[SOLVED] Cisco Aironet 350 0n Thinkpad

[Trio3b]

PCLOS 2012.12 LXDE fully updated on Thinkpad T22. Relatively new to wireless and completely new to ndiswrapper and pcmcia cards. So far linux wireless has been more friendly than expected and almost all installations have picked up wireless on variety of family laptops.

Inherited several older Thinkpad T series laptops that I have setup as dual boots with Wxp. Will be donating these and need to setup the wireless cards as this series of laptop had no wireless.  The cards are Cisco Aironet 350 and I believe the interface is pcmcia ( plug into side of laptop). My experience has shown that before I start downloading and installing drivers and doing the ndiswrapper thing, I might be missing something easy. These cards work on the Wxp side ( although there may be issues with wpa that I haven't verified).

PCC shows the pcmcia interface as Texas Instruments PCI 1450 - module yenta_socket
lspci shows the cardbus bridge correctly but no w/l card
lsusb shows yenta_socket loaded

Google returns airo and airo_cs modules are what's used for this pcmcia card.  After modprobe'ing, airo and airo_cs do show up in lsusb

ifconfig shows only eth0 and lo
iwconfig show lo, irda0, eth0 all with NO wireless extensions

PCC networking initiates "use a windows driver ( with ndiswrapper)" No matter what I select ( out of 15-20 choices) it returns " no device supporting the xxxxx ndiswrapper driver is present" and "some components required but not available". I found what are supposed to be the aironet drivers in the Wxp install and moved them to the lxde install but am never asked to point anything to them via PCC.  Then looked in synaptic and saw something resembling Linksys ndiswrapper ( apparently at some point Linksys is/was connected with Cisco) but no go.

 I can d/l the drivers from Cisco, but Google and linuxwireless.com seem to indicate this card is supported in the kernel.

Any help from someone familiar with this older setup and/or ndiswrapper would be appreciated.

[GermanTux]

Quick question - since I have used that card under Linux, and it has worked for years natively.  Does the card work with Windows XP?  The Aironet cards had a history of breaking due to pressure placed on the antenna (the part that sticks out of the side of the PCMCIA slot). 

[Trio3b]

Yes, cards working under WinXP although as mentioned I have not checked WPA and am not sure if these are 802.11b only or a/b/g.

Must be missing something simple as /var/log messages shows that  some unspecified card is plugged in but no networking tools (whether GUI or console) show any w/l adapter.

I have since added the card to /etc/pcmcia/wlan_ng.conf but still no go

[GermanTux]

That it does not showing up under lspci is very worrying.  That means the O/S does not even see it properly...which points to the PCMCIA driver.  Does the card show up at all with the following command: dmesg (warning, it is a lot of output, but it has helped on more than one hardware issue for me).  

Try this link, and definitely see if you can see anything with dmesg instead of lspci.  

[Trio3b]

relevant dmesg shows

pcmcia_socket0: pccard PCMCIA card inserted into slot 0
Loading kernel module for a network device with CAP_SYS_MODULE (deprecated).  Use CAP_NET_ADMIN and alias netdev- wlan1 instead


I don't think PCMCIA is running. It is not listed under PCC system services and there are no PCMCIA files in /etc to turn on according to the PCMCIA how to.

pcmciautils is installed according to synaptic. I downloaded pcmcia_cs2.6.8 and ran make config according to directions but first error is "cardbus must be disabled" then script says to rerun. This time second error is PCMCIA not enabled in kernel but can't find where to fire it up.

Google returns several places in /etc to fire up pcmcia but they all refer to files that are non-existent on my system ?!?!?

Strange. Have a sneaky feeling this is going to be simple but can't find it.

