D-Link DWA 123 problem

[mali radnik]

Hello! I am afraid I have the same problem (as in this topic for a DWA 125): I tried D-Link DWA 123 with Mint 11 (Katya), but it did not recognise it at all. Nothing happened when I plugged it in (I use HP Pro 3400 Microtower). I must use ethernet to connect through my Thomson rooter, but wireless is a preferable solution... What would you suggest me to do?

[xenopeek]

Post split from http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=94123 by moderator

Please don't reply with new problems to topics that have already been marked solved. New problems deserve new topics

[Monsta]

I am afraid I have the same problem (as in this topic for a DWA 125)

What would you suggest me to do?

Well... maybe try to repeat what was suggested in that topic?

[mali radnik]

I did, no use.

[Monsta]

Well then... let's look at how Mint sees the device. Plug the device in and run these commands in the terminal:

Code: Select all

dmesg | tail -n 20

Code: Select all

lsusb

and post their output here.

[AlbertP]

D-Link devices often have many different revisions (sometimes even 7 or 8 ) using many different chip types. The DWA-123 rev. A1 is known to use a Ralink RT3370 chip, which should work from Mint 12 on (with some experimental support in Mint 11). But perhaps there are other DWA-123 revisions as well. D-Link likes to upgrade the chip to a newer version or even changing to another chip manufacturer, without actually changing the model number.

By the way, did you install the newer kernel and/or linux-firmware like that other topic suggested? I'm not saying that you have to do that, just want to know if it's done to be able to help you better.

[mali radnik]

Hi! Here is what I got:

lsusb
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 2001:3c17 D-Link Corp.
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 058f:6366 Alcor Micro Corp. Multi Flash Reader
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 046d:c05a Logitech, Inc. Optical Mouse M90
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0461:0010 Primax Electronics, Ltd
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I tried my device with Mint 12 (on DVD), and it was recognised. With Mint 11 is dead, but I prefer Mint 11 and don't want to accept Mint 12. I did not change my kernel either, although I suppose I could try. I am ashamed to ask, but I don't know how to install it after I save it? And how can I check what's the architecture for my PC (I suppose it's 386, but I'm not sure).

[Monsta]

ID 2001:3c17 D-Link Corp.

Well there's your problem... this particular vendor id/product id combination was added to the driver somewhere between 2.6.39 and 3.0.9... (judging by stable compat-wireless releases).

So now you have two options:
1. Update the whole kernel. I don't know if there's a ppa with 3.x kernels for Natty (and Mint 11). Maybe someone else may give a hint about that.
2. Update only the wireless subsystem by installing compat-wireless. See this page for more info. Natty isn't mentioned there though, so you'll have to do a little search in the repositories to find out the exact package name. I haven't tested this.

[mali radnik]

Thank you for your try, I do appreciate it, but this is not helpful. Perhaps I should upgrade my kernel to 3.2.5, but I don't know is it good with Mint 11? My present kernel is 2.6.64.

[AlbertP]

2.6.64 does not exist. I guess you mean 2.6.38 which is default in Mint 11.

You can just upgrade to 3.2.5 with this tutorial: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=40185

I can't find this specific USB ID (2001:3c17) in the changelog. But according to http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/RT2800USB.html, recent kernels should have it included.

[mali radnik]

[quote="AlbertP"]2.6.64 does not exist. I guess you mean 2.6.38 which is default in Mint 11.

You are right, sorry. I do mean 2.6.38. Thank you for your advice. If I decide to change kernel, I will follow these instructions. But I think I should prefer Ethernet and forget about wireless.

[mali radnik]

I have finally managed to solve my wireless problem. I am testing the new Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and my D link DWA 123 workes just out of the box. So, my favourite software Mint 11, Katya, is a bit out of date. Perhaps with Mint Debian it will be better. Thanks everyone for your help!

[xenopeek]

If it works perfectly on Ubuntu 12.04, you may want to try out Linux Mint 13--which is based on that. It should be released next month

[mali radnik]

If it works perfectly on Ubuntu 12.04, you may want to try out Linux Mint 13--which is based on that. It should be released next month

Yes, I will definitely try it out, as Mint is definitely an excellent choice. But I admit my secret love is Debian... perhaps Mint Debian would be fine in transitional period for me. By the way, I have just checked my D link DWA 123 on Lubuntu 11.10, it works just fine. Again, just plug and play.

[AlbertP]

If it works on 11.10 then Mint 12 using the 3.0 kernel as well should also work. But you are using the 2.6.38 kernel on Mint 11 which does not yet include the your "ID 2001:3c17" device. That one is listed from Linux 3.0 on.

D-Link suddenly changed their ID from 07d1 to 2001, so their devices had to be added again to the Linux kernel - older kernel versions don't yet know this one with ID 2001.