Wary Puppy 5.5 with Belkin N150 USB wireless

[Lee Hart]

Hi all. I'm a linux beginner, so please be patient. I'll try to supply "enough" information, but if I miss something important, let me know.

I have Wary Puppy 5.5 on a Panasonic Toughbook CF71 (Pentium II, 192Mb RAM). It connects to the internet with the ethernet, but not with a USB wifi adapter. But wifi is pretty much essential to use it as a laptop.

I have been using a Linksys WUSB11v4 on this laptop with Windows XP. Looking online, it appears that this adapter can't be used with linux. I went to Best Buy, and they recommended a Netgear N600. That also fails; searching online it looks like that one can't be used with linux, either. So I took it back, and in the store I googled every model USB-wifi adapter they had to see if any of them supported linux. None would.

However, google did find a .pet driver file for the Belkin N150, so I bought it.

Device: Belkin N150 wireless USB adapter
Model: F9L1001v1
FCC ID: K7SF7D1101V1
lsusb command says: 050d, dev ID 945A

Alas, it also does not work with any of the drivers on the Wary 5.5 CD. It did not find it automatically, nor with either of the network wizards.

I found a website that says the F9L1001v1 will be recognized as a F7D1001v1, and that it has the Realtek RTL8188SU chipset. This matches the results from the lsusb command.

The thread murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=462469#462469 says (if I understand it correctly) that I therefore need the Realtek 8712u driver. So I clicked the 8712u-k2.6.33.2.pet link on this page.

It appeared to install, and an 8712u driver now appeared in the driver list of the network wizard. However, clicking on this driver produced an error message "loading 8712u failed... FATAL module 8712u not found." And, from that point *no* connection could be made, even with the direct ethernet driver that had worked. *All* drivers gave me the same FATAL error.

I went to the Puppy Package manager. The new driver 8712u appeared there (even though I hadn't used the Package manager to get it). I tried removing it with the Package manager. When I ran the network wizard again, there were *no* drivers at all listed! I had to erase the linux files that Puppy had saved on my hard disk, and do a fresh boot from the CD to get them back, and get at least the ethernet connection working.

What am I doing wrong? How can I get this wifi adapter working?

[ardvark]

Hi Lee...

I'm guessing this was the website you found.

I may be requesting the obvious but I want to make sure we're talking about the same chipset. Please post the results of...

Code: Select all

lspci

and...

Code: Select all

lsusb

Thanks!

Regards...

[Lee Hart]

ardvark wrote:
> Hi Lee... I'm guessing this was the website you found.

Yes, that's it! I found it while at the Best Buy store, and so didn't have the link at home.

> Please post the results of... lspci... and lsusb

# lspci
00:00:0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 440BX/ZX/DX - 82443BX/ZX/DX Host bridge (AGP disabled) (rev 03)
00:02:0 VGA compatible controller: Neomagic Corporation NM2200 [MagicGraph 256AV] (rev 20)
00:07:0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:07:1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 IDE (rev 01)
00:07:2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 01)
00:07:3 Bridge: Intel Corporation 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ISA (rev 02)
00:0a:0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c478 (rev 03)
00:0a:1 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c478 (rev 03)
01:00:0 Ethernet controller: Xircom Cardbus Ethernet 10/100 (rev 03)
01:00.1 Serial controller: Xircom Cardbus Ethernet + 56k Modem (rev 03)

#lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 050d:945a Belkin Components

[ardvark]

Hi Lee...

I'm going to take a guess here (as networking is not one of my strongest skills in the trade) but I think at least part of your problem was that the driver for your wireless adapter is already native, meaning that it is included in the operating system, according to the site you mentioned previously...

Drivers are defined as Linux native drivers, so no Linuxant driverloader or Ndiswrapper.

The first thing I would try is go to Menu--->Setup--->Internet Connection Wizard and try the the other wireless network managers, starting with Frisbee and see if any one of these sees your device and allows you to create a connection.

Regards...

[Lee Hart]

Thank you for the fast response!

ardvark wrote:
> ...I think at least part of your problem was that the driver for your
> wireless adapter is already native, meaning that it is included in the
> operating system, according to the site you mentioned previously...

Yes, that is what I thought, which is why I bought this adapter. But it is apparently not supported by Wary Puppy 5.5.

> go to Menu--->Setup--->Internet Connection Wizard and try the the other
> wireless network managers, starting with Frisbee...

Wary Puppy 5.5 seems to have only 2 wireless managers; SNS (Simple Network Setup) and "Network Wizard by BarryK, enhanced by Dougal, Rarsa, Shinobar, and others". Either one will make a wired ethernet connection; but neither will make a USB wireless connection.

