electrons on radio

There are quite a few posts on other sites with successful/unsuccessful installs of usb wireless dongles for the BeagleBoard. I’m posting this in case it can be of any help to others trying to get their wireless network to work!

My wireless network dongle:
Label: COWON Wireless LAN
Model: COWON WL1
Name: 802.11b/g Wireless LAN USB2.0 Adapter

I bought this while I was in Korea a few years ago. It is actually designed for a COWON P5 PMP which is actually a platform similar to the BeagleBoard. I actually don’t think they sell this device anymore, but nevertheless what I have done here should work with any RT73 based wireless dongles.

The Angstrom images I used were the demo images found here:
http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/demo/beagleboard/
Don’t forget, you need to install the extra modules too!

So I plugged in the USB dongle and it was detected:

root@beagleboard:~# lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0424:9514 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0424:ec00 Standard Microsystems Corp.
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 07b8:b21d D-Link Corp. RT2573


Loaded the module:

root@beagleboard:~# modprobe rt73usb
FATAL: Module rt73usb not found.
root@beagleboard:~# depmod -a
root@beagleboard:~# modprobe rt73usb
[ 149.537322] cfg80211: Using static regulatory domain info
[ 149.550598] cfg80211: Regulatory domain: 00
[ 149.554809] (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
[ 149.581909] (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (600 mBi,2000 mBm)
[ 149.589019] (2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (600 mBi,2000 mBm)
[ 149.618041] (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (600 mBi,2000 mBm)
[ 149.636444] (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (600 mBi,2000 mBm)
[ 149.643554] (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (600 mBi,2000 mBm)
[ 149.686676] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
[ 150.346801] Registered led device: rt73usb-phy0::radio
[ 150.365692] Registered led device: rt73usb-phy0::assoc
[ 150.391998] Registered led device: rt73usb-phy0::quality
[ 150.414306] usbcore: registered new interface driver rt73usb


So the drivers are being loaded, but there is an error:


[ 347.027313] phy0 -> rt2x00lib_request_firmware: Error - Failed to request Firmware.
[ 347.047302] rt73usb 2-2.3:1.0: firmware: requesting rt73.bin
[ 407.066467] phy0 -> rt2x00lib_request_firmware: Error - Failed to request Firmware.


These drivers require a binary firmware image which is available as a package in the Angstrom repository.


root@beagleboard:~# opkg install rt73-firmware
Installing rt73-firmware (1.8-r1.6) to root...
Downloading http://www.angstrom-distribution.org/feeds/unstable/ipk/glibc/all/rt73-firmware_1.8-r1.6_all.ipk.
Configuring rt73-firmware.


REBOOTED
Detected, drivers loaded


[ 24.128662] usb 2-2.3: New USB device found, idVendor=07b8, idProduct=b21d
[ 24.136718] usb 2-2.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[ 24.144836] usb 2-2.3: Product: 802.11 bg WLAN
[ 24.149383] usb 2-2.3: Manufacturer: Abocom
[ 31.625305] cfg80211: Using static regulatory domain info
[ 31.701049] cfg80211: Regulatory domain: 00
[ 31.705261] (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp)
[ 31.804290] (2402000 KHz - 2472000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (600 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 31.826110] twl_rtc twl_rtc: rtc core: registered twl_rtc as rtc0
[ 31.849304] (2457000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (600 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 31.856384] (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (600 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 31.886505] twl_rtc twl_rtc: Power up reset detected.
[ 31.927490] twl_rtc twl_rtc: Enabling TWL-RTC.
[ 31.935272] (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (600 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 31.989959] (5735000 KHz - 5835000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (600 mBi, 2000 mBm)
[ 32.036834] cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
[ 33.033905] Registered led device: rt73usb-phy0::radio
[ 33.040039] Registered led device: rt73usb-phy0::assoc
[ 33.045501] Registered led device: rt73usb-phy0::quality
[ 33.052398] usbcore: registered new interface driver rt73usb

iwconfig:
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=3 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:on


Success!