Hi all:
I just bought a Buffalo WLI-UC-GNM usb wlan adapter for use on my home desktop running openSuSE 11.3 x86_64 but I am lost as to the correct driver it needs to be detected and configured.
Anyone with the same wlan adapter who got it to work for openSuSE 11.3?
Did you see the sticky posts here? Could you post the output from the commands they have there.
We need the USB id which you can get by using the command
lsusb
Post the relevant wireless card info (The one with Buffalo in it)
Then, use this command
dmesg |grep -i firmware
If this command gives you output, it’s telling you which firmware it needs to run. If you don’t get anything, the NIC probably isn’t even turning on and you’ll need to take some additional steps to get it recognized.
It seems like there’s very little info on this NIC. I’m guessing it’s newly released.
From what I could find, your USB id is - 0411:01a2. You should be able to verify that with the above commands.
Sorry I wasn’t able to provide some details earlier regarding my setup and the Buffalo WLI-UC-GNM. Here’s what I was supposed to share:
linux-65d9:/home/bryan # dmesg | tail
4510.794667] usb 2-1.7: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 8
4510.897469] usb 2-1.7: New USB device found, idVendor=0411, idProduct=01a2
4510.897474] usb 2-1.7: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
4510.897478] usb 2-1.7: Product: 802.11 n WLAN
4510.897480] usb 2-1.7: Manufacturer: Ralink
4510.897483] usb 2-1.7: SerialNumber: 1.0
linux-65d9:/home/bryan # dmesg | grep -i firmware
linux-65d9:/home/bryan # lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0020
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0020
Bus 002 Device 008: ID 0411:01a2 MelCo., Inc.
linux-65d9:/home/bryan #
rodhuffaker, you are correct with the USB id (0411:01a2). It is a newly released product.
Im running openSuSE 11.3 (KDE) x86_64 on an Intel iCore 5, 4Gb RAM, ASUS board, ATI Radeon HD5450 gfx card.
kernel info: 2.6.34.7-0.3-desktop
I tried Ralink tech’s website and Buffalotech. Not much info available. Im hoping there could be someone with the same product out there who was able to use it on openSuSE11.3 to get mine working as well.
Any update is very much appreciated.
As I suspected, the usb id is new and the kernel doesn’t know what driver to use with the NIC.
The main problem is, I couldn’t find any info on what chipset this nic uses. Do you have that info?
You said you looked at Ralink’s website? Was there a specific chipset you were looking at?
If you have that, we can add a rule to the kernel for your USB id. Then we’ll be able to see what firmware it’s requesting, in dmesg.
I posted on the Buffalo wireless forum to see if they could tell me which chipset it uses.
Googled more info on possible ralink chipset for buffalo wli-uc-gnm. Some info points to rt2870 while a few seems to favor rt3070.
English product brochures from buffalotech doesnt mention the chipset of this device.
I checked and downloaded product briefs for both chips from ralink which led me to believe 3070 can be a viable option as it is for wireless N (b/g/n) and boasts a small footprint.
Installed rt3070sta files from YaST just now. Same result. kernel still unable to recognize the device.
No output from dmesg | grep -i firmware.
lsusb still lists the vendor:product ids (Melco/ Buffalo)
1123.523036] usb 2-1.7: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 7
1123.625832] usb 2-1.7: New USB device found, idVendor=0411, idProduct=01a2
1123.625837] usb 2-1.7: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
1123.625841] usb 2-1.7: Product: 802.11 n WLAN
1123.625844] usb 2-1.7: Manufacturer: Ralink
1123.625846] usb 2-1.7: SerialNumber: 1.0
linux-65d9:/home/bryan # dmesg | grep -i firmware
linux-65d9:/home/bryan # lsusb
Bus 002 Device 007: ID 0411:01a2 MelCo., Inc.
linux-65d9:/home/bryan #
Thanks for posting at the Buffalo wireless forum rodhuffaker. Hopefully some of the folks there point out the chip that drives this new device.
Ok, good info. We could do this by process of elimination.
Create a file called /etc/modprobe.d/rt3070sta.conf
touch /etc/modprobe.d/rt3070sta.conf
Edit the file and add the following to it.
install rt3070sta modprobe --ignore-install rt3070sta ; /bin/echo "0411 01a2" > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/rt3070/new_id
Restart your system. Check if the NIC turns on, and also check if there’s a firmware request in dmesg.
Then, if that doesn’t work we can try the other one. Move the file you created previously(or delete it) and create a new one.
Create a file called /etc/modprobe.d/rt2870sta.conf
touch /etc/modprobe.d/rt2870sta.conf
Edit the file and add the following to it.
install rt2870sta modprobe --ignore-install rt2870sta ; /bin/echo "0411 01a2" > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/rt2870/new_id
Restart your system. Check if the NIC turns on (by turning on, I just mean the light comes on at some point during boot), and also check if there’s a firmware request in dmesg.
I also believe the confusion between the chipsets arises from the very similar name of the NIC WLI-UC-GN, which is slightly bigger.
Problem solved.
I got the chipset of this (relatively) new WLAN USB Adapter released by Buffalotech from a press release of Ralink. (Ralink corp.).
Apparently, its the rt8070, claimed by Ralink as the world’s current smallest 802.11n USB adapter. It can deliver up to 150 Mbps access speed in a form factor just about the size of a thumbnail. (Yep, this is by far the smallest wireless USB device that I have seen, and throughput is very good).
From there, i was able to gather more information on compiling Ralink’s supplied drivers for linux and got my adapter to work.
I still have to document exactly how I was able to make it work, and perhaps post it here for those of you who bought the same device recently.
Thanks to rodhuffaker for all the assistance and advice in getting me started out, and pointing me in the right direction.
I went to the site and the firmware for rt8070 and rt3070 are listed with the same file. I would be curious to know if my previous instructions would work, rather than requiring compiling.
But, that’s great news that you got it working.
I tried the instructions you suggested but there was no output. The LED of the usb adapter would light up each time i plug it in the USB port, so I know the device is getting power from the port. It was being seen through lsusb and dmesg so it was not broke. Its just that the kernel doesnt know what module to use to activate the thing. I suspect the rt3070sta package from the repositories were made without the appropriate product+vendor id of my device so I then used YaST to remove the rt3070sta rpm package from the repositories as I would be trying to compile from source.
I had to edit a couple of files to include the product id and vendor id of the device, as per information gleaned from other websites. The readme file from Ralink was helpful but there were a couple of things missing here and there which i had to research on the internet.
It’s been a full week since i bought this product here in Japan, and with the assistance of the linux community people, I was able to get it working. I plan to post a step-by-step of things to do to get this device working for others who may have a similar system as mine.
Thank you all.
-deltaRPM
I had a very similar issue with my nic. After I got it working, lwfinger (a mod here) submitted a kernel patch with the USB id. About a week later there was a kernel update and after that my NIC only required that I install firmware (kernel-firmware) to make it work. He only asked that I sign off the “tested by” with my email, which was no problem. So, once you get a writeup, you may want to send him a message so he can do the same for yours.