Help Noob with USB Wireless on Fedora 15

[moransj]

I'm brand new to Linux/Fedora but wanted to give it a shot on a machine that I lost my XP disks for. I have a Belkin N150 usb wireless that I would like to enable. I know absolutely nothing about Linux so I got lost on some of the more tech conversations around these topics. I don't have any hardwire access on the desktop pc that this is on, so I am relegated to putting stuff on DVD or USB drives.

I have run the lsusb command and got:

050d:945a Belkin Components

for the Wireless adapter.

I ran uname -r and got:

2.6.38.6-26.rcl.fc15.i686

(my kernel version?)

Anyone that can point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Please keep in mind my complete noob status with anything to do with Linux. I have Windows and Mac experience and some networking experience in both but I am not a programmer or IT professional.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help.

Scott

[JamesNZ]

Ok, google told me that your chipset is rt2870, and I found this guide for it:
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=197413

[moransj]

Thanks James. I actually googled and saw that as well. I have no idea what any of the stuff that is being talked about in that thread though. (keep in mind I am use to Windows and MacOS with executables that run and install the drivers) I have no idea what the following are:

repos
RPMFusion
Yum

It also appears that this is written for someone who already has internet access on their machine. I don't although I have 5 other machines in my house running Windows XP and MacOS X that do have access.

I also went onto the the Ralink site and downloaded the driver package for the rt2870 but i have no idea what to do with these files as there are no executables or instructions for installing them that a noob can follow.

Thanks for your help and patience.

Willing to learn.....

Scott

[BBQdave]

Originally Posted by moransj

Willing to learn.....

Scott, I would humbly suggest you get an ethernet cable and connect to the internet.

It will expedite finding and applying solutions to your system.

When I do a fresh install of a GNU/Linux distro (such as Fedora), I like to be connected solidly thru ethernet: install, then apply updates (and bug fixes).

Most of the time, this process will allow your system's components to work "out of the box." If not, then a particular piece of hardware may need a proprietary driver (non-free). Non-free is not packaged with any GNU/Linux distro; so you have to activate a Non-free repository to get the driver you need. In Fedora's case, the non-free repository is RPM Fusion

Once the non-free repository is activated on your system, locate and download (install) the needed driver with Fedora RPM package manager (again connection to internet needed).

If you are unable to find a driver for your particular hardware component; I suggest this inexpensive usb wireless adaptor that can be found on http://www.newegg.com/

TP-LINK TL-WN722N Wireless Adapter High Gain IEEE 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Up to 150Mbps Wireless Data Rates 64/128 bits WEP WPA/WPA2, WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK (TKIP/AES)

I believe if you give it a chance, you will find GNU/Linux to be liberating and useful. I myself stepped away from Macs a couple of years back, and solely use GNU/Linux machines for my work and play

[moransj]

Thanks again for the help. Unfortunately a cable connection to the Internet is not feasible. The machine is located really far from my cable modem and router. I think I have the right drivers on a USB but just don't get how to get them loaded on the system.

Scott