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Ralink RT2501USB/RT2571W (RT73) devices

This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on the Ralink RT2501USB chipset on Debian systems.

Drivers

The Ralink RT2501USB wireless LAN chipset is supported by three native drivers:

Both the enhanced legacy and next-generation drivers are maintained by the rt2x00 project. Supported devices are listed at the end of this page.

All drivers require non-free firmware for their operation. This can be provided by the firmware-ralink package.

{i} The RT2501USB is not to be confused with the RT2500USB, which is supported by different drivers.

{i} Ralink 802.11n USB devices are supported by the rt2870sta driver.

Installation

rt73usb (next-generation driver)

Lenny

Using Etch? Skip to the Etch section.

As drivers from the rt2x00 project are included in the mainline kernel, the rt73usb driver is present on your system. Firmware is required to be installed prior to driver operation:

  1. Add a "non-free" component to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:

    # Debian Lenny/5.0
    deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian lenny main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages, then install the firmware-ralink and wireless-tools packages:

    aptitude update
    aptitude install firmware-ralink wireless-tools
  3. If not already performed, connect the device to your system.
  4. The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:

    modprobe rt73usb
  5. Verify your device has an available interface:

    iwconfig
  6. Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:

    ifconfig wlan0 up
  7. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Troubleshooting

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 rt73usb 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 rt73usb driver is present on your system. Firmware is required to be installed prior to driver operation:

  1. Install the etch/wireless-tools package:

    aptitude update
    aptitude install wireless-tools
  2. Add the Debian Backports repository to /etc/apt/sources.list, also including the "non-free" component. For example:

    # Backported packages for Debian Etch
    deb http://www.backports.org/debian etch-backports main contrib non-free
  3. Update the list of available packages and install the etch-backports/debian-backports-keyring package:

    aptitude update
    aptitude -t etch-backports install debian-backports-keyring

    As your system does not yet have the GnuPG archive key of the backports.org repository installed, you will be asked to confirm installation of a package from an untrusted repository. Enter Yes when prompted.

  4. Install the etch-backports/firmware-ralink package:

    aptitude update
    aptitude -t etch-backports install firmware-ralink
  5. If not already performed, connect the device to your system.
  6. The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:

    modprobe rt73usb
  7. Verify your device has an available interface:

    iwconfig
  8. Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:

    ifconfig wlan0 up
  9. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Troubleshooting

rt73 (enhanced legacy driver)

Lenny

While use of the next-generation driver is preferred, the enhanced legacy driver can alternatively be used. This is available as a pre-built module packages made against Debian stock kernels, but can also be generated on your system via module-assistant.

Pre-Built Module
  1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to /etc/apt/sources.list. For example:

    # Debian Lenny/5.0
    deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian lenny main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages. Install the firmware-ralink, rt73-common, the relevant enhanced legacy module and wireless-tools packages:

    aptitude update
    aptitude install firmware-ralink rt73-common rt73-modules-$(uname -r) wireless-tools
  3. Load the enhanced legacy driver:

    modprobe rt73
    This module will be automatically loaded when your system is restarted and the device is inserted. If not already performed, connect the device to your system.
  4. Verify your device has an available interface:

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

    ifconfig wlan0 up
  6. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Module Assistant
  1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to /etc/apt/sources.list. For example:

    # Debian Lenny/5.0
    deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian lenny main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages. Install the firmware-ralink, module-assistant, rt73-common and wireless-tools packages:

    aptitude update
    aptitude install firmware-ralink module-assistant rt73-common wireless-tools
  3. Build and install a rt73-modules-* package within your system:

    m-a a-i rt73
  4. Load the enhanced legacy driver:

    modprobe rt73
    This module will be automatically loaded when your system is restarted and the device is inserted. If not already performed, connect the device to your system.
  5. Verify your device has an available interface:

    iwconfig
  6. Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:

    ifconfig wlan0 up
  7. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Troubleshooting

Etch

You are required to acquire and compile the rt2x00 sources, as these are not packaged. This procedure is documented at the rt2x00 project's website: http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/wiki/index.php?title=Rt2x00_GIT_instructions

Supported Devices

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

The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo rt73usb on Lenny.

See Also


CategoryHardware | CategoryWireless