[TriLUG] Cheap supported Wireless PCMCIA card

[Scott R. Chilcote]

Jeremy Clark wrote:
> Did a Freaking Search ... which almost had a winner
> 
> My problem was I went out and bought one w/out planning.
> So I have this netgear card now that
> doesn't have a driver for linux.
> 
> Thanks for the linux card link that will be helpfull.
>

Jeremy -

Did you buy the WG511?  If so, you can find support for it under Linux. 
  In fact, I'm traveling with one in my notebook right now.

Was it easy?  Not by modern standards.  On the other hand, there is a 
web site dedicated to getting it up and running, and it did not require 
any college level engineering to make it work  :)

If that's your card and you want to give it a try, go to www.prism54.org 
and read up.

The steps I followed were:

1. Get Kernel 2.4.24 from kernel.org
2. Drop it in /usr/src/linux on existing Redhat 9 installation
3. Patch kernel using prism54 kernel patch
4. Build it according to the README file
5. Read the rest of the driver README file very carefully
6. Download updated linux-hotplug scripts; the ones in Redhat 9
    aren't up to date enough (no firmware agent).  These are on
    http://linux-hotplug.sourceforge.net/
7. The only tricky part to using this driver was obtaining the firmware
    that must be downloaded to the Netgear card.  It has become a bit
    scarce since the driver was initially released.  One source for it
    may be found by following this link:
    http://www.larsen-b.com/Article/73.html
    The source for it is listed near the bottom.
8. Add the prism54 module to /etc/modules.conf

After I finished all that, the Netgear card comes up and runs as eth1 
and has worked just fine for me.  I wouldn't recommend it to those who 
aren't comfortable using patch and building kernels, but if you're 
willing to spend a few hours you can have wireless for $30 or $40 bucks 
plus wait-for-rebate time.

Just FYI...

    Scott C.