PS: Do I need to fill in the Subject and Subject Description for every post here? I thought it would use the previous ones and be threaded.

[ardvark]

Hi Lee...

With the little research I've done so far, I get the impression that Wary can't see/use adapters that Slacko and perhaps other version can. Please see here as an example. At the same time, some options posted there might be of help.

I'm using Precise Puppy 5.6.1 and have found it to be better, in terms of functionality, features and software availability than Wary. I didn't realize that Wary didn't offer the various network managers. I'm not sure if you have tried any of the other versions but Precise or Slacko or one of the other ones might be an option.

No, you don't need to write in the subject line every post.

EDIT: With further research, I think I may have stumbled on to the cause of your problem. A person here seems to have had a similar problem and the writer of post #6 noted that the kernel version was incorrect. You mentioned you got your driver from here. This was for Puppy 5.1-5.2.8 with the 2.6.33.2 kernel. The date on the post goes back to 2010. I'm pretty sure the Wary 5.5 has a newer kernel. My version of Precise has the 3.2.44 kernel. Unless some has or can compile your driver to work with your kernel, I think you're looking at trying another version of Puppy. Please feel free to chime in from the audience if I'm wrong here.

Regards...

[Lee Hart]

Thanks again, ardvark. I can try Precise Puppy 5.6.1, but since this is for an old PC laptop, I'm not sure if it will work well enough to use. I have tried a number of linux versions, and most are too big and too slow on this hardware.

Wary Puppy has come the closest. With an ethernet cable, everything works! It it fast, and capable enough to browse the modern web. But it is rather useless if it requires an ethernet cable to work.

Any other things I should try before giving up?

[ardvark]

Any other things I should try before giving up?

Hi Lee...

There is only one more thing I can think of. You can try downloading an old release of Puppy that has the exact kernel version the driver needs. In this case, it would be Lucid Puppy 5.28. I'm not sure if it will be as fast as Wary but it might be worth a shot. I also, found out on the same thread that has the drivers that they don't work with Wary. Please see post 1 of page 1 for that information.

Hope this helps...

Regards...

[Lee Hart]

I downloaded Lucid Puppy 5.2.8 from your link, burned a CD, and it booted OK. But the stock driver list is identical to that of Wary Puppy 5.5, and the Belkin wifi adapter still did not work.

How do I download and install the Realtek 8712u driver? If I click the link (above), it shows a .pet file. Clicking that file seems to download the driver, but I don't know if this is the right way to do it. When I tried this with Wary Puppy, it instead wiped out *all* the network drivers!

[ardvark]

Hi Lee...

So you downloaded the 8712u driver from here, correct?

If so, do you see it in the root folder (by clicking on the desktop icon that says "file"?) If you see it, try clicking on the file, that should start the install process. Once installed, hopefully, Puppy will see it and allow you to create a connection.

Regards...

[Lee Hart]

Well, I've made some progress.

I booted Lucid Puppy. The ethernet network connection works, but not wireless. Network Wizard didn't have any drivers for the Belkin N150 USB wifi adapter.

- I went to the link above, and "saved" the Realtek 8712u driver.
- I looked (with Files), and it was there in the /root directory.
- I clicked on it, and it installed it.
- Network Wizard then listed the 8712u driver; but it could not install it.
(said "no response; unload?" like it does for any other unusable driver)
- I tried the "Frisbee" network wizard. It's hard to figure out how to use it,
without docs. Installed the 8712u driver, and the computer locked up.
- Rebooted, and the network icon listed two devices (ethernet and wifi)
- I stumbled around in Frisbee some more and the wifi interface WORKED
for about 5 minutes. Then it quit, and nothing I did would restart it.
- I rebooted a couple more times; each time, the wifi worked for a few
minutes and then quit.

Also of note: Lucid Puppy was considerably slower than Wary Puppy. Lucid also has a "bug" that if the laptop's screensaver blanks the screen, it STAYS blanked (no more screen until I reboot). And if the laptop's "sleep" mode times out (5 minutes inactivity), it goes to sleep and NEVER WAKES UP; the only way out is to reboot. Both these function work fine in Windows and in Wary Puppy 5.3 and 5.5.

Since the driver is named "8712u-k2.6.33.2.pet", does that mean it ONLY works with linux kernal 2.6.33.2? How can I tell what kernal I have?

[ardvark]

Hi Lee...

I'm pretty sure that the driver works with the one kernel version. To verify the version you have, open a terminal and run...

Code: Select all

uname -a

A couple things you can try: First, Turn off power management of the adapter. Not sure where those settings would be in Puppy. An example would be in post one and two in this thread. If anyone else knows, please chime in. Second, take a look at the suggestions in this thread.

