Using USB WiFi adapter on Dockstar?

I have installed Debian on my Dockstar and it worked very well. Right now it is connected to my home wired network (ethernet). I am just wondering if it is possible to connect it to a WiFi network using an USB WiFi adapter. If yes, what are the steps I should follow? Appreciate your help.

Hi,

I successfully use a ZyDAS 1211 USB WiFi device with the Dockstar. Assuming you use a similar device, perform the following steps to get the box working on WiFi:

1. Get zd1211 firmware: http://sourceforge.net/projects/zd1211/files/
2. Deploy firmware to /lib/firmware/zd1211/
3. Plug WiFi USB Stick into the Dockstar
4. Install iw to configure the wireless interface: apt-get install iw
5. Get the interface up: /sbin/ifconfig wlan0 up
6. Assign an IP (alternatively use dhclient to get an IP assigned from a local dhcpd): ifconfig wlan0 xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
7. Connect the WiFi device to the AP: iw wlan0 connect -w <SSID> key

Set up routes and DNS accordingly. If you're AP is WPA protected, you'll have to install dependencies like wpa_supplicant. Also, you should finalize your setup to /etc/network/interfaces once everything works.

YMMV with other chipsets, but as long as there is an ARM driver available you should be good to go.

Thanks. Not sure if I have adapter with the ZyDAS chipset. I will take a look.

Hi

I have been able to install a TP-Link usb adapter successfully.


However, I am having problems trying to boot when the lan/rj45/eth0 is disconnected.

I am not sure if the init scripts require an active network connection on LAN(eth0)?


Does anyone, have configuration details or suggestions for a Dockstar with debian Squeeze for booting only with WLAN usb?

Oaklands Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> However, I am having problems trying to boot when
> the lan/rj45/eth0 is disconnected.
>
> I am not sure if the init scripts require an
> active network connection on LAN(eth0)?
>
> Does anyone, have configuration details or
> suggestions for a Dockstar with debian Squeeze
> for booting only with WLAN usb?

I haven't tried booting with a WiFi adapter only, but here is what I did to be able to boot without Ethernet:

1. installed the ifplugd package. Edited /etc/default/ifplugd to specify "INTERFACES=eth0" and removed the "auto eth0" (or "allow-hotplug eth0") line from /etc/network/interfaces.

This daemon brings up the interface whenever the cable is plugged in (otherwise it is only checked at boot time).

2. Added the line " up /etc/init.d/openntpd restart" to the eth0 stanza in /etc/network/interfaces. Otherwise the NTP daemon doesn't get started properly and the DockStar will think it's 1970 ... (Change this to /etc/init.d/ntp if you're running ntp instead of openntpd.)

WIth these changes, I can boot the DockStar "unplugged", and later plug in the Ethernet cable and connect to it.

Hi ecc

Thanks for your instructions they helped a lot and now it is working for me. Can boot now from ethernet or wifi

I followed your instructions above with the following exceptions.

INTERFACES="eth0 wlan0" in /etc/default/ifplugd thus allowing for both interfaces

removed auto & allow-hotplug lines on both interfaces in /etc/network/interfaces

Didn't need your step 2 above (I am using ntp)

FYI I am running debian squeeze booting from USB Hard Drive

Hello,

I have a problem in using eth0 and wlan0 together (Debian Squeeze).
If I boot without LAN cable plugged in, no interface works.
If I plug in the LAN cable, both interfaces work.
I got the setup from:
http://skillfulness.blogspot.com/2010/03/nslu2-debian-lenny-wireless-webcam.html

I have also tried package ifplugd, but no success.
What I want to do, is using either or both interfaces.

Is anybody able to help me?

Regards, Rudolf

My /etc/network/interfaces file looks the following:
auto lo eth0
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
auto wlan0
#iface wlan0 inet dhcp
iface wlan0 inet static
wpa-ssid "FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7050"
wpa-psk "password"
address 192.168.17.93
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.17.0
broadcast 192.168.17.255
gateway 192.168.17.1

# The secondary network interface
allow-hotplug eth0
#iface eth0 inet dhcp
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.17.92
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.17.0
broadcast 192.168.17.255
gateway 192.168.17.1

Rudolf Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have also tried package ifplugd, but no success.

