Wednesday, January 4, 2017
How TO Zydas ZD1211 Sitecom WL 113 on Edgy powerpc
How TO Zydas ZD1211 Sitecom WL 113 on Edgy powerpc
I have a macmini (the old PPC version) as my home computer, which, imho, makes a great linux box, with some minor tweaks: heres how I managed to get wifi connection to work :-)
Note: this is just an amended version of the great HOW TO: Zydas ZD1211 wireless with automatic WPA (thanks a lot shof2k), in order to have a working wireless network with a macmini running Ubntu Edgy
Aim
This guide, based on shof2ks Howto, is supposed to help setting up a wireless network using a Sitecom WL 113 usb wireless dongle, on a macmini running Ubuntu Edgy.
As I still havent made any experiment with Wpa, it comes with no instructions for encryption.
User level
Intermedidate. This isnt meant to be a simple list of commands to type in to a terminal because networking has too many options for any one script to cover. You may need to tweak some of the commands or files to your own system settings.
Prerequisites
You can navigate around the file system using the terminal
You can copy and move files using the terminal
You can edit files from the terminal.
You can untar packages
You can follow bad how tos
All downloaded files are assumed to be in /usr/src.
Installing the module
1) Even with Edgy, there was no way to make the built-in zd1211rw module to work.
I therefore followed the howto instructions, with some tweaks.
To remove the module, open a terminal and type
sudo modprobe -r zd1211rw
2)To stop the module from loading up on a reboot, blacklist this module:
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
Enter a new line:
blacklist zd1211rw
3) The following may not be essential, but its worth installing to ensure better success with this and any future projects you might do. In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install build-essential kernel-package gcc libncurses5 libncurses5-dev libqt3-mt-dev wireless-tools libssl-dev
4) Work out which version of the kernel you have by typing:
Code:
uname -r
5) Obtain the correct headers and source for the kernel. In my case Im running 2.6.17-10-generic, so I need to get:
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.17-10 linux-headers-2.6.17-10-powerpc linux-headers-powerpc linux-headers-generic linux-source
6) Make sure you have a link in /lib/modules/2.6.17-10-powerpc/build pointing to /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.17-10-powerpc. This should be already present, but if not type:
sudo ln -s /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.17-10-powerpc /lib/modules/2.6.17-10-powerpc/build
7.) In /usr/src, download a working version of the ZD1211 driver from http://zd1211.ath.cx/download/.
There are multiple versions of the driver and you may need to experiment with different drivers to get one that works for your particular dongle and kernel. For me, the r83 did not work, while the r80 did the trick.
In /usr/src, untar the source package you selected and edit the Makefile to have the following options:
KERNEL_SOURCE=/usr/src/linux
ZD1211REV_B=0 (set this to 1 if you have a ZD1211B - I used this option as I have a Sitecom WL 113)
9) Compile the module by typing:
sudo make
sudo make install
10) Copy the resulting zd1211.ko (or zd1211b.ko, if you set B=1) by typing
sudo cp /usr/src/zd1211-driver-r80/zd1211.ko /lib/modules/2.6.17-10-powerpc/build/drivers/usb/net/
or
sudo cp /usr/src/zd1211-driver-r80/zd1211b.ko /lib/modules/2.6.17-10-powerpc/build/drivers/usb/net/
if you set B=1
11) Install the module using
sudo depmod sudo modprobe -v zd1211
12) Now connect the dongle and type
dmesg
You should take a look at the output, and if you get any error codes here, you will need to go back to 7.) and use another driver package.
13) If you have an unsecured network, you should be able to start browsing. To check type:
sudo ifconfig
to list all the active network connections
sudo iwconfig
14) To configure WEP encryption, I used the graphical network interface to enter ESSID and the key, but everything could be done manually as well.
Now my macmini is happily surfing, without any cable, and without any airportexpress either !!
Let the penguin roar!!
Cheers
Giobatta
Aim
This guide, based on shof2ks Howto, is supposed to help setting up a wireless network using a Sitecom WL 113 usb wireless dongle, on a macmini running Ubuntu Edgy.
As I still havent made any experiment with Wpa, it comes with no instructions for encryption.
User level
Intermedidate. This isnt meant to be a simple list of commands to type in to a terminal because networking has too many options for any one script to cover. You may need to tweak some of the commands or files to your own system settings.
Prerequisites
You can navigate around the file system using the terminal
You can copy and move files using the terminal
You can edit files from the terminal.
You can untar packages
You can follow bad how tos
All downloaded files are assumed to be in /usr/src.
Installing the module
1) Even with Edgy, there was no way to make the built-in zd1211rw module to work.
I therefore followed the howto instructions, with some tweaks.
To remove the module, open a terminal and type
sudo modprobe -r zd1211rw
2)To stop the module from loading up on a reboot, blacklist this module:
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
Enter a new line:
blacklist zd1211rw
3) The following may not be essential, but its worth installing to ensure better success with this and any future projects you might do. In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install build-essential kernel-package gcc libncurses5 libncurses5-dev libqt3-mt-dev wireless-tools libssl-dev
4) Work out which version of the kernel you have by typing:
Code:
uname -r
5) Obtain the correct headers and source for the kernel. In my case Im running 2.6.17-10-generic, so I need to get:
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.17-10 linux-headers-2.6.17-10-powerpc linux-headers-powerpc linux-headers-generic linux-source
6) Make sure you have a link in /lib/modules/2.6.17-10-powerpc/build pointing to /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.17-10-powerpc. This should be already present, but if not type:
sudo ln -s /usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.17-10-powerpc /lib/modules/2.6.17-10-powerpc/build
7.) In /usr/src, download a working version of the ZD1211 driver from http://zd1211.ath.cx/download/.
There are multiple versions of the driver and you may need to experiment with different drivers to get one that works for your particular dongle and kernel. For me, the r83 did not work, while the r80 did the trick.
In /usr/src, untar the source package you selected and edit the Makefile to have the following options:KERNEL_SOURCE=/usr/src/linux
ZD1211REV_B=0 (set this to 1 if you have a ZD1211B - I used this option as I have a Sitecom WL 113)
9) Compile the module by typing:
sudo make
sudo make install
10) Copy the resulting zd1211.ko (or zd1211b.ko, if you set B=1) by typing
sudo cp /usr/src/zd1211-driver-r80/zd1211.ko /lib/modules/2.6.17-10-powerpc/build/drivers/usb/net/
or
sudo cp /usr/src/zd1211-driver-r80/zd1211b.ko /lib/modules/2.6.17-10-powerpc/build/drivers/usb/net/
if you set B=1
11) Install the module using
sudo depmod sudo modprobe -v zd1211
12) Now connect the dongle and type
dmesg
You should take a look at the output, and if you get any error codes here, you will need to go back to 7.) and use another driver package.
13) If you have an unsecured network, you should be able to start browsing. To check type:
sudo ifconfig
to list all the active network connections
sudo iwconfig
14) To configure WEP encryption, I used the graphical network interface to enter ESSID and the key, but everything could be done manually as well.
Now my macmini is happily surfing, without any cable, and without any airportexpress either !!
Let the penguin roar!!
Cheers
Giobatta
Available link for download
