Table Of Contents
Release Notes for Cisco Aironet
Client Adapter Drivers, Version 1.5.2 for Linux
Contents
Introduction
System Requirements
Upgrading to a New Driver Release
Determining the Driver Version
Upgrade Procedure
Installation Instructions for RedHat 7.1 Systems
Additional Procedures
Changing the Permission Rights
Assigning an IP Address
Installing the Drivers for More Than One Client Adapter
Resolved Caveats
Getting Bug Information on Cisco.com
Troubleshooting
Related Documentation
Obtaining Documentation
World Wide Web
Documentation CD-ROM
Ordering Documentation
Documentation Feedback
Obtaining Technical Assistance
Cisco.com
Technical Assistance Center
Contacting TAC by Using the Cisco TAC Website
Contacting TAC by Telephone
Release Notes for Cisco Aironet
Client Adapter Drivers, Version 1.5.2 for Linux
Contents
This document contains the following sections:
•
Introduction
•System Requirements
•Upgrading to a New Driver Release
•Resolved Caveats
•Troubleshooting
•Related Documentation
•Obtaining Documentation
•Obtaining Technical Assistance
Introduction
This document describes system requirements, upgrade procedures, and caveats for release 1.5.2 of the Cisco Aironet client adapter driver for Linux. This release resolves the caveats listed in the "Resolved Caveats" section.
System Requirements
Release 1.5.2 of the Cisco Aironet client adapter driver can be used with only Cisco Aironet 340, 350, 4500, and 4800 Series Wireless LAN Adapters (PC cards, LM cards, and PCI client adapters) and Linux kernel version 2.2.xx or 2.4.xx.
Upgrading to a New Driver Release
This section describes how to upgrade to the 1.5.2 Linux driver release.
Determining the Driver Version
Select Status from the Commands pull-down menu in ACU. The driver version is displayed in the Status screen.
Upgrade Procedure
Follow the instructions below to upgrade your current version of the Linux driver and client utilities.
Caution
Do not insert your client adapter into the computer until the driver has been loaded; otherwise, the computer may hang. The procedure indicates when the client adapter should be inserted.
Note These instructions are the same regardless of whether you are doing an initial install or upgrading from a previous version. If you are upgrading, your previous driver and client utilities will be overwritten by the new ones.
Step 1 Use your web browser to access the following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/public/sw-center/sw-wireless.shtml
Step 2 Under Cisco Aironet Drivers & Utilities, select For Linux.
Step 3 Click AIROLINUXv15000.tar.gz.
Step 4 Read and accept the terms and conditions of the Software License Agreement.
Step 5 Select the Cisco server from which to download the file.
Step 6 Save the file to your hard drive.
Step 7 Uncompress the AIROLINUXv15000.tar.gz file to a writeable location on your hard drive, such as the /tmp directory.
Step 8 Type sh ./cwinstall and press Enter. Information displays indicating the files that will be installed and their locations. For example, the client utilities will be installed in the /opt/cisco/bin directory.
Step 9 Press Enter to continue the installation.
Step 10 When prompted, type the name of your browser (such as netscape) and press Enter.
Step 11 When you are asked if you are using a RedHat 7.1 system with an unmodified kernel, perform one of the following:
•If you are not using a RedHat 7.1 system and your distribution does not enable PCMCIA support in the kernel by default, type n, press Enter, and go to Step 12.
•If you are not using a RedHat 7.1 system but your distribution enables PCMCIA support in the kernel by default, follow the instructions in the "Option 3 for RedHat 7.1 Systems" section.
•If you are using a RedHat 7.1 system, type y (lowercase), press Enter, and go to the "Installation Instructions for RedHat 7.1 Systems" section.
Note If you do not enter a lowercase y, your response is treated as negative.