If you want ifplugd to manage the interfaces, don't use "auto" or "allow-hotplug". You have both of these in your interfaces file.

Hello ecc,

Thank you for the hint. I had already done that, when using "ifplugd".
My posting just showed the latest status, when I gave up on "ifplugd".

Could you please show me your file /etc/default/ifplugd ?

Regards, Rudolf

Hello,

I just figured out how to start wlan0 (WPA2 with wpasupplicant) after boot.

ifup wlan0 # does work

ifconfig wlan0 up # does NOT work

But I did not figure out, were to change the boot setup, together with "ifplugd".

Any help there, please?

Regards, Rudolf

My /etc/default/ifplugd is just the installed version, with eth0 as the interface:

INTERFACES="eth0"
HOTPLUG_INTERFACES=""
ARGS="-q -f -u0 -d10 -w -I"
SUSPEND_ACTION="stop"

I don't have any experience using a WiFi adapter on my DockStar -- the ifplugd "solution" was just to allow the DockStar to "do the right thing" if it was initially booted without an Ethernet cable, and later plugged in.

I would think that simply using "allow-hotplug wlan0" would cause "ifup wlan0" whenever that device gets inserted, but like I said, I haven't tried it.

Hello ecc,

OK, now I understood your intention. I want to have a similar application, but wlan0 included.

Regards, Rudolf

Below is the confoguration I used to set up my dockstar booting with only a tp-link usb wifi stick, thanks to the invaluable help on this thread.

Hope it helps others.


My /etc/default/ifplugd is as follows(will boot with just usb wifi):

INTERFACES="eth0 wlan0"
HOTPLUG_INTERFACES=""
ARGS="-q -f -u0 -d10 -w -I"
SUSPEND_ACTION="stop"

#==================================================

My /etc/network/interfaces is as follows:

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).

# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# The primary network interface
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.11
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.1.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
gateway 192.168.1.1
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 192.168.1.1
dns-search example.org


# wlan wifi interface
iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.1.111
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.1.0
broadcast 192.168.1.255
gateway 192.168.1.1
dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 192.168.1.1
dns-search example.org
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

#================================================
My /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf is as follows
# WPA-PSK/TKIP

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant

network={
#replace ****** on next line with your own SSID ( and remove this comment line)
ssid="******"
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
proto=WPA
pairwise=TKIP
group=TKIP
#replace ****** on next line with your own secret passphrase/password for accessing wifi ( and remove this comment line)
psk="******"
}

[Edited on 09/25/2010]
I found an Airlink+ USB-WiFi dongle, which uses the ZyDAS 1211 chip. Based on many people's directions in posts of this thread and the information from aerotoad in (http://plugapps.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=189&p=1929&e=1929), as well as, from Rudolf's website (http://www.rudiswiki.de/wiki/DockStarWLAN?highlight=%28\bCategoryDockStar\b%29), I have successfully enabled the WiFi function on my Dockstar.
What I found is that the setup works better for Debian Lenny. After installation, it just works. It can bring up the wlan interfaces without Ethernet cable connected. For Debian Squeeze, some additional utility will be needed and doesn’t always work without Ethernet cable connected.
Below I put together a mini how to show the whole implementation process. Even though most of the information have already been contains in other posts, I thought a complete and tested how-to might save some people’s time, who want to implement this starting from beginning. All of the credits are due to all the people contributed. I will not mention each one individually because you will realize by going through this thread.

If Debian Lenny had already been installed on you Dockstar, you need see if zd1211 is supported by checking if zd1211rw.ko exists in
/lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/zd1211rw/

To install a flesh copy of Debian Lenny, It can be done using Jeff's instructions and the script contained in http://jeff.doozan.com/debian/install_lenny.htm.

Note that directly using script installs kernel 2.6.33, which does not contain the zd1211 kernel module. You need either to continue installing Gorgone's Kernel package with kernel 2.6.35.4 as described in http://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,582 after 2.6.33 is installed, or you can modify the script to directly install kernel 2.6.34.1 or above. I verified that both approaches worked. The latest kernel I installed is 2.6.35.3, which contains many additional modules.

