PCMCIA Wireless Card Question

[Andrew L. Gould]

On Friday 19 November 2004 03:03 am, Loren M. Lang wrote:
> 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/kernelc
> > >onfi 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.

I tried to load the modules after I installed 5.3.  Both ath and ath_hal 
would need to be loaded.  I was only able to load one of the modules, 
though I can't remember which.