Step 12 When you are asked if you already have pcmcia-cs-3.1.26.tar.gz (the source for Card and Socket Services) or greater unpacked, perform one of the following:
•If you do not already have Card and Socket Services unpacked, follow the steps below:
a. Type n and press Enter.
b. Follow the instructions on the screen to obtain the source for Card and Socket Services; then follow the instructions to unpack it.
c. Retype sh ./cwinstall and press Enter to return to the installation process. You are returned to the part of the installation that asks if you are using a RedHat 7.1 system.
d. Follow the instructions in Step 11 to answer the RedHat question. If you type n, you are again asked if you already have pcmcia-cs-3.1.26.tar.gz or greater unpacked. This time type y and press Enter.
e. Go to Step 13.
•If you already have Card and Socket Services unpacked, type y, press Enter, and go to Step 13.
Step 13 When prompted, type in the path to Card and Socket Services and press Enter. The driver is copied, and instructions display for building and installing the driver.
Note You may want to open another session so you can refer to the instructions on the screen.
Step 14 Change to the directory where the source of Card and Socket Services was unpacked. The exact path, which was determined by the information you provided earlier, is included in the on-screen instructions. Type in the cd command exactly as it appears.
Step 15 Type make config.
Step 16 Press Enter to accept all defaults.
Step 17 If it configures without errors, type make all.
Step 18 If it builds without errors, type make install. The driver is now compiled and installed.
Step 19 Insert your PC card or PCI client adapter into the computer.
Step 20 Perform one of the following, depending on the type of client adapter you have:
•If you have a PC card, reboot your computer (recommended) or restart Card and Socket Services. The driver loads automatically.
•If you have a PCI client adapter, perform one of the following:
–If you have a distribution of Linux that uses linuxconf, such as RedHat, use this utility to assign the driver to the PCI client adapter.
–If your distribution does not use linuxconf, manually edit one startup file to insert insmod airo.o to load the driver.
Note Follow the recommendations of your distribution regarding which startup file to modify and where to insert the command.
Step 21 Go to the "Additional Procedures" section to see if you need to perform any other procedures before using your client adapter.
Installation Instructions for RedHat 7.1 Systems
If you are using a RedHat 7.1 system, you have three installation options:
1. Use supplied driver binaries - recommended
2. Using supplied patch and driver source, create your own modules, no kernel compilation required
3. Disable kernel pcmcia support and install pcmcia-cs for pcmcia support
Option 1 is highly recommended. Options 2 and 3 require kernel sources and compilation tools. Follow the instructions in one of the subsections below for the option you choose.
Option 1 for RedHat 7.1 Systems
Option 1 is the easiest installation method because no compilation is required. This method is recommended for systems installed with the workstation configuration.
Step 1 To select option 1, type 1 and press Enter.
Step 2 After an explanation appears, press Enter to continue.
Step 3 Your kernel information line is displayed, followed by a choice of default kernel configuration options. Here is an example kernel information line:
Linux leftbox.aironet.com 2.4.2-2 #1 Sun Apr 8 20:41:30 EDT 2001 i686 unknown
In this example, i686 signifies this is a kernel for the i686 CPU family. Also note that the example does not contain smp or enterprise. From the list of available options displayed on the screen, the proper choice for this example would be h) kernel-2.4.2-i686.
Caution
Be careful when selecting your option. Some configuration options look similar, and the system does not ensure that you select the correct one.
Type the letter of the configuration that matches your kernel and press Enter. The driver is now installed.
Step 4 Insert your PC card or PCI client adapter into the computer.
Step 5 Perform one of the following, depending on the type of client adapter you have:
•If you have a PC card, reboot your computer (recommended) or restart Card and Socket Services. The driver loads automatically.
•If you have a PCI client adapter, perform one of the following:
–If you have a distribution of Linux that uses linuxconf, such as RedHat, use this utility to assign the driver to the PCI client adapter.
–If your distribution does not use linuxconf, manually edit one startup file to insert insmod airo.o to load the driver.
Note Follow the recommendations of your distribution regarding which startup file to modify and where to insert the command.
