[BL] Basiclinux 3.5 and wireless (ma401).

Message from Steven
===================

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
it's a netgear MA401
I understand it uses the orinoco modules,
but I'm guessing it must need more - I tried
these (downloaded from the BL3.5 main page)
and tried to use them via insmod orinoco_cs.o

Did you download the orinoco.o module too?
I think the orinoco_cs.o module needs it.
I think you also need the hermes.o module.

Put the modules in /lib/modules/2.2.26/pcmcia
You will then need to edit /etc/pcmciaconfig
Down at the bottom you will see a template for
wireless cards. You will need to do something
similar for your card.

I'm guessing it will look something like this:
-----------------------------------------
device "orinoco_cs"
class "network"
module "hermes", "orinoco", "orinoco_cs"
-----------------------------------------
Put this at the top with the other device
lines.

-------------------------------------
card "NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card"
manfid 0x0156, 0x0002
bind "orinoco_cs"
-------------------------------------
Put this with the other card lines.
You may need to change the manfid
numbers to match your card.

To configure your wireless parameters, you
may need to do something like this:
---------------------------------------------
module "orinoco_cs" opts "parameters go here"
---------------------------------------------
That goes at the bottom of /etc/pmcia/config

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-22 16:36:54 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
-----------------------------------------
Put this at the top with the other device
lines.
-------------------------------------
card "NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card"
manfid 0x0156, 0x0002
bind "orinoco_cs"
-------------------------------------
Put this with the other card lines.
You may need to change the manfid
numbers to match your card.

What you put on the first line is not important and can be shorter, just
to remind you which card it is.

cardctl ident gives the manfid number. I have one network card that does
not have any manfid. I was able instead of the manfid line to use
version " ", " ",
(inside the " " put ALL the info given for product info).

If you have two cards with the same manfid that use different modules, you
NEED to use version not manfid (that happened to me).

See the pcmcia howto for lots of info on network cards. 166 80 col pages.

cardctl is not included in BL. Does cardmgr report the same info?

I have to reboot when I change between pcmcia network cards or they won't
work. Is there some other way to do this (a reset, eject...)?

Has anyone succeeded in using a wireless router as a bridge (to pick up a
neighbor's wireless signal)?

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
To configure your wireless parameters, you
---------------------------------------------
module "orinoco_cs" opts "parameters go here"

Steven once suggested
opts "port_type=1"
which works for me.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-24 22:03:17 UTC

Thanks for the info :) . The card is *almost* working. But not quite!
I did what other posters said above, and after that I ran the script
/etc/pcmcia/start. This results in several lines of information, with
some being quite serious (I wish I could get the text right off the
laptop but it has no pcmcia floppy drive x.x). Those lines are (after
running /etc/pcmcia/start);

Apr 10 18:09:25 cardmgr[23]: Card Services release does not match
..
..
eth0: pcnet_reset_8390() did not complete.
(Note there's no network card in this laptop, only the netgear wireless)
..
..
pcnet_cs: unable to read hardware net address for io base 0x240
Apr 10 18:09:25 cardmgr[23]: get dev info on socket 0 failed: No such device
Apr 10 18:09:25 cardmgr[23]: exiting

Having said that, the light on the card (a green LED) *does* light!

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-24 23:10:24 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Thanks for the info :) . The card is *almost* working. But not quite!
I did what other posters said above, and after that I ran the script
/etc/pcmcia/start. This results in several lines of information, with
some being quite serious (I wish I could get the text right off the
laptop but it has no pcmcia floppy drive x.x). Those lines are (after
running /etc/pcmcia/start);
Apr 10 18:09:25 cardmgr[23]: Card Services release does not match
..
..
eth0: pcnet_reset_8390() did not complete.
(Note there's no network card in this laptop, only the netgear wireless)
..
..
pcnet_cs: unable to read hardware net address for io base 0x240
Apr 10 18:09:25 cardmgr[23]: get dev info on socket 0 failed: No such device
Apr 10 18:09:25 cardmgr[23]: exiting
Having said that, the light on the card (a green LED) *does* light!

Green light is a good start.

Are you sure you have the correct card and device lines for this card? It
looks like it is bound to pcnet_cs. The BL pcmcia config is not complete
(I am not in BL now, cannot check) and Steven may have set it up to use
pcnet_cs by default for all network cards, and you need to put in the
specific lines for your card. Look in the Slackware config (pcmcia.tgz)
for your card and copy the lines for it, and then the device lines for the
driver to which it is bound.

Write back if you need help with this, or read the pcmcia howto.

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-24 23:36:24 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Green light is a good start.
Are you sure you have the correct card and device lines for this card? It
looks like it is bound to pcnet_cs. The BL pcmcia config is not complete
(I am not in BL now, cannot check) and Steven may have set it up to use
pcnet_cs by default for all network cards, and you need to put in the
specific lines for your card. Look in the Slackware config (pcmcia.tgz)
for your card and copy the lines for it, and then the device lines for the
driver to which it is bound.
Write back if you need help with this, or read the pcmcia howto.
Sindi

I checked slackware 4's config file in pcmcia.tgz, but it didn't
mention the MA401 card. Neither did slackare 8. In the end I did find
a reference in the equivilent file in Slackware 10;

card "Netgear MA401RA Wireless Adapter"
version "NETGEAR MA401RA Wireless PC", "Card"
bind "orinoco_cs"

That's prettty similar to what I put in the config file, instead I use
(as per the message above);

card "NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card"
manfid 0x0156, 0x0002
bind "orinoco_cs"

So they're both binding to the same driver, orinoco_cs .

But confusingly in slackware 10's config file, the device lines look like this;

device "orinoco_cs"
#class "network" module "hermes", "orinoco", "orinoco_cs"
class "network" module "orinoco_cs"

Yet on the orinoco driver page, they caution against doing this --

(Referring to the error message "get dev info on socket 1 failed")
.... In particular it can be cause if you attempt to use the orinoco
driver by putting:

device "wvlan_cs"
class "network" module "orinoco_cs"

or similar in /etc/pcmcia/config. Instead you must individually bind
each card to the "orinoco_cs" device.

Which is weird, as the orinoco driver instructions contradict the
slackware file! Confusing :) !

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-25 01:09:48 UTC

There are several possible ways to write these three lines. The first
line is only to remind you what the card is. The second can specify
either manfid, or version (the info after 'product info').

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
So they're both binding to the same driver, orinoco_cs .
But confusingly in slackware 10's config file, the device lines look like this;
device "orinoco_cs"
#class "network" module "hermes", "orinoco", "orinoco_cs"
class "network" module "orinoco_cs"

Probably these lines are for different kernel versions.
Slackware 10.0 uses a later kernel. The BL kernel needs three modules.

Download all of these modules for the BL kernel (from the BL site) and put
them with the other pcmcia modules. Delete the third line and remove the
# from the second line.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Yet on the orinoco driver page, they caution against doing this --
(Referring to the error message "get dev info on socket 1 failed")
.... In particular it can be cause if you attempt to use the orinoco
device "wvlan_cs"
class "network" module "orinoco_cs"
or similar in /etc/pcmcia/config. Instead you must individually bind
each card to the "orinoco_cs" device.
Which is weird, as the orinoco driver instructions contradict the
slackware file! Confusing :) !

Not all instructions are kept up to date or consistent.
wvlan is I think an older driver that was replaced by orinoco.

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-25 04:43:40 UTC

Message from Steven
===================

Steven may have set it up to use pcnet_cs by default
for all network cards,

Yes, BL3 comes with only one PCMCIA network module
(pcnet) and it defaults to that module for all
network cards. Most of the 1990s PCMCIA network
cards used pcnet, so if you are using a 1990s card
the chances of BL3 automatically finding your card
are good. With more recent PCMCIA network cards
the chances are not so good -- probably you will
need a different module (which hopefully you will
find at the BL3 site) and you will need to edit
/etc/pcmcia/config to install that module.