[Trio3b]

Wow, that took entirely too long.

sbin/pcmcia-socket-startup ( which apparently fires up some script that auto-loads the airo modules)

BTW, this command appears to be nowhere found in the PCMCIA-HOWTO. I just stumbled across it. Maybe I can convince them to put it in the docs.

status light now blinking. PCC now sees aironet card ( no ndiswrapper needed). net connection is id eth1 instaed of wlan0 or wlan1

lspci still shows nothing
dmesg | tail -20 shows airo (eth1): unkown status 8301
var log messages shows a line indicating WPA supported but no connection to my network which is WPA and MAC address filtered.
iwconfig shows the card listed both as wifi0 and eth1 but the device is listed as IEEE 802.11-DS instead of a/b/g

1. Apparently this card is 2.4ghz-DS whatever that means. Cisco site indicates these are "b" models which is supposed to generally be compatible with "g" routers which I am running (Linksys WRT54G)
2. will have to figure out how and where to start pcmcia at startup.
3 No no conection either with Winxp or linux either open or WPA

Further along but still no joy.



Any  thoughts  appreciated.

[pags]

...
3 No no conection either with Winxp or linux either open or WPA

Further along but still no joy.



Any  thoughts  appreciated.

That makes me think of this:

Quick question - since I have used that card under Linux, and it has worked for years natively.  Does the card work with Windows XP?  The Aironet cards had a history of breaking due to pressure placed on the antenna (the part that sticks out of the side of the PCMCIA slot). 

Also, I',m noth sure this helped anything:

...I downloaded pcmcia_cs2.6.8 and ran make config according to directions but first error is "cardbus must be disabled" then script says to rerun. This time second error is PCMCIA not enabled in kernel but can't find where to fire it up.

...

Mostly because this:

relevant dmesg shows

pcmcia_socket0: pccard PCMCIA card inserted into slot 0
Loading kernel module for a network device with CAP_SYS_MODULE (deprecated).  Use CAP_NET_ADMIN and alias netdev- wlan1 instead
...

Would have indicated to me that the PCMCIA slot is working, and has modules loaded (although, possibly mis-configured)

 

[Trio3b]

Assuming the antenna is working as the networks are picked up in both Winxp and pclos but it is possible the device is mis-named although I deleted all interfaces and started from scratch via PCC.

Still wondering what the DS designation is on the card. Am used to seeing wireless b / g / etc

[pags]

Assuming the antenna is working as the networks are picked up in both Winxp and pclos but it is possible the device is mis-named although I deleted all interfaces and started from scratch via PCC.

Still wondering what the DS designation is on the card. Am used to seeing wireless b / g / etc

Not sure...
Does this shine any light?
http://lists.shmoo.com/pipermail/hostap/2004-July/007475.html

[Trio3b]

UPDATE:
Your link refers to someone who receives the DS designation via software whereas my cards have 2.4ghz-DS 11 mbps printed on the card itself

Card is now visible as eth1 in pclos tray applet.

As of this morning disabled router WPA ( no encryption) and MAC filter list Also set to wireless B although had been set to mixed. Disabled Windows Firewall and am able to connect.

Ditto PCLOS - with no encryption and set to "B" am able to connect.

Now enabled "mixed" ( B and G)  on router and still working so I guess it is an 802.11b compliant device after all.

Now enabled WPA and no connection . I have read conflicting info on whether or not this is a WPA capable device.

1. Best place to put the /sbin/pcmcia-socket-startup script to start at boot? ( otherwise I must run as root in terminal every time)
2. Any ideas on getting WPA working? According to Cisco, their linux drivers support WPA but I'd rather not start tinkering with having to swap out the airo module for Cisco. Maybe it's not too bad. Who knows? If not, these laptops will be donated to people who would probably use them at open networks anyway ( coffee shop, library, etc)

If I don't get WPA working soon will marked thread as solved anyway.

Thanks

[pags]

UPDATE:
Card is now visible to tray netconfig as eth1 in pclos

As of this morning disabled router WPA ( no encryption) and MAC filter list Also set to wireless B although had been set to mixed. Disabled Windows Firewall and am able to connect.

Ditto PCLOS - with no encryption and set to "B" am able to connect.

