Shyamal Prasad wrote:
Are you using the linux-wlan-ng package?
Yes. There are two parts - the software, and the kernel module drivers.
The software is a trivial install, the kernel modules less so. They
have to be compiled from source, as I'm using a 2.6.8 kernel.
Chris> Apparently the only form of "properly configured" source it
Chris> will accept is source that's been used to actually build a
Chris> kernel.
Or are you saying that the instructions in
/usr/share/doc/linux-wlan-ng/README.Debian.gz don't work? You really
should file a bug in that case.
It's not that they don't work, it's that they're nonexistent. Here's
the relevant section from the README.
"Prerequisites:
To build linux-wlan-ng you will need:
- Configured kernel source code for the kernel you are running.
Ideally, this will be the resulting tree after building your own
kernel. Configured means that you have at least run 'make config',
'make menuconfig', or 'make xconfig'. If you are trying to build
linux-wlan-ng for a previously existing kernel binary (one you did
not build yourself), look for help on the mailing lists because it
can be tricky. I always run against kernels I've built myself,
so I'm not much help in this area."
I've tried configuring the stock Debian source with make xconfig (and
not building) and the build fails; I've tried linking kernel-headers and
kernel-build to usr/src/linux, which doesn't work either; right now I'm
re-building the stock 2.6.8 powerpc kernel that came in
kernel-image-2.6.8-powerpc because it seems to be the only way to make
linux-wlan-ng happy.
I'd just pony up the cash for linuxant's DriverLoader, but they don't
have a powerpc version.
Chris> utterly disenchanted with both Debian and Linux by this
Chris> point (I used to be a senior grade Windows network admin).
I'm sorry to hear that.
That I'm disenchanted or that I used to be a Windows admin? ;-)
enough that you rarely need to do it. Even the linux-wlan-ng package
does not actually require you to compile it as far as I can tell (I
don't use it).
If you're running 2.4.27, you can download Debian packages (pre-compiled
kernel modules) for it. Otherwise, you're SOL.
Finally, this is a purely community driven distribution. If you
believe there are errors in the documentation please do write a bug
report, or better yet a bug report with a suggested patch (which is
easy to do for the plain text files in make-kpkg docs). I'm guilty of
not doing this for kernel documents, but I rarely build them anymore.
The problem is that I don't know how to properly go about compiling a
kernel. That's why I'm looking for instructions. If I knew what the
right procedure was, I wouldn't need the instructions. :-)
The kernel seems to be compiling merrily away (probably going to be at
it all night); If this actually works I'll file the appropriate reports
when it's done.
Chris
--
As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty,
and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life - so I became a
scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls.
~ M. Cartmill
