Fedora Core 4 :: Wireless

This article dicusses configuring Intel 2200 wireless network card to access the internet. Before you begin, make sure that you have the following :

1. Intel 2200 Pro B/G Wireless network card
2. Kernel - 2.6.11-1.1369_FC4. You can check this by typing uname -r at the command prompt.
3. Three rpms (You may get them from here)
   1. ipw2200-firmware-2.2-5.at.noarch.rpm
   2. ipw2200-kmdl-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4-1.0.0-23.rhfc4.at.i686.rpm
   3. ipw2200-1.0.0-23.rhfc4.at.i386.rpm
4. Super User password

Instructions given in this page are what I used to configure my Sony Vaio VGN-S360 notebook. These may very well be applicable to your computer, of other brand/model. However, note that you are using these instructions at your very own risk and this website, sgowtham.net, is not responsible for any/all damage caused to your property, intellectual or otherwise.

1. Getting ready

1. Login as root
2. Run iwconfig --version
   You should see something like
   

   iwconfig  Wireless-Tools version 28
             Compatible with Wireless Extension v11 to v17.
   
   Kernel    Currently compiled with Wireless Extension v17.
   
   eth1      Recommend Wireless Extension v16 or later,
             Currently compiled with Wireless Extension v17.
   

3. Get into /lib/modules/2.6.11-1.1369_FC4/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ipw2200 and backup the file(s). I did
   cp ipw2200.ko ipw2200.ko.bak
4. Get into /lib/modules/2.6.11-1.1369_FC4/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/ieee80211 and backup the file(s). I used a similar convention as in previous step
5. Install the three rpms in the following order
   1. rpm -ivh ipw2200-firmware-2.2-5.at.noarch.rpm
   2. rpm -ivh ipw2200-kmdl-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4-1.0.0-23.rhfc4.at.i686.rpm
   3. rpm -ivh ipw2200-1.0.0-23.rhfc4.at.i386.rpm
6. Reboot the machine

2. Making it work

1. Longer Method
   1. Main Menu » System Tool » Internet Configuration Wizard. Enter root password
   2. New » Wireless connection » Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG (eth1)
   3. In the next dialog box (Configure Wireless Connection, enter the details of the network you are connecting to. Remember to prefix your key with 0x if you are using Hex format
   4. In the next dialog box (Configure Network Settings, check Automatically obtain IP address settings with dhcp. Also check Automatically obtain DNS information from provider. Apply these settings in the next dialog box
   5. In the next dialog box, with Wireless (eth1) highlighted, select Activate on boot option under Edit tab. Save the settings and activate the device
2. Shorter Method
   1. Main Menu » Desktop » System Settings » Server Settings » Services. Enter root password
   2. Check NetworkManager (first in the list of services), press Start and Save. Close the dialog box
   3. Type NetworkManagerInfo (from a normal user account) in a terminal
   4. You should see a radar-like icon in your panel (top panel or bottom pannel) in the notification area
   5. Upon clicking the radar, you should be presented with a list of available wireless network in the neighborhood. Pick the one you wish to connect to. Depending on settings (access point settings), you may be prompted to enter the network key
   6. Upon connecting you should see the signal strength in the notification area
3. You can use NetworkManager to pick a network, if you keep hopping from one wireless network to another

3. Updating Drivers

Updating the drivers corresponding the new versions of FC4 kernels should be a relatively easier job.
Just download the appropriate ipw2200-kmdl-NEWKERNEL-1.0.0-23-rhfc4.at.i686.rpm and upgrade the previous one using the command

rpm -Uvh ipw2200-kmdl-NEWKERNEL-1.0.0-23.rhfc4.at.i686.rpm

Reboot the machine and it should be working as usual. If it does not (I have seen it in some laptops), then just do the following:

1. rpm -ivh--force ipw2200-firmware-2.2-5.at.noarch.rpm
2. rpm -ivh --force ipw2200-kmdl-NEWKERNEL-1.0.0-23.rhfc3.at.i686.rpm
3. rpm -ivh --force ipw2200-1.0.0-23.rhfc4.at.i386.rpm

It should work fine after a reboot.

4. YUM Dependency Problem

With ipw2200-firmware-2.2-5.at.noarch.rpm installed, when you try updating your machine using yum -y update, it might stop with the following error message :

Resolving Dependencies
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Package ipw2200-firmware.noarch 0:2.3-2.fc set to be updated
--> Running transaction check
--> Processing Dependency: ipw2200-firmware = 2.2 for package: ipw2200-kmdl-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Error: Missing Dependency: ipw2200-firmware = 2.2 is needed by package ipw2200-kmdl-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4

In such an event, just download ipw2200-firmware-2.3-6.at.noarch.rpm, and install it using the command

rpm -ivh --force ipw2200-firmware-2.3-6.at.noarch.rpm

Then on, yum should work as it used to before, with no complaints.

Last Update : Tue Jun 28 08:22:23 EDT 2005