Step 6 Go to the "Additional Procedures" section to see if you need to perform any other procedures before using your client adapter.
Option 2 for RedHat 7.1 Systems
Option 2 requires the presence of compilation tools but does not require the complete compilation/replacement of the installed kernel.
Caution
You must use the kernel source in order to properly execute this procedure.
Step 1 To select option 2, type 2 and press Enter.
Step 2 After an explanation appears, press Enter to continue or Ctrl+C to exit.
Step 3 After another explanation appears, press Enter.
Step 4 Your kernel information line is displayed, followed by a choice of default kernel configuration options. Here is an example kernel information line:
Linux leftbox.aironet.com 2.4.2-2 #1 Sun Apr 8 20:41:30 EDT 2001 i686 unknown
In this example, i686 signifies this is a kernel for the i686 CPU family. Also note that the example does not contain smp or enterprise. From the list of available options displayed on the screen, the proper choice for this example would be h) kernel-2.4.2-i686.
Caution
Be careful when selecting your option. Some configuration options look similar, and the system does not ensure that you select the correct one.
Type the letter of the configuration that matches your kernel and press Enter.
Step 5 After an explanation appears on patching the kernel source, press Enter. The driver is now in place to be compiled, and the kernel source is patched.
Caution
You should be using the kernel source as installed from RedHat's CD-ROM. If the kernel is already in the patched state or has been modified, the patching process will fail. If, however, the only change to the kernel is that it has used the Cisco Aironet patch previously, you can successfully complete the procedure by pressing Enter twice at each series of prompts to skip the patch.
Note You may want to open another session so you can refer to the instructions on the screen.
Step 6 Type cd /usr/src/linux-2.4.2 and press Enter.
Step 7 Type make menuconfig and press Enter.
Step 8 In the menuconfig window, scroll down to Network device support and press Enter.
Step 9 Scroll down to Wireless LAN (non-hamradio) and press Enter.
Step 10 Scroll down to Cisco/Aironet 340/350. . . and type M. (M indicates to make it as a module.)
Step 11 Type E to exit.
Step 12 Scroll down to PCMCIA network device support and press Enter.
Step 13 Scroll down to Cisco/Aironet 340/350. . . and type M.
Step 14 Continue to select Exit and press Enter until the following message appears: "Do you wish to save your new kernel configuration?"
Step 15 Select Yes and press Enter.
Step 16 Type dep ; make modules ; make modules_install. The driver and client utilities are now installed.
Step 17 Insert your PC card or PCI client adapter into the computer.
Step 18 If you have a PCI client adapter, perform one of the following:
•If you have a distribution of Linux that uses linuxconf, such as RedHat, use this utility to assign the driver to the PCI client adapter.
•If your distribution does not use linuxconf, manually edit one startup file to insert insmod airo.o to load the driver.
Note Follow the recommendations of your distribution regarding which startup file to modify and where to insert the command.
Step 19 Go to the "Additional Procedures" section to see if you need to perform any other procedures before using your client adapter.
Option 3 for RedHat 7.1 Systems
Option 3 is the most advanced installation method because it requires a complete kernel rebuild and installation.
Caution
You must use the kernel source in order to properly execute this procedure.
Note If you are not using a RedHat 7.1 system but your distribution enables PCMCIA support in the kernel by default, you need to disable it by following the instructions in this section.
Step 1 To select option 3, type 3 and press Enter.
Step 2 Type cd /usr/src/linux-2.4.2 and press Enter.
Step 3 Type make menuconfig and press Enter.
Step 4 In the menuconfig window, scroll down to General setup and press Enter.
Step 5 Scroll down to PCMCIA/Cardbus support and press Enter.
Step 6 Continue to press the spacebar until the selector in front of the option is blank (does not contain an M or an *).
Step 7 Continue to select Exit and press Enter until the following message appears: "Do you wish to save your new kernel configuration?"
Step 8 Select Yes and press Enter.
Step 9 Rebuild your kernel.
Step 10 After the kernel is remade and reinstalled, reboot your computer.
Step 11 Go to Step 8 of the main upgrade procedure on page 2. This time select n when asked in Step 11 if you are using a RedHat 7.1 system with an unmodified kernel.
Additional Procedures
After the driver and client utilities are properly installed, you may need to perform additional procedures before using your client adapter. This section provides instructions for the following procedures:
•Changing the permission rights regarding configuration of the client adapter
•Assigning an IP address
•Installing the drivers for more than one client adapter and then selecting between them
Changing the Permission Rights
By default, all users are permitted to configure the client adapter. If you want only root users (those with administrative rights) to be able to run the client utilities and configure the client adapter, type chmod 500 /opt/cisco/bin/* and press Enter.
Assigning an IP Address
Follow the steps below to assign an IP address to your computer.
Step 1 Perform one of the following:
•If you want your computer's IP address to be assigned by DHCP and your network has a DHCP server, you must use linuxconf or run a DHCP client utility. The two most popular client utilities are DHCP CD and Pump. Most Linux distributions should have one of them. If you have neither, you must install it from your distribution CD-ROM or download one from the Internet. Refer to your distribution's home page for more information.
•If your computer is not connected to a DHCP server, follow the steps below to enter the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway address of your computer.
a. Perform one of the following:
•If you want to set the IP address and have the system determine the broadcast address and subnet mask, type ifconfig ethx IP address (where x is the number of your client adapter and IP address is your computer's IP address) and press Enter.
•If you want to set the IP address and manually set the broadcast address and subnet mask, type ifconfig ethx IP address broadcast broadcast address netmask netmask (where x is the number of your client adapter, IP address is your computer's IP address, broadcast address is the corresponding broadcast address, and netmask is your subnet mask) and press Enter.
Note Your client adapter's number is zero (0) if it is the only Ethernet adapter card installed. The Device field of the Status screen in the Aironet Client Utility (ACU) indicates the number of the adapter being used.
b. To enter the default gateway address, type route add default gw IP address of gateway netmask 0.0.0.0 metric 1 (where IP address of gateway is your default gateway address) and press Enter.
Step 2 Reboot your computer.
Installing the Drivers for More Than One Client Adapter
Linux allows you to install the drivers for more than one client adapter and to then select between the adapters. Up to two PC cards and up to five PCI client adapters can be supported.
To install the driver for another client adapter, repeat the instructions in the "Upgrade Procedure" section; however, the process will be abbreviated now that some files are already installed.
After the drivers and the client utilities are installed, you can switch back and forth between the client adapters using the Select Radio parameter in ACU. See the Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN Adapters Software Configuration Guide for information on using this parameter.
Resolved Caveats
The following caveat is resolved in Linux driver release 1.5.2.
The Linux driver does not compile on a system running kernel version 2.4.xx (CSCdt13558). This caveat is resolved in version 1.5.2 of the Linux driver.
Getting Bug Information on Cisco.com
If you are a Cisco registered user, you can use the Cisco TAC Software Bug Toolkit, which consists of three tools (Bug Navigator, Bug Watcher, and Search by Bug ID Number) that help you to identify existing bugs (or caveats) in Cisco software products.
Access the TAC Software Bug Toolkit today at: http://www.cisco.com/support/bugtools/.
Troubleshooting
For the most up-to-date, detailed troubleshooting information, refer to the Cisco TAC website at http://www.cisco.com/tac. Select Wireless LAN under Top Issues.
Related Documentation
For more information about Cisco Aironet client adapters, refer to the following documents:
•Quick Start Guide: Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN Adapters
•Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN Adapters Hardware Installation Guide
•Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN Adapters Software Configuration Guide
Obtaining Documentation
The following sections provide sources for obtaining documentation from Cisco Systems.
