Ralink RT2500/RT2560 devices

This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on the Ralink RT2500 (non-USB) chipset on Debian systems.

Drivers

The Ralink RT2500 802.11g wireless LAN chipset is supported by three native drivers:

• rt2500 (Legacy driver)

  • Released by Ralink under the GPL.
  • Not generally recommended for use.
• rt2500 (Enhanced legacy driver)
  • Previously maintained by the rt2x00 project.

  • Source previously packaged in rt2500-source, removed from Debian to resolve bug 563429.

• rt2500pci (Next-generation driver)

  • The recommended driver to use.
  • Included in the mainline kernel starting from 2.6.24.

  • Source previously packaged in rt2x00-source, removed from Debian to resolve bug 474189.

The next-generation driver is maintained by the rt2x00 project. Supported devices are listed at the end of this page.

This page only details installation of the next-generation driver (rt2500pci). No firmware from userspace is required.

Installation

The rt2500pci driver is included in the mainline kernel since 2.6.24. It is included as a module in Debian kernel images.

Lenny, Squeeze

Using Etch? Skip to the Etch section.

As drivers from the rt2x00 project are included in the mainline kernel, the rt2500pci driver is present on your system.

1. Install the wireless-tools package:

   aptitude update
   aptitude install wireless-tools

2. The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:

   modprobe rt2500pci

3. Verify your device has an available interface:

   iwconfig

4. Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:

   ifconfig wlan0 up

5. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Etch with 2.6.18 kernel

Although an etch/rt2x00-source package is available, this version is considered experimental and only supports a small number of devices. The devices which are supported are likely to encounter issues.

It is highly recommended to use an EtchAndAHalf kernel image, which will provide your system with an updated rt2500pci driver included as part of the kernel. You will not need to use etch/rt2x00-source.

Install an EtchAndAHalf kernel image (apt-cache search linux-image-2.6- | grep etchnhalf and install a package appropriate for your system), restart your system to boot using this kernel, then follow the Etch with 2.6.24 kernel procedure below.

Etch with 2.6.24 kernel

As drivers from the rt2x00 project are included in the mainline kernel, the rt2500pci driver is present on your system.

• The rt2500pci driver is not present in the stock 2.6.18 kernel.

• Install an EtchAndAHalf kernel: apt-cache search linux-image-2.6- | grep etchnhalf and install a package appropriate for your system.

• Restart your system with this kernel before continuing.

1. Install the etch/wireless-tools package:

   aptitude update
   aptitude install wireless-tools

2. The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:

   modprobe rt2500pci

3. Verify your device has an available interface:

   iwconfig

4. Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:

   ifconfig wlan0 up

5. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Supported Devices

The page HowToIdentifyADevice/PCI explains how to identify a PCI device.

The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo rt2500pci on Lenny.

• PCI: 1814:0201 RaLink RT2500 802.11g Cardbus/mini-PCI

See Also

• How to use a WiFi interface

External Links

• http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/ - rt2x00 project homepage.

CategoryHardware | CategoryWireless