Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
connected to the Internet through its wired Ethernet port or a USB Ethernet adapter.
When connected, install the irmware by typing the following:
sudo apt-get install
firmwarepackage
Replace
firmwarepackage
in this command with the name of the package that you found
by using
apt-cache
. For the example Zyxel NWD2105, the full command would be
sudo
apt-get install firmware-ralink.
Installing Wireless Firmware Ofline
If you can't connect the Pi to the Internet using any method other than a wireless connec-
tion, you'll need to download the irmware on a different computer. In a web browser, load
a search engine and type the name of the irmware package followed by the name of the
distribution you're using and its version.
If you're using the recommend Debian distribution, the irmware for the Ralink RT2x00 chip-
set from the example can be found by searching for
firmware-ralink debian wheezy
.
The search will lead you to a
package ile
to download. In the case of Debian, this is a
.deb
ile. For Fedora Remix, the same irmware is provided as a
.rpm
ile.
Download this ile, and then copy it to the Pi's SD card in the
/home/pi
directory, or onto
a USB lash drive or other external storage device. Load the Pi, and then when it comes
time to install the irmware, replace the package name with the name of the ile you down-
loaded. For the example Zyxel NWD2105 card, the command would be the following:
sudo apt-get install firmware-ralink_0.35_all.deb
With the irmware installed, disconnect the USB wireless adapter and reconnect it to the Pi.
his will restart the kernel's search for the irmware iles, which it will now be able to ind.
hese iles will remain in place, and load automatically when the USB wireless adapter is con-
nected. You will only have to perform the installation process once.
With the irmware installed, setting the wireless connection up should be straightforward.
First, check that the USB wireless adapter is working as it should by using the
iwlist
com-
mand to scan for nearby wireless access points. his list will probably be larger than a single
screen, so pipe the command's output through
less
to pause after each screenful, like this:
sudo iwlist scan | less
