enabling config_wireless_ext

enabling config_wireless_ext

[captain]

Sorry Confused. I'm building from the latest 3.6 kernel from git in 
order to be able to submit patches. Well if I get that far. I'm running 
the built on my netbook but I'm having problems building my wifi drivers 
against the 3.6.0 kernel. Basically I've got an error:

error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'wireless_handlers'

Which is fair enough if you look in the kernel source 
include/linux/netdevice.h there's a "'#ifdef CONFIG_WIRELESS_EXT"

So this is easy all I have to do is enable that switch and rebuild the 
kernel. You might not believe it but that's were I come unstuck. I did a 
search in "make menuconfig" for that switch and it does provide some 
info but normally when I do a search the help tells me where to find it. 
(Which is a God send.) So searching for it is finding it but not giving 
me suitable help on where it is in the menu structure.

I then decided that I'd search for it in the .config file. Can't find it 
in there either.

This is a mailing list for newbies and I know this is a stupid question 
but can anybody advise me on where that switch is in make menuconfig?

I did find this page out there but that's pointing at Kconfig in source 
code not where it is in the menus:

http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/WIRELESS_EXT.html
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enabling config_wireless_ext

[Jorgyano Vieira]

Hi,

On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 07:04:31PM +0100, captain wrote:
> Sorry Confused. I'm building from the latest 3.6 kernel from git in
> order to be able to submit patches. Well if I get that far. I'm
> running the built on my netbook but I'm having problems building my
> wifi drivers against the 3.6.0 kernel. Basically I've got an error:
> 
> error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'wireless_handlers'
> 
> Which is fair enough if you look in the kernel source
> include/linux/netdevice.h there's a "'#ifdef CONFIG_WIRELESS_EXT"
> 
> So this is easy all I have to do is enable that switch and rebuild
> the kernel. You might not believe it but that's were I come unstuck.
> I did a search in "make menuconfig" for that switch and it does
> provide some info but normally when I do a search the help tells me
> where to find it. (Which is a God send.) So searching for it is
> finding it but not giving me suitable help on where it is in the
> menu structure.
> 
> I then decided that I'd search for it in the .config file. Can't
> find it in there either.
> 
> This is a mailing list for newbies and I know this is a stupid
> question but can anybody advise me on where that switch is in make
> menuconfig?
> 
> I did find this page out there but that's pointing at Kconfig in
> source code not where it is in the menus:
> 
> http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/WIRELESS_EXT.html


First thing: you shouldn't be gettin this error at all.
If this piece of code depends on WIRELESS_EXT, and it is this 
flag is not set the code should not be built or the code should set this flag, as we will see below.
You can investigate and fix it if you want.

Searching for WIRELESS_EXT on menuconfig we get: 

 Symbol: WIRELESS_EXT [=n]                                                                                                                                           
   Type  : boolean                                                                                                                                                  
     Selected by: GELIC_WIRELESS [=n] && NETDEVICES [=y] && ETHERNET [=y] && NET_VENDOR_TOSHIBA [=n] && GELIC_NET [=n] && WLAN [=y] || PCMCIA_RAYCS [=n] (...) 


I didn't put the entire "Selected by" here, there is dozens of fields.

The first thing we learn here is that the flag does not have a "Prompt" field, 
instead, it has a "Selected by" field. This means that you wont see a check box to 
this fllag on menuconfig and you should not manually add the flag on .config, 
because this kind of flag is selected by the drivers which needs it, 
and you don't have to worry about it on the configuration.

for example, the WIRELESS_EXT flag b is selected by PCMCIA_RAYCS, 
searching for this synbol on menuconfig we see that it has the prompt:
Aviator/Raytheon 2.4GHz wireless support, and it's located on:
-> Device Drivers
    -> Network device support
        -> Wireless LAN

selecting it and searching again for WIRELESS_EXT we see that it's selected:
Symbol: WIRELESS_EXT [=y] 

