Linux Voodoo Howto's: Linksys WPC11™ v.4 and other Realtek 8081 based network cards HOWTO

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Configuring the Linksys WPC11 (v4) - or other Realtek 8180 based cards

Introduction

As of this writing (December 09 2003), there are no other drivers available except for the ones on Realtek's ftp site (See references below). Luckily these drivers work without any problems (at least on debian and redhat) but your milage may vary.

For a while the WPC11 v4 was unsupported until Realtek released the drivers a few months ago so here's a short howto on using those. This howto probably will not be very helpful as the documentation in the drivers package is pretty self explanatory.

Again, I used Debian GNU/Linux (shameless plug: the new base for future Voodoo Linux releases) running kernel 2.4.20. The average setup time for this *should* be under 10 minutes, unless your system does not meet the requirements as listed below. The driver package includes it's own wlanup/down scripts so that should speed things up a bit.

Requirements

You need to have the basic development tools installed to run make etc, the (previously compiled for your system) Linux kernel source code (usually found in /usr/src/linux), the latest pcmcia-cs package and the Realtek drivers. Links are available in the resources section below.

wireless-tools is another package not required but helpfull to view your signal strength and other diagnostic reports.

Realtek releases 2 sets of drivers; one for gcc 2.96 and one for gcc 3.2x. To find out which version you have run gcc -v

Kernel Configuration

You should not have to make many kernel modifications, but if you want Wireless Extension support (/proc/net/wireless and ifconfig access), complete the following steps.

From /usr/src/linux start the kernel configuration by running any of the following commands: make config, make menuconfig or make xconfig.
Go to Network device support
Click or go to Wireless LAN (non-hamradio).
From there set Wireless LAN (non-hamradio) to "y".
Save and Exit the kernel setup utility
Complete your kernel configuration: make dep, make clean, make bzImage, make modules, make modules_install and finally make install. Don't forget to update your bootloader if you made major kernel revision changes.

See the related image. (click on the help button for more information during the kernel setup). For general information on configuring your kernel see the links in the resources section below. Ofcourse if you want to do it the Debian way, use the kernel-package tools to complile the kernel (make-kpkg kernel_image modules_image --initrd <- your options might be different.)

pcmcia-cs package

There are a few ways to install this package depending on your distribution. See the resources link for a download location. pcmcia-cs is usually included with your distribution so check with them first for the latest package. If you're using a Debian GNU/Linux based distribution run apt-get install pcmcia-cs. No special configuration should be needed.

The Realtek driver package

For a download link to the driver package see the resources section below. The configuration for this package is fairly straightforward. The steps are summarized below:

Unpack the drivers: unzip rtl8180_linuxdrv_v14_rh90.zip
Change to the package directory: cd release
Edit the Makefile: vi Makefile - On line 5 you might want to change the KERNELRELEASE to reflect your kernel and source directory. Save and exit when done.
Build the driver: make
Edit the wlanup script: You'll have to enter your networks information such as SSID and your WEP key(s). This part is well documented and should not require any heavy modification.

After this is done your WPC11 should be able to join the network with the correct™ SSID and WEP settings.

Fine tuning your wlan config files
Theirs is enough information in the included readme file if you need to add other network parameters.

General Network configuration

You can set your WPC11 card to use DHCP or static IP by editing the wlanup file. The settings there are self explanatory and include enough comments. (Also see my wlanup I currently use. It is slightly different from the default one but it works for me). I also placed my wlanup file in the init start-up directories so it starts up/shuts down without my intervention.

Help

If you encounter any problems feel free to use our resources section and join our live chat (available from your member login screen).

In a hurry? Let us walk you through the installation, step by step and have it installed now! Click here to continue.

Resources and Links

sample wlanup file [download]
wireless-tools [download]
pcmcia-cs [download]
Realtek's 8180 Drivers [download]
Voodoo Linux [product info]
Debian GNU/Linux [product info]
EtherFastWireless AP + Cable/DSL Router w/4-Port Switch [product info]
Understanding, Configuring and Installing the Linux kernel [howto]
Linksys Group Inc. [Manufacturer's site]

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