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Where To Find Linux 802.11g Support Resources?
Matey-O writes "I just purchased a Linksys firewall/switch router (WAP54g) and two of their 802.11g cards for home use. Like MANY things linux, I found out after the fact that Linksys' 54g products use a different chipset (broadcom) rather than the intersil Prism chipsets of their linux supported 11b products. So my _main_ question is: does anybody know if/when the broadcom chipset will be supported? Google wasn't very helpful, it came up with an online petition to another Broadcom product, but neither Broadcom, not Linksys plan support for linux soon.
My secondary question is: Just where does one go to get info on 'cutting edge' linux development? I've used Linux off and on for years, but never needed to see what was going on this deep into the kernel, nor do I know where to look to see if any development is occurring for this chipset.
(meanwhile, RH8 is dormant on the laptop as the XP support is adequate.)"
The only place to get real up-to-the-minute support for hardware is the many mailing lists dedicated to various projects.
Search google for lists or list plus:
linux-wlan, linux-usb, gatos, v4l
etc...
Main developers for a hardware series have mailing lists. More often than not, you can actually get their attention that way (or at least, get an issue out there).
I have had good success with the linux-wlan mailing lists for doing weird things with wireless cards in the past (granted they were all prism2 cookie-cutter). But the spirit is the same.
What I find is that because creating drivers for devices in linux can be so difficult, you really need a web page dedicated to the task. Because of this, we won't see a central site for driver development. The only centralization happens when they get chosen for bundling with the kernel.
THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
Kernel Traffic
Huzzah!
Now give me a cookie.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
This is a great question, and the Broadcom people are listeners. I'll be talking to some of them in a few days in my role as a gadfly about things wireless. I'll report back (on my blog or to this thread) about their take on Linux.
My understanding is that it can be awfully tricky to build Linux support for network devices that don't release any sort of API unless you have a dedicated team willing to reverse engineer calls, decompile software, etc. I don't know if there will be a critical mass to make that happen.
Since the first company that offers Linux support in any way will obviously be the one that gets the sales from the hundreds of thousands of Linux users who want G added to their laptops and handhelds, there's a clear financial motivation, no?
Freelance tech journalist for the Economist, MIT Technology Review, Macworld, and others
And this FAQ says "the OneDriver software that ships with AirForce solutions uses the same driver for 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g, so that customers of our 802.11b solution will be able to upgrade to the newer high-speed standards without changing their PCâ(TM)s software image."
Mailing list discussions seem to indicate that there are developers willing to write drivers to support Broadcom chipsets, but Broadcom is not "forthcoming with specs."
"I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
I, too, forgot to check linux compatibility before I ordered the equipment. It has been so long since I have had hardware issues with Linux that I didn't even think of checking.
I ended up breaking out an old compaq presario 1675 laptop and loading windows98 on it. After all, I got the Linksys WPC54G and WRT54G just to learn and play. My primary linux laptop (Thinkpad A21p) is tethered to so many gadgets that wireless is next to useless anyway.
But now, I find that the battery on the compaq is shot and a new one costs as much as the laptop is worth. So, I have a wireless laptop with about 20 minutes of battery until I force myself to shell out more money for
I dropped an email to linksys asking for status on the Linux support. I'm not holding my breath.
Like MANY things linux, I found out after the fact that Linksys' 54g products use a different chipset (broadcom) rather than the intersil Prism chipsets of their linux supported 11b products.
you're surprised that 802.11g uses a different chipset than 802.11b? come on...
because 802.11g doesn't officially exist yet. All those cards are prereleases based on draft standards. I don't think it's a good idea to buy those. My recommendation: wait until the standard is finalized, then wait for cards that have officially supported Linux drivers, then go buy one. You can probably still return the stuff you bought...
I did the same mistake of buying a LinkSys WMP11 (their 802.11b PCI card). Besides being a lousy card, it also happened to be the "new" version (2.7), which is Broadcom based and hence, has no drivers under linux yet.
I've been on the wlan list since then and only get frustrated when another person comes on asking if there are drivers for it, just to get the reply I did- "No".
I did three things to try to help:
* I sent email to LinkSys, requesting information on Linux driver availability (they replied with a casual "We don't support linux" (even though you can download the wlan-ng drivers from their site). In a second letter, I explained that I would be returning the card to the retailor.
