Using r121 (Part 2)

This post is related to setting up wifi network (WPA-PSK) using my PLANEX CF11X Wireless card. The main issue with this card is it fails to load by default, a new firmware has to be loaded into the card's RAM upon use.

The firmware files required are:
* pm010102.hex
* rf010804.hex

These files can be downloaded here:
1.8.4.tar.bz2,
1.8.4.tar.bz2

There exists /etc/pcmcia/hostap_fw.conf which contains script for loading the firmware, however it doesn't seem to work. Not sure how it is supposed to work here. Hence this is another workaround that works for me.

NOTE: You need to have the hostap-utils, hostap-driver and wpa_supplicant package installed.

Create a script file called loadwifi.sh, we assume the .hex files are copied to /etc/pcmcia/firmware directory.

#!/bin/sh
echo 'loading PLANEX CF11X firmware'
prism2_srec -gs wlan0 /etc/pcmcia/firmware/pm010102.hex
prism2_srec -gp wlan0 /etc/pcmcia/firmware/pm010102.hex
iwpriv wlan reset 1
prism2_srec -rp wlan0 /etc/pcmcia/firmware/rf010804.hex
iwconfig wlan0 mode 2

Next, modify /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf for your wifi settings.

Here's my example

    ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
    ctrl_interface_group=0
    eapol_version=1
    ap_scan=1
    fast_reauth=1
    network={
        ssid="(Your SSID)"
        proto=WPA
        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
        pairwise=TKIP
        group=TKIP
        psk="(Network_Password)"
        priority=2
    }

Once you have all these setup, the following is the step by step call to put the network up. Put these commands into one script for easy access.

Load the new firmware into Wifi Card's RAM
> loadwifi.sh

Enable wlan0
> ifconfig wlan0 up

Load WPA setup to authenticate with server
> wpa_supplicant -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -D hostap -i wlan0 -B

enable DHCP client to get IP (assuem server using DHCP)
> dhcpcd wlan0

The connection should be on and should be able to browse the net now.