World Wide Web
You can access the most current Cisco documentation on the World Wide Web at the following sites:
•http://www.cisco.com
•http://www-china.cisco.com
•http://www-europe.cisco.com
Documentation CD-ROM
Cisco documentation and additional literature are available in a CD-ROM package shipped separately from the Cisco Aironet Series Wireless LAN Adapters CD that shipped with your product. The Documentation CD-ROM is updated monthly and may be more current than printed documentation. The CD-ROM package is available as a single unit or as an annual subscription.
Ordering Documentation
Cisco documentation is available in the following ways:
•Registered Cisco Direct Customers can order Cisco product documentation from the Networking Products MarketPlace:
http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/order/order_root.pl
•Registered Cisco.com users can order the Documentation CD-ROM through the online Subscription Store:
http://www.cisco.com/go/subscription
•Nonregistered CCO users can order documentation through a local account representative by calling Cisco corporate headquarters (California, USA) at 408 526-7208 or, in North America, by calling 800 553-NETS(6387).
Documentation Feedback
If you are reading Cisco product documentation on the World Wide Web, you can submit technical comments electronically. Click Feedback in the toolbar and select Documentation. After you complete the form, click Submit to send it to Cisco.
You can e-mail your comments to bug-doc@cisco.com.
To submit your comments by mail, use the response card behind the front cover of your document, or write to the following address:
Attn Document Resource Connection
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134-9883
We appreciate your comments.
Obtaining Technical Assistance
Cisco provides Cisco.com as a starting point for all technical assistance. Customers and partners can obtain documentation, troubleshooting tips, and sample configurations from online tools. For Cisco.com registered users, additional troubleshooting tools are available from the TAC website.
Cisco.com
Cisco.com is the foundation of a suite of interactive, networked services that provides immediate, open access to Cisco information and resources at anytime, from anywhere in the world. This highly integrated Internet application is a powerful, easy-to-use tool for doing business with Cisco.
Cisco.com provides a broad range of features and services to help customers and partners streamline business processes and improve productivity. Through Cisco.com, you can find information about Cisco and our networking solutions, services, and programs. In addition, you can resolve technical issues with online technical support, download and test software packages, and order Cisco learning materials and merchandise. Valuable online skill assessment, training, and certification programs are also available.
Customers and partners can self-register on Cisco.com to obtain additional personalized information and services. Registered users can order products, check on the status of an order, access technical support, and view benefits specific to their relationships with Cisco.
To access Cisco.com, go to the following website:
http://www.cisco.com
Technical Assistance Center
The Cisco TAC website is available to all customers who need technical assistance with a Cisco product or technology that is under warranty or covered by a maintenance contract.
Contacting TAC by Using the Cisco TAC Website
If you have a priority level 3 (P3) or priority level 4 (P4) problem, contact TAC by going to the TAC website:
http://www.cisco.com/tac
P3 and P4 level problems are defined as follows:
•P3—Your network performance is degraded. Network functionality is noticeably impaired, but most business operations continue.
•P4—You need information or assistance on Cisco product capabilities, product installation, or basic product configuration.
In each of the above cases, use the Cisco TAC website to quickly find answers to your questions.
To register for Cisco.com, go to the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/register/
If you cannot resolve your technical issue by using the TAC online resources, Cisco.com registered users can open a case online by using the TAC Case Open tool at the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/tac/caseopen
Contacting TAC by Telephone
If you have a priority level 1 (P1) or priority level 2 (P2) problem, contact TAC by telephone and immediately open a case. To obtain a directory of toll-free numbers for your country, go to the following website:
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/687/Directory/DirTAC.shtml
P1 and P2 level problems are defined as follows:
•P1—Your production network is down, causing a critical impact to business operations if service is not restored quickly. No workaround is available.
•P2—Your production network is severely degraded, affecting significant aspects of your business operations. No workaround is available.
This document is to be used in conjunction with the documents listed in the "Related Documentation" section.
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