SDB:Belkin F5D7050

From openSUSE

Version: 10.0 Box DVD i386

This article is written by a newbie, showing other newbies how to get online with the Belkin Wireless G USB Network Adapter F5D7050 Antenna, while running SuSE 10.0. Using ndiswrapper and Yast.

Situation

We need to get online using the Belkin F5D7050 (wireless usb antenna) on an unsecured Windows network. There is no local support and the network administrator says it can't be done.

Procedure

There are at least two ways to solve this situation. One is to use Linuxant they have a good reputation and drivers for wireless antenna's. The second option, which for me is the easiest option; is to use ndiswrapper and YaST.

Here is some preparatory data.

For starters, the Belkin Wireless G USB Network Adapter F5D7050 Antenna, will be referred to as the Belkin F5D7050. YaST or YaST2 will be referred to as Yast; box will refer to the computer and MAC will refer to MAC address. Words that are ALL CAPITALS are either Menu steps or obvious selections; ie. like ENTER.

The Belkin F5D7050 has four different chipsets. On the package, if the model number is followed by 2XXX; like so: F5D7050 2001, it is the 2000 series. Likewise if it starts with a 3XXX, F5D7050 3882 it is the 3000 series. 4XXX is the 4000 series anything else would be version 1.

This is important to know, if you were to break an antenna and replace it with another Belkin F5D7050; it wouldn't work. The Vendor Identifier Number and MAC would be different; therefore you would have to change them. Don't worry about that now.

You will need to write down data during the procedure so ensure you have a pen and paper. Here are some notation tips: when writing down numbers, put a slash thru your zero's to clarify them from the letter O. When writing down the number one, 1; use it's additive angle (the top part), this way you won't confuse it with the letter l. Underline capitals, to differentiate between upper and lowercase letters.

We need to write down the MAC, this is a unique address. MAC stands for Media Access Control, it has several other names: NIC = Network Interface Controller; BIA = Burnt In Address; HWaddr = Hardware Address. These refer to the same number which is a permanent ID for the interface; regardless if it is a PCI card, embedded chip or USB stick. This MAC is twelve numbers in base 16 (hex); hex runs like so: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F. Generally the first six digits are the Vendor ID and the last six digits are the Device ID. The Belkin F5D7050 MAC is printed on the back of the antenna. If your MAC is missing, try ifconfig with the flag -a in the terminal to get it.

You must be in a terminal and at root to use commands. You should know by now that a terminal is the computer screen in the bottom corner of the KDE desktop, or go to MENU, SYSTEM, TERMINAL and use one of those. I prefer Konsole, however, the default is a little bright for me. I go to SETTINGS, SCHEMA and change mine to a black background with green text; it is easier on my eyes. We need to get to root, we do that by typing in SU, (you may have to type in Super User) ENTER and it wants a password, this is the root password, it probably won't display depending on the settings you selected during the install. ENTER.

Check your MAC with this command; it will be on the first line after HWaddr.

ifconfig -a

Now we need to see if you have ndiswrapper installed. Really it's; NDIS wrapper. NDIS standing for Network Device Interface Specification, this is one of the standards for connecting network hardware with software. Basically ndiswrapper wraps the Windows drivers in a layer of Linux support. For more information, go to Sourceforge; consider making a contribution since you are going to be using it. If you don't have it installed, you'll need to go to Sourceforge and get it. ndiswrapper does come with the full install, here is how to verify if you have it.

ndiswrapper

It will display options if it is installed;it may look like this:

ndiswrapper
Usage: ndiswrapper OPTION
Manage ndis drivers for ndiswrapper.
-i	inffile			Install driver described by infile
-d	devid driver		Use installed driver for devid
-c	driver			Remove driver
-l				List installed drivers
-m				Write configuration for modprobe
-hotplug			Regenerate hotplug information
where devid is either PCIID or USBID of the form XXXX:XXXX

If you don't have it quit this procedure and go get it, your going to need it. It is probably on your install disk or you can get it at Sourceforge. If you do have it, great. Now MINIMIZE the terminal, don't close it.

