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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.
Contents
Drivers
The Ralink RT2501USB wireless LAN chipset is supported by three native drivers:
rt73 (Legacy driver)
- Released by Ralink under the GPL.
- Not generally recommended for use.
- rt73 (Enhanced legacy driver)
- Previously maintained by the rt2x00 project.
Source previously packaged in rt73-source, removed from Debian to resolve bug 563432.
rt73usb (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 (rt73usb). It requires non-free firmware for device operation, which can be provided by the firmware-ralink package.
The RT2501USB is not to be confused with the RT2500USB, which is supported by different drivers.
Ralink 802.11n USB devices are supported by the rt2870sta driver.
Installation
Lenny, Squeeze
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:
Add a "non-free" component to /etc/apt/sources.list for your Debian version. For example:
# Debian Lenny/5.0 deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian lenny main contrib non-free
or
# Debian Squeeze (testing) deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian squeeze main contrib non-free
Update the list of available packages, then install the firmware-ralink and wireless-tools packages:
aptitude update aptitude install firmware-ralink wireless-tools
- If not already performed, connect the device to your system.
The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:
modprobe rt73usb
Verify your device has an available interface:
iwconfig
Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:
ifconfig wlan0 up
Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.
Troubleshooting
Examine the kernel ring buffer (dmesg(1)) to verify the required firmware files are being loaded by the driver. Lack of firmware is the usual reason for the "SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory" error message.
Ensure the firmware-ralink package is installed.
Etch with 2.6.18 kernel
Although a 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 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:
Install the wireless-tools package:
aptitude install wireless-tools
Add the archived Debian Backports repository to /etc/apt/sources.list, also including the "non-free" component. For example:
# Archive of backported packages for Debian Etch deb http://archive.debian.org/backports.org etch-backports main contrib non-free
Update the list of available packages and install the 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 archived backports.org repository installed, you will be asked to confirm installation of a package from an untrusted repository. Enter Yes when prompted.
Install the firmware-ralink package:
aptitude update aptitude -t etch-backports install firmware-ralink
- If not already performed, connect the device to your system.
The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via:
modprobe rt73usb
Verify your device has an available interface:
iwconfig
Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:
ifconfig wlan0 up
Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.
Troubleshooting
Examine the kernel ring buffer (dmesg(1)) to verify the required firmware files are being loaded by the driver. Lack of firmware is the usual reason for the "SIOCSIFFLAGS: No such file or directory" error message.
- Ensure the firmware-ralink package is installed.
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.
USB: 0411:00F4 MelCo., Inc. (Device name unknown) USB: 050D:7050 Belkin Components F5D7050 ver 1000 WiFi USB: 050D:705A Belkin Components F5D7050A Wireless Adapter USB: 050D:905B Belkin Components F5D9050 ver 3 Wireless Adapter USB: 050D:905C Belkin Components Wireless G Plus MIMO Network Adapter USB: 06F8:E010 Guillemot Corp. HWGUSB2-54-LB USB: 06F8:E020 Guillemot Corp. HWGUSB2-54V2-AP USB: 0769:31F3 Surecom Technology Corp. RT2573 USB: 07AA:002E Corega K.K. (Device name unknown) USB: 07B8:B21D D-Link Corp. RT2573 USB: 07D1:3C03 D-Link System DWL-G122 802.11g Adapter [ralink rt73] USB: 07D1:3C04 D-Link System WUA-1340 USB: 07D1:3C06 D-Link System (Device name unknown) USB: 07D1:3C07 D-Link System Wireless G DWA-110 Adapter USB: 0B05:1723 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. WL-167G v2 802.11g Adapter [ralink] USB: 0B05:1724 ASUSTek Computer, Inc. RT2573 USB: 0DB0:6874 Micro Star International RT2573 USB: 0DB0:6877 Micro Star International RT2573 USB: 0DB0:A861 Micro Star International RT2573 USB: 0DB0:A874 Micro Star International RT2573 USB: 0DF6:90AC Sitecom Europe B.V. WL-172 USB: 0DF6:9712 Sitecom Europe B.V. WL-113 rev 2 USB: 1044:8008 Chu Yuen Enterprise Co., Ltd GN-WB01GS USB: 1044:800A Chu Yuen Enterprise Co., Ltd GN-WI05GS USB: 1371:9022 Dick Smith Electronics RT2573 USB: 1371:9032 Dick Smith Electronics C-Net CWD-854 rev F USB: 13B1:0020 Linksys WUSB54GC 802.11g Adapter [ralink rt73] USB: 13B1:0023 Linksys WUSB54GR USB: 1472:0009 Huawei-3Com Aolynk WUB320g USB: 148F:2573 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT2501USB Wireless Adapter USB: 148F:2671 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT2601USB Wireless Adapter USB: 14B2:3C22 Ralink Technology, Corp. rt73 802.11g WLAN USB: 15A9:0004 (Vendor name unknown) (Device name unknown) USB: 1631:C019 Good Way Technology RT2573 USB: 1690:0722 Askey Computer Corp. [hex] RT2573 USB: 1740:7100 Senao (Device name unknown) USB: 18E8:6196 Qcom RT2573 USB: 18E8:6229 Qcom RT2573 USB: 18E8:6238 Qcom (Device name unknown) USB: 2019:AB01 PLANEX GW-US54HP USB: 2019:AB50 PLANEX GW-US54Mini2
See Also
rt2500usb - Help page for Ralink RT2500USB devices
rt2870sta - Help page for the rt2870sta vendor driver (Ralink USB 802.11n devices)
External Links
http://rt2x00.serialmonkey.com/ - rt2x00 project homepage.