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-25 19:32:54 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Message from Steven
===================

Steven may have set it up to use pcnet_cs by default
for all network cards,

Ok, I've tried putting all those driver files into /pcmcia again. This
time I got slightly further. I still got the errors --

pcnet_cs: unable to read hardware net address for io base 0x240
Apr 10 18:09:25 cardmgr[23]: get dev info on socket 0 failed: No such device
Apr 10 18:09:25 cardmgr[23]: exiting

The config file now reads for the drivers:
device "orinoco_cs"
class "network" module "hermes", "orinoco", "orinoco_cs"

card "NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card"
manfid 0x0156, 0x0002
bind "orinoco_cs"

But still no joy. But after googling for a while, I came across some
alternative lines for the card/manfid;

(found here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-networking-3/netgear-ma401-redhat-8.0-43450/
)

card "Netgear MA401RA"
manfid 0x000b, 0x7300
bind "orinoco_cs"

So I tried this instead and it almost worked. Looking through dmesg
this pulled in orinoco and orinoco_cs, but then crashed *badly* (in
dmesg) --

Oops: 0002
CPU: 0
EIP : 0010[<c18246ee>]
EFLAGS: 00010246
..
..
There are also call trace values in dmesg, finally ending with
"segmentation fault" right at the end.

Wonder what's going on? x.x !

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-25 20:59:11 UTC

Message from Steven
===================

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Yes, BL3 comes with only one PCMCIA network module
(pcnet) and it defaults to that module for all
network cards.

Ok, I've tried putting all those driver files
into /pcmcia again.

They don't go in /pcmcia
They go into /lib/modules/2.2.26/pcmcia

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
This time I got slightly further. I still got the errors --
pcnet_cs: unable to read hardware net address for io base 0x240

The pcnet module has been activated (it shouldn't be).
The card manager is not finding your orinoco trigger.
The most likely reason for this is you put the
orinoco trigger after the default "Network Card"
trigger (pcnet). Apparently your card is being
identified as a network card.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
card "NETGEAR MA401 Wireless PC Card"
manfid 0x0156, 0x0002
bind "orinoco_cs"

That needs to appear above the lines for card
"Network Card". Or you can simply delete the
three card "Network Card" lines (if you are
never going to use a pcnet network card).

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
after googling for a while, I came across some
alternative lines for the card/manfid;
card "Netgear MA401RA"
manfid 0x000b, 0x7300
bind "orinoco_cs"

So, which card do you have? MA401 or MA401RA?
You said MA401 previously, so those were the
manfid numbers I used. However, we shouldn't
be guessing the manfid numbers. You should
read the correct manfid numbers directly from
your card:
-----------
cardmgr -ov
-----------
That should list lots of data (including your
manfid numbers). If it doesn't, execute
/etc/pcmcia/start and then the above line.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Oops: 0002
CPU: 0
EIP : 0010[<c18246ee>]
EFLAGS: 00010246
..
There are also call trace values in dmesg,
finally ending with "segmentation fault"
right at the end.
Wonder what's going on? x.x !

It appears that the module is failing. A common
reason for this is kernel/module mismatch. Are
you absolutely sure all three modules came from
the BL3 site?

orinoco.o 44564
orinoco_cs.o 7152
hermes.o 8260

Please check the md5sums for those files:
----------------------------------------------
36f8686edff51690ec9d73520ba2b9f9 orinoco.o
ac82f595923578edb95141f69eab1f5c orinoco_cs.o
a4470e73b46d013a04c1f06c22291077 hermes.o
----------------------------------------------

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-26 10:22:21 UTC

Ooops! My mistook.They were really in /lib/modules/2.2.26/pcmcia . My
mistake as I was rather
x.x'd (tired) while writing this! I should get more sleep :) .

Ok, I've checked up more on the PCMCIA card and it is a MA401RA after
all. Which is weird as both the driver CD and the label on the top
proclaim it to be MA401, and no RA!

cardmgr -ov confirms this:

socket 0:network card
product info: "NETGEAR MA401RA Wireless PC","Card","ISL37300P","Eval-RevA"
manfid: 0x000b, 0x7300

as did slackware 12 on a newer laptop;

pccardctl info
PRODID_1="NETGEAR MA401RA Wireless PC"
PRODID_2="Card"
PRODID_3="ISL37300P"
PRODID_4="Eval-RevA"
MANFID=000b,7300
FUNCID=6

I checked the filesizes and md5sums for orinoco.o, orinoco_cs.o and
hermes.o and they all tie up ok.

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-26 10:28:15 UTC

Thinking about it, I wonder if a BL3 version of ndiswrapper would get
round all the problems? I'm using that on slackware 12 on a newer
laptop and it all works ok. But (and I have no idea!) wouldn't kernel
2.2.26 be too old?

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-26 18:54:34 UTC

Message from Steven
===================

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Thinking about it, I wonder if a BL3 version of
ndiswrapper would get round all the problems?

I doubt it.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
But (and I have no idea!) wouldn't kernel
2.2.26 be too old?

Probably.

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-26 19:17:31 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Message from Steven
===================

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Thinking about it, I wonder if a BL3 version of
ndiswrapper would get round all the problems?

I doubt it.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
But (and I have no idea!) wouldn't kernel
2.2.26 be too old?

Probably.
Cheers,
Steven

http://www.linux.com/feature/118555 discusses ndiswrapper and Broadcom
firmware cutter. The former needs kernel 2.4.26 or later and involves a
kernel module and configuration with wireless-tools package.

ndiswrapper is suggested only when all else fails. It is difficult to set
up and often does not work. You have to find the XP driver and then
extract files from that package. There is a list of cards supported by
ndiswrapper by PCI ID.

The Broadcom solution for Broadcom cards also needs a recent kernel.

Try ndiswrapper in BL3 with kernel and modules from some other linux?

Wireless cards that work for me in BL are aironet and orinoco based.

All the non-cardbus PCMCIA cards I have work fine in BL3 unless they are
dead. I could not manage to compile yenta_socket to use cardbus cards,
which BL3 does not support. Steven does not have any cardbus cards.

Are the built-in wireless chips on newer computers cardbus?

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-26 19:46:55 UTC

Message from Steven
===================

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
socket 0:network card
product info: "NETGEAR MA401RA Wireless PC","Card","ISL37300P","Eval-RevA"
manfid: 0x000b, 0x7300

Your card registers as a network card. That's
why the BL3 cardmgr was defaulting to the pcnet
module.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I checked the filesizes and md5sums for orinoco.o,
orinoco_cs.o and hermes.o and they all tie up ok.

That's bad news. I was hoping it was a module
mismatch (which would have been easy to fix).
So you've got the correct modules and you've got
the correct config. The next issue is the kernel.
I assume you are using the default 2.2.26 kernel.
It is a slim kernel, with limited functionality.
It is possible that something needed by your card
is missing in that kernel. I suggest you try the
BL3 big kernel. If that fails, you should try a
2.4 kernel (perhaps from your Slackware installation)
with matching 2.4 modules.

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-26 23:57:49 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Message from Steven

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I checked the filesizes and md5sums for orinoco.o,
orinoco_cs.o and hermes.o and they all tie up ok.

Unfortunatly, I tried the big kernel but it didn't work, I got the
same messages. I then tried a 2.4.20 kernel and followed these
instructions:

http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/baslinux/library.html

I installed these into BL3;

elflibs-9.0.3-i386-1.tgz
misc-libs.tgz
glibc-solibs-2.3.1-i386-3.tgz
kernel-modules-2.4.20-i486-7.tgz

And extracted the kernel from kernel-ide-2.4.20-i486-5.tgz, which I
put into my C:\baslin directory and renamed it vmlinuz24. I then ran

loadlin vmlinuz24 root=/dev/hda2 rw

(there are 2 partitons on the hard drive)

That booted up, but any pcmcia operations resulted in a crash similar
to what I had before with the normal Bl3 kernel, but with the
additional message saying "kernel not syncing".

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 00:46:14 UTC

Message from Steven
===================

If that fails, you should try a 2.4 kernel
(perhaps from your Slackware installation)
with matching 2.4 modules.

http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/baslinux/library.html

Stop! Those are not the instructions you want.
Those are for upgrading the library. They have
nothing to do with the kernel.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I installed these into BL3;
elflibs-9.0.3-i386-1.tgz
misc-libs.tgz
glibc-solibs-2.3.1-i386-3.tgz
kernel-modules-2.4.20-i486-7.tgz

Oh dear, now you have lots of unnecessary junk.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
And extracted the kernel from kernel-ide-2.4.20-i486-5.tgz,
which I put into my C:\baslin directory and renamed it
vmlinuz24. I then ran
loadlin vmlinuz24 root=/dev/hda2 rw

That could be OK (depending on the config used to
compile that kernel). I was thinking Sindi might
have a suitable 2.4 kernel for you. Where is Sindi
anyway? I thought she would jump in as soon as I
mentioned 2.4

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
That booted up, but any pcmcia operations resulted
in a crash similar to what I had before with the
normal Bl3 kernel, but with the additional message
saying "kernel not syncing".