We are going to need the Windows drivers, so get the cd that came with the antenna. If you don't have it, go to the Belkin F5D7050 site and download the drivers. We specifically need the .inf and the .sys files. When the aforementioned task are complete, you will be prepared to follow the steps for the install.

Step 1

Place whatever medium you have the Windows drivers on into the box;(preferably the cd). SuSE Hardware Detection appears, it informs you that it has found a data cd; click OPEN. It displays the contents of the cd; select the Drivers folder, then the 1.0.0.0 folder. There will be a choice between the Win2KXP drivers and the Win9X drivers. We will use the Win2KXP drivers, since they are more recent.

Upon opening the Win2KXP folder you see the .inf, .sys, and .cat files. For this version they are named, rt73.inf, rt73.sys, and rt73.cat. Allegedly we only need the .inf and .sys files, but I loaded all three for good measure. Now move your working screen to the left side of the monitor, leaving room on the right to place the three files. Left click and drag them to the right side of the screen, then COPY. When done, close the cd and put it away. Close out the working window. We are finished with Step 1.

Step 2

MAXIMIZE the terminal, you should still be in root. If not, then SU to it. Move the mouse over the rt73.sys file, RIGHT CLICK, choose PROPERTIES, now GENERAL. Below TYPE is LOCATION. Now we are going to use ndiswrapper with a flag, the LOCATION and file name: ENTER. The output should look like this:

ndiswrapper -i /home/desktop/rt73.sys
installing rt73.sys

Take note that your LOCATION may be different than my LOCATION, but the rest should look the same. After you've done the first one, use the UP button to place the last command in the prompt; change the file name and install the next file. When all three files are installed, we check them like so:

ndiswrapper -l

This will list the files. Don't fret if they show up as invalid drivers, they will work later. MINIMIZE the terminal. We are done with step 2.

Step 3

Open the MENU, now SYSTEM, then CONTROL CENTER (YAST). Put in your password and run as root. DO NOT select KEEP PASSWORD for security reasons. Hit OK. We are now going to see if the Belkin F5D7050 is in the hardware list. Go to YAST, HARDWARE, HARDWARE INFORMATION, USB. If we see our device in the list, it is proof of installation. When you open the USB you should see:

+ UHCI Host Controller

+ Belkin 54g USB Network Controller

If you don't see it, then something didn't get put in correctly. Not to worry, take a short break then follow the steps again from the beginning. If you do see it, then hurrah for you, but don't celebrate just yet; there is more to do.

We need to write down the Vendor Identifier Number and the Device Identifier Number. Under USB, open BELKIN, four lines down is the Device Identifier Number, under RESOURCES, three lines down is the Vendor Identifier Number. Write them down.

Now MINIMIZE YAST and MAXIMIZE your terminal. In the terminal we are going to use ndiswrapper with a flag, the Vendor and Device Number, and the driver; ENTER. Like so:

ndiswrapper -d XXXX:XXXX rt73.inf

There is a space before and after the X's, which are the digits of your Vendor Identifier Number and Device Identifier Number, respectively. Take note, some claim this step isn't necessary; others claim you only put in the last four digits of the Identifier's. I had to put everything to make it work.

Next we need to create an alias in the modules.config file. We do that by invoking modprobe as a flag behind ndiswrapper; ENTER. It will display a confirmation message. Like so:

ndiswrapper -m
Adding  alias wlan0 ndiswrapper  to  /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper

That gave it an alias, now we need to load it into modprobe; like so:

modprobe ndiswrapper

If there is no error message, it was loaded properly. This is the end of Step 3.

