PCMCIA Wireless Card Question

[Loren M. Lang]

On Thu, Nov 18, 2004 at 01:21:58PM -0600, Andrew L. Gould wrote:
> On Thursday 18 November 2004 12:42 pm, Tom Connolly wrote:
> > Andrew L. Gould wrote:
> > > On Tuesday 16 November 2004 12:30 pm, Tom Connolly wrote:
> > >> Hello List,
> > >> I have just put FreeBSD 5.3 Release on my Dell Latitude C600
> > >> laptop. I wish to go wireless but I'm new to this technology.  I
> > >> have looked through the hardware compatibility notes and have
> > >> found several supported wireless cards.  My question is, what do I
> > >> have to do (ports to install, configuration, etc.) to get the
> > >> wireless connection up and running.
> > >>
> > >> Any help would be appreciated.
> > >>
> > >> Thanks,
> > >>
> > >> Tom
> > >
> > > Based on your email, I will assume that you purchased a compatible
> > > wireless adapter.
> > >
> > > 1. Make sure your pccard slots work in FreeBSD 5.3.  There's no use
> > > in struggling with the pccard if the slots don't work.
> > >
> > > http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/laptop/x58.html
> > >
> > >
> > > 2. Make sure your kernel is configured for your hardware.  You may
> > > have to add devices to your kernel:
> >
> > http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/kernelconfi
> >g.h tml
> >
> > > 3. Configure your wireless connection:
> >
> > http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/network-wir
> >ele ss.html
> >
> > > Have fun,
> > >
> > > Andrew Gould
> >
> > Oops, I guess I missed the top line in the Handbook that I can skip
> > making device nodes since I am using FreeBSD 5.3.  I assume I still
> > have to add the entry for the kernel though.  Is that correct?  Then
> > I assume I have to recompile the kernel which I have never done
> > before.  Is this also correct?  Sorry for the remedial questions.  I
> > as still a newbie.
> >
> > Tom
> 
> For the atheros chipset, you'll need to add the following to your kernel 
> config file:
> 
> device ath
> device ath_hal

Couldn't he just do something like kldload ath as root and skipping
compiling a new kernel?  While I do see advantages to compiling a
kernel, having to do so everytime you add a new pccard or usb device is
just pointless, IMHO.  In linux I just compiled a kernel with modules
for everything but the core devices to boot my machine, and did it just
once per system.  If I added a new device, I may have to change the
kernel config, but I'd just have to compile a couple modules and load
them, but didn't need to install a new kernel or even reboot.  In
freebsd, I believe I heard everything is always compiled as a module
that can be so I'd think just kldload ath would work even though there
may be no reference to ath in the kernel config.  ath_hal and wlan may
also need to be loaded, I'm not sure as I have yet to try out my
wireless card with freebsd.

> 
> Since this is your first time recompiling a kernel, you might consider 
> the following advice:
> 
> 1. Start with a copy of GENERIC.  Since you're currently running it, you 
> know it works.
> 
> 2. Put additions at the bottom of the file so that you can find them 
> easily.
> 
> 3. When you comment out unused options or devices, comment them out with 
> a combination of characters so that you can find/reverse your changes 
> easily.  For example, rather than simply add a '#' to the front of a 
> line, you could add 2 #'s and your initials (in my case, that would be 
> '##ag').
> 
> Good luck,
> 
> Andrew Gould
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-questions at freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"

-- 
I sense much NT in you.
NT leads to Bluescreen.
Bluescreen leads to downtime.
Downtime leads to suffering.
NT is the path to the darkside.
Powerful Unix is.

Public Key: ftp://ftp.tallye.com/pub/lorenl_pubkey.asc
Fingerprint: B3B9 D669 69C9 09EC 1BCD  835A FAF3 7A46 E4A3 280C