So, perhaps the driver of your wireless device should select WIRELESS_EXT flag

enabling config_wireless_ext

[captain]

On 06/10/12 18:29, Jorgyano Vieira wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On Fri, Oct 05, 2012 at 07:04:31PM +0100, captain wrote:
>> Sorry Confused. I'm building from the latest 3.6 kernel from git in
>> order to be able to submit patches. Well if I get that far. I'm
>> running the built on my netbook but I'm having problems building my
>> wifi drivers against the 3.6.0 kernel. Basically I've got an error:
>>
>> error: 'struct net_device' has no member named 'wireless_handlers'
>>
>> Which is fair enough if you look in the kernel source
>> include/linux/netdevice.h there's a "'#ifdef CONFIG_WIRELESS_EXT"
>>
>> So this is easy all I have to do is enable that switch and rebuild
>> the kernel. You might not believe it but that's were I come unstuck.
>> I did a search in "make menuconfig" for that switch and it does
>> provide some info but normally when I do a search the help tells me
>> where to find it. (Which is a God send.) So searching for it is
>> finding it but not giving me suitable help on where it is in the
>> menu structure.
>>
>> I then decided that I'd search for it in the .config file. Can't
>> find it in there either.
>>
>> This is a mailing list for newbies and I know this is a stupid
>> question but can anybody advise me on where that switch is in make
>> menuconfig?
>>
>> I did find this page out there but that's pointing at Kconfig in
>> source code not where it is in the menus:
>>
>> http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/WIRELESS_EXT.html
>
> First thing: you shouldn't be gettin this error at all.
> If this piece of code depends on WIRELESS_EXT, and it is this
> flag is not set the code should not be built or the code should set this flag, as we will see below.
> You can investigate and fix it if you want.
>
> Searching for WIRELESS_EXT on menuconfig we get:
>
>   Symbol: WIRELESS_EXT [=n]
>     Type  : boolean
>       Selected by: GELIC_WIRELESS [=n] && NETDEVICES [=y] && ETHERNET [=y] && NET_VENDOR_TOSHIBA [=n] && GELIC_NET [=n] && WLAN [=y] || PCMCIA_RAYCS [=n] (...)
>
>
> I didn't put the entire "Selected by" here, there is dozens of fields.
>
> The first thing we learn here is that the flag does not have a "Prompt" field,
> instead, it has a "Selected by" field. This means that you wont see a check box to
> this fllag on menuconfig and you should not manually add the flag on .config,
> because this kind of flag is selected by the drivers which needs it,
> and you don't have to worry about it on the configuration.
>
> for example, the WIRELESS_EXT flag b is selected by PCMCIA_RAYCS,
> searching for this synbol on menuconfig we see that it has the prompt:
> Aviator/Raytheon 2.4GHz wireless support, and it's located on:
> -> Device Drivers
>      -> Network device support
>          -> Wireless LAN
>
> selecting it and searching again for WIRELESS_EXT we see that it's selected:
> Symbol: WIRELESS_EXT [=y]
>
> So, perhaps the driver of your wireless device should select WIRELESS_EXT flag
>

Thanks so much your your response. You cleared that up for me. The 
driver I'm trying to install is for a "Broadcom Corporation BCM4313 
802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN Controller" which is not part of the kernel at 
all. The readme for the driver is at [1] and I basically compile that 
driver against the kernel headers which I've built. That driver expects 
CONFIG_WIRELESS_EXT to have been on when the kernel was built so all is 
good, after your explanation.

Thanks as well for including pointer to PCMCIA_RAYCS I got that enabled 
which as you said enabled the switch I needed. It's just as well because 
even thought the help info mentions "Toshiba" vendor I couldn't find 
that where I thought it was meant to be in make menuconfig. No matter 
PCMCIA_RAYCS did the job.

[1] http://www.broadcom.com/docs/linux_sta/README.txt