[ltp] Newbie's Guide to Wireless LAN on Thinkpad 42p with Atheros Chipset

[James Ryan]

Matt,

Actually, the naming convention really doesn't matter.  The
Redhat/Fedora network config GUI just looks in the directory
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
for a file named 
ifcfg-xxxx
where xxxx is the name of the device.

So, to get ath0 to work with the network scripts, you just need to
create a configuration file in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
The file is called ifcfg-ath0
The best way to create it is to use the network config gui to set up a
"dummy" wireless card, then use the file it creates as a template.

Example:
Open redhat-config-network
Click "New"
Select "Wireless Connection"
Select "Other Wireless Card"
Choose "PCMCIA wavelan_cs"  (I don't think it matters what you choose)
Set your wireless settings (Mode, essid, channel, transmit rate, WEP
key)
Set your IP settings
It will create a new device for you, called something like eth1 or eth2
(depending on how many you already have, I assume eth2 below).
Go to /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts
There should be a new config file corresponding to the new device just
created (such as ifcfg-eth2).
Copy it as follows:
cp ifcfg-eth2 ifcfg-ath0

Also, copy the WEP key file:
cp keys-eth2 keys-ath0

Now, use a text editor to exit ifcfg-ath0 and change the following line:
DEVICE=eth2
to 
DEVICE=ath0

Now, close the network config GUI and then run it again.  You should see
an entry for ath0.  You can delete the "dummy" eth2.  You may have to
re-enter the WEP key in ath0...

You may have trouble since the driver doesn't implement all of the
wireless extensions.  If this doesn't work, just use a shell script,
that's what I do!

-James




On Tue, 2004-06-22 at 14:05, Matt Ettus wrote:
> Quoting James Ryan <jamesr@totalinfosecurity.com>:
> 
> > Just to save anyone else the frustration, here's what I did:
> 
> Thank you so much for this.  It did end a lot of frustration for me.
> 
> I should say that if you use FC2, then you can get an rpm for this driver at
> atrpms.net.  It doesn't seem to control the Wireless LED on my T41, but I guess
> I'll have to live with that :)
> 
> 
> > Now, configure it.  It's helpful to bring up the interface first, since
> > it will auto-configure a lot of settings.
> > ifconfig ath0 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx netmask yyy.yyy.yyy.yyy up
> >
> > Of course, you need to specify your ip address and netmask here.
> 
> My only remaining problem is getting this card to work with the normal Fedora
> network setup stuff since the manual method is, well, manual.  I would like to
> not have to tell the system what access point, what IP address, what netmask,
> and what routes to use.  Any idea how to use dhcp?
> 
> The FC2 network scripts seem to only work with ethX and not athX.  Why did the
> madwifi and/or atheros guys insist on using athX?  It is so nonstandard.
> 
> Anyway, thanks again,
> Matt