Fedora 15 kde - trying to install WLAN drivers on laptop

wooboost · #1 4th August 2011, 11:07 PM

I've been struggling with this problem for about 7 or so hours across two days. I'm hoping you guys can help me.

I installed fedora 15 with the KDE desktop environment on my hp pavilion g6 1a44ca notebook.

wlan network drivers are not being detected. I typed in lspci into the terminal and found that my network controller is "Ralink Device 539f"

On another forum a user linked me to a linux Ralink driver

http://www.ralinktech.com/license_us...FUQT09Qw%3D%3D

I have it on my laptop however I don't know how to use it. I have tried using the make command in the terminal but it says there is nothing to make. there is a readme file, however I cannot seem to follow the instructions. I keep getting invalid directories in the terminal.

does anyone know how I can either use these files to install my wlan drivers or have another way to get a wifi connection on my laptop?

I have teamviewer if anyone would find it easier to do it themselves or tinker with it rather than to try explaining it to me.

Any help anyone can offer really will be appreciated

bbfuller · #2 5th August 2011, 10:00 PM

Hello wooboost

Welcome to the forum.

The file you downloaded is an archived file. A bit like a Windows zip file.

You need to extract it to get at its contents. In KDE I would just right click on it and select "Extract here" I'm not sure what hoops you will have to jump thrpough to do that in the new Gnome. Post back if you have a problem with it.

You will also need some extra programs install for compiling. I usually get away with:

Code:

yum install kernel-headers kernel-devel gcc

but others have recommended:

Code:

yum groupinstall "Development Tools" "Development Libraries"

as well.

Then you need to cd into the extracted folder and you will see a makefile.

Become super user with:

Code:

su -

in your terminal. The minus sign will be important.

Issue the command:

Code:

make

and if that runs through without error follow it with:

Code:

make install

That's basically it, post back if you have questions or problems.

wooboost · #3 5th August 2011, 10:17 PM

thanks. I actually found this little guide: http://www.ab9il.net/linuxwireless/rt2860.html

and i was following it. i did basically everything posted there except i used more recent drivers and firmware.

theres a section that talks about loading the drivers

Code:

 
ironhand@onosideboard:~$  sudo depmod -ae
[sudo] password for ironhand:
ironhand@onosideboard:~$ sudo modprobe rt2860

however when I do that it keeps telling me that -e needs -E or -F

how exactly do I go about loading the drivers to get them to work?

bbfuller · #4 5th August 2011, 10:24 PM

Hello wooboost

If that particular card is supported by the rt2860 driver then you are probably going about it the hard way.

Look up rpmfusion on Google for installing the rpmfusion third party repositories for Fedora.

When you have those in place, in a root terminal:

Code:

su -

to achieve that, and then:

Code:

yum install kmod-rt2860

should bring in what you need with its necessary dependencies.

If you have updated recently, you might find that the kmods for the latest kernel haven't hit the mirrors yet. If that is so then Fedora keeps some previous kernels installed. Tap the down arrow as the machine starts to access the boot menu and choose an earlier one for the time being.

wooboost · #5 5th August 2011, 10:30 PM

as far as I know these are the correct drivers. On the HP website for my laptop the driver I usually download says it is for Ralink RT5390 and Ralink RT3592.

However on the linux forums the guy helping me got me to post a bunch of details via commands and determined that the file I should be dowloading is the rt2860 driver.

I will check out that website your talking about though

bbfuller · #6 5th August 2011, 10:34 PM

Hello wooboost

rpmfusion is the semi-official repository for all things that don't make it into Fedora for licencing reasons. If you need nvidia, ati, broadcom wireless, they are all in rpmfusion with a whole lot else.

wooboost · #7 5th August 2011, 10:41 PM

ah I wish I had known about this. I seem to be doing things the hard way. I already installed my ATI video drivers by configuring and using the various make commands.

Um how do I get it to work? will the drivers just work automatically? I installed them using the commands you posted but I still see no options for wireless connections in the network manager. The "Wireless" tab is still grayed out and unclickable. Should I performa restart, would that fix the problem?

bbfuller · #8 5th August 2011, 10:42 PM

Hello wooboost

Definitely reboot.

Hope it works.

wooboost · #9 5th August 2011, 10:56 PM

sigh. no such luck. In the terminal it said that it had installed and everything. I don't understand why it won't work.

Maybe I am installing the wrong drivers? This is the information that the guy from the other forum asked me to post. Maybe he overlooked something?

