How to set up Ralink 11n USB WiFi Adapter for Kai on Ubuntu

Kai Regular Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 172

This short guide describes how to set up Ralink 802.11n USB wireless network adapter for XLink Kai on Ubuntu systems.
Linux kernel 3.2 or later has rt2800usb kernel module which supports Ralink USB devices RT2070, RT2770, RT2870, RT3070, RT3071, RT3072, RT3370, RT3572, RT5370, RT5372, RT8070. And rt2800usb kernel module supports promiscuous mode. Also known as PSP XLink Mode in XLink Kai. You don't need to build the kernel module from source code.

This guide uses the following environment:

DISCLAIMER:
If you try any methods used on this guide you do so at your own risk.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Step 1. Configuring a Ralink 802.11n USB wireless network adapter
First, configure rt2800usb kernel module to support Ralink 802.11n USB wireless network adapter.
Make sure the firmware files rt2870.bin have been installed on your system correctly:

Code:

$ ls /lib/firmware/rt[0-9]*
/lib/firmware/rt2561.bin /lib/firmware/rt2860.bin /lib/firmware/rt3090.bin
/lib/firmware/rt2561s.bin /lib/firmware/rt2870.bin /lib/firmware/rt3290.bin
/lib/firmware/rt2661.bin /lib/firmware/rt3070.bin /lib/firmware/rt73.bin

After plugging your wireless network adapter to your system, and then get the device information:

Code:

$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2019:ed14 PLANEX GW-USMicroN

And type the following:

Code:

$ ifconfig | grep wlan; lsmod | grep rt2800usb

Can you see both wlan0 and rt2800usb in the output?
If yes, go to the Step 2.
If no, you need to configure your wireless network adapter to work properly.

Create a new file to have your system automatically detect your wireless network adapter. For example,

Code:

$ sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/gw-usmicron.conf

and then add as one line the following:

Code:

install rt2800usb /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install rt2800usb; /bin/echo "2019 ed14" > /sys/bus/usb/drivers/rt2800usb/new_id

In the above, you need to type model name, vendor ID and productID of your wireless network adapter.

Edit a file /etc/modules to have your system automatically load rt2800usb kernel module at boot time,

Code:

$ sudo nano /etc/modules

and add at the end of file:

Code:

rt2800usb

Save and close the file. And then reboot your system.

Code:

$ sudo shutdown -r now

After restarting your system, make sure rt2800usb kernel module has loaded correctly, type the followings:

Code:

$ lsmod | grep rt2800usb
rt2800usb 27034 0
rt2x00usb 20742 1 rt2800usb
rt2800lib 89076 1 rt2800usb
rt2x00lib 55307 3 rt2x00usb,rt2800lib,rt2800usb
$ modinfo rt2800usb | head -5
filename: /lib/modules/3.13.0-24-generic/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rt2x00/rt2800usb.ko
license: GPL
firmware: rt2870.bin
description: Ralink RT2800 USB Wireless LAN driver.
version: 2.3.0

And make sure you can see wlan0, type the following:

Code:

$ iwconfig
...
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=off
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on

If you can't see wlan0 in the output, you must return to first...

Step 2. Configuring an Ad-Hoc wireless network
Next, configure interface wlan0 to connect your wireless network adapter to your PSP. Type the followings:

Code:

$ sudo rfkill unblock wifi
$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 down
$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 mode ad-hoc
$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 channel 1
$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 essid PSP_AULUS10391_L_MHP2Q000
$ sudo iwconfig wlan0 retry 0
$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 up

Make sure interface wlan0 has configured correctly:

Code:

$ ifconfig wlan0; iwconfig wlan0
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:90:cc:??:??:??
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:"PSP_AULUS10391_L_MHP2Q000"
Mode:Ad-Hoc Frequency:2.412 GHz Cell: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry limit:0 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:on

Step 3. Setting up Kai
Finally, configure Network Adapter in XLink Kai user configuration file. Edit a file kaiUserConfig.txt to have your kaiengine explicitly set network adapter to wlan0 at start time,

Code:

$ sudo nano kaiUserConfig.txt

and then edit the value of kaiAdapter:

Code:

# Network adapter (!=autodetect)
kaiAdapter=wlan0

That's all. Do you have any questions?

UPDATE 1 - May 2014: rewrite this guide for Ubuntu 14.04
FIRST - Jun 2012: write this guide for Ubuntu 12.04

Team XLink Moderator Joined: 27 Feb 2011 Posts: 1206

Thank you for this guide great job added it here--> http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=204021#204021

Kai Regular Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 172

In the case of Debian 7 Wheezy and Raspbian (based on Debian Wheezy), you need to install firmware-ralink package.

Add a "non-free" component to /etc/apt/sources.list.
In the case of Debian 7 Wheezy, for example:

Code:

# Debian 7 "Wheezy"
deb http://http.debian.net/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free

In the case of Raspbian, for example:

Code:

deb http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/ wheezy main contrib non-free rpi

And then update the list of available packages and install the firmware-ralink package:

Code:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install firmware-ralink

See:
https://wiki.debian.org/rt2800usb
https://packages.debian.org/wheezy/firmware-ralink

Kai Regular Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 172

If you have a Ralink 802.11g USB wireless network adapter, you can use it for Kai like in the guide about rt2800usb kernel module. It is supported by rt73usb kernel module.
See example below.

Code:

$ uname -a
Linux raspberrypi 3.10.25+ #622 PREEMPT Fri Jan 3 18:41:00 GMT 2014 armv6l GNU/Linux

Code:

$ lsusb
...
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 2019:ab50 PLANEX GW-US54Mini2

Code:

$ lsmod | grep rt73usb
rt73usb 23354 0
rt2x00usb 11492 1 rt73usb
rt2x00lib 44267 2 rt73usb,rt2x00usb
$ modinfo rt73usb | head -5
filename: /lib/modules/3.10.25+/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/rt2x00/rt73usb.ko
license: GPL
firmware: rt73.bin
description: Ralink RT73 USB Wireless LAN driver.
version: 2.3.0

Code:

$ ifconfig wlan0; iwconfig wlan0
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:22:cf:??:??:??
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"PSP_AULJM05800_L_MHP3Q000"
Mode:Ad-Hoc Frequency:2.412 GHz Cell: FE:90:2F:50:7B:F3
Tx-Power=20 dBm
Retry limit:0 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on

See:
https://wiki.debian.org/WiFi/rt73