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WG111v2, rtl8187 and 2.6.26 kernel on slack

rtl-wifi
slackadmin
2008-07-22
2013-05-02
  • slackadmin

    slackadmin - 2008-07-22

    Hi all,

    I was able to make my USB WG111v2 working on slackware 12.0 with 2.6.26
    kernel compiled from scratch enabling the rtl8187 module.

    1)On the wireless connection I enabled the WEP encryption (of course with the same
      keys set on the AP):

    iwconfig wlan0 key restricted 1234567890
    iwconfig wlan0 key [1] 1234567890
    iwconfig wlan0 key [2] 1122334455
    iwconfig wlan0 key [3] 6677889900
    iwconfig wlan0 key [4] 0987654321

    2) Then I set the essid to view the AP:

    iwconfig wlan0 essid linux

    3) At the end I started the DHCP client on wlan0:

    dhcpcd wlan0

    The wlan0 interface caught the 192.168.0.x IP address (192.168.0.1 is
    the default IP address of the AP) and now it's perfectly working!!!
    Now I'm playing with RF parameters as TX power (27 dBm are too much!)
    and auto power

    Bye!

     
    • Gian Paolo Mureddu

      Let me get this straight... You have a USB-based RTL-8187 device, which can only be an 8187b (as that's the chip for USB dongles, AFAIK)and all you had to do was to enable the 8187 driver in the 2.6.26 kernel and it *worked*? And you are using WEP (open or shared key)? And you didn't have to build the "unofficial-use-on-your-own" Cuervo driver? (I'm grateful for that driver, for the record... Is just that the lack of a better encryption scheme was irritating)... Just a small request of you... To make sure this is indeed not a dream... Could you post the output from /sbin/lsusb? I'd be quite surprised if you had anything different than a 8187b chip there... And confirmation of 2.6.26 supporting this chipset out-of-the-box are indeed awesome news!

       
      • tennis2

        tennis2 - 2008-09-30

        RealTek have produced at least 3 USB RTL8187 family chips. The RTL8187, RTL8187L and RTL8187B. The RTL8187 was first and only has hardware support for WEP. When lead based solder was banned from electronic device, RealTek produced a Lead free version of the RTL8187 called the RTL8187L.  The RTL8187B has extra features including WPA, requires a different configuration EEPROM layout, has modified internal registers and modified USB messages. It is not software compatible with the other two.

        The Netgear WG111 v2 uses the RTL8187L. The Cuervo driver is for the RTL8187B.

         
    • slackadmin

      slackadmin - 2008-08-21

      Sorry for the delay of this reply, ... I was on holiday ... :-)

      The wireless device is the Netgear WG111 (v2) with USB interface, as you can see with the lsusb -v command:

      Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0846:6a00 NetGear, Inc. WG111 WiFi (v2)
      Device Descriptor:
        bLength                18
        bDescriptorType         1
        bcdUSB               1.10
        bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
        bDeviceSubClass         0
        bDeviceProtocol         0
        bMaxPacketSize0        64
        idVendor           0x0846 NetGear, Inc.
        idProduct          0x6a00 WG111 WiFi (v2)
        bcdDevice            1.00
        iManufacturer           1 NETGEAR WG111v2
        iProduct                2 NETGEAR WG111v2
        iSerial                 3 001B2F96F045
        bNumConfigurations      1
        Configuration Descriptor:
          bLength                 9
          bDescriptorType         2
          wTotalLength           39
          bNumInterfaces          1
          bConfigurationValue     1
          iConfiguration          4 Wireless Network Card
          bmAttributes         0x80
            (Bus Powered)
          MaxPower              500mA
          Interface Descriptor:
            bLength                 9
            bDescriptorType         4
            bInterfaceNumber        0
            bAlternateSetting       0
            bNumEndpoints           3
            bInterfaceClass         0 (Defined at Interface level)
            bInterfaceSubClass      0
            bInterfaceProtocol      0
            iInterface              5 Bulk-IN,Bulk-OUT,Bulk-OUT
            Endpoint Descriptor:
              bLength                 7
              bDescriptorType         5
              bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
              bmAttributes            2
                Transfer Type            Bulk
                Synch Type               None
                Usage Type               Data
              wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
              bInterval               0
            Endpoint Descriptor:
              bLength                 7
              bDescriptorType         5
              bEndpointAddress     0x02  EP 2 OUT
              bmAttributes            2
                Transfer Type            Bulk
                Synch Type               None
                Usage Type               Data
              wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
              bInterval               0
            Endpoint Descriptor:
              bLength                 7
              bDescriptorType         5
              bEndpointAddress     0x03  EP 3 OUT
              bmAttributes            2
                Transfer Type            Bulk
                Synch Type               None
                Usage Type               Data
              wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
              bInterval               0
      Device Status:     0x0000
        (Bus Powered)

