[:DebianWiki/EditorGuide#translation:Translation(s)]: [:WiFi/rt2500:English], [:fr/WiFi/rt2500:Français]

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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.

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Drivers

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

Both the enhanced legacy and next-generation drivers are maintained by the [http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/ rt2x00 project]. [#supported-devices Supported devices] are listed at the end of this page.

All drivers do not require firmware to be installed.

Installation

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rt2500pci (next-generation driver)

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

?Anchor(rt2500pci-lenny)

Lenny

Using [:DebianEtch:Etch]? [#rt2500pci-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 [:Modules: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. [:WiFi/HowToUse:Configure] your wireless interface as appropriate.

?Anchor(rt2500pci-etch) ?Anchor(rt2500pci-etch2618)

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-2.6.24-etchnhalf and install a package appropriate for your system), restart your system to boot using this kernel, then follow the [#rt2500pci-etch2624 Etch with 2.6.24 kernel] procedure below.

?Anchor(rt2500pci-etch2624)

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.

  1. Install the etch/wireless-tools package: 

    aptitude update
aptitude install wireless-tools

  2. The necessary kernel module should be [:Modules: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. [:WiFi/HowToUse:Configure] your wireless interface as appropriate.

?Anchor(rt2500)

rt2500 (enhanced legacy driver)

While use of the [#rt2500pci next-generation driver] is preferred, the enhanced legacy driver can alternatively be used. This is required to be compiled and installed, which can be automated via [:ModuleAssistant:module-assistant].

  1. Install the module-assistant and wireless-tools packages: 

    aptitude update
aptitude install module-assistant wireless-tools

  2. Build and install an rt2500-modules-* package within your system: 

    m-a prepare
m-a a-i rt2500

  3. Load the rt2500 module: 

    modprobe rt2500
    This module will be automatically loaded when your system is restarted.

  4. Verify your device has an available interface: 

    iwconfig

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

    ifconfig eth1 up

  6. [:WiFi/HowToUse:Configure] your wireless interface as appropriate.

?Anchor(supported-devices)

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.

See Also

CategoryHardware | CategoryWireless