Linux on Sony Vaio - Built-in Wireless

14 Jan 2003 15:50 linux sony-vaio

First, you’ll need to recompile your kernel, with the following options:

CONFIG_PCMCIA=m
CONFIG_NET_RADIO=y
CONFIG_HERMES=m
CONFIG_PCMCIA_HERMES=m
CONFIG_NET_WIRELESS=y

Then, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got the PCMCIA and wireless packages installed: apt-get install pcmcia-cs wireless-tools.

Add the following lines to /etc/modules:

# Load the PCMCIA modules:
pcmcia_core
yenta_socket
ds

Then, when you reboot, the correct modules should be loaded:

$ /sbin/lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by    Not tainted
orinoco_cs              4520   1
orinoco                28608   0 [orinoco_cs]
hermes                  5312   0 [orinoco_cs orinoco]
af_packet               8392   3 (autoclean)
eepro100               18604   1 (autoclean)
mii                     2320   0 (autoclean) [eepro100]
ds                      6464   2 [orinoco_cs]
yenta_socket            8704   2
pcmcia_core            32992   0 [orinoco_cs ds yenta_socket]
thermal                 6632   0 (unused)
processor               8664   0 [thermal]
fan                     1576   0 (unused)
button                  2420   0 (unused)
battery                 5960   0 (unused)
ac                      1832   0 (unused)
unix                   13572  55 (autoclean)

You’ll need to edit the /etc/pcmcia/wireless.opts file as well. Find the section entitled “Lucent Wavelan IEEE (+ Orinoco, RoamAbout and ELSA)”. Fortunately, it’s the first proper section in the file. Edit it like this:

# Lucent Wavelan IEEE (+ Orinoco, RoamAbout and ELSA)
# Note : wvlan_cs driver only, and version 1.0.4+ for encryption support
*,*,*,00:60:1D:*|*,*,*,00:02:2D:*)
    INFO="Sony Vaio Orinoco card"
    ESSID="essid"
    MODE="Managed"
    KEY="0123456789"
    ;;

Obviously, put the correct values for your wireless network in the ESSID and KEY variables. Put anything you want in the INFO variable. You’ll also need to add the following line to /etc/network/interfaces:

iface eth1 inet dhcp

Without this line, you’ll get a message “Ignoring unknown interface eth1=eth1.” Then, check to see if your wireless networking comes up by:

/etc/pcmcia# ./network start eth1

Use ifconfig to confirm that it’s working.

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