My Experiments
Got a BSNL modem SmartAX MT841 with an add-on card for WiFI. The hercuilan task was to configure my Linux-Fedora-6 Dell-XPS-M1210 to identify the device. The Dell machine is packed with Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG WiFI card.
Now, what made me realize that this is the card. I typed in :
lspci
and it was listed as:
0c:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection (rev 02)
I installed kwifimanager, a tool that comes with KDE, not to mention I prefer KDE to GNOME.. just a matter of personal preference.
Started the kwifimanager, but it could not detect any wireless devices nearby. I was surprised since the 2200 card was almost instantly identified at my acer by the same tool. mmm... something is really wrong here.
The problem was that the kernel was unable to identify the device or rather load the modules for this device. Guys, you should know that Fedora is one version of Linux that releases updates for the kernel almost 3 times a month, so I was reluctant to do any compile and install and rather prefered to do an rpm install.
My Kernel : kernel-2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6
Now the modules that you need are :
ipw3945-kmdl-2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6-1.2.0-18.2.fc6.at
ipw3945d-1.7.22-4.at
ipw3945-ucode-1.14.2-4.at
ipw3945-1.2.0-18.2.fc6.at
You can get all these rpms from atrpms.
As a dependency you might also need to install:
ieee80211-kmdl-2.6.19-1.2911.6.5.fc6-1.2.16-17.fc6.at
ieee80211-1.2.16-17.fc6.at
These are available at atrpms. as well.
Now, go ahead and reboot the machine. Once the machine is back, at the konsole type:
ipw3945d
This is a deamon process and you will see that it identifies the Network card and quits.
Now, run the kwifimanager again and BINGO.. you have the MT 841 on your list. Now. you can connect and start using the MT841 with your Fedora-6.
Nikhil Thomas.
Chief Consultant.
