2WIRE 802.11g PC Card Wireless Adapter Working

**chili555** · July 18th, 2011

Hmmm. The dmesg reads like it found firmware:

phy0: p54 detected a LM86 firmware

However, /lib/firmware doesn't have it. Do you have an ethernet connection? Can you do:

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

Reboot and let us have your report.

**snaponit** · May 31st, 2012

I tried this for a similar card:

2WIRE 802.11b PC Card

but with no success. Just in case anyone else comes here like I did. I used different firmware, the correct one for my Agere chipset from here:
http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Dr...rinoco#Orinoco

There was already a firmware in my lubuntu install with the same name. And in fact with some commands I saw that the version was already 9.48 (the newest).

**ej76mn** · September 23rd, 2012

Hi, I need a driver for the exact wireless card you mentioned. I have a fresh installation of 12.04 LTS

Can you repeat the instructions, but for the 12.04 version? I'm thinking the instructions you listed were for 10.04 because I couldn't find "System", "Administration", or "Synaptic Package Manager"

Thanks

Originally Posted by Kixtosh

With a fresh installation of 10.04 LTS Lucid Lynx on a brand new hard drive, I can confirm that this works effortlessly, as suggested by chili555:

1) Click on "System" in the top panel,
2) From the drop down menu, click on "Administration",
3) From the expanded menu, click on Synaptic Package Manager,
4) Enter your password when prompted in the pop-up dialogue box,
5) Now enter something like "nonfree" in the "Quick Search" box of the Package Manager. You'll see linux-firmware-nonfree listed there, along with a couple of dozen other things.
6) Check the box next to it, select "Mark for installation" from the pop-up,
7) Click on the green tick "Apply" icon, and you're done. The firmware for isl3886pci will have been added in the appropriate location and the PC card wireless adapter will spring to life after you restart.

The 2Wire 802.11g PC Card Wireless Adapter will allow the more secure WPA encryption to be used as well. I don't remember if this is true with Windows as well, or not.

It's just great when you get stuff like this working on a ten year old laptop, that now boots in less than a minute, shuts down in less than five seconds, and surfs the web like a champ wirelessly and just as effectively as a $1,000 new laptop can.

**chili555** · September 23rd, 2012

Can you repeat the instructions, but for the 12.04 version?

Sure.

I couldn't find "System", "Administration", or "Synaptic Package Manager"

Can you find the terminal? Then do:

Code:

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree

Reboot and your card should be working.

**ej76mn** · October 1st, 2012

Yes, I found Terminal and your code worked. Thanks!

**Kixtosh** · October 2nd, 2012

Great job, chili555! Thanks for taking care of that. I'm still using the Lucid Lynx 10.04 LTS release, so I wouldn't have been able to answer the questions about Precise Pangolin 12.04 LTS.

Good use of the search function, as well, ej76mn and snaponit! I did my best to add the relevant tags so that a search would have a decent chance of turning up this old thread for these rather obscure wireless cards.