PCMCIA: pre-compiled driver packages

PCMCIA: pre-compiled driver packages

[Chuck Gelm]

 I have been trying to get several PCMCIA cards to work in my laptop.
(pentium 166MHz, 16 M RAM, 15 G HD).  I am using Slakware v8.0.
(kernel 2.2.19)

#:ifconfig -a
 
 Is not showing anything other than lo & dummy.

 I have the following cards:
Netgear MA401 & FA411     (802.11b wireless & 10/100 network)
Belkin	F5D6020 & F5D5020 (802.11b wireless & 10/100 network).

 I am baffled as to whether I need the pcmcia-cs package.
I found this paragraph
 (http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ftp/doc/PCMCIA-HOWTO-2.html#ss2.1):

"Before starting, you should think about whether you really need to
compile the PCMCIA package yourself. All common Linux
distributions come with pre-compiled driver packages. Generally, you
only need to install the drivers from scratch if you need a
new feature of the current drivers, or if you've updated and/or
reconfigured your kernel in a way that is incompatible with the
drivers included with your Linux distribution. While compiling the
package is not technically difficult, it does require some
general Linux familiarity."

 How do I tell if I have these packages?
 If yes, How do I configure my system to use them?

 Do I simply need to insmod/modprobe existing modules?
 If yes, which modules go with which card?

Regards, Chuck
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Re: PCMCIA: pre-compiled driver packages

[dashielljt]

kernel 2.2.19 is at least two years old.  To the best of my knowledge it
did not and does not provide drivers for any of your pcmcia cards.  I have
never heard any of them being tested for on boot up at any rate.  I also
do not know if any of the more recent kernel releases offer these drivers
either.  Probably your best bet would be to set up a freshmeat.net account
and subscribe to the newsletters and check them out.  It's like windows
update for linux but far less intrusive.

Jude <dashielljt(at)gmpexpress-dot-net>

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Re: PCMCIA: pre-compiled driver packages

[Chuck Gelm]

Hi, Jude:  Thanks.

 kernel 2.2.19 is coming up on 1 year 9 months. ;-)
I'm compiling kernel 2.4.20 now.
I have found that PCMCIA requires a pcmcia-cs package;
 if not the userspace modules, at least the tools.
 Here is an excerpt from
http://pcmcia-cs.sourceforge.net/ftp/doc/PCMCIA-HOWTO-2.html#ss2.1

"The kernel PCMCIA code has the same functionality as the driver side
of the pcmcia-cs package. It does not eliminate the need to install
the pcmcia-cs package, since it requires the same user tools
(cardmgr, cardctl, /etc/pcmcia/* files). The drivers in pcmcia-cs can
still be built for 2.4 kernels, so you have a choice of using either
the in-kernel PCMCIA drivers, or the drivers included in pcmcia-cs.
With 2.5 and later kernels, the standalone drivers cannot be used."

 I'll try to use the kernel drivers so as to be compatible with
kernel-2.6.x, when it is released.

Later, Chuck

dashielljt wrote:
> 
> kernel 2.2.19 is at least two years old.  To the best of my knowledge it
> did not and does not provide drivers for any of your pcmcia cards.  I have
> never heard any of them being tested for on boot up at any rate.  I also
> do not know if any of the more recent kernel releases offer these drivers
> either.  Probably your best bet would be to set up a freshmeat.net account
> and subscribe to the newsletters and check them out.  It's like windows
> update for linux but far less intrusive.
> 
> Jude <dashielljt(at)gmpexpress-dot-net>
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