HOW-TO: setup IPW3945(coreduo wlan) on custom kernel

[iluva]

as for now, the ip3945-modules is in the linux-restricted-modules pack. so without any self made kernel, you only have to install

sudo apt-get linux-restricted-modules-generic

which you can also find on the ubuntu cdrom, so u can install your ipw3945 wireless also whithout any internet connection.
let's get to the point ^^
as soon as you compile your own kernel, I did that because i wanted to have the suspend2 patch and raiserfs4 patch included, u don't have any access to linux-restricted-modules because they are compiled against the
stock-ubuntu-kernel.
as for reference, i took the emission-project kernel, this is a ebuild gentoo kernel project, which works like a charm on my ubuntusystem.
link-to emission kernel project page: emission
or you take a vanilla-kernel from kernel.org and compile this one, i sugest you take a 2.8.18 branch and not the 2.6.19rc's.

1 part, kernel download, parts with a "#" you dont type

cd /usr/src
sudo -s #this gives ALL your next commands a root access
wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.6/linux-2.6.18.2.tar.bz2
tar xfzv linux-2.6.18.2.tar.bz2
ln -s  linux-2.6.18.2 linux
cd linux

if you want to use the emission-kernels you have to download the 2.6.18(no subversions) kernel.
next step, kernel setup and compiling

cp /boot/config-2.6.17-10-generic .config
#the above config file name can change when there will be future kernel apt-get updates
make menuconfig

there will be a new frame where you can configure and customize your kernel, if you do a lot of experiments there, the kernel will most probably not boot enjoy trying ^^
but assure that some options are set-up as they should be. with the space-key you can change options, (*)=means directly build into kernel, (M) means build as a module and () means not set up at all.
1. go into ->Networking and assure you have everything with "IEEE 80211" set as a module [M]
then go into device drivers -> network device support -> wireless LAN (non -harmradio) and assure that the first one (Wireless Lan Drivers(non-harmradio) and Extensions)is compiled into the kernel[*] and (as for the 2.6.19 kernel) there isn't anything compiled[*]nor[M] with the ipw3945 tag.
then exit the menuconfig and save the config file
3.step is compile the kernel:

make
# this will take a long time, depending your machine. but surely take some coffee and go see the sun :D
make modules_install
make install

uuuh, kernel is in your bootdirectory and linked with a file called vmlinuz. next step is to make the initrd.img

apt-get install initrd-tools
cd /boot
mkinitrd -o initrd.img-2.6.18.2 2.6.18.2

#after that you have to edit the grub or lilo config, standard in ubuntu is grub, so we edit the grub config to point on the new kernel

vim ./boot/menu.lst  #you can also use nano here, or gedit
#now go under the first entry:
title           Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.17-10-generic
root            (hd0,2)
kernel          /vmlinuz-2.6.17-10-generic root=/dev/sda5 ro
initrd          /initrd.img-2.6.17-10-generic
quiet
savedefault
boot

#and paste the following section
title           Ubuntu, kernel 2.6.18.2-TEST
root            (hd0,2) #here refere to your entry in the above entry in your menu.lst file
kernel          /vmlinuz root=/dev/sda5 ro #also here refer to your old config, it'll be something like root=/dev/hda1 or so :D
initrd          /initrd.img-2.6.18.2 # also here, refere to the name you have in your initrd.img-VERSION
quiet
savedefault
boot

next step is to download everything you need for your ipw3945 driver. you'll need the ieee80211 modules, the ipw3945 driver, the daemon and the firmware file. there are a lot of more recent versions of everything out there, but they don't work together well. i could bring it to work, but just with modifications of the headerfiles and the makefiles, but the following versions work quit good so we take those ^^

mkdir /usr/src/programs/ipw3945-net -p
cd /usr/src/programs/ipw3945-net
wget http://heanet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/ieee80211/ieee80211-1.1.13.tgz
wget  http://superb-west.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/ipw3945/ipw3945-1.0.3.tgz
wget http://bughost.org/ipw3945/ucode/ipw3945-ucode-1.13.tgz
wget http://bughost.org/ipw3945/daemon/ipw3945d-1.7.18.tgz

right now you should reboot into your new kernel. and follow the last steps

/usr/src/programs/ipw3945-net
tar xfzv ieee80211-1.1.13.tgz
tar xfz ipw3945-1.0.3
tar xfzv ipw3945-ucode-1.13.tgz
tar xfzv ipw3945d-1.7.18.tgz
cd ieee80211-1.1.13
make
make install
cd ../ipw3945-1.0.3
make
cd ..
cp ./ipw3945-ucode-1.13/ipw3945.ucode /lib/firmware/
#if you have a 32-bit kernel do:
cp ./ipw3945d-1.7.18/x86/ipw3945d /sbin
#if you have a 64-bit kernel do:
cp ./ipw3945d-1.7.18/x86_64/ipw3945d /sbin

ok and right now, we want that it starts the daemon on every boot
make a file called ipw3945 in your /etc/modprobe.d/ directory and:

touch /etc/modprobe.d/ipw3945
vim /etc/modprobe.d/ipw3945
#here insert those two lines
install ipw3945 /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install ipw3945 ; sleep 0.5 ; \
        /sbin/ipw3945d --quiet
remove  ipw3945 /sbin/ipw3945d --kill ; \
        /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove ipw3945

i hope, that it works for you
cheers, iluva

[pakoto]

This not work for me. I get ERROR: opening /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ipw3945: No such file or directory.

executing "load" command.

Kernel, ieee an ipw3945 compiled without problems(?)

[DarkAngel88]

Originally Posted by pakoto This not work for me. I get ERROR: opening /sys/bus/pci/drivers/ipw3945: No such file or directory. executing "load" command. Kernel, ieee an ipw3945 compiled without problems(?)

Same thing here...

Anyone else ?