# Getting WLAN-Card Netgear MA521 to work (RTL 8180L)

## mgsnova

Hi,

I want to use the Netgear MA521 WLAN-Card in my notebook (gentoo 2.6.5-r1).

Realtek only provides driver for 2.4 kernel.

I tried ndiswrapper 0.6 (latest from cvs), but with iwconfig I cant set channel, essid ... - also I dont find my accesspoint or get a link.

So i downloaded driverloader 1.65. Now I can change all the settings, i see my ap and get a link.

But dhcpcd fails - after that my networkdevice is down.

Did anybody get this card or chipset working using 2.6 kernel?

Markus

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## pasquale

i got it working using 2.6.5-r1, ndiswrapper 0.7, and the newest xp driver from realtek's website.

all i did was ndiswrapper -i NET...inf file

modprobe ndiswrapper

dhcpcd wlan0

and the network card was up and running

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## mgsnova

Yes i tried it so too.

I also tried various startscripts from this forum - no luck - always dhcpcd fails.

Do ndiswrapper work also with ssid, set channel and wep?

Markus

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## UberLord

 *mgsnova wrote:*   

> Do ndiswrapper work also with ssid, set channel and wep?
> 
> 

 

Yes

I would try without WEP and see if that works.

When it's working, then apply WEP

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## eeknay

i've another card, but same chip. 

can you tell me what i need to get the pcmcia slots working corretly?

any need for pcmcia-cs or stuff like that?

eeknay

ps.: could you please explaine how to work with the ndiswrapper?

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## UberLord

 *eeknay wrote:*   

> i've another card, but same chip. 
> 
> can you tell me what i need to get the pcmcia slots working corretly?
> 
> any need for pcmcia-cs or stuff like that?
> ...

 

You also need to enable all related pcmcia modules in the kernel, compile and then install the kernel. You could trim it down, but I don't know what your cardbus type is or what other pcmcia cards you have.

You will need pcmcia-cs to get any pcmcia support.

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## eeknay

but all the stuff i've read about pcmcia-cs tells me to disable the pcmcia support in the kernel. 

what exactly do i need to be in the kernel?

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## UberLord

 *eeknay wrote:*   

> but all the stuff i've read about pcmcia-cs tells me to disable the pcmcia support in the kernel. 
> 
> what exactly do i need to be in the kernel?

 

Depends what kernel you run.

For a 2.6 kernel, the pcmcia stuff needs to be turned on.

For a 2.4 kernel or lower, the pcmcia stuff needs to be turned off.

The pcmcia-cs ebuild detects what kernel you run and flips the flag to build kernel modules or not. But either way, you need the tools pcmcia-cs provides.

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## eeknay

so i compiled the 2.6 kernel with pcmcia and cardbus(yenta) compiled in, next i reemerge pcmcia-cs. whats next?

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## UberLord

 *eeknay wrote:*   

> so i compiled the 2.6 kernel with pcmcia and cardbus(yenta) compiled in, next i reemerge pcmcia-cs. whats next?

 

Uh - just insert the pcmcia card and away you go!

Of course, you have to have compiled a kernel module for your card.

I think the command to check is 

```
cardmgr status
```

or

```
cardmgr info
```

If that reports something then Yay!

If it's a network card then 

```
ifconfig -a
```

 should show it.

All thats left is to configure network settings for it.

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## eeknay

ok. 

first of all, i don't know which is the correct module for the realtek chip.

if i do "cardmgr" it gives me

```

carmgr[7863] : open_socket(socket0) failed: Device or rescource busy

carmgr[7863] : another cardmgr is already running?
```

cardmgr status does not work, as well as the info does not work.

eeknay

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## UberLord

 *eeknay wrote:*   

> ok. 
> 
> first of all, i don't know which is the correct module for the realtek chip.
> 
> if i do "cardmgr" it gives me
> ...

 

I don't have my lappy to hand, so I can't tell you the exact command.

I don't think a generic kernel supports the realtek pcmcia chip, so I can't help here.

I would recommend asking in the kernel & hardware forum

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