Then why not just plug in a WiFi USB dongle that IS fully supported with Linux drivers, there are enough to choose from, and they cost a pittance these days. Ubuntu has lists of well supported hardware.
the reason there are still such big problems with WiFi adapters even these days is that for some of these WiFi chipsets to work, you need to upload their internal firmware to them, without that they do nothing, they do not contain the firmware in ROM, only a bootloader. Problem is, the firmware cannot be distributed freely, and the makers of the chipsets do not release any technical information on how the firmware works, (or their chipset for that matter) they even go as far as encrypting the firmware file that you must upload to the chipset, so its impossible to reverse engineer the firmware. Its all done to make sure the competition does not "learn their technology". For windows this does not matter, because they always write a Windows "ndis" driver, that takes care of uploading the firmware, and the normal driver functionality, but for Linux they don't see the profit in writing a driver, not even in the form of a "non-free" "blackbox" driver, so they don't have to release technical details. The most often used solution is a hack, Linux users use a piece of software called a "wrapper", which "wraps" a windows driver for the WiFi hardware, so that it thinks it is running on Windows, then you can legally use the Windows driver on the driver CD. For WiFi adapters the wrapper is called an "ndiswrapper". But gOS does not build in this wrapper, so you need to install it yourself, then you need to figure out how to extract the Windows driver and firmware from the driver_CD, and integrate it in the wrapper, typically you need a textfile that tells "ndis" what the particulars of the binary driver are, and the binary itself that contains the driver, and the firmware. from a technical point of view uploadable firmware is old fashioned, and was needed when the technology changed rapidly, making regular firmware updates necessary, newer WiFi chipsets no longer need uploadable firmware, and the makers are often more willing to work with Linux programmers to release a Linux compatible driver, some companies even write the driver themselves. On 3 dec, 15:03, CMYanko <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > From a Ubuntu standpoint it used to just-work up until 6.10 or 7.04, I > forget which but it was when they pulled all of the restricted drivers > from the product. Since then, l have fought with every release to get > my wireless working, until 8.10 (you're mileage may vary). For me it > was a NetGear PCMCIA card. > > If it doesn't work, go get the XP drivers for it and try the Windows > Wireless drivers approach. Having said that I just tried, > unsuccessfully, that route with gOS. I eventually did some craziness > that I wont repeat here now since I don't think people should be > trying it just yet. > > On Dec 3, 7:31 am, BehaviorKelton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Man, I'm really wanting this Linux thing to happen for me, but every > > year I attempt an install... and my old lynksys wireless card doesn't > > work. > > > This is a kind of litmus test, I suppose. > > > I want this to work on my old laptop. I have a new one, but my > > interest in Linux has to do with the ability to recycle an old > > computer... getting off the new tech bandwagon.... and I want to learn > > a bit about the OS. > > > My Linksys wireless card is: Model #: WPC11 ver. 3 (this is not an > > exotic card!) > > MAC #: 000625AAEF1A > > > My notebook is: Sony Vaio PCG-FX-A53. > > > I was hoping for something to work "out of the box", but guess not. > > > So I suppose I'll need to get back behind my computer and plug in to > > the ethernet cable and get on the net that way in order to find a > > driver. I gotta tell ya, I had no luck last year! > > > Any tips on how to solve this. > > > I have noticed that "My wireless isn't working!" has got to be the > > most common issue in linux forums. > > > Kelton --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gOS Linux" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/goslinux?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