Now enabled "mixed" ( B and G)  on router and still working so I guess it is an 802.11b compliant device after all.

 Now enabled WPA and no connection . I have read conflicting info on whether or not this is a WPA capable device.

1. Where to place the /sbin/pcmcia-socket-startup script to start at boot?
2. Any ideas on getting WPA working? If not, these laptops will be donated to people who would probably use them at open networks anyway ( coffe shop, library, etc)

If I don't get WPA working soon will marked thread as solved anyway.

Thanks

To get something to run at bootup (regardless of whether a user is logged in), edit the "rc.local" file as route to include the command.  It is located in /etc/rc.d/rc.local (with a link pointing to it at /etc/rc.local).

As far as the "b" (vs "DS") designation and performance, looking at thebit of information I posted, and your resultes (i.e. running without any encryption), I would stringly recommend you consider replacing that as soon as your circumstances allow.  If you have USB2 on your PC, you should be find relatively inexpensive USB wireless adapters that work with Linux.  I'm running a couple at home, and many others here have as well...

[pags]

This has native support:

[jpaglia@B-Buz ~]$ lsmod | grep ar9
ar9170usb              46122  0
mac80211              189557  2 ar9170usb,carl9170
ath                    11515  2 ar9170usb,carl9170
cfg80211              125763  4 ar9170usb,carl9170,mac80211,ath
usbcore               117475  10 snd_usb_audio,snd_usbmidi_lib,usbhid,ar9170usb,uas,usb_storage,carl9170,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd
[jpaglia@B-Buz ~]$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 07d1:3a09 D-Link System DWA-160 802.11abgn Xtreme N Dual Band Adapter(rev.A2) [Atheros AR9170+AR9104]
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 0bda:0151 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Mass Storage Device (Multicard Reader)
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 192f:0416 Avago Technologies, Pte.
[jpaglia@B-Buz ~]$

[Trio3b]

As far as the "b" (vs "DS") designation and performance, looking at thebit of information I posted, and your resultes (i.e. running without any encryption), I would stringly recommend you consider replacing that as soon as your circumstances allow.  If you have USB2 on your PC, you should be find relatively inexpensive USB wireless adapters that work with Linux.  I'm running a couple at home, and many others here have as well...

Yes we all use the USB Netgear WG111v3 which works great on laptops that do not have it built in but I received a number of these Aironet cards I didn't want sitting around so now these Thinkpads have a way to connect.



Anyway, supposedly this Aironet 350 card supports WPA.

Yes, all this was done on home network just for testing.Have reset router back to WPA/TKIP and MAC filtering for my home network, but will tinker for a few days.

These thinkpads are up for donation and will be used by people who can't afford home DSL so they will probably use open networks to connect. Would be nice to get WPA/WPA2 working just for the fun.

Thanks for the tips

[GermanTux]

OK, trio you have gotten pretty darn far.  I even learned how to start PCMCIA services  

In answer to your question, the Aironet 350 is an older 801.11b card.  You need a G card to support WPA2.  For WPA, that Cisco adapter needs a firmware upgrade to support it if I can remember correctly.  The older B cards were designed when WEP was the only choice. 

Check out this link.  Midway down the page you will see a link for 802.11a/b (CB20A, 350 Series, 340 Series).  The download (see if this link works) can be run on your windows partition while the card is plugged in. 

Good luck. 

[Trio3b]

OK, trio you have gotten pretty darn far.  I even learned how to start PCMCIA services  

In answer to your question, the Aironet 350 is an older 801.11b card.  You need a G card to support WPA2.  For WPA, that Cisco adapter needs a firmware upgrade to support it if I can remember correctly.  The older B cards were designed when WEP was the only choice. 

Check out this link.  Midway down the page you will see a link for 802.11a/b (CB20A, 350 Series, 340 Series).  The download (see if this link works) can be run on your windows partition while the card is plugged in. 

Good luck. 

Looks like you are correct. Will give it a go when time permits but access to the card is solved and pcmcia now set to run at boot.
Thanks