Marvell 88w8385, 88w8386, 88w8686 devices (libertas)
This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on Marvell Libertas chipsets on Debian systems.
Contents
Drivers
The libertas driver is a collection of modules providing support for Marvell Technology Group's Libertas chipsets:
libertas_cs (supported devices)
Supports the 88w8385 chipset, used in compact flash and SDIO wireless devices.
- Introduced in kernel 2.6.24.
libertas_sdio (supported devices)
- Supports the 88w8686 chipset, used in SDIO wireless devices.
- Introduced in kernel 2.6.24.
usb8xxx (supported devices)
Supports the 88w8386 USB chipset, used in the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) XO-1 laptop.
- Introduced in kernel 2.6.22.
Non-free firmware is required for all drivers. Firmware for the usb8xxx driver is packaged for Debian as libertas-firmware.
The Libertas 88w8335 (PCI) chipset is not supported by any driver (see NDISwrapper).
Installation
Lenny
Using Etch? Skip to the Etch section.
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
Update the list of available packages and install the libertas-firmware and wireless-tools packages:
aptitude update aptitude install libertas-firmware wireless-tools
Libertas CF/SDIO and SDIO/GSPI devices: Manually acquire and install firmware as described on the libertas Linux Wireless page.
- If not already peformed, connect the device to your system.
The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via one of the following commands (depending on your device's relevant interface):
modprobe libertas_cs
or
modprobe libertas_sdio
or
modprobe usb8xxx
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) 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 libertas-firmware package is installed.
Libertas CF/SDIO and SDIO/GSPI devices: Manually acquire and install firmware as described on the libertas Linux Wireless page.
Etch with 2.6.18 kernel
This driver is not present in the stock 2.6.18 kernel. Install and boot an EtchAndAHalf kernel to provide: apt-cache search linux-image-2.6.24-etchnhalf and install a package appropriate for your system.
Restart your system, then follow the Etch with 2.6.24 kernel procedure below.
Etch with 2.6.24 kernel
The driver is not present in the stock 2.6.18 kernel. Install an EtchAndAHalf kernel: apt-cache search linux-image-2.6.24-etchnhalf and install a package appropriate for your system.
- Restart your system with this kernel before continuing.
Install the wireless-tools package:
aptitude update aptitude install wireless-tools
Manually acquire the lenny/libertas-firmware package from http://packages.debian.org/lenny/all/libertas-firmware/download. For example:
wget http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/pool/non-free/libe/libertas-firmware/libertas-firmware_5.110.22.p14-1_all.deb
Install lenny/libertas-firmware via dpkg:
dpkg -i /path/to/libertas-firmware*deb
Libertas CF/SDIO and SDIO/GSPI devices: Manually acquire and install firmware as described on the libertas Linux Wireless page.
- If not already peformed, connect the device to your system.
The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via one of the following commands (depending on your device's relevant interface):
modprobe libertas_cs
or
modprobe libertas_sdio
or
modprobe usb8xxx
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) 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.
Libertas USB devices: Ensure the lenny/libertas-firmware package is installed.
Libertas CF/SDIO and SDIO/GSPI devices: Manually acquire and install firmware as described on the libertas Linux Wireless page.
Supported Devices
libertas_cs
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/libertas - supported devices
libertas_sdio
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/libertas - supported devices
usb8xxx
The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo usb8xxx on Lenny.
USB: 05A3:8388 ARC International (Device name unknown) USB: 1286:2001 Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. (Device name unknown)
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/libertas - supported devices
See Also
External Links
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/libertas - Driver page on Linux Wireless
irc://irc.freenode.net/#libertas - Driver IRC channel