Cf11h Wifi Card Installation On Beta4

[PeterL]

Hi,

I've just flashed my Zaurus C860 to the beta4 of pdaXrom and I'm very impressed so far.  I'd like to start installing extra packages etc. but I can't get my Planex CF11H wifi card going.  Here's what I've done so far.

1) I've downloaded the latest prism2 firmware from proski's site.  According to Jun's mini-HOWTO and the IDtable, I need pk010101.hex and sf010804.hex from that zip file.  I've copied these into /etc/pcmcia/firmware.
2) I've updated /etc/pcmcia/hostap_fw to reflect the new firmware filenames
3) I tried proski's "linux based prism2_srec flashing steps" but I get stuck because it complains with the error:

Odd..  Download request for the kernel driver failed.

I know this means that either my hostap.0 should be recompiled with the PRISM2_DOWNLOAD_SUPPORT and/or PRISM2_NON_VOLATILE_DOWNLOAD must be defined somewhere (probably this means a prism2_srec recompile).

Now, I don't have access to the internet from my PDA so I can't just download sources and make it all.  I tried to trick my package manager into believing my /mnt/card/feed is a local feed, but it complains about the structure of the Package file I downloaded from distro.ibiblio.org.  I tried downloading Package both in binary as well as in auto mode.

Anyway, what I think I need now is a new prism2_srec and possibly a new hostap kernel module that will allow me to flash the new firmware to my CF11H card.  Can anybody provide me with these ?  Or are they standard in another build, say, the 1.1.0r197, so I could just reflash and get it working ?

Any other tips would be very welcome !



Peter.

[Capn_Fish]

https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showto...30&start=30

Check that thread out. I built a kernel supporting firmware downloading and the tools to do it. The kernel was for r198, though, so it may not work for you on your C860.

I'd recommend trying r197 as well. Beta4 is old and buggier than the rxxx versions are, plus it is MUCH more likely that my kernel would work with it at least long/well enough to flash the card once, if that's all you need to do.

HTH.

[PeterL]

https://www.oesf.org/forum/index.php?showto...30&start=30

Check that thread out. I built a kernel supporting firmware downloading and the tools to do it. The kernel was for r198, though, so it may not work for you on your C860.

I'd recommend trying r197 as well. Beta4 is old and buggier than the rxxx versions are, plus it is MUCH more likely that my kernel would work with it at least long/well enough to flash the card once, if that's all you need to do.

Well, I upgraded to r197 and then applied your patch as described in the thread, but it doesn't reboot after upgrading the nand with the uImage you provided.  I'm going to check out r198 next and see if that works long enough to flash the wifi card's firmware.  I've had my machine completely bricked before, so I know the 3-hands-FN+d+m trick to flash it back to something unbricked.

Wish me luck

Oh, btw, I tried flashing the firmware on my PC, but it seems like my USB CF card reader doesn't support CFIO   That's why I'm messing about with the PDA itself at the moment.

In case none of this works, I guess I'll need to install compiler & sources and DIY a version myself.  But then I need to get my "local feed" working.  PC is Vista, so crosscompiling also doesn't seem to be an option.  I'll first try r198 & get back to you.


Peter.

[PeterL]

Hi,

Testing that didn't take too long.  The Akita r198 u-boot already comprehensively bricked my machine and I'm now doing a full system restore from the vodoo menu.  Next, I'll try if I can get my packages working from an SD card and get a build system working.

It's a lot of fun, trying to get this to work, but I'm sure I wouldn't have been so happy if I hadn't found TriSoft's page on the FN+D+M shortcut and their original backup image.  Thanks !



Peter.

[Capn_Fish]

Good luck getting a kernel built! It wasn't easy (didn't work on a SATA machine, only IDE). I don't know if you have to install pdaX86, but it seemed to help/make it easier.

Are you sure that the firmware you need to DL to your card is the kind you flash? I think I've seen a thread around that talked about getting that card working and involved downloading firmware that didn't need to be flashed. Maybe try a search before going too far? I can't remember what that thread(s) were called.

[PeterL]

Good luck getting a kernel built! It wasn't easy (didn't work on a SATA machine, only IDE). I don't know if you have to install pdaX86, but it seemed to help/make it easier.

Are you sure that the firmware you need to DL to your card is the kind you flash? I think I've seen a thread around that talked about getting that card working and involved downloading firmware that didn't need to be flashed. Maybe try a search before going too far? I can't remember what that thread(s) were called.

Hi Capn,

I'm quite sure I've got the right firmware for my wifi card, I've done some decent research yesterday about prism2(a) cards and I found big tables of versions and firmware build codes etc.  I think I should try to get some kind of RAM FW upgrade done before proceeding, though.

About the build: I've installed VMWare and I've got a hard disk image for building into set up, which I can read with WinImage, so I can actually get data in&out of the virtual machine (which was harder than I expected).  So pdaX86 is up and running on my PC.  I've untarred the builder, but I haven't succeeded in compiling anything yet: make world just does a touch and stops.  None of the other make targets seem to do anything useful, either.

A bit more work than I anticipated.

Thanks for your help,



Peter.

[Capn_Fish]

No problem, and best of luck.

[PeterL]

Yes !  Progress !

Instead of meddling around in the affairs of kernel recompilers, I decided to try and reprogram my wifi card in its RAM, not really reflashing it.  That seemed to work fine.  A bit of twiddling around with iwconfig, ifconfig and dhcpcd later, I can ping google

Hurray !

Now up&running under r197.  Time to add the local feed and start downloading all those goodies !

BTW, I read a few things about SDHC from time to time, but nothing about high capacity CF cards.  I guess they're supported as-is ?  An 8/12/16Mb CF card would turn my Zaurus into a nice photobank.


Peter.

[Drake01]

BTW, I read a few things about SDHC from time to time, but nothing about high capacity CF cards.  I guess they're supported as-is ?  An 8/12/16Mb CF card would turn my Zaurus into a nice photobank.

I'm not aware of any issues with high capacity CF cards.  The Zaurus seems to be more picky about SD cards, and the SDHC cards seem to be a slightly different standard than the "old" SD cards.  I have a couple of 4GB SD cards working, but these are large capacity SD cards - not SDHC cards.

As far as CF cards, I haven't had a problem with any of the ones I've tried.  I haven't had any problems with the 16GB card I've used to replace my microdrive (yet... fingers still crossed!).  I also have a 4GB CF card, a 4GB microdrive, and  a 6GB microdrive (worked internally, now works in the slot), all different brands and no problems.  

Incidentally, I believe that CF is a touch faster than SD on the Z, due to how the SD interface is implemented.  Someone can please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Capn_Fish]

Instead of meddling around in the affairs of kernel recompilers, I decided to try and reprogram my wifi card in its RAM, not really reflashing it.  That seemed to work fine.  A bit of twiddling around with iwconfig, ifconfig and dhcpcd later, I can ping google

That's what I was trying to get at with the "are you sure the firmware on your card is the kind you need to flash" comment, but it obviously came out wrong. Glad to hear you got it working!