Linux Kernel 4.9 and a (not so) happy Jornada 720

Hi guys,

I finally managed to make the Aironet WiFi card work on Linux! It seems that the card stores WiFi connection information (SSID) on flash, so the configuration is OS and machine independent. That being said, the easiest method is to first configure the card on Windows CE as usual. Use the Aironet app to setup SSID information and make sure the connection works. Then, next steps are:

To power up the card:

 
ip link set dev wifi0 up 

ip link set dev eth0 up 

(apparently this card needs to be enumerated with both wifi0 and eth0)

Once you run those commands, the LEDs on the card will start flashing and it will automatically connect to the SSID configured previously on Windows CE. Next, all you have to do is obtain an IP address from DHCP:

 

dhclient -v eth0 

The card will get an IP on the network and then you're online!

I SSHed to my Linux box and it worked just fine! SSH with -X forwarding was even better than I expected.

Thanks for the help, tips and support Stefan. Running a modern Linux on the old Jornada is truly a dream coming true for many of us here!

Ha! Thats great!
Did you use the new kernel with all the wifi drivers as modules or the one that i compiled for you?

Stefan

I’m using the kernel you compiled for me. I’ll give the new kernel a try but I’m pretty sure it won’t make any difference.

I got the Netgear MA401 working without loading modules. The following config in /etc/network/interfaces works on boot:

auto wlan0 
iface wlan0 inet dhcp 

    wireless-essid <NETWORK_NAME> 

    wireless-key1 1234567890 

    wireless-defaultkey 1 

    wireless-keymode open 

    wireless-mode managed 

I added a couple more cards that I tested using the 9/30/20 kernel:

Cisco Aironet 350: Not recognized
Lucent WaveLAN Silver: Not recognized
Orinoco WaveLAN Silver: Not recognized
Orinoco WaveLAN Gold: Not recognized
Netgear FA410 (wired): Works great, NE2000 driver (no module needed)
Netgear MA401: Works great using config above (no module needed)
SMC EZ Connect SMC2632Wv2: Recognized but fails to activate, dmesg log complains about firmware not found

It's odd that the WaveLAN series cards aren't recognized. If memory serves, they're all Prism chipsets.


Edited by kennytaylor661 2020-10-01 7:28 PM

Aironet 340 and 350 are quite similar, and if I'm not mistaken they use the same drivers. Did you try the kernel from 09/25/2020 that has the airo driver built in?

Haven't tried that kernel build. I did briefly try it with the kernel module from 9/30/20. The following errors are thrown in dmesg:

pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: time out after reset 
genirq: Setting trigger mode 3 for irq 100 failed (sa1111_type_highirq+0x0/0x74) 

genirq: Setting trigger mode 3 for irq 102 failed (sa1111_type_highirq+0x0/0x74) 

lsmod shows that one module uses the other, but no card using the modules (if I'm reading this right):

Module                  Size      Used by 

airo_cs                 1493      0 

airo                    61276     airo_cs 

The Aironet 350 card that I have was a pull from an Aironet PCI card ~15 years ago, complete with big TNC antenna and tiny coax pigtail. I never used it on CE, so I'm not even confident that it still works. It's going back in the box, as I got the Netgear card working.

Well, I guess that my guide also is not 100%. After a bit of testing I realized that it was missing one step. Even though the SSID information is stored in the card somewhere, I believe that when Linux reinitializes the card, it stays in limbo mode until you tell it to connect to the SSID again. So here are the full steps:

1. Configure the card on Windows CE as usual. Use the Aironet app to setup SSID information and make sure the connection works (open something on Pocket IE).

2. Boot into Linux and login as root.

3. To power up the card:

ip link set dev wifi0 up  
ip link set dev eth0 up

(apparently this card needs to be enumerated with both wifi0 and eth0). Once you run those commands, the LEDs on the card will start flashing and it will automatically connect to the SSID configured previously on Windows CE.

4. Connect to your SSID. I issued this command for both interfaces wifi0 and eth0. Not sure if it only needs to go to one of them:

iwconfig wifi0 essid "Your_SSID_without_quotes" mode Managed 

iwconfig eth0 essid "Your_SSID_without_quotes" mode Managed

5. Obtain an IP address from DHCP:

dhclient -v eth0

6. Or alternatively, if you want to set the card with static IP:

ifconfig eth0 "Your_fixed_IP_without_quotes" netmask 255.255.255.0 up 

route add default gw "Your_gateway_IP_without_quotes"

That's it!

