Linuxant DriverLoader for Wireless LAN devices - DriverLoader installation      
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DriverLoader

DriverLoader installation

Please see the README file for general information.

BEFORE INSTALLING

Remove any old versions of this software, either manually or by running "rpm -e driverloader" or "make uninstall" if using the RPM or tar versions respectively.

Note: if you had an older version of this package, it might have been installed under the previous "bcmwl5driverloader" name. In that case, run "rpm -e bcmwl5driverloader" (or "make uninstall" in the *old* package tree).

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

If your Linux distribution supports the RPM Package Manager, it is easiest to install the binary RPM package with METHOD A. If your system is based on Debian (DPKG), METHOD B is for you. METHOD C is for distributions without RPM or DPKG support, or those who prefer not to use packages.

If you obtained the driver as a ".zip" file, extract it first with "unzip <filename>.zip".

METHOD A: BINARY RPM PACKAGE (*.{arch}.rpm)

If you have obtained the driver package in RPM format:

1. install the rpm with "rpm -i driverloader-{version}.{arch}.rpm"

2. if necessary, run "dldrconfig" to complete the installation, enter license information, or to change your device's configuration.

If you need to rebuild the generic RPM from source, you can get the TAR package and run: "rpmbuild -tb driverloader-{version}.tar.gz" (if rpmbuild is not found, you might have to install the rpm-build package or if you have an older RPM version, try "rpm --rebuild ..."). If you want a pre-compiled package for the currently running kernel, you can try "make rpmprecomp" in the top directory.

METHOD B: DEBIAN PACKAGE (*.deb)

If you have obtained the driver package in DEBIAN format:

1. install the package with "dpkg -i driverloader_{version}_{arch}.deb", if apt-get or some other tool hasn't already done it for you.

2. if necessary, run "dldrconfig" to complete the installation, enter license information, or to change your device's configuration.

If you need to rebuild the Debian generic package from source, you can get the TAR package, and from the top directory run: "make debdist". A pre-compiled DEB package for the currently running kernel can be built using "make debprecomp" instead.

METHOD C: TAR PACKAGE (*.tar.gz)

If you have obtained the driver package in tar format:

1. extract the package with "tar -xzf driverloader-{version}.tar.gz"

2. change to the package directory with "cd driverloader-{version}"

3. run "make install" from the top of the package directory.

4. run "dldrconfig" to complete the installation and configure your device.

Do not delete or move the source tree from your system after these steps, it will be required to uninstall and patch the driver.

(Alternatively to this whole procedure you may generate RPMS from the tar package using rpmbuild -ta driverloader-{version}.tar.gz")

AFTER INSTALLATION

If an error occurred during installation, please see the sections 'BUGS' and 'REPORTING PROBLEMS' below.

Otherwise, simply point your browser to DriverLoader's web configurator at http://127.0.0.1:18020/ and login as "root" to complete the installation.

Unless already included by your vendor, it will be necessary to supply DriverLoader a copy of the .INF and .SYS files from the vendor's driver (available on the CDROM which came with the product or from their website) and a valid license key, available from http://www.linuxant.com/store/.

Atheros USB adapters require loading of both the firmware driver (athfmwdl) and the network driver (typically neta5agu).

Once this process is completed, your device should appear as a normal network interface which can be managed using the distribution's usual tools (such as "redhat-config-network", for example).

To use Wi-Fi Protected Access / WPA-PSK (Personal) authentication with DriverLoader, it is necessary to install and run the wpa_supplicant daemon (available from the downloads section of http://www.linuxant.com/driverloader/) For WPA-EAP (Enterprise) authentication, xsupplicant (http://www.open1x.org) is required in addition to wpa_supplicant.

The "dldrconfig" command can also be used to change certain configuration options or recompile (generic packages only) the kernel modules after installation or kernel upgrades. Run "dldrconfig --help" for usage information.

If you wish to disable the web configurator for security reasons, you can do so with "dldrconfig --webconf=off". To re-enable it, use "dldrconfig --webconf=127.0.0.1:18020".

To preserve configuration settings across DriverLoader upgrades, do: "touch /etc/driverloader/config/preserve"

MANUALLY UNLOADING THE DRIVERS

The device drivers can be manually unloaded using the "dldrstop" command.

USING ALTERNATIVE VENDOR AND DEVICE IDS

If your device uses a chipset supported by the drivers but isn't recognized by the driver, please contact support@linuxant.com.

REMOVING THE DRIVER

If for any reason you wish to un-install the drivers from your system, simply run the "dldrconfig --uninstall" command in a root shell.

MORE INFORMATION AND HELP

If you require license keys, assistance or need more information, go to: http://www.linuxant.com/driverloader

BUGS

A list of currently known problems is included in the file "BUGS".

REPORTING PROBLEMS

Additional problem reports or patches may be sent to: support@linuxant.com

Enclosing the output of "dldrconfig --dumpdiag" in your report can greatly facilitate problem resolution.

 

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