Step 4

Now we are going to use two handy commands; ifconfig and iwconfig. ifconfig is virtually identical to ipconfig in Windows, you may have used it to get your MAC. iwconfig deals with wireless, hence the w. In the terminal, when we enter ifconfig we only see the loopback. The loopback or lo, is common on most boxes; basically it pings itself (127.0.0.1). Next we enter iwconfig but see no wlan0. The terminal may display this:

ifconfig
lo	Line encap:Local Loopback 
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask :255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1
RX packets:364  errors:0  dropped:0  overruns:0  frame:0
TX packets:364  errors:0  dropped:0  overruns:0  carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:25563 (24.9 Kb) TX bytes:25563 (24.9 Kb)

iwconfig
lo	no wireless extensions.

eth0	no wireless extensions.

sit0	no wireless extensions.

Not a problem, we simply need to turn wlan0 on, like so:

ifconfig wlan0 up

We also need it managed, so we tell it: like this:

iwconfig wlan0 mode managed

Now type in:

ifconfig

You should see wlan0 with your MAC after HWaddr. Confirm that this MAC is yours. If it is not, then try again and do this step over. If it is your MAC, then type in:

iwconfig

Can you see wlan0? If not, try it again and do this step over. If so, then great. Write down the ESSID:Name it is on the first line. (Name refers to your particular ESSID name) It may appear like this:

wlan0 		802.11g 54mbps : ESSID:Name

Write down your ESSID name and your Domain name, the Domain name is the name of your network. Your network administrator will have it if you don't know it. MINIMIZE the terminal. We have completed Step 4.

Step 5

Take note: the following are the results of an unconfigured box. If you have had previous network configurations, your results will be different. If you have had no network configurations, the results should be similar.

Your antenna should be flashing. MAXIMIZE Yast. You may have two windows open, if so close the Hardware Information window, as we are finished there. At the Yast Control Center select Network Devices, then Network Card now Add. The Manual Network Card Configuration window opens up. Under Device Type select USB. Take note, some instruct to select Wirelss, but that didn't work for me. I needed USB; the USB box self selects. The Configuration Name will default to wlan0.

Under Kernel Module; the Hardware Configuration Name will be static-0. In the Module Name type in ndiswrapper, click NEXT. Now you have the Network Address Setup window, click on Host Name and Name Server. The Host Name and Name Server Configuration window opens, under Host Name and Domain Name put in yours, respectively. (Remember: the Host Name is the name of your box, the Domain Name is your network name.) DESELECT Change Host Name via DHCP. Click OK, now NEXT.

Click on Advanced and you have DHCP Options, in Host Name to Send ensure your host name is there. Click OK. Now you have the Wireless Network Card Configuration window. Under Network Name ESSID, type in your ESSID name. Click NEXT. You will be asked if you want to use Encryption; decide what is appropriate for your network, when done click NEXT.

Your antenna should be flashing and your box should be writing the network configuration. MINIMIZE Yast, leave both Yast and the terminal open, but MINIMIZED. You may need them again. This concludes Step 5.

Step 6

Okay, click on FIREFOX; the antenna should light up and a web page open. BUT, that web page could be in the cache, so choose some site you haven't been to before or some subject you haven't searched for before. If you know how to ping a site, do that. If it shows up, good; however, we aren't done just yet.

Close both Yast and the terminal, now REBOOT and try FIREFOX agian. GOT WEB? If so, then congratulations you are done. If not, then consider firewall issues and adjust accordingly. If all else fails, go through the process again. This is the end of Step 6.

In closing

This procedure worked for me but it took a couple tries to get it right. Some issues to consider:

• Unable to get online after a reboot. Check the Yast procedures.
• Unable to get online after an update. Ensure that modprobe was done correctly.
• Keep in mind, you may not need all these steps. I am writing about what worked for me.
• Get comfortable with SU and Yast, it will make your Linux experience much more rewarding.
• I didn't think these steps were too hard and I'm a newbie. But if you don't want to do it this way, try Linuxant.

Good luck to you which ever way you do it, and Happy Computing.