Edited by ntware 2020-10-02 12:57 AM

Got my 'new' 720 yesterday. CF card slot works OK.....

Now want to get rest of Devuan configured and working.

Would like to get my WiFi card working. It's a AmbiCoM WL1100C-CF card (have PC Card adapter for it).

Unfortunately, I don't have an old PC with a PC card slot in it. So, can't use ActiveSync to install driver onto 720.

Anyone have a suggestion as to how to deal with this or have the CAB file(s) they can share with me?

Also, have a Symbol Spectrum24 Wireless Networker LA-4137 CF card in case that cards easier to deal with file-wise.

Or do I need to try and get an Aironet card?

Thanks for any help!

You don't need an old PC with PC card slot to use ActiveSync. All you need is a serial cable and ActiveSync installed on Windows 2000 or XP. You can have the Win2000 or WinXP running on a virtual machine inside your modern computer. Perhaps the only extra thing you might need is a USB->serial adapter since modern computers don't come with a serial port anymore. You can buy those cheap at Amazon if you live in U.S. If not, eBay is also a great resource. Once you connect the adaptor, your virtual machine manager (vmware, virtualbox, hyperV, whatever you choose) will ask you if you want to use the USB adapter on your host or on your virtual machine. Select virtual machine and then proceed with the installation as normal under your virtual Win2000 or WinXP.

That being said, my preferred method of transferring files over to my HPCs is through a CF card reader. You will need a card reader anyway to partition your CF card and install Linux. So if you don't have one, go get one on Amazon or eBay as well. Even the cheap ones will work just fine.

Last tip. If you are too lazy to transfer files through ActiveSync (like me), you can extract .cab files from .exe installations. Sometimes the .exe is a self extractor that places .cab files in the directory of your choice. That's easy. Other times, the .exe is a little program that talks to ActiveSync and places the .cab files on the ActiveSync folder (usually c:\program files\ActiveSync). Just run the .exe and then browse the ActiveSync folder to look for .cab files. You will easily find them in there. Then all you have to do is copy them over to the CF and install.

Thank you, ntware, for all your helpful input!

Like you, would prefer to use a CF card reader to transfer files, as long as I can extract cab files.

Sounds like I should setup XP virtual machine....just in case it's needed.

Pick up a cheapie USB card reader, like below, to drop the cabs onto your CF card. I have an 'installers' folder on mine where I drop the cabs. If you mark the files read-only, that prevents CE from deleting the cab after installation. Works great when I want to switch from Linux back to CE and quickly reinstall things.

Thanks, kennytaylor661....yes, I have a USB card reader and where I've found cab files, I've done as you suggested, worked fine.

Issue for me was what to do where only .exe files are available. Hence, my post above.

Thanks.

Mark

At first I also use cardreader to transfer files to CF. Then I started to use the cradle. USB connection is easy to set up and stable. Plus you can access the content of the whole Jornada via WMDC. See this thread:
https://www.hpcfactor.com/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18889&po...

Thanks, hpcboy!

Hi Mark!
The AmbiCoM WL1100C should work in Linux without any pre-configuration from WinCE.
I use the exact same card http://www.sp-net.at/wiki/doku.php?id=prism2wifi

For WEP:
You can try to configure it like kenny, inside the /etc/network/interfaces. Or by typing these commands:

ip link set dev wifi0 up 
iwconfig wifi0 essid "yourssid" key "yourhexkey" mode Managed 

dhclient -v wlan0

For WPA, you need a STA firmware above 1.8.0 on your card and wpa_supplicant in Linux.

Create a configuration file (as root):

vi /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

and insert this (edit ssid and key):

ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant 

ctrl_interface_group=root 

 

eapol_version=1 

 

ap_scan=1 

network={ 

        ssid="yourssid" 

        scan_ssid=1 

        proto=WPA 

        key_mgmt=WPA-PSK 

        pairwise=TKIP 

        group=TKIP 

        psk="yourkey" 

}

Then start it with these commands:

wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -D wext -c /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf -B  

dhclient wlan0

Stefan