Installing a Third Party Driver.

[okechi]

I am a completely new Linux(Mint 12) user, my very first. I am trying to connect to my home network. I plugged in my new ASUS USB-N66 dual band adapter to my GA-990FXA-UD3 but it wouldn't see it. I tried running the accompanying CD, but I wouldn't install. I contacted ASUS support and downloaded a driver for Linux, but it wouldn't install or rather, I don't know how to install it. I borrowed a friend's USB adapter and it's working ok, though it breaks up sometimes, and I do have to return his adapter and try to use mine. Can anyone please give me a hand? Thanks.
Okechi.

[robw]

Hi Okechi,

To help us here, could you please give us some more info?

Firstly, please post the result of typing mintwifi into a terminal (look under accessories if you're not familiar - the icon will look like a black screen with a cursor on it)

Secondly, please give us the filename of the driver you're trying to install.

Thanks!

[okechi]

Hi, Robw, thank you so much for looking into this.
The driver I'm trying to install is Dr_USB_N66_Linux_1005.zip.
Below is what came up in Terminal when I typed mintwifi, as you suggested. Again, thank you.
-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"BEAST"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:24:B2:52:1B:44
Bit Rate=6.5 Mb/s Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on
Link Quality=35/70 Signal level=-75 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:1607 Invalid misc:8 Missed beacon:0

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 90:2b:34:6d:05:34
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:42 Base address:0x6000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:44 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:44 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:3216 (3.2 KB) TX bytes:3216 (3.2 KB)

wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 80:1f:02:0f:c3:e8
inet addr:192.168.1.148 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::821f:2ff:fe0f:c3e8/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:2370 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1859 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:2560818 (2.5 MB) TX bytes:257664 (257.6 KB)

-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...

[remoulder]

The output you have given is not much help for two reasons, one it already shows a wlan active which I assume is your friends? please remove this and only show the results of your adapter; and secondly it doesn't show USB adapters at all so we need the output of lsusb with your adapter plugged in.

[okechi]

This is the reply I got with my USB adapter plugged in.
At the bottom of the page is the reply when I typed in ISUSB.
Please bear with me, I hope I understood what you meant by " we need the output of ISUS with your adapter plugged in".
if I got it wrong, please let me know what to do.
Thank you.

IV. querying ifconfig...
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 90:2b:34:6d:05:34
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:42 Base address:0x6000

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1920 (1.9 KB) TX bytes:1920 (1.9 KB)

-------------------------
• V. querying DHOW..


No command 'isusb' found, did you mean:
Command 'lsusb' from package 'usbutils' (main)
isusb: command not found

[robw]

Hi Okechi,

I think you've misinterpreted the command. The first letter is an L, not an I. So we're looking for the command LSUSB, but in lower case - lsusb. In linux ls means 'list'. Grateful if youd try again please - thanks!

[okechi]

Thank you for your patience. Please find below the reply to the inquiry.

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0b05:17ad ASUSTek Computer, Inc.
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 010 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 011 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bc2:3010 Seagate RSS LLC
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 046d:c52e Logitech, Inc.
Bus 009 Device 002: ID 0bc2:50a1 Seagate RSS LLC

[remoulder]

0b05:17ad ASUSTek Computer, Inc

This page indicates the linux driver is rt3573sta and has a link to it. This thread post #4 on has instructions on how to install it, ignore references to the Belkin adapter, the driver is the same.

[okechi]

Thank you very much. I am still confused as to what to do. I do appreciate your patience enormously. I just need a litle bit of clarification to start the installation.

1. Do I have to follow any instructions as stated in the thread post #4?
2. Or do I start from the instructions on #5 to connect to a temporary ethernet and then do the cde: sudo apt-get..etc?
3. The next line says "In the DPO folder that was created when you extracted the bz2, drill down to os/linux and open the file config.mk with any text editor such as gedit and:" My question is what is bz2? When and how is it extracted?
4.Finally, the last instruction says to type in "cd Desktop/DPO_RT3573_LinuxSTA_vx.x.x.x <--whatever and wherever you extracted
sudo su
make
make install
modprobe rt3573sta
exit"
Since I am not installing with a CD, does the command apply?

I hate being a bother, but due to my rudimentary knowledge of Linux I guess I need more elaborate instructions. If you can, please tell me in sequence what to do. Again, thank you.

Okechi.

[remoulder]

Post 4 is the start in that the posts before are not relevant to the solution. Yes you have to install build-essential and the headers. To extract just double click the file, it should open in archive manager. 'cd' means change directory it's not referring to a CD drive, it's basically saying you have to be in the same directory as the extracted files, just type or copy/paste the instructions into the terminal if not sure and amend accordingly.

[okechi]

Thanks again, Robw. I have been busy with work and haven't had the chance to start the process. I tried to instal the compile "yum install gcc-c++", it would ask for my password but nothing happens when I type my admistrator password. It would just blink without responding to my typing. Any ideas? I have downloaded the lastest and stable kernel, 3.6.1.
As always, I appreciate your time helping me out.

Okechi.