[H-GEN] Getting a GN-WPEAG to work in SUSE 10.0

[Rick Phillips]

> > ath0      IEEE 802.11g  ESSID:"cornford"  Nickname:"peach"
> >           Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.432 GHz  Access Point: 00:0F:3D:FB:6B:E4
> >           Bit Rate:1 Mb/s   Tx-Power:18 dBm   Sensitivity=0/3
> >           Retry:off   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
> >           Encryption key:A36F-F782-9B   Security mode:restricted
> >           Power Management:off
> >           Link Quality=0/94  Signal level=-95 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
> >           Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
> >           Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
> > 
> > I am not sure what all this means but the card works fine under win98
> > on the same machine. Under Suse, the power led is steady and the link
> > led winks on and off. All other settings are the same as those under
> > windows. But I cannot ping the access point. I have placed the
> > interface in the router's external zone and the AP (a D-Link router) is
> > accepting pings. So just some helpful hints would do.
> 
> This line:
>   Link Quality=0/94  Signal level=-95 dBm  Noise level=-95 dBm
> means the card can't see any signal.
> 
> That means either there isn't any signal, or Linux the
> Linux drivers don't work for this card.  However, others have
> got the Linux drivers to work for this card:
>   http://www.ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-77446.html
> 
> To investigate the "No Signal" issue I suggest browsing this
> site, which is the home of the Linux drivers for your chip.
> You are in luck - they look very active, so if you post a
> question it will probably be answered:
>   http://madwifi.org/
> 
> If the driver's are not working, it may be because you have
> an old kernel.  You didn't say.  Try upgrading the latest
> kernel.  If you are not too tied to SuSE, try Ubuntu.  Every
> post I have seen on the Internet that says they have it
> working also says they are running that.  Not that it should
> matter, if you have a reasonable up-to-date kernel -  say
> 2.6.12 or better.
> 
FWIW, I have a card with the identical chipset working on a Mandriva
box.  The missing link for me (which Mandriva told me I needed) was
mad-wifi.  Just make sure that that RPM is installed.

Rick Phillips