Once you installed Debian Lenny and verified zd1211rw.ko exists, you can continue to install necessary drivers and software for activating zd1211 based wifi dongle following the steps below:

1. Update installation

apt-get update; apt-get upgrade

2. Plug in your wifi dongle and check

lsusb

to see if the dongle is recognized and what is its wifi chip. If it is a ZyDAS 1211, then
3. Get and install the driver for zd1211:

cd /usr/src
wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/zd1211/files/zd1211-firmware/1.4/zd1211-firmware-1.4.tar.bz2 
tar jxvf zd1211-firmware-1.4.tar.bz2
mkdir  /lib/firmware/zd1211/
cp zd1211-firmware/*  /lib/firmware/zd1211/

4. Generate updated modules.dep

depmod -a

5. Install additional tools

apt-get install wireless-tools
apt-get install wpasupplicant  # for WLAN WPA2 encryption

6. Edit (vi) /etc/network/interfaces to become (It is my interfaces file)

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# wlan wifi interface
auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet dhcp
  wpa-ssid YOUR_ROUTER_SSID
  wpa-psk YOUR_WPA_PASSWORD 

# The ethernet network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

9. Activate zd1211

modprobe zd1211rw

10. Bring up the wlan interface do:

ifup wlan0

11. Check network settings:

Ifconfig

If all three network interfaces (lo, eth0, wlan0) exist, you can turn off Dockstar, unplug Ethernet cable and restart. The wifi connection should be active.

the rt73 dongles can also be used similarly but only with the latest kernel 2.6.35.4. As long as Lenny is installed, there's no problem to start wlan0 without eth0.

Please let me know your comments.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/26/2010 01:32AM by twinclouds.

The wireless connection works fine if I start it manually with wired ethernet connected. However, without ethernect connection, it won't start, even if I put a line in rc.local of "ifup wlan0". This defeats the whole purpose. Does anybody have any suggestions? What should I change as described? Thanks in advance for help.
PS. Looks like Rudolf was in the same situation. Any solution yet?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2010 11:03AM by twinclouds.

I also have a cron job running which checks to see if wifi is associated with the AP. I f not it brings up wlan0. However, I thought that ifplugd would look after this!

#=====================
###/etc/checkwifi.sh NB remember to set 'x' on permissions for this file
#!/bin/sh
SSID="abcdef"; #change 'abcdef' to your own SSID

if iwconfig wlan0 | grep -v grep | grep $SSID > /dev/null
then
echo "$SSID is UP, everything is fine"
else
echo "$SERVICE is DOWN .... attempting to re-establish connection"
#perl /etc/cc128/cc128.pl &
date >> /etc/cc128/checkwifi.log
ifup wlan0
fi


Then I add a line to /etc/crontab to execute this script ever x minutes.
So if it doesnt start at boot it will continue to attemp to bring wlan0 up

#==============
###/etc/crontab
# /etc/crontab: system-wide crontab
# Unlike any other crontab you don't have to run the `crontab'
# command to install the new version when you edit this file
# and files in /etc/cron.d. These files also have username fields,
# that none of the other crontabs do.

...
...

#script to check on wifi link status every minute
*/1 * * * * root sh /etc/checkwifi.sh > /dev/null

or

#script to check on wifi link status every 5 minutes
*/5 * * * * root sh /etc/checkwifi.sh > /dev/null

NB only use one of the above lines in crontab (but you may wish to change the frequency as required.


I hope this helps. I would guess there is a simpler and more elegant way to achieve this, but it does work!
Suggestions for improvements welcome.

Apologies there were 2 unnecessary lines in this file above, corrected version below.

#=====================
###/etc/checkwifi.sh NB remember to set 'x' on permissions for this file
#!/bin/sh
SSID="abcdef"; #change 'abcdef' to your own SSID

if iwconfig wlan0 | grep -v grep | grep $SSID > /dev/null
then
echo "$SSID is UP, everything is fine"
else
echo "$SERVICE is DOWN .... attempting to re-establish connection"
ifup wlan0
fi


PS: How do I edit a previous post on this forum??

It appears that if you make the following change to the wlan0 section of /etc/network/interfaces then wifi will come up automatically with ifplugd installed and configued as above.

