the line #define NO_EJECT_SUSPEND in wlapi.h. - Consequence: Before shutting down your system or suspending it, remove all AirLancer MC-2 cards by hot unplugging. - The MC-2 card I'm using has firmware version 2.0.6 as of 1999; no change to the firmware version (e.g., downgrading to 1.x.y) was necessary. - Downloading new firmware into the card's flash ROM using this driver has not been tested by myself and is considered risky therefore. - A tip for installations using the `hotplug' package (e.g. SuSE 8): Since the driver is written as a CardService driver and not as a CardBus driver, the card's hardware is recognized only to the bare minimum of being a network card. To bring the card up by hotplug, edit file /etc/sysconfig/hotplug and change the line from: HOTPLUG_NET_DEFAULT_HARDWARE= to: HOTPLUG_NET_DEFAULT_HARDWARE=pcmcia Also, generate a configuration file /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-eth-pcmcia containing the card's startup configuration, e.g.: BOOTPROTO="static" BROADCAST="10.0.0.255" DHCLIENT_SET_DOWN_LINK="yes" IPADDR="10.0.0.1" NETMASK="255.255.255.0" NETWORK="10.0.0.0" STARTMODE="hotplug" UNIQUE="" Check if `ifconfig eth0' shows the IP address as specified within IPADDR as given above; if it shows up, everything should work fine. Viele Grüße, Heiko (mailto:Heiko.Kirschke@acm.org) Disclaimer: This software is made available AS IS, and HEIKO KIRSCHKE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION CONTAINED HEREIN, ANY LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE SOFTWARE OR ITS USE IS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED, WHETHER ARISING IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR STRICT LIABILITY, EVEN IF HEIKO KIRSCHKE IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.