Does your 2.4 kernel use three modules (hermes and
two orinocos) or just one (orinoco)? If it just uses
one, did you change /etc/pcmcia/config to reflect this?

Since the problem does not appear to be in the kernel
module, the most likely cause is hardware. Has your
PCMCIA card worked for you with any other operating
system? Has the PCMCIA slot on your laptop worked
with any other PCMCIA card?

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 02:36:12 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Message from Steven
===================

If that fails, you should try a 2.4 kernel
(perhaps from your Slackware installation)
with matching 2.4 modules.

And extracted the kernel from kernel-ide-2.4.20-i486-5.tgz,
which I put into my C:\baslin directory and renamed it
vmlinuz24. I then ran
loadlin vmlinuz24 root=/dev/hda2 rw

Sindi was off helping someone install DamnSmallLinux to hard drive to give
people in a nonprofit to use for browsing, instead of a much larger GOS
linux that wanted 256MB RAM. He wanted something that looked like Windows
but did not crash and get viruses. I tried to demo BL3.5 but floppy 1
would not boot on his drive, nor would my 1-floppy USB version. (Nor did
the PS/2 or USB ports work, but the CD-ROM and serial worked).
This was in exchange for getting my wireless bridge working again.

If Slackware 12 works with the MA401RA card, why not copy over the kernel
and pcmcia modules from it to BL3 and try those, with the added lines in
config for your card?

Web research found lots of people trying to use the card, and some
succeeding.

Can you remind us of your error messages, and/or search for them online?
Most mistakes have been made before.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Does your 2.4 kernel use three modules (hermes and
two orinocos) or just one (orinoco)? If it just uses
one, did you change /etc/pcmcia/config to reflect this?

My 2.4.31 kernel uses three modules. I hope he moved the # from the
longer to the shorter line in config. These modules worked with Linksys
WPC11 ver 2.5 and 3, and DELL Truemobile non-cardbus cards. DSL linux
(live CD) uses the same kernel version - if it works with the card, you
can copy kernel and modules from there, or use mine if you want smaller
ones from http://keesan.freeshell.org/bl/2.4.31. If the computer won't
boot from CD, you can make a DSL boot floppy.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Since the problem does not appear to be in the kernel
module, the most likely cause is hardware. Has your
PCMCIA card worked for you with any other operating
system? Has the PCMCIA slot on your laptop worked
with any other PCMCIA card?

Does it work with Slackware 12?
Sindi

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 11:49:39 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
If Slackware 12 works with the MA401RA card, why not copy over the kernel
and pcmcia modules from it to BL3 and try those, with the added lines in
config for your card?

Wouldn't that fail though, and if the pcmcia modules did work what
about others --
would they just fail or use too much memory?

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Can you remind us of your error messages, and/or search for them online?
Most mistakes have been made before.

Well I believe it was some sort of kernel "oops". The snag is that if
I were to put them
here I'd have to type them all out (hopefully with no mistakes, as it
is quite long!). I would
cut and paste but I've no way short of taking a photo of getting data
off the laptop right
now. It dosen't have a floppy drive; I have seen pcmcia floppy drives
for sale on ebay but
usually they are a) overpriced or b) compaq and compaq ones are from
what I have read
slightly different from "normal" pcmcia floppy drives; they're ment
for their laptops and
won't work with any other. I'll have to try to reproduce what I did to
get the messages(!).
They were similar to last time, eg;

Oops: 0002
CPU: 0
EIP : 0010[<c18246ee>]
EFLAGS: 00010246

Followed by a message about the kernel not syncing.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Does your 2.4 kernel use three modules (hermes and
two orinocos) or just one (orinoco)? If it just uses
one, did you change /etc/pcmcia/config to reflect this?

I'm really not sure :( . I use ndiswrapper on the newer laptop running
slackware 12 and it all seems
to run fine, no problems.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
My 2.4.31 kernel uses three modules. I hope he moved the # from the
longer to the shorter line in config. These modules worked with Linksys
WPC11 ver 2.5 and 3, and DELL Truemobile non-cardbus cards. DSL linux
(live CD) uses the same kernel version - if it works with the card, you
can copy kernel and modules from there, or use mine if you want smaller
ones from http://keesan.freeshell.org/bl/2.4.31. If the computer won't
boot from CD, you can make a DSL boot floppy.

x.x Wish I could alas the laptop I'm doing this on has no floppy drive, and no
usb (too old). Right now the only external media I have for it is a pcmcia cdrom
drive.

Does it work with Slackware 12?

Definately works with SW12 and ndiswrapper, no problems :) .

ljoens

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 14:31:23 UTC

Wouldn't that fail though, and if the pcmcia modules did work what
about others --
would they just fail or use too much memory?

How much memory does your computer have?

This was to test whether the card needs a later kernel. You already have
Slackware 12.

You said Slackware 12 uses ndiswrapper rather than orinoco_cs so this
suggestion is irrelevant.

You can download one of my kernels and my pcmcia modules instead.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Can you remind us of your error messages, and/or search for them online?
Most mistakes have been made before.

Well I believe it was some sort of kernel "oops". The snag is that if

This suggests a kernel problem.

I just searched the BL archives (BL site, 'support', archives) on 'linksys
kernel 2.4.31' and found my posting from Jan 2007

'My linksys WPC11 ver 3 wireless card works with kernel 2.4.31 but not
with 2.2.26'. This is an orinoco card too.

There is your answer. Try my kernel and modules instead.

My kernel 2.4.31 produces a read-only file system used with loop BL3.

I can eventually check this out again with my own laptops and cards.
It may be dependent on individual laptops (works with some, not others,
using 2.2.26).

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I were to put them
here I'd have to type them all out (hopefully with no mistakes, as it
is quite long!). I would
cut and paste but I've no way short of taking a photo of getting data
off the laptop right

What happens if you type
dmesg | less

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
now. It dosen't have a floppy drive; I have seen pcmcia floppy drives

Toshiba Libretto 50 (circa 1998-9) was designed to use pcmcia versions of
both floppy and cdrom drives (made it smaller).

ebay is selling libretto new batteries for $30 +.

A floppy drive for $130 buy it now (from a place that wants $194 for the
same battery). There is also a complete computer for $50 starting bid.

The computer is pentium 75MHz, 32MB RAM, 8x4.5", with Yamaha
sound (I compiled a ymf module that might work), 5x4" color screen,
magnifier feature, optical mouse, and it is being sold with PC card floppy
drive on ebay, and port expander and replicator (parallel and serial
ports). Can take external monitor. 1.87 lb. 8.26x4.53".

Unless you use the CD-ROM drive a lot, don't put the modules for it in rc
because they will take up RAM.

$2000 new.

http://www.mondoinfo.com/libretto.html - provides a XF86Config file for
the Chips video (Xfree86 3.3)

The owner had problems with the 3com network card and had to reboot after
inserting it. (I do that with all my network cards on all laptops).

How did you get BL onto it in the first place?

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
for sale on ebay but
usually they are a) overpriced

definitely so.

I'll have to try to reproduce what I did to

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
get the messages(!).
They were similar to last time, eg;
Oops: 0002
CPU: 0
EIP : 0010[<c18246ee>]
EFLAGS: 00010246
Followed by a message about the kernel not syncing.

Kernel problem.
Try mine (the la kernel is small and ought to work) at
http://keesan.freeshell.org/bl/2.4.31.

Also get the regular ('smf) and pcmcia modules and just copy over the ones
you need. I think this kernel also needs the three cd-rom modules.

If the computer won't

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
boot from CD, you can make a DSL boot floppy.

x.x Wish I could alas the laptop I'm doing this on has no floppy drive, and no
usb (too old). Right now the only external media I have for it is a pcmcia cdrom
drive.

It probably won't boot from it. My 133MHz DELL without USB has no CD-ROM
boot even with a regular drive, and even Smart Boot Manager would not work
in it.

You may have the physically smallest BL computer in the world.

