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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: daniel_swe on February 27, 2009, 02:52:19 PM

Title: wireless pcmcia lan?
Post by: daniel_swe on February 27, 2009, 02:52:19 PM
Hello!

Maybe this is to push it, but is it possible to get wireless network to work on a A600HD with 2mb expansion 1gb harddrive. 3.1kicks 3.1WB

And the card i found in a drawer :P is a really old d-link dwl-650 802.11b card!

Is there drivers for that puppy?  If so, is there any wireless tutorial?
Title: Re: wireless pcmcia lan?
Post by: skurk on February 27, 2009, 03:14:13 PM
It might work with the prism2 driver.

However, don't expect to be able to do much.  With the TCP stack loaded, you won't have much RAM left.


Title: Re: wireless pcmcia lan?
Post by: pVC on February 27, 2009, 03:29:01 PM
Quote

daniel_swe wrote:
Maybe this is to push it, but is it possible to get wireless network to work on a A600HD with 2mb expansion 1gb harddrive. 3.1kicks 3.1WB


Yes, prism2.device (http://aminet.net/package/driver/net/prism2) should work with that config as you have upgraded ROM in your A600.

Quote
And the card i found in a drawer :P is a really old d-link dwl-650 802.11b card!


If it's old DWL-650 with HW revision between A1 to J3, then it is likely to work. But if it's DWL-650 V2 or newer, then it won't work. You can check prism2's archive for compatibility checking.

Quote
Is there drivers for that puppy?  If so, is there any wireless tutorial?


I already mentioned driver location and using wireless isn't much different than using wired. You configure TCP/IP stack same way with both. Only extra thing needed is adding SetPrism2Defaults command to your user-startup. With it you can define wireless options like name of the wireless network you're connecting and encryption method.

You could make quick test with Networ Boot Disk (http://jpv.wmhost.com/NetworkBootDisk/) if it works for you...
Title: Re: wireless pcmcia lan?
Post by: hardlink on February 27, 2009, 10:01:40 PM
Quote

pVC wrote:
Quote
And the card i found in a drawer :P is a really old d-link dwl-650 802.11b card!


If it's old DWL-650 with HW revision between A1 to J3, then it is likely to work. But if it's DWL-650 V2 or newer, then it won't work. You can check prism2's archive for compatibility checking.


I thought a dwl-650 was one of the few cards that -would- work, but I didn't know about the version sensitivity. I picked one up for this purpose, also still in a drawer. Is the HW revision marked on it or do you have to use some sort of PCMCIA utility?
Title: Re: wireless pcmcia lan?
Post by: pVC on February 28, 2009, 11:26:12 AM
Quote

hardlink wrote:
I thought a dwl-650 was one of the few cards that -would- work, but I didn't know about the version sensitivity. I picked one up for this purpose, also still in a drawer. Is the HW revision marked on it or do you have to use some sort of PCMCIA utility?


I just looked compatibility lists provided with prism2 manual. It says there:

---clip---
http://www.linux-wlan.org/docs/wlan_adapters.html.gz

If a card's chipset is listed at the AVS site as Orinoco, Agere or Prism
(except the SSF version) and its bus type is PCMCIA or PCI, it is likely to
work. Note that a few otherwise-compatible PCMCIA cards are 3.3V-only and
therefore incompatible with the A1200/A600. If the card is listed there but
doesn't match these requirements, it will definitely not work.
---clap---

On that mentioned list you can find:

---clip---
D-Link 802.11b DWL-650 PCMCIA Prism2/2.5/3 Linux-wlan-ng HW revisions A1 thru J3 are Prism

D-Link 802.11b DWL-650 V2 Cardbus ADMtek Tx power 16 dBm

D-Link 802.11b DWL-650 V3 Cardbus Realtek HW revision M1 is Realtek

D-Link 802.11b DWL-650 V4 PCMCIA Prism 3 SSF HW revision P is Prism3 SSF
---clap---

So, only the first one meets the requirements.

I don't have any experience with those cards, so it's just reading the docs. I would guess the HW revision would be printed on some sticker on the card...

I personally have many Orinoco and Lucent cards, which are very compatible with Amiga... and thus safe buys.
Title: Re: wireless pcmcia lan?
Post by: odin on February 28, 2009, 02:27:28 PM

Just to make sure everyone's aware of it, the WEP encryption provided by these cards is useless if you want to keep your keep your connection safe. It's trivial to crack. Use these connections as if your neighbour was sitting beside you behind the computer.