"Index" [[!toc levels=3]] # Preamble This document is written by a DragonFlyBSD newbie for other newbies, so there may be a better way to setup the ipw2200 wlan adapter. It was tested on a Asus V6800 notebook, but hopefully it should apply to all notebooks with ipw2200 adapters. WPA encryption is not available now (April 2006), and I wasn't unable to get my wlan adapter to establish a WEP connection, so I have only an unprotected WIFI connection, but that may be a problem with my notebook or my router. # Prerequisites You need two things to setup your ipw2200 adapter: * the if_iwi kernel modules for DragonFlyBSD * the firmware for your ipw2200 wlan adapter # Loading the if_iwi kernel module If you've done a fresh install of DragonFlyBSD, the kernel module should already be "ready to use". This is how you can load it: # kldload if_iwi If you don't get an error message, the necessary module is loaded now. If you get this message: kldload: can't load if_iwi: File exists this is ok, too. It means, that the module has already been loaded for you. BTW: you can check, if it's already loaded with this command: # kldstat | grep if_iwi This should return something similar to this, if the module is loaded: 6 1 0xc0759000 c2c8 if_iwi.ko If you don't have the kernel module available, you must build a new kernel. You can find the necessary information to do that in the ["DragonFlyBSD Handbook, chapter 9"](http://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~justin/handbook/kernelconfig.htm) : (http://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/~justin/handbook/kernelconfig.html) . Later, you can automate loading of the kernel driver by using the /boot/loader.conf file. # Getting the firmware If you've already set up the pkgsrc system on your machine, you can install it by # cd /usr/pkgsrc/sysutils/iwi-firmware # make install clean and continue reading at the next section ("Loading the firmware"). Otherwise, you can ["download it from" ](http://damien.bergamini.free.fr/iwifw/ipw2200-fw-2.3.tgz) (http://damien.bergamini.free.fr/iwifw/ipw2200-fw-2.3.tgz) and extract to a new directory, e. g. /usr/libdata/iwi_firmware: # mkdir /tmp/firmware # cd /tmp/firmware # fetch http://damien.bergamini.free.fr/iwifw/ipw2200-fw-2.3.tgz # tar xvfz ipw2200-fw-2.3.tgz # mkdir /usr/libdata/if_iwi # mv *fw /usr/libdata/if_iwi # cd .. # rm -fd firmware Unfortunately, you must rename the files: # cd /usr/libdata/if_iwi # mv ipw-2.3-ibss_ucode.fw iwi-ucode-ibss.fw # mv ipw-2.3-sniffer.fw iwi-sniffer.fw # mv ipw-2.3-boot.fw iwi-boot.fw # mv ipw-2.3-bss.fw iwi-bss.fw # mv ipw-2.3-sniffer_ucode.fw iwi-ucode-sniffer.fw # mv ipw-2.3-bss_ucode.fw iwi-ucode-bss.fw # mv ipw-2.3-ibss.fw iwi-ibss.fw # Loading the firmware Now, you can load the firmware: # iwicontrol iwi0 -d /usr/libdata/if_iwi # Configuring the WLAN interface Now, you can configure your ipw2200 adapter. First example: without WPA and WEP # ifconfig iwi0 inet netmask ssid wepmode off Second example: with WEP # ifconfig iwi0 inet netmask ssid wepmode on wepkey (example for a 104/128 bit wepkey hex value: 0xf6fa1c61abc3ca5a3787fdaeae) Check your success (example): # ifconfig iwi0 iwi0: flags=8843 mtu 1500 inet 192.168.2.101 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.2.255 inet6 fe80::212:f0ff:fe07:f5c8%iwi0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x3 ether 00:12:f0:07:f5:c8 media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (OFDM/54Mbps) status: associated ssid catalan 1:catalan channel 6 authmode OPEN powersavemode OFF powersavesleep 100 rtsthreshold 2312 protmode CTS txpower 100 wepmode OFF weptxkey 1 We have the IP-address 192.168.2.101 with netmask 255.255.255.0 (0xffffff00), and are connected ("associated") to an access point with the name "catalan". We don't use WEP (wepmode OFF) here. As said at the beginning, I wasn't able to connect to my router/AP with WEP enabled, but it should work (tm). I was only able to make a connection with enabled SSID broadcast, but may be you'll have more luck ;-) ---- CategoryHowTo