Sindi

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
ljoens

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 11:55:28 UTC

re: the files at http://keesan.freeshell.org/bl/2.4.31 -- which ones do I need?
There are lots of bzimage and bzimag files but which one to use? Also what
about the modules, the one I guess I'd need would be
modules-pcmcia-wireless-431.tgz
but would extra non-pcmcia modules (e.g. for the cdrom, filesystem
etc) be needed?

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 14:50:39 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
re: the files at http://keesan.freeshell.org/bl/2.4.31 -- which ones do I need?
There are lots of bzimage and bzimag files but which one to use? Also what
about the modules, the one I guess I'd need would be
modules-pcmcia-wireless-431.tgz
but would extra non-pcmcia modules (e.g. for the cdrom, filesystem
etc) be needed?

Try bzimagla.431, a 590K 2.4.31 kernel for laptop - look in configla.431
to see what it supports and I can recompile it smaller if you don't need
all the features. I omitted sound support but can compile for Yamaha
only (built-in or modular, the latter using less RAM when not in use).
No scsi support either. USB via module.

The lm kernel has modular scsi support (in case you have a pcmcia scsi
card).

The lc kernel is 556K and supports only ohci and not other USB (as
modules) and did not work for someone with USB. Since you have no USB,
try it first if you have time. If it works for you I can try to make it
even smaller (omit floppy support, omit the support for modules for USB
and parallel and serial and ramdisk, for some newer IDE controllers
PIIx, for DMA if you don't have that at all, for scsi as modules, for
the parport zip drives as modules, for ppp = modem). I included
wireless networking support in la (and probably lc). I can omit serial
mouse support, nfs support, sunrpc, lockd, nls (?). I should be able to
get this kernel under 500K for your Libretto.

The ISA support may be needed for pcmcia.

modules-la-nonpcmcia-431.tgz - a smaller package of modules omitting
things not relevant to the laptop kernel such as sound and scsi. Only
copy over what you actually use to /lib/modules/2.4.31/misc .

modules-pcmcia-431.tgz - pick out what you need and put in
/lib/modules/2.4.31/pcmcia

Sindi

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
ljones
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b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 19:32:19 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Try bzimagla.431, a 590K 2.4.31 kernel for laptop - look in configla.431
to see what it supports and I can recompile it smaller if you don't need
all the features. I omitted sound support but can compile for Yamaha
only (built-in or modular, the latter using less RAM when not in use).
No scsi support either. USB via module.
The lm kernel has modular scsi support (in case you have a pcmcia scsi
card).
The lc kernel is 556K and supports only ohci and not other USB (as
modules) and did not work for someone with USB. Since you have no USB,
try it first if you have time. If it works for you I can try to make it
even smaller (omit floppy support, omit the support for modules for USB
and parallel and serial and ramdisk, for some newer IDE controllers
PIIx, for DMA if you don't have that at all, for scsi as modules, for
the parport zip drives as modules, for ppp = modem). I included
wireless networking support in la (and probably lc). I can omit serial
mouse support, nfs support, sunrpc, lockd, nls (?). I should be able to
get this kernel under 500K for your Libretto.
The ISA support may be needed for pcmcia.
modules-la-nonpcmcia-431.tgz - a smaller package of modules omitting
things not relevant to the laptop kernel such as sound and scsi. Only
copy over what you actually use to /lib/modules/2.4.31/misc .
modules-pcmcia-431.tgz - pick out what you need and put in
/lib/modules/2.4.31/pcmcia
Sindi

Ok thanks for that, I tried the 2.4 kernel there and the modules.
However apon loading BL3 still seems to be looking for modules in the
old directory for the old kernel (2.2.26) even though it is running
with the new!

It would be good to have sound & external serial port support as the
toshiba's "mouse" mounted on the right hand side of the screen can be
a pain to use after a while, a normal serial mouse is much easier. The
toshiba's mouse buttons are on the top of the laptop!

BTW Let me clear one thing up, the laptop that runs SW12 that I own
isn't the toshiba, its a completely different system, an IBM T22
(700Mhz, 128MB ram). That's the one I tested the netgear pcmcia card
out on and it worked with ndiswrapper on it.

BTW where do I get the 2.4 versions of ds.o, i82365.o and
pcmcia_core.o . I couldn't find them in the modules-pcmcia-431.tgz
file. I also looked in modules-pcmcia-wireless-431.tgz but couldn't
find them.

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 20:46:07 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Ok thanks for that, I tried the 2.4 kernel there and the modules.
However apon loading BL3 still seems to be looking for modules in the
old directory for the old kernel (2.2.26) even though it is running
with the new!

Type uname -a and it will tell you which kernel you are using.
(Linux Basiclinux 2.4.31 in my case).
Are you booting from DOS with loadlin?

If it is 2.4.31 and you get something about 2.2.26, your new kernel is
probably complaining that it is missing some modules for 2.4.31 and only
finding them for 2.2.26. (Probably the missing pcmcia modules that were
not in my package - see below).

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
It would be good to have sound & external serial port support as the
toshiba's "mouse" mounted on the right hand side of the screen can be
a pain to use after a while, a normal serial mouse is much easier. The
toshiba's mouse buttons are on the top of the laptop!

I thought you had no serial port except in an extender.

Try my larger smf kernel which does have sound support, with the ymf sound
module. If those work, I will modify another smaller kernel for you.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
BTW Let me clear one thing up, the laptop that runs SW12 that I own
isn't the toshiba, its a completely different system, an IBM T22
(700Mhz, 128MB ram). That's the one I tested the netgear pcmcia card
out on and it worked with ndiswrapper on it.

So the card works. Good. How large is the hard disk?

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
BTW where do I get the 2.4 versions of ds.o, i82365.o and
pcmcia_core.o . I couldn't find them in the modules-pcmcia-431.tgz
file. I also looked in modules-pcmcia-wireless-431.tgz but couldn't
find them.

I goofed. Thanks for letting me know.

I just replaced modules-pcmcia-431.tgz with a different
modules-pcmcia-min-431.tgz which contains those three modules, and I also
deleted some stuff that should not be there. I am still learning.

They were in the 'withcardbus' modules package (which contains all the
pcmcia modules including cardbus) but you don't want the cardbus modules
because they don't work with BL because yenta_socket refuses to compile
and you need that instead of one of the BL modules (ds or i82365, I forget
which). Also cardbus cards don't fit into older laptops, even my 133MHz
DELL. (They do fit the 200MHz Gateway). I left that package because it
also contains other modules that someone might want.
Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 21:53:59 UTC

Type uname -a and it will tell you which kernel you are using.
(Linux Basiclinux 2.4.31 in my case).
Are you booting from DOS with loadlin?

Yep, I'm booting from DOS right now with loadlin bzimagela.431 root=/dev/hda2 rw

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
If it is 2.4.31 and you get something about 2.2.26, your new kernel is
probably complaining that it is missing some modules for 2.4.31 and only
finding them for 2.2.26. (Probably the missing pcmcia modules that were
not in my package - see below).

I thought you had no serial port except in an extender.

Sorry, I neglected to mention the Toshiba laptop's second hand. It
came with some sort of "cradle" or "plugin device" which gives me 1
serial port, 1 parallel port and 1 vga port.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Try my larger smf kernel which does have sound support, with the ymf sound
module. If those work, I will modify another smaller kernel for you.

Will do

So the card works. Good. How large is the hard disk?

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 22:53:45 UTC

Ok, I downloaded the new kernel (bzimasmf.431). I'm not sure if it
works with other stuff such as mice and sound cards as I've not tried
it yet. BL3 booted up and looked in the right place this time. I also
installed the new modules (modules-pcmcia-min-2431.tgz). I also
installed modules-pcmcia-wireless-431.tgz and modules-smf-431.tgz as
well just to try it. I also modified /etc/pcmcia/config;

device "orinoco_cs"
class "wireless"
module "hermes","orinoco","orinoco_cs"

card "Netgear MA401"
manfid 0x000b, 0x7300
bind "orinoco_cs"

and

I also placed #'s in front of the device lines for pcnet_cs, REMing
them out (REM=remark, basic prog. language command. Now
I feel old :) !).

The cdrom seems to work much better with no need for me to do a few
extra insmod's. But the good news is that the card might just be
possibly working. I'm missing "wireless start eth0", however after
running /etc/pcmcia/start.