      I compiled the 2.6.26 kernel with the module rtl8187 (it should be 8187L, see http://forum1.netgear.com/showthread.php?t=13033&highlight=wg111+chipset\)
      using the mac80211 protocol (so not using the deprecated old stack as suggested in the kernel)
      Then I configured it with WEP encryption (shared key) with the access point Netgear DG834: the
      iwconfig commands are those I wrote in my first post: now it's working with a S/N ratio of 24 dB

       
    • Steve Millar

      Steve Millar - 2008-08-26

      Thank you very much to the originator of this thread. I was  JUST about to give up trying to get my Netgear WG111v2 USB wireless adapter to work on my laptop. There appears to be a lot of conflicting information on this device, the wireless.kernel.org website suggests the device uses the p54 device driver since it is supposed to contain the prism54 chipset.

      I have a Toshiba A40 laptop that was running debian etch 2.6.18-6-686. I have compiled the 2.6.26.3 kernel from scratch and enabled the rtl8187 module as described above. Logged on to the Gnome desktop and lo and behold the wlan connection appeared in the network set up. I enabled the connection, typing in my SSID and DCHP, and the device connected.

      I would just add....this was my 5th attempt at compiling 2.6.26.3.....after failing to configure it correctly on 4 previous occasions due to misleading information elsewhere. I am also a NOOB as far as Linux is concerned.

      Once again.....many thanks for the information.

       
    • slackadmin

      slackadmin - 2008-08-27

      You are welcome, Steve!!!

      Here following the details about my kernel 2.6.26 (compiled from scratch) about rtl module:

      Inside Networking --> Wireless:

      *- Improved wireless configuration API
      [*]   nl80211 new netlink interface support
      -*- Wireless extensions
      <*> Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (mac80211)
      Rate control algorithm selection  --->
      [*]   Enable mac80211 mesh networking (pre-802.11s) support
      [ ]   Enable LED triggers
      [ ]   Enable packet alignment debugging
      [ ]   Enable debugging output
      < > Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (DEPRECATED)

      Inside Device drivers --> Network device support --> Wireless LAN:

      [ ] Wireless LAN (pre-802.11)
      [*] Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11)
      < >   Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 Network Connection
      < >   Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG and 2915ABG Network Connection
      < >   Marvell 8xxx Libertas WLAN driver support
      < >   Cisco/Aironet 34X/35X/4500/4800 ISA and PCI cards
      < >   Hermes chipset 802.11b support (Orinoco/Prism2/Symbol)
      < >   Atmel at76c50x chipset  802.11b support
      < >   Intersil Prism GT/Duette/Indigo PCI/Cardbus
      < >   USB ZD1201 based Wireless device support
      < >   Wireless RNDIS USB support
      < >   Realtek 8180/8185 PCI support
      <M>   Realtek 8187 USB support
      < >   ADMtek ADM8211 support
      < >   Softmac Prism54 support
      < >   Atheros 5xxx wireless cards support
      < > Intel Wireless Wifi Core
      < > Intel Wireless WiFi 4965AGN
      < > Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG/BG Network Connection
      < > IEEE 802.11 for Host AP (Prism2/2.5/3 and WEP/TKIP/CCMP)
      < > Broadcom 43xx wireless support (mac80211 stack)
      < > Broadcom 43xx-legacy wireless support (mac80211 stack)
      < > ZyDAS ZD1211/ZD1211B USB-wireless support
      < > Ralink driver support

      At the end of the kernel compiled the modules will be (lsmod command from shell):

