WLAN on the iMX53QSB?

[ArminBaldemair]

Hi,

I tried to use a WLAN USB stick with the iMX53QSB, but it doesn't work - lsusb shows the sticks but iwconfig doesn't recognize them. I tried it with two Netgear-Sticks (MA111, WG111V2), an Allnet-Stick (with a Ralink Chip) and a Joy-It-Stick (with a Realtek Chip). All four should be Linux compatible but I think they are only compatbilbe with Intel-based Linux versions, not with ARM-based.

I also tried to use ndiswrapper but I can't find the required packages in the apt repositories (ndisgtk,...) and it was also not possible to make a driver because there are no header-files available.

I'm using the standard Ubuntu version (Lucid).

Has anyone an idea how to get WLAN running on the i.MX53 QSB?

Best regards

Armin

[PeterKardos]

Hi,

it's been a while since i've worked with u-boot, we've switched to barebox (u-boot v2). However, if i remember correctly, there was a environment variable(s) for TFTP, like "tftppath=/tftpboot/". Via tftp you're able to load a custom kernel via network.

I would check the environment variables (printenv) to be sure... Unfortunately, i must tell you to rtm, i really don't remember :(.

To start a custom kernel you would then do something like tftp <my_net_path>/uImage; bootm uImage (this is how it works in barebox).

However you must have a tftp server running, and i would recommend having a NFS server as well. This way you can always run your latest build (kernel and rootfs) without the need to flash every time. This how i develop/test my stuff...

-Kardy

[ArminBaldemair]

Hi,

the module prism2_usb.ko does not exist in the directory of the current kernel. I can only find an "ath" directory in /lib/modules/2.6.35.3-744-g27fdf7b/kernel/drivers/net/wireles .

But it seems, that there is another kernel version "2.6.31-612-imx51" installed. /lib/modules/2.6.31-612-imx51/kernel/drivers/net/wireless contains many kernel objects. Is it possible to boot the older "imx51"-kernel version? I think there should be a possibilty to tell uboot to boot the other kernel, but I don't know how.

Armin

[PeterKardos]

Hi,

insmod needs the absolute path as well, like insmod /lib/modules/2.6.35.3/kernel/drives/net/<look_here>/prism2_usb.ko

To be honest, i'm not sure about the origin of the kernel. Have you checked opensource.freescale.com? Here you can checkout and/or download the various Freescale kernels...

-Kardy

[ArminBaldemair]

Hi,

I'm not sure if the module exists. It should, because Ubuntu Lucid should have it built in and I installed the linux-wlan-ng packages which includes this module too. But I'm not sure.

"insmod prism2_usb" tells me that the file does not exist.

I can't rebuild the kernel because I have no header sources. apt-get tries to fetch files from 10.192.225.224 ... i think this must be a private repository server within the Freescale corparate network. I'm currenty using the kernel "2.6.35.3-744-g27fdf7b", which seems to be a Freescale-customized version?

Armin

Peter Kardos said:

Are you sure the module really exists? If it does, have you tried insmod?

If it doesn't exist, probably the easiest way would be rebuilding the kernel, or allowing "contrib" and "non-free" (names from debian) package repositories and look there.

[PeterKardos]

Are you sure the module really exists? If it does, have you tried insmod?

If it doesn't exist, probably the easiest way would be rebuilding the kernel, or allowing "contrib" and "non-free" (names from debian) package repositories and look there.

[ArminBaldemair]

Thanks for your reply!

I installed the linux-wlan-ng package, which includes the prims2_usb driver for the Netgear MA111 but it still does not work.

When I try "modprobe prism2_usb" i get the message:

FATAL: Module prism2_usb not found.
I tried to reinstall the linux-wlan-ng package but that doesn't help. Any idea?

Thanks,
Armin

Peter Kardos said:

Hi,

most of the WLAN devices require a binary file (firmware) to be loaded along with the kernel module. I would check the logs for error(s) like "can't find firmware <name>.bin".

I'm not 100% sure, but if remember right, there was a package in Ubuntu with various WLAN firmwares...

-Kardy

[PeterKardos]

Hi,

most of the WLAN devices require a binary file (firmware) to be loaded along with the kernel module. I would check the logs for error(s) like "can't find firmware <name>.bin".

I'm not 100% sure, but if remember right, there was a package in Ubuntu with various WLAN firmwares...

-Kardy