Wireless USB Adaptor for 10.04?

Hi,

I used Linux CNC for a project 4-5 years ago, and it was great!

I've just started in on a new LinuxCNC project. Bought a new computer for it... seems to work great on the latency test. Trouble is that the new wireless card it came with is not supported by 10.04?

So... I want to buy an old wireless usb adaptor that will work easy with 10.04 and get my internet up and running on this thing. All the stuff at BestBuys is too new, but it seems there are a bunch of old wireless USB adapters available cheap and easy on the internet. You just need a model number and $15.

Does anyone have a suggestion for model number to go out and buy?

Thanks,

Bill

Trouble is that the new wireless card it came with is not supported by 10.04?

What is the wireless card?
What is the computer?

It may be possible to compile the new drivers for 10.04.
Alternatively as Andy says, Linuxcnc is not limited to 10.04 or any other distro now, albeit the newer stuff is not mainstream yet
and only suited for a more experienced Linux user.

In this thread for instance I have built a 3.8.0 rtai kernel and modules etc, targetted at a dual core Intel atom processor.
The reason is precisely the same, because only the later kernels support the video drivers that are needed for a particular new Intel chip
www.linuxcnc.org/index.php/english/forum...500-display-problems

Wireless anything combined with CNC is not a good choice, as soon as a motor starts you are liable to lose it.
I too use the powerline homeplugs for an ethernet connection and get full speed broadband in a workshop 200ft from the house
( I even have a homeplug wireless adapter in the workshop so that I can use my smartphone down there, but if I start a machine I can only get connected on the ethernet, the wireless is knocked out immediately)

regards

Very interesting!

The computer is a mini desktop based on the Intel Atom D2550.

The wireless card is a Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230.

The computer appears to be working great out of the box... except for this wireless card issue.

Your 3.8 kernel sounds very cool. When I picked up LinuxCNC again after so long, I was a bit perplexed by why the stable release hadn't moved up to at least the 12.04LTS? Then I read an article that said that the realtime kernel isn't fully cooked for the 3.x releases, and that it would need a lot more work. That article led me to believe that running on a 3.8 kernel wasn't possible right now? I'm glad to hear it is!

In fact, your 3.8 based install sounds perfect for my box, and would very likely get the wireless working great. But...

At this point, my goal is not to do too much work on Linux itself... perhaps I'll have more time to contribute directly to LinuxCNC in the future. But right now I've got lots and lots to do on the larger project of which LinuxCNC is a part and deadlines to meet. I'm just trying to get LinuxCNC up and running and doing what it does best... so that I can get this machine project completed.

Very interesting about wireless in general being a poor choice for CNC connectivity. The RFI issues hadn't even occurred to me, but I guess anytime you've got something PWMing into a large, more or less unshielded coil you should expect RFI to come up.

I'll look into the power line solutions.

Thank you.

Bill

Hi

This link shows the iwlwifi driver for the Intel wifi chipsets
wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/iwlwifi

If you look at the list, it requires a 3.2+ kernel to support it, so you are not going to get it going at all with the stock 10.04.

It should work with my 3.8.0-rtai kernel, because CONFIG_FW_LOADER is set in that build, allowing firmware to be loaded, which is required.

regards