Sitecom WL-100i Howto

This howto is pretty old and could be deemed depricated. I haven’t had the time to make a howto for the current (cvs) prism54 drivers. I have tried them however, and must say that they perform very, very well :)

First check your wireless card, on the back it should say it’s a WL-100 and then a revision letter. This should say i (for Intersil) the b version of this card will not work since that is a Broadcom chipset.

Tested kernel:

  • linux-2.4.22

(no stock kernels from distributors have been harmed during the production of this howto)

Files needed:

Place these files in one workig directory so we don’t lose track, eg. /root/wl-100i
Untar the needed files:

# tar  jvxf linux-2.4.22.tar.bz2
# bunzip2 isl3890-2.4.22-v2.patch.bz2
# tar zvxf ISL3890-0.1.0.tar.gz

Copy the firmware to the appropriate place:

# cp isl3890.arm  ISL3890-0.1.0/pcmcia-cs-3.2.4-intersil/wireless/intersil/isl3890.arm

Patch the kernel to accept the wl-100i:

# cd linux-2.4.22
# patch -p1 < ../isl3890-2.4.22-v2.patch

Configure your kernel like you normally do:

# make menuconfig

While configuring your kernel, make sure PCMCIA/Cardbus support is *NOT* enabled (in General setup —> PCMCIA/CardBus support —>), the support for PCMCIA/Cardbus will be built along with the driver for the wl-100i.
Enable the wireless support in the kernel through:

Network device support  --->
 [*] Network device  support
Wireless LAN (non-hamradio)  --->
 [*] Wireless LAN  (non-hamradio)
Intersil Prism GT/Duette/Indigo PCI
 [*]  WIRELESS_IOCTLS
 [*] INTERSIL_EVENTS
 [*] WDS_LINKS

Build your kernel and modules:

# make bzImage
# make modules
# make modules_install

Configure your bootloader so it will boot your new kernel and reboot into your new kernel.
When booted into the newly built kernel, enter the directory /root/wl-100i/ISL3890-0.1.0/pcmcia-cs-3.2.4-intersil and enter

# ./Configure

A few questions wil be asked:

==============================================
 --------  Linux PCMCIA Configuration Script --------
 The default  responses for each question are correct for most users.
 Consult  the PCMCIA-HOWTO for additional info about each option.
 PC card source directory /root/ISL3890-0.1.0/pcmcia-cs-3.2.4-intersil
 Linux kernel source directory [/usr/src/linux]:  /root/wl-100i/linux-2.4.22
 The kernel source tree is  version 2.4.22.
 The current kernel build date is Thu May 13  08:23:51 2004.
 WARNING: the source tree has a build date of  Thu May 13 09:52:40 2004.
 Did you forget to install your new  kernel?
 Build 'trusting' versions of card utilities (y/n)  [y]: say y
 Include 32-bit (CardBus) card support (y/n)  [y]: say y
 Include PnP BIOS resource checking (y/n) [n]:  say y
 The PCMCIA drivers need to be compiled to  match the kernel they
 will be used with, or some or all of the  modules may fail to load.
 If you are not sure what to do,  please consult the PCMCIA-HOWTO.
 How would you like to  set kernel-specific options?
 1 - Read from the currently  running kernel
 2 - Read from the Linux source tree
 Enter option (1-2) [2]: say 2
 Module install  directory [/lib/modules/2.4.22]:
 Include wireless ioctls (J.  Tourrilhes) (y/n) [y]: say y
 Include wireless events (J.  Tourrilhes) (y/n) [y]: say y
 Include intersil events  (y/n) [y]: say y
 Include Access Point WDS links (y/n)  [n]: say n
 Kernel configuration options:
  Kernel-tree PCMCIA support is disabled.
  Symmetric  multiprocessing support is enabled.
  Preemptive kernel  support is disabled.
  High memory support is disabled.
  PCI BIOS support is enabled.
  Power management  (APM) support is disabled.
  SCSI support is enabled.
  IEEE 1394 (FireWire) support is disabled.
  Networking  support is enabled.
  Radio network interface support is  enabled.
  Token Ring device support is disabled.
  Fast switching is disabled.
  Frame Diverter is  disabled.
  Module version checking is disabled.
  Kernel debugging support is disabled.
  Preemptive kernel  patch is disabled.
  /proc filesystem support is enabled.
  PAE support is disabled.
  The standalone Adaptec  APA1480 CardBus driver is not supported with
  this kernel.   If you need it, use the kernel PCMCIA subsystem.
  The  standalone IEEE 1394 CardBus drivers are not supported with this
  kernel.  If you need them, use the kernel PCMCIA subsystem.
  It looks like you have a System V init file setup.
  The  Forms library is not available.
  The X11/Xaw libraries are not  available.
  The GTK+ library is not available.
  Configuration successful.
 ==============================================

After that has been done, build and install the PCMCIA/Cardbus and wl-100i drivers:

# make all
# make install

Run depmod:

# depmod -a

Restart your pcmcia and hotplug services:

#  /etc/init.d/pcmcia restart  # /etc/init.d/hotplug restart

Insert your card, it should now be automatically detected and initialized by your system, you can check this by running ‘lsmod’:

#  lsmod

This should return a line like this:

islpci_cb               51396   0  (unused)

If the module has been loaded correctly, you should have a new network device like eth1 in my case.

Now you can set your SSID:

# setoid eth1 10000002  ssid eelco

When the SSID has been set, you can set your IP addresses like you normally do:

# ifconfig eth1   netmask
# route add default gw

Or simply obtain an IP using DHCP :)

Getting running information from the card:

SSID:		getoid eth1 10000002 ssid
Channel:	getoid eth1 17000007 frequencies

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