So the key is to add back in the 'auto wlan0' line

NB change ip address stuff to suit your own lan.

# wlan wifi interface 
auto wlan0		
#allow-hotplug wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
	address 192.168.1.111
	netmask 255.255.255.0
	network 192.168.1.0
	broadcast 192.168.1.255
	gateway 192.168.1.1

	dns-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 192.168.1.1
	dns-search example.org
	wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

Hello,

Finally I made it with the Debian package wicd. The automatic switching between LAN (cable) and WLAN (WiFi) works now automatic.
For the installation details, please have a look at: http://www.rudiswiki.de/wiki/DockStarWLAN

Regards, Rudolf

Rudolf:
Thank you for sharing your findings. I will try wicd tonight and let you know if it works out or with more questions.
One question for now: When you using wicd, do you use ifplugd also?

Hello twinclouds,

As far as I understood, ifplugd is used only for switching between profiles of LAN access points.
So I do not use it any longer.

I hope my instructions are easy to understand and complete. If not, please do not hesitate to tell.
http://www.rudiswiki.de/wiki/DockStarWLAN

Regards, Rudolf



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/21/2010 04:48PM by Rudolf.

Oaklands Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It appears that if you make the following change
> to the wlan0 section of /etc/network/interfaces
> then wifi will come up automatically with ifplugd
> installed and configued as above.
>
> So the key is to add back in the 'auto wlan0'
> line
>
I added this line but it only come up if the ethernet cable is connected.

Rudolf Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello twinclouds,
>
> As far as I understood, ifplugd is used only for
> switching between profiles of LAN access points.
> So I do not use it any longer.
>
> I hope my instructions are easy to understand and
> complete. If not, please do not hesitate to tell.
> http://www.rudiswiki.de/wiki/DockStarWLAN
>
> Regards, Rudolf

Thanks.
I have not completed the entire change yet. It looks pretty complicated to setting up all these config files. According to aerotoad at Plugapps Forum (http://plugapps.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=189&p=2029#p2029), he didn't do anything fancy and it works fine. I don't know if it is because he uses Lenny rather than Squeeze. I tried it on my Lenny installation using the same setup procedure as the I described above for Squeeze. However, even the zd1211 driver was not detected. In this regard, Squeeze is much simpler.
I wish there will be a simple method that works.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2010 01:13AM by twinclouds.

Hello twinclouds,

I was not aware, that you use Debian Lenny. I recommend to switch to Squeeze, what I have.
The zd1211 driver is already in the tree:

root@FADS92:~# find / -name 'zd1211*'
/lib/modules/2.6.32-5-kirkwood/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/zd1211rw/zd1211rw.ko
/lib/modules/2.6.32-dockstar/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/zd1211rw/zd1211rw.ko
/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.32-5-kirkwood/include/config/zd1211rw.h

You just need maybe an additionally firmware binary.

Concerning Wicd, the configuration of the *.config files can be made easier, if you use wicd-curses for the input, because it has more explanation text coming with it. Or you use the man pages in a parallel window to the setup.
See an example terminal screen shot (unfortunately in German because of the localisation, you will have it in English)

root@FADS92:~# wicd-curses
                                                                            Wicd Text-Oberfläche
      Einstellungen festlegen für das Funknetzwerk "FRITZ!Box Fon WLAN 7050" (00:15:0C:07:1D:46)
[X] Verwende statische IPs
IP:     192.168.17.92
Netzmaske:255.255.255.0
Gateway:192.168.17.1

[X] Verwende statische DNS                      [ ] Nutze globale DNS-Server
DNS Domain:
Suche Domain:
DNS 1:        192.168.17.1
DNS 2:
DNS 3:

[ ] Use DHCP Hostname
DHCP Hostname: FADS92

[ ] Nutze diese Einstellungen für alle Netzwerke, die diese ESSID verwenden
[X] Verbinde automatisch mit diesem Netzwerk
[X] Nutze Verschlüsselung
WPA 1/2 (Passphrase)    vvv
Key: **********

  ----- some empty lines -----

F10:OK                                          ESC:Cancel
Verbunden mit Kabelnetzwerk (IP: 192.168.17.92)

Regards, Rudolf

Hi, Rudolf:
Thanks.
I actually have both. However, from what aerotoad said, it looks like Lenny can boot to start wlan0 directly without much change. I wish Squeeze can do the same.
Can someone bring this to the Squeeze development community for looking into?