The card seems to be detected and the light comes on; I can even start
to set some of the card's settings, e.g. ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.99;
ifconfig eth0 essid, etc. But x.x (cue drumroll!) the light goes out
on the card after a short time, and the system locks up !

Getting a little further!

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 23:30:50 UTC

Search online for your card and linux. Other people had problems with it
determining the speed (10 or 100Mb/s) and had some solution.

You can teach me to use wireless tools.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Ok, I downloaded the new kernel (bzimasmf.431). I'm not sure if it
works with other stuff such as mice and sound cards as I've not tried
it yet. BL3 booted up and looked in the right place this time. I also
installed the new modules (modules-pcmcia-min-2431.tgz). I also
installed modules-pcmcia-wireless-431.tgz and modules-smf-431.tgz as
well just to try it. I also modified /etc/pcmcia/config;
device "orinoco_cs"
class "wireless"
module "hermes","orinoco","orinoco_cs"
card "Netgear MA401"
manfid 0x000b, 0x7300
bind "orinoco_cs"
and
I also placed #'s in front of the device lines for pcnet_cs, REMing
them out (REM=remark, basic prog. language command. Now
I feel old :) !).

If you have only one wireless card you could have edited this section and
replaced pcnet_cs with orinoco_cs.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
The cdrom seems to work much better with no need for me to do a few
extra insmod's. But the good news is that the card might just be
possibly working. I'm missing "wireless start eth0", however after
running /etc/pcmcia/start.

You need to make an eth0 script, I think. I do things manually.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
The card seems to be detected and the light comes on; I can even start
to set some of the card's settings, e.g. ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.99;
ifconfig eth0 essid, etc. But x.x (cue drumroll!) the light goes out
on the card after a short time, and the system locks up !

Check online.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Getting a little further!
ljones

SIndi
***@sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 23:33:19 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
well just to try it. I also modified /etc/pcmcia/config;
device "orinoco_cs"
class "wireless"
module "hermes","orinoco","orinoco_cs"
card "Netgear MA401"
manfid 0x000b, 0x7300
bind "orinoco_cs"
and
The card seems to be detected and the light comes on; I can even start
to set some of the card's settings, e.g. ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.99;
ifconfig eth0 essid, etc. But x.x (cue drumroll!) the light goes out
on the card after a short time, and the system locks up !

DId you assign an IP address manually (with ifconfig)? Try running udhcpc
instead.

Other people report their entire computer locking up when they use this
card but someone had a solution.
SIndi

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Getting a little further!
ljones
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-----------------------
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http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/baslinux/
------------------------------------
To exit, send subject=unsubscribe to

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b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-28 19:10:57 UTC

I tried googling about the netgear ma401ra and locking up, and I
turned up one post where someone had tried different IRQs. So I put
this in /etc/pcmcia/config;

exclude irq 1
exclude irq 2
exclude irq 3
exclude irq 4
exclude irq 5
exclude irq 6
exclude irq 8
exclude irq 9
exclude irq 10
exclude irq 11
exclude irq 12
exclude irq 13
exclude irq 14
exclude irq 15

I made sure in the BIOS that the parallel port is on IRQ 5 and the
soundcard on IRQ 9 in an attempt to force PCMCIA to be on IRQ 7. But
it didn't make any difference. It's detected but if I try to configure
it, it seems to either just lock up or crash.

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-28 20:06:17 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I tried googling about the netgear ma401ra and locking up, and I
turned up one post where someone had tried different IRQs. So I put
this in /etc/pcmcia/config;
exclude irq 1
exclude irq 2
exclude irq 3
exclude irq 4
exclude irq 5
exclude irq 6
exclude irq 8
exclude irq 9
exclude irq 10
exclude irq 11
exclude irq 12
exclude irq 13
exclude irq 14
exclude irq 15
I made sure in the BIOS that the parallel port is on IRQ 5 and the
soundcard on IRQ 9 in an attempt to force PCMCIA to be on IRQ 7. But
it didn't make any difference. It's detected but if I try to configure
it, it seems to either just lock up or crash.
ljones

I got over 5000 hits on ma401ra with google/linux

Is it possible your card requires prism2 rather than orinoco?
Several people with your RA model think they need prism2, even though it
is supposed to be the non-RA model which uses that. The company labelled
them all without the RA.

Can you borrow some other wireless non-cardbus card and see if it works
for you? Can you use this one with BL in another laptop computer? You
can put the drivers on disk2 and insert them from there after editing
config, if you use the 2-floppy version of BL3.50.

Someone else had all sorts of problems in one particular laptop with all
the wireless pcmcia cards tested. (Compaq Armada M700).
Maybe your computer is too old to do wireless?

What do you do after you:
boot
insert card
/etc/pcmcia/start

I would then:
ifconfig up
udhcpc (if this works you have succeeded)

or:
ifconfig eth0 192.168.2.5 (if router is in this series).
and ping the router to see if things work.

You could try to boot a DamnSmallLinux live CD from DOS using loadlin
after copying the kernel (vmlinuz or whatever they call it, look in /boot
or search for it) to your baslin directory, and see if DSL can handle your
card. If it does not have your definition in /etc/pcmcia/config you can
add it. DSL will run better for you in 32MB without the gui
boot: dsl 2 (for runlevel 2, no gui)

Reboot to DOS and

cd /baslin
loadlin vmlinuz root=/dev/hdc1 ro

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-28 22:50:25 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I got over 5000 hits on ma401ra with google/linux
Is it possible your card requires prism2 rather than orinoco?
Several people with your RA model think they need prism2, even though it
is supposed to be the non-RA model which uses that. The company labelled
them all without the RA.

I'm not sure -- are the prism2 .o files in the same place as the
orinoco ones for BL?

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Can you borrow some other wireless non-cardbus card and see if it works
for you? Can you use this one with BL in another laptop computer? You
can put the drivers on disk2 and insert them from there after editing
config, if you use the 2-floppy version of BL3.50.

:( unforunatly I don't have another one and I don't know anyone who
does. I bought the
netgear one off ebay just recently -- finding a non-cardbus one was quite hard!

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Someone else had all sorts of problems in one particular laptop with all
the wireless pcmcia cards tested. (Compaq Armada M700).
Maybe your computer is too old to do wireless?
boot
insert card
/etc/pcmcia/start
ifconfig up
udhcpc (if this works you have succeeded)

I get "debug, sending discover...." a few times. Eventually the green
light goes out and the system crashes.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
ifconfig eth0 192.168.2.5 (if router is in this series).
and ping the router to see if things work.
You could try to boot a DamnSmallLinux live CD from DOS using loadlin
after copying the kernel (vmlinuz or whatever they call it, look in /boot
or search for it) to your baslin directory, and see if DSL can handle your
card. If it does not have your definition in /etc/pcmcia/config you can
add it. DSL will run better for you in 32MB without the gui
boot: dsl 2 (for runlevel 2, no gui)
Reboot to DOS and
cd /baslin
loadlin vmlinuz root=/dev/hdc1 ro
Sindi

I'll give DSL a try. If that won't boot or work, I guess my only
option left is to take the hard drive out and put SW on it.

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-28 22:51:10 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I'm not sure -- are the prism2 .o files in the same place as the
orinoco ones for BL?

Sorry, I ment to mean where the files are downloaded from on that one btw.

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 01:35:57 UTC

I'm not sure -- are the prism2 .o files in the same place as the
orinoco ones for BL?

I can't find prism modules any place. Maybe that is the card name not the
module name. Sorry. My cards are airo and orinoco. The airo 340 works
well but does not do encryption. My Linksys WPC11 ver 2.5 works 1 inch
from the wireless router but is useless with a weak signal, and should do
WEP. ver 3 also worked, but ver4 is cardbus. What cards worked for other
people with BL? Steven has an airo 350 that does WEP encryption.

:( unforunatly I don't have another one and I don't know anyone who
does. I bought the
netgear one off ebay just recently -- finding a non-cardbus one was quite hard!

Can you run BL from 2 floppies on the computer with Slackware 12 and add
the hermes, orinoco, orinoco_cs modules and the larger config after
booting? Or run DSL on that computer?

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
ifconfig up
udhcpc (if this works you have succeeded)

I get "debug, sending discover...." a few times. Eventually the green
light goes out and the system crashes.

