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wifi card

Started by Dennis, 2007.08.26, 17:51:54

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Dennis

Even though I still do not have my eCS laptop connected to the internet, I thought I would find out what the best wifi card for it would be. Also what drivers are compatible with the card?

Thanks in advance.

Dennis
Dennis

BigWarpGuy

http://en.ecomstation.ru/hardware.php
Here is a site on hardware for OS/2.

http://www.os2warp.be
Here is another site but it does not seem to be updated lately (bottom of page). It does have some information on wifi cards.

kim

I would also suggest that you look into the GenMac drivers that offers you support for way much more modern adapters; check this news posting.

But, to point you a bit more direct; what kind of card does it support your notebook, ie pc-card, miniPCI or PCI Express?

Dennis

I would also suggest that you look into the GenMac drivers that offers you support for way much more modern adapters; check this news posting.

But, to point you a bit more direct; what kind of card does it support your notebook, ie pc-card, miniPCI or PCI Express?


Thanks for the reply, Kim. How do I tell if the card I need is pd, miniPCI or PCI Express?

Dennis
Dennis

kim

The PCI Express you'll find on the most new system sold the last 12 month and miniPCI has been used for couple of years and both mention card types are usually hidden under a small lid on the bottom of the notebook; for example here is how an Intel miniPCI card looks like:



PC-Card is the card you have either a slot for on the left or right side on the notebook; here is an example from the Dell Inspiron 8600 system:



To make it easier; what kind of system do you have eCS installed on?

Dennis

eCS is installed on a private brand Intel system from 2002. The slot (there is actually room for 2 cards if they are both credit card size) is on the right side of the system.

My biggest problem right now is getting the system to connect to the internet. I had it connected directly to my cable modem. 2 of 3 times, there was a green light next to the cabl when it was connected and I did NOT get a 'Cable may be disconnected!' error on boot. However, DHCP didn't get its parameters & didn't start. Also, on boot, it told me 'Flow Control:  Transmit: Disabled  Receive: Disabled'. In addition, when the cable was working, I tried to connect via Firefox, but it couldn't find the server en-us.start2.mozilla.com.
The 3rd time I booted the system, there was NO green light by the modem connection and I got the 'Cable may be disconnected' error. I'm going to my vendor to have them check out the cable connection, as I think it may be bad.

Once I get the system to connect via cable, I should have very little trouble with wifi once I get the correct card.

Dennis
Dennis

kim

Quote from: Dennis on 2007.08.27, 17:55:17
eCS is installed on a private brand Intel system from 2002. The slot (there is actually room for 2 cards if they are both credit card size) is on the right side of the system.

My biggest problem right now is getting the system to connect to the internet. I had it connected directly to my cable modem. 2 of 3 times, there was a green light next to the cabl when it was connected and I did NOT get a 'Cable may be disconnected!' error on boot.

Ok, so your system has then PC-Card (or PCMCIA slots) but as you mention that you've had the system directly connected to the cable modem it sounds also like that the system has a Ethernet port as well. If you don't plan to move the system around too much I would start figure out to get the on-board ethernet card to work since PC-Card and/or PCMCIA based cards can be a really pain to get to work. And if it's a Intel based system the best guess would be that you have a Intel based ethernet and that's really great then since there are drivers. About the Ethernet LEDs; one will tell you if you're connected and the other one will tell you if there is any communication; either way the indication that you're connected isn't equal with that you have a working network.

Also if you have already a working installed Intel driver for the network card, try to configure the system to use fixed IP instead of DHCP.

You wouldn't happened to have any kind of notebook model, motherboard info or network card info. Just something so we know what to test with?


Dennis

Well, the system is a Pentium 3, probably 800 MHz
My vendor says the network card needs to be replaced so the socket works properly
The only Model Number I have is CY25  Brand may be Compal NOT Compac...
I will know what motherboard it has when I get the network card replaced
I would LOVE to be able to work off fixed IP when I'm in my office. When--or if--my other office computers are down, I need the notebook as a backup. However, the notebook goes with me when I'm on the road in my truck. That's why I'm trying to get wifi to work. I seldom stay in a motel while I'm on the road.

BTW--this is a great site. Thank you for keeping it up. There are a lot of very helpful people on it--and they don't seem to care about how non-tech I am.

Dennis
Dennis

kim

Well, doing some googling on the net and I found what I think would be the correct specs for you system, please check the attached pdf document. But, from that it seems that you actually can install a miniPCI wireless card and that would make life way easier for you and as well you could then install one of the latest cards that eComstation as well supports.

But to quote from what I found:

Wireless:
802.11b via mini-PCI/Antenna (installed under keyboard - not user replaceable or upgradeable)


If you can verify that the specs in the pdf is the same as for you system; well then we should get your system to run with wireless.

Dennis

Thanks for the Googling, Kim. I just talked to the people I got the notebook from and they're not sure if the antenna/mini-PCI is actually installed. To find out, they have to remove the keyboard and that is about a 20 minute process. Since the network card needs to be replaced, I am taking the notebook in sometime this week. I'll know about the wireless setup then.

Dennis
Dennis

kim

#10
I'll cross my fingers then that they manufacturer was clever enough to pre-install the wireless antenna in all the system the made regardless if wireless miniPCI was installed or not. Quite often the antennas is installed to offer an extra sales option.

If it comes to that you're actually able to add a miniPCI card to you system; then following Intel miniPCI cards are supported by the GenMac driver:

  • Intel 2100 Wlan (8086:1043)
  • Intel 2200 Wlan (8086:4220)
  • Intel 2915 a/b/g (8086:4223)
  • Intel 2915 a/b/g (8086:4224)

The GenMac supports also Atheros wireless cards, but I would go for the Intel cards even if the price are a bit higher. The needed files for an installation can be found at Netlabs GenMac page.

Here is the Intel 2915 a/b/g card: