Re: Help with Netgear MA401 wireless card...?

[René Seindal <rene@seindal.dk>]

On Fri, Nov 15, 2002 at 04:29:53PM -0500, Mason Loring Bliss wrote:
> On Thu, Nov 14, 2002 at 05:29:09PM -0500, Mason Loring Bliss wrote:
> 
> > eth0: Error -19 reading firmware info. Wildly guessing capabilities...
> > eth0: Station identity 0000:0000:0000:0000
> > eth0: Looks like an Intersil firmware version 0.00
> > eth0: Intersil firmware earlier than v0.08 - several features not supported
> > eth0: Ad-hoc demo mode supported
> > hermes @ 0x100: Card removed while issuing command.
> > eth0: failed to read MAC address!
> > orinoco_cs: register_netdev() failed
> 
> If anyone has an answer for this, please email me off-list. For now I'm
> going to zap Debian off that partition until I can usefully get it to
> access my network. If someone replies with a solution, I'll gladly re-
> install.

I use such a card as I am writing this.

root@segesta 4987 # cardctl ident
Socket 0:
  product info: "NETGEAR MA401RA Wireless PC", "Card", "ISL37300P",
  "Eval-RevA"
  manfid: 0x000b, 0x7300
  function: 6 (network)

I do have some problems as the driver blocks every once in a while, and
I have to reset it.  Apparently the Prism or Intersil firmware is being
changed regularly in undocumented ways, giving the driver developers a
lot of problem.

When I boot I get this:

kernel: eth1: Station identity 001f:0006:0001:0003
kernel: eth1: Looks like an Intersil firmware version 1.03
kernel: eth1: Ad-hoc demo mode supported
kernel: eth1: IEEE standard IBSS ad-hoc mode supported
kernel: eth1: WEP supported, 104-bit key
kernel: eth1: MAC address 00:30:AB:20:29:08
kernel: eth1: Station name "Prism  I"
kernel: eth1: ready
kernel: eth1: index 0x01: Vcc 5.0, irq 3, io 0x0100-0x013f
cardmgr[241]: executing: './network start eth1'
cardmgr[241]: + /sbin/iwconfig eth1 channel 3
cardmgr[241]: + Error for wireless request "Set Frequency" (8B04) :
cardmgr[241]: +     SET failed on device eth1 ; Operation not supported.
kernel: eth1: Error -110 setting multicast list.

The last error messages are bogus, as the frequency is changed.

Make sure you install a rather new kernel so you get a recent version of
the orinoco driver.  I use 2.4.19 with orinoco_cs 0.11b.  Not perfect
but usable.

-- 
René Seindal (rene@seindal.dk)              http://www.seindal.dk/rene/