Hello,
I wanted to monitor the Link Quality of my WLAN connection, in order to optimize the antenna placement.
Unfortunately the utility iwspy does not work with my WLAN adapter. Here is a good description about:
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/howto-check-wireless-link-quality-in-ubuntu-linux.html

Therefore I have written a shell script for monitoring and logging the Link Quality.
In order to do standalone monitoring with logging, use the utility "screen".

#!/bin/sh
# script "log-wlan.sh", run with "./log-wlan.sh"
# log wlan Link Quality and connection (ping)
# logread is in Debian package "busybox-syslog"
# 2010-09-23 RudolfReuter

echo WLAN test: show minute, Link Quality, Signal Level, IP number
echo '  for complete date, use: logread | tail'
echo '  for standalone logging use "screen"'
echo '  usage: parameters sleep time [s], Target IP number; exit = CTRL C'
SEC=60
if [ $1 ]; then
  SEC=$1
fi

# edit for your local target (e.g. router)
IP='192.168.17.1'
if [ $2 ]; then
  IP=$2
fi
echo '  Target IP number:' $IP

while true
do
    #DATE=`date +%y-%m-%d' '%H:%M`
    # shorten date that "logread line fits in 80 characters
    DATE=`date +%M`
    # read and shorten the line
    LINK=`iwconfig 2>&1 | grep Link | sed 's/         / /' | sed -e 's/ink Quality/Q/' | sed -e 's/ignal level/L/'`
    # extract IP number
    PING=`ping -c1 $IP | grep 64 | cut -d : -f 1 | sed 's/64 bytes from//'`
    echo $DATE $LINK $PING 
    # use this script with "screen" to get standalone logging
    echo $DATE $LINK $PING | logger
    sleep $SEC
done

Output from command line:

34 LQ=48/70 SL=-62 dBm 192.168.17.1

Output from logger:

Sep 23 06:34:01 FADS92 user.notice logger: 34 LQ=48/70 SL=-62 dBm 192.168.17.1

Regards Rudolf

Hello,
Because I had with the USB WLAN adapter TR-Link WN321G about one disconnect per hour, I tried to find another model.

So I came to a TP-Link WN721N. The USB ID is 0cf3:9271 Atheros Communications, Inc. AR9271 802.11n.
Now I found out, that it needs the driver ath9k_htc, which is not include in kernel 2.6.32. See here:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k_htc and the firmware ar9271.fw.

As I have seen, module ath9k_htc.ko is included in kernel 2.6.35, but how to get with the DockStar patch?

Or is it a possibility to use the Compat-wireless package, found here:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Download
But I think, I need the DockStar kernel headers for that, which do not have, just kirkwood headers.

What is the best method to get such a new driver?

Regards, Rudolf

Eventually, I made my wifi USB dongle work reliably... on Lenny. Once you use Lenny instead Squeeze, it is just so simply. You don't need any tricks and additional programs/utilities, and etc. Actually, the zd1211 module is already included in the kernel later than 2.6.34. You just need to do a depmod to let the modules.dep recognize where it is. I will update my installation procedures give above to show how it works for me over this weekend. I have followed the procedure a few times to make sure there's no issues and every time it works. I also try the same procedure on Squeeze but it didn't work. I would stick on Lenny, at least for the wifi connection.
[Edit 09/25/2010] The installation procedures has been updated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/2010 05:54PM by twinclouds.

new heavy kernel online with zd* driver support

gorgone Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> new heavy kernel online with zd* driver support


gorgone:
Thank you.
There are a couple of wify dongles on sale at Meritline at good price. They use realtek 8191su and 8188su chips. Do you know any of your drivers will work for these? Thanks.

An additional observation.
One thing I found interesting is that the zd1211 works fine. rt73 also works but the ping delay is much longer. It does not affect throughput but the response time is much slower. Anyone have the same experience?