/sbin/lspci -knn

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 Host Bridge Alternate [1022:9601]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (int gfx) [1022:9602]
        Kernel modules: shpchp
00:04.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 0) [1022:9604]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
        Kernel modules: shpchp
00:05.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 1) [1022:9605]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
        Kernel modules: shpchp
00:06.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 2) [1022:9606]
        Kernel driver in use: pcieport
        Kernel modules: shpchp
00:11.0 SATA controller [0106]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 SATA Controller [AHCI mode] [1002:4391]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: ahci
00:12.0 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller [1002:4397]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:12.2 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller [1002:4396]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:13.0 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller [1002:4397]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:13.2 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller [1002:4396]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:14.0 SMBus [0c05]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller [1002:4385] (rev 42)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: piix4_smbus
        Kernel modules: sp5100_tco, i2c-piix4
00:14.1 IDE interface [0101]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 IDE Controller [1002:439c] (rev 40)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: pata_atiixp
        Kernel modules: ata_generic, pata_acpi, pata_atiixp
00:14.2 Audio device [0403]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA) [1002:4383] (rev 40)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
        Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
00:14.3 ISA bridge [0601]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 LPC host controller [1002:439d] (rev 40)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
00:14.4 PCI bridge [0604]: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge [1002:4384] (rev 40)
00:14.5 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI2 Controller [1002:4399]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:16.0 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller [1002:4397]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:16.2 USB Controller [0c03]: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller [1002:4396]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration [1022:1200]
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map [1022:1201]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller [1022:1202]
        Kernel modules: amd64_edac_mod
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control [1022:1203]
        Kernel driver in use: k10temp
        Kernel modules: k10temp
00:18.4 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control [1022:1204]
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc M880G [Mobility Radeon HD 4200] [1002:9712]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: fglrx_pci
        Kernel modules: fglrx, radeon
01:05.1 Audio device [0403]: ATI Technologies Inc RS880 Audio Device [Radeon HD 4200] [1002:970f]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
        Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller [10ec:8136] (rev 05)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]
        Kernel driver in use: r8169
        Kernel modules: r8169
03:00.0 Network controller [0280]: RaLink Device [1814:539f]
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1637]
        Kernel driver in use: rt2860
        Kernel modules: rt5390sta
04:00.0 Class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Device [10ec:5209] (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:1697]

lsmod

Code:

Module                  Size  Used by
tcp_lp                  2111  0 
sunrpc                200079  1 
8021q                  17170  0 
garp                    6075  1 8021q
stp                     1927  1 garp
llc                     4738  2 garp,stp
cpufreq_ondemand        5934  4 
powernow_k8            21534  0 
freq_table              5038  2 cpufreq_ondemand,powernow_k8
mperf                   1449  1 powernow_k8
ip6t_REJECT             3992  2 
nf_conntrack_ipv6       7730  1 
nf_defrag_ipv6          9083  1 nf_conntrack_ipv6
ip6table_filter         1655  1 
ip6_tables             16908  1 ip6table_filter
rfcomm                 59295  8 
nf_conntrack_ipv4       8358  1 
nf_defrag_ipv4          1513  1 nf_conntrack_ipv4
xt_state                1306  2 
nf_conntrack           67613  3 nf_conntrack_ipv6,nf_conntrack_ipv4,xt_state
bnep                   14619  2 
rt5390sta            1136451  0 
fglrx                2862990  39 
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     22499  1 
snd_hda_codec_idt      56485  1 
snd_hda_intel          23896  2 
snd_hda_codec          82508  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel
snd_hwdep               6328  1 snd_hda_codec
snd_seq                52322  0 
snd_seq_device          5941  1 snd_seq
snd_pcm                78440  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec
snd_timer              19356  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd                    63380  13 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_idt,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hwdep,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,snd_pcm,snd_timer
soundcore               6267  1 snd
snd_page_alloc          7343  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
btusb                  14828  2 
bluetooth             191587  23 rfcomm,bnep,btusb
hp_wmi                  8103  0 
sparse_keymap           3358  1 hp_wmi
rfkill                 16436  3 bluetooth,hp_wmi
r8169                  38114  0 
mii                     4335  1 r8169
shpchp                 24538  0 
sp5100_tco              5309  0 
uvcvideo               57089  0 
edac_core              40186  0 
edac_mce_amd           13234  0 
k10temp                 3295  0 
i2c_piix4              10502  0 
videodev               72104  1 uvcvideo
media                  11611  2 uvcvideo,videodev
microcode              18028  0 
v4l2_compat_ioctl32     7377  1 videodev
i2c_core               25712  2 i2c_piix4,videodev
serio_raw               4414  0 
joydev                  9615  0 
pata_acpi               3419  0 
ata_generic             3635  0 
pata_atiixp             4165  0 
wmi                     9033  1 hp_wmi
video                  12340  0

dmesg | grep firmware

Code:

r8169 0000:02:00.0: vpd r/w failed.  This is likely a firmware bug on this device.  Contact the card vendor for a firmware update.
[   25.005810] NetworkManager[864]: <info> monitoring kernel firmware directory '/lib/firmware'.

uname -r

Code:

2.6.40-4.fc15.x86_64

Does this mean anything to you? Could I have been trying to install the wrong driver?

bbfuller · #10 5th August 2011, 11:13 PM

Hello wooboost,

Well, it looks like the rt2860 might not have been a good idea. Especially as you have the rt5390sta driver apparently loading already.

I'd suggest uninstalling that with:

Code:

yum list installed | grep 2860

to list the components and then:

Code:

yum remove

and try them one at a time in that command, noting which ones get removed each time.

Then take a look at this thread:

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=261200

where they reckon to have got the card going in Fedora.

Note especially posts #12 and #14

wooboost · #11 6th August 2011, 04:30 AM

this is starting to get so frustrating. I removed all the rt2860 drivers. i went to that thread, i downloaded the source file for the 5390, i compiled it, i installed it. I restarted my computer and still no wireless.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong here. I'm trying everything and I've been struggling with this for about 15 hours on and off

---------- Post added 6th August 2011 at 03:22 AM ---------- Previous post was 5th August 2011 at 10:51 PM ----------

Close the thread. I solved my problem.

It was definitely drastic but I deleted the partition, reformatted a fresh Fedora 15 install. I updated all necessary files via yum with a wired connection.

Then I downloaded the source package from Ralink. I downloaded the RT539x source package and I followed the instructions in the readme file.

After configuring the file via "make" command I simply installed it via "make install"

then I restarted my computer and had access to my wireless internet.

I should also note that rather than using the newest kernel I used 2.6.38.6-26.rc1.fc15.x86_64

---------- Post added at 03:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:22 AM ----------