by Kulbir Saini | Drivers, Fedora, Hacks, Hardware, HowTo, Internet, Kernel, Ndiswrapper, Wireless in , , ,

How To: Configure Wireless with Ralink (rt2500) Level One WNC-0301 in Fedora Core 6

Well … Yesterday I switched from Fedora Core 4 to Fedora Core 6. The main problem was the wireless lan. As I was using ndiswrapper for wlan in FC4, I tried compiling it for FC6. But FC6 doesn’t have build packages so it didn’t work out. Then I installed the kernel-devel packages from here. Now the build packages were not a problem. I installed ndiswrapper from here. Now while installing ndiswrapper it gave an error that your kernel is using 4k stack, while for windows driver you need to have a kernel with 16k stack. I googled and searched the 16k stack version for my kernel but didnt get one. I used to download 16k stack kernel from here. But 16k stack kernel is not yet out for FC6. So its almost impossible for me to get ndiswrapper to work if I dont want to mess up with the patched and all.

Then I thought of using the native drivers for rt2500 (Level One wnc-0301). I downloaded the drivers from here.
The step by step installation is here ….

Step 0

Install the kernel-devel package from the above specified site.

[root@localhost ~]# rpm -ivh kernel-devel-yourkernel.rpm

Step 1

Untar the drivers.

[root@localhost ~]# tar -xvzf rt2500-1.1.0-b4.tar.gz

Step 2

Change the directory to Module

[root@localhost ~]# cd rt2500-1.1.0-b4/Module/

Step 3

compile the modules

[root@localhost ~]# make

If this gives error like this

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make[1]: Entering directory '/usr/src/kernels/2.6.18-1.2798.fc6-xen-i686'
CC [M]  /home2/Softwares/Drivers/rt2500-1.1.0-b4/Module/rtmp_main.o
In file included from /home2/Softwares/Drivers/rt2500-1.1.0-b4/Module/rtmp_main.c:50:
/home2/Softwares/Drivers/rt2500-1.1.0-b4/Module/rt_config.h:58:40: error: linux/config.h: No such file or directory
make[2]: *** [/home2/Softwares/Drivers/rt2500-1.1.0-b4/Module/rtmp_main.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [_module_/home2/Softwares/Drivers/rt2500-1.1.0-b4/Module] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory '/usr/src/kernels/2.6.18-1.2798.fc6-xen-i686'
rt2500.ko failed to build!
make: *** [module] Error 1

Then open the file rt_config.h and comment the line #include<linux/config.h> and again compile by issuing make.
If you get a different error try to debug if you know c-programming a bit.
Step 4. [Do as root]
Install the module

[root@localhost ~]# make install-fedora

Step 5 [Do as root]

Configure the wlan card.

[root@localhost ~]# neat

Now select a new connection and wireless and the the Ralink driver. Thats it. Activate the wlan0.

Hope this help a bit.
More suggestions are welcome.

Edit : If you are looking for wireless configuration in Fedora 7, here is a reference.

 

8 thoughts on “How To: Configure Wireless with Ralink (rt2500) Level One WNC-0301 in Fedora Core 6”

  1. Ndiswrapper requires 8 kb stack, ndiswrapper version 1.25 works fine with fc6. Just download any fc6 kernel source rpm and install it. Change the option to 8kb.

  3. hey i am getting the following error . I have installed kernel-devel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.i686.rpm but even then. Can u help me out …
    make: *** /lib/modules/2.6.18-1.2798.fc6/build: No such file or directory. Stop.
    rt2500.ko failed to build!
    make: *** [module] Error 1

  4. Any chance you have something that would work for another chipset? I have one of the Belkin AGN100 PCMCIA cards and I have been unable to get it working as of yet. I have almost decided that I will have to recompile the kernel, but even attempts to do that have led me to nothing but frustration with the FC6 distro.

    Any assistance would be appreciated!

  5. We are installing a module for wirelss card for FC6.
    Wirelesscard specification:
    “D-Link DWL-G510 AirPlus G Wireless PCI”

    When i say make it gives following error.

    make -C /lib/modules/2.6.18-1.2798.fc6xen/build SUBDIRS=/opt/RT61_Linux_STA_Drv1.0.4.0/Module modules
    make: *** /lib/modules/2.6.18-1.2798.fc6xen/build: Not a directory. Stop.
    make: *** [all] Error 2

    I am following the procedure you have said.
    I have installed kernel devel package.
    You have said to comment a #include file.
    In rt_config.h file there are many include files. Which include file we have to comment-out?

    Thanks in advance,
    jaya.

  6. Hi Kulbir,

    First of all, thanks for the information. I was able to follow the whole procedure and under System>administration>Network in the Network Configuration under Hardware I see rt2500 Wireless wlan0 configured but I do not find wlan0 under devices to select and activate. Please suggest my kernel is linux-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.i686.

    Thanks again
    Pooja Shrivastava

  7. @Pooja
    all i can say is either try rebuilding the drivers or upgrade to a new kernel-2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6.i686. Sometime it gives some problems, but may work some other some …

  8. Hi every one I have the Fedora core6 and I have the TPLINK Wlam card which has the Atheros chip in it. Please tell me the way to install its driver.

    regards,

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