      Module                  Size      Used by
      rtl8187                32896   0
      eeprom_93cx6     2048    1 rtl8187

      while the output of the dmesg command will sound as:
      ...
      phy0: Selected rate control algorithm 'pid'
      phy0: hwaddr 00:11:22:33:44:55, rtl8187 V1 + rtl8225z2
      usbcore: registered new interface driver rtl8187
      ...
      ...
      ...
      wlan0: Initial auth_alg=0
      wlan0: authenticate with AP 66:66:77:88:99:aa
      wlan0: RX authentication from 66:66:77:88:99:aa (alg=0 transaction=2 status=13)
      wlan0: AP denied authentication (auth_alg=0 code=13)
      wlan0: set auth_alg=1 for next try
      wlan0: authenticate with AP 66:66:77:88:99:aa
      wlan0: RX authentication from 66:66:77:88:99:aa (alg=1 transaction=2 status=0)
      wlan0: replying to auth challenge
      wlan0: RX authentication from 66:66:77:88:99:aa (alg=1 transaction=4 status=0)
      wlan0: authenticated
      wlan0: associate with AP 66:66:77:88:99:aa
      wlan0: RX AssocResp from 66:66:77:88:99:aa (capab=0x411 status=0 aid=1)
      wlan0: associated

      where 00:11:22:33:44:55 will be the MAC address of your USB netgear device
      and 66:66:77:88:99:aa the MAC address of your Access Point (AP) connected with
      your telephone line

      Bye!

       
    • ching hwang

      ching hwang - 2008-09-25

      Maybe I am wrong. I am running on ubuntu 8.04 with 2.6.26 (compile and install myself).
      I have Netgear WG111v2 but the lsusb -v show that it is not using RTL8187B chip. Instead it is using Prism chip set. The driver is p54usb. The product id= 4240 not 6100.  Isn't it very strange?  Does someone has similar situation like this? 

      part of lsusb -v info

      Bus 007 Device 009: ID 0846:4240 NetGear, Inc. WG111 WiFi (v2)
      Device Descriptor:
        bLength                18
        bDescriptorType         1
        bcdUSB               2.00
        bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
        bDeviceSubClass         0
        bDeviceProtocol         0
        bMaxPacketSize0        64
        idVendor           0x0846 NetGear, Inc.
        idProduct          0x4240 WG111 WiFi (v2)
        bcdDevice           10.40
        iManufacturer           1 GlobespanVirata
        iProduct                2 NETGEAR WG111
        iSerial                 3 3887-0000
        bNumConfigurations      1
        Configuration Descriptor:
          bLength                 9
          bDescriptorType         2
          wTotalLength           53
          bNumInterfaces          1
          bConfigurationValue     1
          iConfiguration          0
          bmAttributes         0x80
            (Bus Powered)
          MaxPower              500mA

      -----------------------------------------------------
      lsmod | grep p54

      redwood@redwood-laptop:~$ lsmod | grep p54
      p54usb                 13952  0
      p54common              12160  1 p54usb
      mac80211              175208  2 p54usb,p54common
      usbcore               154352  6 p54usb,usblp,usbhid,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
      ------------------------------------------------------------

       
      • tennis2

        tennis2 - 2008-09-30

        To ching hwang,

        You don't have a Netgear WG111v2. You have a Netgear WG111. This is  indicated by the iProduct field provided by the device (NETGEAR WG111). slackadmin posted the lsusb -v output for his Netgear WG111v2 earlier in the thread and this has iProduct NETGEAR WG111v2.

        Netgear used multiple USB ID (0846:4220 and 0846:4240) for the prism based WG111 before introducing the RTL8187 based WG111v2. Your lsusb output describes 0846:4240 as "NetGear, Inc. WG111 WiFi (v2)". This doesn't mean it is the RTL8187 based WG111v2.

         
        • ching hwang

          ching hwang - 2008-10-01

          Hi falmouth, Thanks for point out the version difference. I think I got confused WG111v2 and "WG111 (v2)". I grep the source tree and it shows my netgear device really is under prism driver

          ./drivers/net/wireless/p54/p54usb.c:    {USB_DEVICE(0x0846, 0x4240)},    /* Netgear WG111 (v2) */

          I also look closely at the usb stick. It is "WG111" although some small print show IC ID: 4054-WG111v2,  FCC ID: PY3WG111v2.  It is absolutely not WG111v2.   I also want to thank you for the information on RTL8187 history and difference you post on the other thread. It is greatly helpful.

          Thanks

           

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