That is not good. Check on the internet if your Libretto 50 worked with
any specific wireless cards.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
You could try to boot a DamnSmallLinux live CD from DOS using loadlin
after copying the kernel (vmlinuz or whatever they call it, look in /boot
or search for it) to your baslin directory, and see if DSL can handle your
card. If it does not have your definition in /etc/pcmcia/config you can
add it. DSL will run better for you in 32MB without the gui
boot: dsl 2 (for runlevel 2, no gui)
Reboot to DOS and
cd /baslin
loadlin vmlinuz root=/dev/hdc1 ro
Sindi

I'll give DSL a try. If that won't boot or work, I guess my only
option left is to take the hard drive out and put SW on it.

It might be easier to replace the wireless card with one that someone else
reported working with the Libretto.

Slackware 10 wasted 64MB of RAM when we loaded it once with minimal files.
I doubt 12 will run in 32MB. If DSL works and you cannot transfer the
config and modules to BL3, you can install it to hard disk from the CD
fairly simply. Use a 64MB swap file as hda1.

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 02:08:58 UTC

:( unforunatly I don't have another one and I don't know anyone who
does. I bought the
netgear one off ebay just recently -- finding a non-cardbus one was quite hard!

Prism chips apparently use orinoco driver.

While hunting for libretto info, I found a site listing wireless pcmcia
cards that did and did not work with DamnSmallLinux, and whether they
needed the full install with ndiswrapper. Many cards did NOT work.

What worked includes:

aironet 340 (airo, airo_cs)
aironet 350 (encrypts) " "

orinoco silver (same as your card)
orinoco gold (encrypts)

Linksys WPC11 ver 3 (ver 2.5 might work too, don't know about encryption)
(also orinoco)

I have a DELL Truemobile (also orinoco).

MA401 is said to work with DSL !!!! (they did not say 401RA)

A few others were listed. Some were cardbus and/or required ndiswrapper.

But your hardware may simply not work with these and any software.

You can buy a wireless ethernet bridge (ebay $35-40) which plugs into a
pcmcia network card (if one works in the Libretto 50). You may need a
javascript browser to configure the bridge (site survey, set the MAC and
SSID) after setting the computer IP number similar to that of the bridge.

Will opera 6 work with BL3 libc5?

Then plug the bridge into your laptop network card and run dhcp, or
manually assign an IP number to match the router (not the bridge, this
time). iwlist etc won't work, but you can connect to the LAN or internet.

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 13:21:03 UTC

Ok, I gave DSL a try on the newer laptop (IBM T22). The card was
detected and seemed to work ok; I was able to configure it using sudo,
e.g. sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.45 . I tried also copying the .o
modules for hermes, orinoco and orinoco_cs back from DSL to BL3 - I'm
guessing they are different versions as they appear to be a different
size. It *almost* worked, but not quite: the modules insmod'd ok, but
with just 1 error:

orinoco_cs: Card services release does not match!

I'm not sure which module would be for the card services, however. The
green light seemed to remain on (and no crashes) but I was unable to
configure the card.

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 14:00:54 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Ok, I gave DSL a try on the newer laptop (IBM T22). The card was
detected and seemed to work ok; I was able to configure it using sudo,
e.g. sudo ifconfig eth0 192.168.0.45 . I tried also copying the .o
modules for hermes, orinoco and orinoco_cs back from DSL to BL3 - I'm
guessing they are different versions as they appear to be a different

Sometimes modules for the same kernel number won't work unless they were
compiled with the same gcc as the kernel. You were lucky.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
size. It *almost* worked, but not quite: the modules insmod'd ok, but
orinoco_cs: Card services release does not match!

That message is normal for some reason.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I'm not sure which module would be for the card services, however. The
green light seemed to remain on (and no crashes) but I was unable to
configure the card.

I wonder what is different about their modules that they don't crash.

You may have a hardware incompatibility. Someone with a Libretto 100
wrote about their PCI-Cardbus bridge (you probably have PCI-ISA bridge
instead), that it has no IRQ line, which causes problems with newer pcmcia
versions, and you should use pcmcia 3.1.xx and 2.2 kernel. I compiled
version 3.1.22 a few years ago. Unfortunately 2.2 kernel appears not to
work at all with orinoco cards (kernel oops).

Can you boot DSL from the CD on your Libretto using loadlin after you copy
the kernel from /boot to your baslin directory? If the card still won't
work with DSL on your computer, it is a hardware problem, and you might
try a bridge instead, or a different card. If it does work, then you can
figure out how they did it. Try their kernel instead of mine in BL.
Look at how they set up pcmcia, probably more automated.

Libretto floppy drives are said not to work with linux.

Someone in the local freecycle list wants help getting her 120MHz Compaq
on the internet via ethernet card. I might try BL3 in a loop file on it.
I can get her a $5 used card.

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 17:51:16 UTC

ok, I might possibly have to have to give up with this card
unfortunatly. I tried replacing files such as pcmcia_core.o with the
files from DSL. There was a slight improvement - when the green light
went off, the laptop didn't crash - I could still type ok. But trying
to configre the card if the light was off did crash it. So I'm
guessing you're right; the MA401RA is incompatible with this laptop.

Right now I don't have any wireless bridge. But I do have a pcmcia
network card, this one is a 3com 3ccfe574bt. I'm not sure what .o
files that would use, however! It might possibly work better as in
terms of age this card was made c.1998, that's around the same time
the toshiba was made.

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 18:46:42 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
ok, I might possibly have to have to give up with this card
unfortunatly. I tried replacing files such as pcmcia_core.o with the
files from DSL. There was a slight improvement - when the green light
went off, the laptop didn't crash - I could still type ok. But trying
to configre the card if the light was off did crash it. So I'm
guessing you're right; the MA401RA is incompatible with this laptop.

They might have a newer version of pcmcia.

Please try running the DSL live CD booted from DOS with loadlin and the
kernel that is probably in /boot. (Copy it with BL and reboot to DOS and
then to DSL). If it works, you have only a software problem in BL and can
work on that. If not, give up on the card.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Right now I don't have any wireless bridge. But I do have a pcmcia
network card, this one is a 3com 3ccfe574bt. I'm not sure what .o
files that would use, however! It might possibly work better as in
terms of age this card was made c.1998, that's around the same time
the toshiba was made.

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 17:58:08 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Can you boot DSL from the CD on your Libretto using loadlin after you copy
the kernel from /boot to your baslin directory? If the card still won't
work with DSL on your computer, it is a hardware problem, and you might
try a bridge instead, or a different card. If it does work, then you can
figure out how they did it. Try their kernel instead of mine in BL.

Unfortunatly I don't think it would work. First problem would be finding a
dos pcmcia driver for the cdrom drive, and I can't identify it - it's one
made in the far east with no real brand name on it. Also the liberetto I
have only has 16MB, so memory might be a problem. And since this is a live
CD won't it need to load even more into memory and/or decompress it? Also if
DSL needs to access the cdrom drive that won't be easy, as the toshiba only
has 1 pcmcia card slot.

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 18:47:36 UTC

One final thought on all of this. I wonder if a 2.3.x kernel rather than 2.2
or 2.4 would work?

http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.3/

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 19:28:25 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
One final thought on all of this. I wonder if a 2.3.x kernel rather than 2.2
or 2.4 would work?

Why? Sindi

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.3/
ljones

***@sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 19:57:44 UTC

Message from Steven
===================

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I wonder if a 2.3.x kernel rather than 2.2
or 2.4 would work?

Odd-numbered kernels are transitional and
should not be used when a higher-numbered
even kernel is available.

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 19:25:15 UTC

Maybe you can boot BL3 with the DSL kernel (it may include the CD-ROM
modules in it and you would only need the pcmcia modules for the CD-ROM
drive for BL3), mount the CD, then chroot to DSL? It helps that the DSL
pcmcia modules work with BL3. (Continue using my 2.4.31 kernel).

mount /dev/hdc /mnt
chroot /mnt /bin/bash -login
mount /proc

This should put you into console mode, to try out the network card.

I did this to run BL3 from a camera memory card (in 8MB space) or a 100MB
zip drive (both times using special boot disks contributed by another list
member David Moberg).