* I wrote a terrible epionion.com review of the card, explaining my situation and the way I was treated by the company (and of course posted a link to this on my website)
* Ban on LinkSys products - I will not buy a LinkSys product in the future and advise friends and family to use competing products.
I believe these are the only things we can (and must) do to get both hardware and software companies to understand that Linux is not a toy and that they should and start supporting it.
I'm no kernel hacker, but I'm sure there's no excuse for not releasing drivers for linux. If they can write a driver for Windows, it would seem to me that creating one for Linux would only be an easier task. Again, I don't know anything about driver programming, the lowest level I've worked is writing TSRs and accessing screen memory and keyboard buffers back in high school (using C, of course).
LinkSys and all these other hardware companies are not tiny firms. Hiring an open-source developer for a few months would not affect their profit. (and for the conspiracy theorists: Unless they happen to be getting subsidies by Microsoft for ignoring Linux...)
LinkSys and all these other hardware companies are not tiny firms. Hiring an open-source developer for a few months would not affect their profit. (and for the conspiracy theorists: Unless they happen to be getting subsidies by Microsoft for ignoring Linux...)
This is a very common mistake that is made by SO many Linux users. They take it as an afront that Linux drivers are ignored.
The reality of the matter is far different. While it is true that they could develop a Linux driver rather inexpensively, the real cost is in the support.
First, remember that the Linux "market" is tiny when compared to the Windows market so, there isn't a lot of money to be made there in the first place. But manufacturers such as Linksys spend a great deal of money on the support for their products. The complexities of Linux would require more support than the Windows support does and this means more money spent.
Just imagine the ordeal that Linksys would have to go through to talk Joe Sixpack through the installation and configuration of the drivers on his Gentoo install. And immediately after that they will have to do the same thing for the next person but, this time it will be SuSE.
Simply put it just isn't worth it for Linksys et al. They have nothing against Linux, it is simply a matter of economics. Even now, with a clear policy of "We do not support Linux!" they must still dedicate resources to answering questions about Linux drivers.
I know for a fact that drivers for these cards DO exist within Broadcom. I participate in the 802.11 committee, and have sat next to a Broadcom employee running linux on "unsupported" broadcom hardware. These drivers are NOT likely to be released by Broadcom. Same goes for some other chipset vendors BTW.
Consensus seems to be that if enough (potential) customers ask the product vendors (in your example, that would be Linksys, NOT Broadcom), they will produce and release drivers for linux, as Linksys has done in the past.
Note that there will probably NEVER be totally open source drivers for these. As software controlled radios, there are FCC issues. I don't pretend to understand all the issues, or agree, but I have been told essentially the same thing by several different engineers working for at least three companies.
I also don't give a rats ass if released drivers contain a closed binary only module for the software radio functions. I just want to be able to use the hardware.
A related question: is anyone working on implementing the 802.1x supplicant code which will be required to support operations using TKIP and/or CCMP, the new ciphers specified in the 802.11i DRAFT? Microsoft has devoted major resources to this, and has promised support for XP and I believe 2000. 802.1x is used for key management and distributed authentication, BTW.
Relevant standards schtuff is here
Note to Slashdot Editors: Bite me. I asked virtually the same question on the 4th of February and you rejected it.
I just sent this e-mail to support@linksys.com Hopefully I'll get an educated or at least human response...
Hello I need a Linux device driver for my WPC54G - Wireless-G Notebook Adapter.
I understand that the WPC54G card utilizes a broadcom chipset and so a new device driver is needed in order for it to operate with linux OS's.
I notice on your site you mention compatibility with the linux-wlan-ng driver for your other WPC11 cards which are based on the Intersil chipsets; However this driver does not work with the broadcom chipset in the WPC54G.
Understand that support of the Linux OS is essential for my needs. If a linux driver is not planned, I will be forced to return my WPC54G and will likely purchase hardware from another vendor tbd who does offer linux device drivers.
Please provide an ETA for a Linksys or Broadcom or open source driver release which wil enable the WPC54G card to operate...?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks
I'm sure if broadcom is too tight with their chipset design that someone else will implement 802.11g for linux someday...