Linux Driver for Linksys WPC54G Wireless Card

I installed RedHat Linux 7.3 on an old laptop recently, but I was
troubled to find that Linksys did not provide a driver for Linux.

Fortunately, though, I found out about a Canadian company called
Linuxant (www.linuxant.com) which makes DriverLoader software (i.e.
something which converts the Windows drivers on the Linksys CD to a
usable Linux equivalent).

Since I noticed there were other posts here with the same frustration,
I wanted to share this information.

Some caveats about the Linuxant product:

(1) It's not free -- Linuxant is a for-profit company and they want
$20 for the DriverLoader software

(2) The driver winds up supporting just the 802.11b, not g, bandwidth
level

If there's a freeware equivalent out there, I'd be happy to find out
about; please let me know.

(E-Mail Removed) (Jerry Jones) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed). com>...
> I installed RedHat Linux 7.3 on an old laptop recently, but I was
> troubled to find that Linksys did not provide a driver for Linux.
>
> Fortunately, though, I found out about a Canadian company called
> Linuxant (www.linuxant.com) which makes DriverLoader software (i.e.
> something which converts the Windows drivers on the Linksys CD to a
> usable Linux equivalent).
>
> Since I noticed there were other posts here with the same frustration,
> I wanted to share this information.
>
> Some caveats about the Linuxant product:
>
> (1) It's not free -- Linuxant is a for-profit company and they want
> $20 for the DriverLoader software
>
> (2) The driver winds up supporting just the 802.11b, not g, bandwidth
> level
>

Check this out,
http://sourceforge.net/projects/madwifi/

The skinny:
1: Install the "Kernel Sources" off your install CD and compile
2: Install the madwifi stuff

Not sure if this is right four you though cause mine is a/b/g and on
the Atheros chipset. Also, sorry I cant go into detail cause I
actually had help doing it, but it worked well.
> If there's a freeware equivalent out there, I'd be happy to find out
> about; please let me know.

Scott,

Thanks for the sourceforge project link. I tried it, but
unfortunately, the Linksys WPC54G Card is a Broadcom, not Atheros,
chipset. As a result, that didn't work.

There is, though, a Linux Broadcom Driver Project now
(http://linux-bcom4301.sourceforge.net) -- unfortunately, their work
is still in beta, so they suggest using Linuxant in the meantime!

I'm sure they'll get a good working version eventually.

In the meantime, this has taught me a lesson about researching
hardware support before buying -- until there's better hardware
support in general, people are going to stay away from Linux, which is
a shame.


(E-Mail Removed) (Scott) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed) om>...
> (E-Mail Removed) (Jerry Jones) wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed). com>...
> > I installed RedHat Linux 7.3 on an old laptop recently, but I was
> > troubled to find that Linksys did not provide a driver for Linux.
> >
> > Fortunately, though, I found out about a Canadian company called
> > Linuxant (www.linuxant.com) which makes DriverLoader software (i.e.
> > something which converts the Windows drivers on the Linksys CD to a
> > usable Linux equivalent).
> >
> > Since I noticed there were other posts here with the same frustration,
> > I wanted to share this information.
> >
> > Some caveats about the Linuxant product:
> >
> > (1) It's not free -- Linuxant is a for-profit company and they want
> > $20 for the DriverLoader software
> >
> > (2) The driver winds up supporting just the 802.11b, not g, bandwidth
> > level
> >
>
> Check this out,
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/madwifi/
>
> The skinny:
> 1: Install the "Kernel Sources" off your install CD and compile
> 2: Install the madwifi stuff
>
> Not sure if this is right four you though cause mine is a/b/g and on
> the Atheros chipset. Also, sorry I cant go into detail cause I
> actually had help doing it, but it worked well.
> > If there's a freeware equivalent out there, I'd be happy to find out
> > about; please let me know.