This site might also be of some help.

Regards...

[watchdog]

I can suggest to use ndiswrapper driver. From:

http://www.wireless-driver.com/belkin-f ... s-utility/

you can download the windows xp driver. Use peazip to extract the .inf and .sys drivers and put them in a dir. If you have the cd of drivers of your wireless adaptor you can find them on it. If you have trouble to get the .inf and .sys files tell me and I'll post them. Then click Menu-Setup-Internet connection wizard and choose Wired or wireless lan. Then choose Network Wizard and click Load Module. Choose Tab ndiswrapper and Use Ndiswrapper and tell to it where you put the .inf and .sys windows xp driver. Try to wirelessly connect. Hope this helps.

[ardvark]

I can suggest to use ndiswrapper driver. From:

http://www.wireless-driver.com/belkin-f ... s-utility/

you can download the windows xp driver. Use peazip to extract the .inf and .sys drivers and put them in a dir. If you have the cd of drivers of your wireless adaptor you can find them on it. If you have trouble to get the .inf and .sys files tell me and I'll post them. Then click Menu-Setup-Internet connection wizard and choose Wired or wireless lan. Then choose Network Wizard and click Load Module. Choose Tab ndiswrapper and Use Ndiswrapper and tell to it where you put the .inf and .sys windows xp driver. Try to wirelessly connect. Hope this helps.

I didn't even think of ndiswrapper. If that works, Wary may yet still be an option.

Regards

[Lee Hart]

Progress!

The first good hint was to turn off Power Saving in the CMOS setup. I changed it from "Always" to "Battery Only". That kept it from locking up the computer when it automatically switched to "sleep" mode. (It still does it when running on the battery; but not when running on AC power; one thing at a time).

The second good hint was to run Lucid Puppy 5.2.8. It has the same 2.6.33.2 kernal as the 8712u-k2.6.33.2.pet driver mentioned earlier. Now when I install the driver, the Belkin N150 USB wifi adapter works, and *stays* working! I've run it for a few hours so far.

Remaining issues:
1. Lucid Puppy is noticeably slower. It would be nice to get Wary Puppy working due to the age of this computer. The 8712u driver does *not* work with Wary Puppy 5.5.

2. On battery, the laptop still switches to "sleep" mode after X minutes of inactivity. This crashes linux, requiring a reboot to get back out of it. "Sleep" works fine in WinXP, and with Wary Puppy 5.5; but not with Lucid Puppy 5.2.8.

3. Puppy does not remember the wlan0 wifi setup. Rebooting goes back to the ethernet, even though no cable is plugged in. I have to reconfigure the wifi from scratch.

4. Listening to an internet radio station: With an ethernet connection, the sound is normal. With the wifi connection, there are glitches and dropouts. Not too bad; but annoying. Web pages also load noticeably slower. This may be just a fact of life; that the wifi connection is inevitably slower.

Further work:
1. I will try using ndiswrapper for the USB wifi driver, and see if that helps. It would be especially nice if this gets Wary Puppy working. But I have 3 different USB wifi adapters, and *none* of them have any .inf files on the install CD. So I didn't think I could use this method.

Based on the comments from watchdog and ardvark, I will see if I can find these files, and figure out how to use them. More later!

But thanks so far for all your help! For the very first time, I think I have a usable version of linux to learn and play with!

[ardvark]

Hi Lee...

Cool, I'm glad to hear of your progress!

Yes, I think ndiswrapper will be your only option with Wary if there is no native driver for your adapter. Someone more knowledgeable about the OS would have to respond to help with that. I have no idea which drivers were included (and left out) in Wary 5.5.

As far as the dropouts, are you close to the signal source? Proximity and removing as many obstructions as possible might improve playback. Maybe you tried this already.

Do you have Lucid puppy installed on the hard drive? If not, that may be why you have to reconfigure the wifi connection every session.

Perhaps watchdog can help you obtain the needed files for ndiswrapper, as he previously mentioned.

Regards...

[watchdog]

Further work:
1. I will try using ndiswrapper for the USB wifi driver, and see if that helps. It would be especially nice if this gets Wary Puppy working. But I have 3 different USB wifi adapters, and *none* of them have any .inf files on the install CD. So I didn't think I could use this method.

Based on the comments from watchdog and ardvark, I will see if I can find these files, and figure out how to use them. More later!

I gave a not useful link. The driver from:

http://www.wireless-driver.com/belkin-f ... s-utility/

can't be open by peazip or uextract. Use:

http://www.belkin.com/us/support-article?rnId=5904

I did the job and attach the zipped .inf file.