If DSL works with the network card, and you can't figure out how they did
it so as to transfer this to BL, you can try installing it from the iso
image to an ext2 partition from within BL.

http://damnsmalllinux.org/wiki/index.php/Loadlin_Install

To copy from an iso image get it onto your computer (parallel transfer
cable, parallel zip drive if you have parport, burn a CD, or however you
got BL on there in the first place):

mount -o loop dsl*.iso /mnt
ls /mnt
KNOPPIX index.html lost+found
Inside KNOPPIX directory is a 50MB KNOPPIX file which I don't know what to
do with. It won't mount -o loop. bogus logical sector size. Could this
be ext3? 'you must specify the filesystem type'. My kernel does not
support that. (Try theirs?).

Try to follow their directions. It looks complicated but you seem
experienced with linux. They talk about a folder 'boot' which I don't
see. boot.img must be the boot floppy (no use to you).

You will need a 32MB swap partition or file.

Someone else got Opera running on their Libretto with 16MB, slowly, and
links faster. Links2 with svgalib instead of X uses less RAM.

Sindi

***@sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 19:30:40 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Maybe you can boot BL3 with the DSL kernel (it may include the CD-ROM
modules in it and you would only need the pcmcia modules for the CD-ROM
drive for BL3), mount the CD, then chroot to DSL? It helps that the DSL
pcmcia modules work with BL3. (Continue using my 2.4.31 kernel).
mount /dev/hdc /mnt
chroot /mnt /bin/bash -login
mount /proc
This should put you into console mode, to try out the network card.

This does not work with my kernel. May it will work with theirs.
You can try to mount -o loop the KNOPPIX file then chroot to that.

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 19:57:46 UTC

Two more ways to get DSL into a small partition on your Libretto:

1) put the hard disk into a laptop computer that has a CD-ROM drive and
install DSL there, if it is not too thick to fit in there, or get a 2.5"
adaptor and put it into a desktop computer.

2) install it to a hard disk in another computer and then transfer it
using BL3 and network cable if you get a network card to work (or parallel
transfer cable if you have a port, but plip won't work on all computers).

If the network card works with BL3, an ethernet bridge would be simpler
but more expensive a solution.

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-30 13:49:17 UTC

It would be simpler to put BL3 (loop) on the faster laptop and see if it
works with the MA401RA there. If yes, the Libretto has a hardware
problem.

Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-05-01 21:31:47 UTC

Time for a half-time report. :)

Ok, I tried putting DSL on the toshiba. In the end, I had to take out the
hard drive, install it on another computer (the IBM) and then put it back
into the toshiba. Long winded, but (as far as installing went) it worked.
Unfortunatly DSL didn't get far on the toshiba, in fact it didn't even get
as far as any sort of command line prompt! It pretty much ran out of memory
*long* before that time.

So I wondered what other versions (namely slackware) would do. So I tried
slackware 9,4 and 7. Slackware 9 did exactly what DSL did, namely didn't get
very far in and stopped preumably because it ran out of memory. 4 was more
successful though a lot of hardware (such as sound) wasn't supported. 7
worked better and after modprobing with the correct IRQs and DMAs the sound
playback worked. And although I never got a chance to try it, the 3com
3CCFE574BT card was detected ok (listed in dmesg and no errors). Though none
of these detected the MA401.

So I'm probably going to try to use the network card and go through a
wireless bridge which is probably the best (and only!) possibility.

For a laugh :) I tried putting gnome from slackware 7 onto the liberetto.
Definately slow (as I expected) but it certianly ran. I was expecting it to
just run out of memory and grind to a complete and total halt. Kept on going
though too slow to be really usable.

But now the question is should I stick with Slackware 7 or put BL3 and build
it up with the needed modules? I'm still much more tempted to go with BL3 as
it uses a *lot* less space (though I'd need to add 3CCFE574BT drivers and
sound card drivers) but on the other hand SW7 got everything bar the MA401
card ok. Even a PCMCIA cdrom was detected and I could mount it with *no*
errors :) .

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-05-02 16:07:41 UTC

Can you fix google email not to add 5 lines of HTML?

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Time for a half-time report. :)
Ok, I tried putting DSL on the toshiba. In the end, I had to take out the
hard drive, install it on another computer (the IBM) and then put it back
into the toshiba. Long winded, but (as far as installing went) it worked.
Unfortunatly DSL didn't get far on the toshiba, in fact it didn't even get
as far as any sort of command line prompt! It pretty much ran out of memory
*long* before that time.

boot: dsl 2 (type this in at prompt)
This avoids the GUI and is advised for memory under 32MB.

There are various install to hd options. Look at 'frugal' but that may
just use less hard and just as much or more RAM.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
So I wondered what other versions (namely slackware) would do. So I tried
slackware 9,4 and 7. Slackware 9 did exactly what DSL did, namely didn't get
very far in and stopped preumably because it ran out of memory. 4 was more
successful though a lot of hardware (such as sound) wasn't supported. 7
worked better and after modprobing with the correct IRQs and DMAs the sound
playback worked. And although I never got a chance to try it, the 3com
3CCFE574BT card was detected ok (listed in dmesg and no errors). Though none
of these detected the MA401.

Slackware 10 used up 64MB of RAM before running any programs, because it
starts all sort of daemons. You can edit rc* to stop this. You can also
unload unused modules. The MA401 could be added to pcmcia/config.

Have you tried BL3 on the computer where the card was working? My kernel
2.4.31 works only read-only in loop (I don't know where I went wrong) so
you need to install to HD. If MA401 still won't work with BL3 there, it
is just a software problem.

I found a Quick HOWTO : Ch13 Linux Wireless Networking which discusses
IRQs, at http://linuxhomenetworking.com

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
So I'm probably going to try to use the network card and go through a
wireless bridge which is probably the best (and only!) possibility.

I wish I could just lend mine to experiment with.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
For a laugh :) I tried putting gnome from slackware 7 onto the liberetto.
Definately slow (as I expected) but it certianly ran. I was expecting it to
just run out of memory and grind to a complete and total halt. Kept on going
though too slow to be really usable.

You have a swap partition.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
But now the question is should I stick with Slackware 7 or put BL3 and build
it up with the needed modules? I'm still much more tempted to go with BL3 as
it uses a *lot* less space (though I'd need to add 3CCFE574BT drivers and
sound card drivers) but on the other hand SW7 got everything bar the MA401
card ok. Even a PCMCIA cdrom was detected and I could mount it with *no*
errors :) .

SW7 is more automated. You don't sound like the type who wants to do
things the easiest way. BL2 is based on Slackware 7 with a glibc X (you
can run precompiled X programs) and is also much smaller than Slackware.
800MB will easily hold both BL3 and BL2 (and DSL if you run it without the
GUI). Download the drivers for BL3 and edit pcmcia/config (copy the card
and device sections from Slackware config). BL3 and BL2 will run in less
memory and also boot much faster. Busybox has newer versions of things
than Slackware 7.

I have BL2 in 575MB including kernel source code (162MB), compiler, two
versions of Opera (50MB), glibc and libc, lots of added programs (100MB in
/usr/local/bin including many versions of links2 and ghostscript). You
don't need to compile on your laptop. 400MB should be overkill for BL2
and use the rest for DOS (?) and BL3. If you decide to keep just one you
can store files in the other partition. I have about 70MB of BL3 with
Opera but no compiler or source code.

Why/where do you want to use wireless internet with the Libretto?
Sindi

***@sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-29 17:55:59 UTC

Message from Steven
===================

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
It *almost* worked, but not quite: the modules
orinoco_cs: Card services release does not match!

It's a non-fatal warning message.
You can ignore it.

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 23:23:29 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Are you booting from DOS with loadlin?

Yep, I'm booting from DOS right now with loadlin bzimagela.431 root=/dev/hda2 rw

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
I thought you had no serial port except in an extender.

Sorry, I neglected to mention the Toshiba laptop's second hand. It
came with some sort of "cradle" or "plugin device" which gives me 1
serial port, 1 parallel port and 1 vga port.

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Try my larger smf kernel which does have sound support, with the ymf sound
module. If those work, I will modify another smaller kernel for you.

Will do

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
So the card works. Good. How large is the hard disk?

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-28 00:17:32 UTC

Message from Steven
===================

it will be slow at 75MHz.
the only X program I use is Opera

I do not recommend Opera for a 75MHz system.

You need a glibc upgrade

I do not recommend a glibc upgrade for a 75MHz
system. BL3 uses libc5 specifically for such
machines in order to get decent performance.
Clogging those machines with glibc defeats
the whole purpose.

