The Slackware saga
I have an ongoing project to turn my laptop into a dual-boot wireless system. This has been a real learning curve, with a history of success and failure. Today I moved a step closer.
Let’s review the facts; the Dell laptop has a built-in wireless card that works seamlessly in Windows XP. The hard drive has been partitioned since day one to allow a test platform for Linux, with Slackware as my distribution of choice. There’s lots of RAM, and a CD burner should the need arise. Ethernet is available on the motherboard.
I recently downloaded the new ISO set for Slackware 11; odd to have new software within hours of its release. The flush and reinstall is getting to be almost a routine process. I’ve already had “near success” with version 10.2 under different kernels. This time around, I have decided to stay back at kernel 2.4.33 until the need to move to 2.6.18 is genuine.
Right now, I have wired TCP/IP, Open Office, sound all working. Using an earlier version of NdisWrapper, the wireless chipset is functional. I can detect the two wireless access points in my neighbourhood, and am sure that I am really really close… if I can get the silly thing to accept an IP address.
This process is not one that I can recommend to all comers, unfortunately. While Linux does almost every job properly, the lack of “communication” by hardware manufacturers concerning wireless hardware has crippled driver development. The result is that I can’t link my laptop under wireless without far too much time and energy.
