Marvell 88W8363, 88W8366, 88W8687 devices (mwl8k)
This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on Marvell TopDog chipsets on Debian systems.
Contents
mwl8k is a free and open source mac80211 driver introduced at Linux 2.6.30.
It supports wireless LAN devices based on specific Marvell Technology Group PCI/PCIe chipsets:
- 88W8363 (since Linux 2.6.34)
- 88W8366 (since Linux 2.6.33)
- 88W8687
Supported devices are listed at the end of this page. Non-free firmware is required for device operation.
For support of Marvell Libertas chipsets (802.11g), see libertas.
Installation
Debian 7 "Wheezy"
This release supports Marvell 88W8363, 88W8366 and 88W8687-based devices. Firmware is required for device operation:
88W8366 and 88W8687-based devices
Add a "non-free" component to /etc/apt/sources.list, for example:
# Debian 7 "Wheezy" deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
Update the list of available packages and install the firmware-libertas package:
# apt-get update && apt-get install firmware-libertas
As the mwl8k module is automatically loaded for supported devices, reinsert this module to access installed firmware:
# modprobe -r mwl8k ; modprobe mwl8k
Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.
88W8363-based devices
Install the build-essential, cabextract, unshield and wget packages:
$ su # apt-get install build-essential cabextract unshield wget && exit
Acquire 88W8363 device firmware:
$ wget ftp://downloads.netgear.com/files/wn311t_4_2_setup.exe $ cabextract -F Disk1/data* wn311t_4_2_setup.exe $ unshield -g Driver x Disk1/data1.cab
Download and compile a utility for extracting the firmware, then execute it:
$ wget -O extract.c 'http://marc.info/?l=linux-wireless&m=126540674419330&q=p3' $ gcc -o extract extract.c $ ./extract Driver/netmw145.sys
Install the firmware:
$ su # mkdir /lib/firmware/mwl8k # cp fmimage_8XX1.fw /lib/firmware/mwl8k/fmimage_8363.fw # cp helper_8XX1.fw /lib/firmware/mwl8k/helper_8363.fw
As the mwl8k module is automatically loaded for supported devices, reinsert this module to access installed firmware:
# modprobe -r mwl8k ; modprobe mwl8k
Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.
Debian 6.0 "Squeeze"
This release supports Marvell 88W8687-based devices only. Firmware is required for device operation:
Add Debian Backports sources to /etc/apt/sources.list, also including the "non-free" component. For example:
# Backported packages for Debian 6.0 "Squeeze" deb http://httpredir.debian.org/debian-backports/ squeeze-backports main contrib non-free
Update the list of available packages and install the squeeze-backports/firmware-libertas package:
# apt-get update && apt-get -t squeeze-backports install firmware-libertas
As the mwl8k module is automatically loaded for supported devices, reinsert this module to access installed firmware:
# modprobe -r mwl8k ; modprobe mwl8k
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 mwl8k in Debian 3.2.0 (3.2.57-3) kernel images.
PCI: 11AB:2A0A Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88W8363 [TopDog] 802.11n Wireless PCI: 11AB:2A0C Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88W8363 [TopDog] 802.11n Wireless PCI: 11AB:2A24 Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88W8363 [TopDog] 802.11n Wireless PCI: 11AB:2A2B Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88W8687 [TopDog] 802.11b/g Wireless PCI: 11AB:2A30 Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88W8687 [TopDog] 802.11b/g Wireless PCI: 11AB:2A40 Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88W8366 [TopDog] 802.11n Wireless PCI: 11AB:2A43 Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88W8366 [TopDog] 802.11n Wireless
See Also
libertas - Marvell 88W8385, 88W8388, 88W8686 devices