It is bad advice to suggest to people with
slow computers that they should upgrade the
library and/or kernel. Yes, I know that a
kernel upgrade may be necessary for some
newer hardware (personally I avoid such
hardware). But a library upgrade is almost
always unjustified for such machines.

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-28 01:49:00 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Message from Steven
===================

it will be slow at 75MHz.
the only X program I use is Opera

I do not recommend Opera for a 75MHz system.

You need a glibc upgrade

I do not recommend a glibc upgrade for a 75MHz
system. BL3 uses libc5 specifically for such
machines in order to get decent performance.
Clogging those machines with glibc defeats
the whole purpose.

I thought glibc was avoided because it took up too much disk space, or
RAM, not cpu time. He has a large hard disk and lots of RAM.

I have BL2 working fine on my 100MHz pentium with 24MB RAM, with glibc and
wireless ethernet (text browsers). 340MB disk. I have BL1 on my 486.
What library did Opera 6 need?

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
It is bad advice to suggest to people with
slow computers that they should upgrade the
library and/or kernel. Yes, I know that a
kernel upgrade may be necessary for some
newer hardware (personally I avoid such
hardware). But a library upgrade is almost
always unjustified for such machines.
Cheers,
Steven
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SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 11:40:42 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Message from Steven
Does your 2.4 kernel use three modules (hermes and
two orinocos) or just one (orinoco)? If it just uses
one, did you change /etc/pcmcia/config to reflect this?
Since the problem does not appear to be in the kernel
module, the most likely cause is hardware. Has your
PCMCIA card worked for you with any other operating
system? Has the PCMCIA slot on your laptop worked
with any other PCMCIA card?

No worries, I can always reinstall BL3. It's quite small and copies
across fine from the PCMCIA cdrom. As for what the card uses I am not
sure -- from googling all I can tell is it uses all 3 but I'm not sure
how to find out. On a newer laptop with SW12 I'm using ndiswrapper
btw, and that works with this pcmcia card.

I've tried a PCMCIA cdrom on this toshiba liberetto 50 laptop and it
works (to a fashion). After installing BL3 /etc/pcmcia/start will
start ok though I need to do extra stuff each time for the cdrom. If I
just try to mount the cdrom at this point with "mount /dev/hdc /cdrom"
(/cdrom exists, I made that directory) I get "no such device or
address". But doing the following fixes it;

cd /lib/modules/2.2.26
cd misc
insmod cdrom.o
insmod ide-cd.o
insmod isofs.o

Then doing mount /dev/hdc /cdrom works :) .

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-27 19:58:22 UTC

Message from Steven
===================

After installing BL3 /etc/pcmcia/start will start ok

You can automate this by removing the # in front of
/etc/pcmcia/start in /etc/rc

though I need to do extra stuff each time for the cdrom.

This also can be automated in /etc/rc

If I just try to mount the cdrom at this point with
"mount /dev/hdc /cdrom", I get "no such device or
address". But doing the following fixes it;
cd /lib/modules/2.2.26
cd misc
insmod cdrom.o
insmod ide-cd.o
insmod isofs.o

There is no need to cd to a module directory to do
an insmod. insmod automatically looks in the module
directories.

I suggest all users become familiar with /etc/rc.
It is the system startup file and runs automatically
when BL3 first boots.

Ignore the first two lines. Line 1 is standard for
any shell script. Line 2 sets the path for the script.

Line 3 turns on your swap partition. Point it at your
swap partition, or remove it if you have no swap. The
next line syncs the system following swapon. It is not
needed if you have no swap.

Next comes the file system check. If you have a small
filesystem (eg the 20mb filesystem in the DOS version
of BL3), this takes little time; however, it can be a
nuisance for large filesystems. If e2fsck takes more
than a few seconds on your filesystem, you can modify
it to run occasionally or to run only after a dirty
shutdown. Instructions for doing this appeared here
several weeks ago. It was also discussed last year
(or was it the year before?). Note: if you don't
know how to search the archives, please ask. The
archives contain a ton of useful information.

After the filesystem check in /etc/rc, the partitions
are mounted. Don't remove this line.

The hostname line sets the name for your system. It
is currently set to BasicLinux. You can change it if
you want.

The next two lines establish your localhost. Don't
remove them.

Everything from here on is optional and you are free
to add/subtract whatever you want. Anything with a
# in from of it is not currently implemented. Remove
the # to make it work. Or add a new command -- anything
that works on the commandline will probably work here.

The last line of /etc/rc is optional. It simply displays
the splash screen (/etc/issue). Remove it if you wish,
or edit /etc/issue to create a personalized splash screen.

Cheers,
Steven

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-25 00:08:25 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Has anyone succeeded in using a wireless router as a bridge (to pick up a
neighbor's wireless signal)?

If you're meaning getting 2 routers to talk to one another (I'm
guessing the neighbour also uses a router?) and I am no expert on this
but I think that this would require something called WDS. Not all
routers support WDS and from what I can gather it's not even
standardised yet! Those routers that run a small version of linux
might work better, but because WDS isn't standardised it means having
to get two routers of exactly the same type and version and model
number. I tried getting a linksys WAG54G and a linksys WDS54G to try
to work together but they both use different ideas of WDS and they
refuse to detect each other! I'm no expert but I've found this to be
quite hit-and-miss really.

ljones

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-25 01:16:21 UTC

Thanks. Maybe what you describe has dhcp client built into the router?

We are going to concentrate our efforts on adding a few more phone lines
to the neighbor's house and placing her DSL modem closer to our house so
we can pick up the signal directly with pcmcia wireless cards. Even a PCI
wireless card with longer antenna could not get a usable signal, but it
did detect a weak signal. Her signal is half strength even inside the
house, so we need to check for interference from cordless phone or
computer. If we make her signal stronger we should also figure out how to
set a password or the whole neighborhood will be able to use it.

I am still trying to understand how to link networks. It might be that I
can change from dynamic internet IP address on my wireless router to an IP
number similar to that of her router (put my router into her network) and
then use it as a bridge that way. I would connect to my own router (dhcp
or manually assign IP number to match my own router) and with luck (and a
stronger signal) pick up her signal and be able to use it. I can try
using her router IP number as DNS server, or use my usual ones (assigned
manually after browsing to my router with Opera). None of this will work
until we get a stronger signal.

We were shown a new in-the-box amplifying antenna that plugs into a USB
port and I presume also includes a wireless network card. That would add
one more layer of drivers, but some USB wireless cards have linux support.

Sindi

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Has anyone succeeded in using a wireless router as a bridge (to pick up a
neighbor's wireless signal)?

***@sdf.lonestar.org
SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-25 18:36:25 UTC

Post by b***@lists.ibiblio.org
Thanks. Maybe what you describe has dhcp client built into the router?
We are going to concentrate our efforts on adding a few more phone lines
to the neighbor's house and placing her DSL modem closer to our house so
we can pick up the signal directly with pcmcia wireless cards. Even a PCI
wireless card with longer antenna could not get a usable signal, but it
did detect a weak signal. Her signal is half strength even inside the
house, so we need to check for interference from cordless phone or
computer. If we make her signal stronger we should also figure out how to
set a password or the whole neighborhood will be able to use it.
I am still trying to understand how to link networks. It might be that I
can change from dynamic internet IP address on my wireless router to an IP
number similar to that of her router (put my router into her network) and
then use it as a bridge that way. I would connect to my own router (dhcp
or manually assign IP number to match my own router) and with luck (and a
stronger signal) pick up her signal and be able to use it. I can try
using her router IP number as DNS server, or use my usual ones (assigned
manually after browsing to my router with Opera). None of this will work
until we get a stronger signal.
We were shown a new in-the-box amplifying antenna that plugs into a USB
port and I presume also includes a wireless network card. That would add
one more layer of drivers, but some USB wireless cards have linux support.
Sindi

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-25 22:37:02 UTC

It appears that her only phone extension was run up the outside of her
house (the far side). If we hurry, we can run another line up the near
corner before the siding goes on. (It is too late to run extensions
inside the walls since they just insulated them). Then the signal will be
going through less walls (ideally only two windows). Also her signal is
only 50% strength directly below her router, indoors (weaker than signals
from two neighbors) and we will look for interference from her cordless
phone, computer, etc., and whether her antenna is up, and we will assign
her a password so the neighbors won't start using her new improved signal.

b***@lists.ibiblio.org

2008-04-26 13:21:06 UTC