I have to network Mandrake-Linux PC with my iBook wirelessly, but really don't want to buy an ABS, so i was looking at d-link, and linsxy (have no idea how to spell it, on a rush) routers, but none mention mac/linux capability
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Linux/OSX Networking
- Thread starter blvdeast
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blvdeast said:
If all you need is a wireless basestation/router, there are definitely routers out there that will work fine with your linux box and your iBook. Generally *any* wireless basestation will work with both devices, you just might not be able to configure it from these devices.
Many of these basestations though have web based configurations, and if that's a case, you'll be able to configure it from either of your devices.
Josh
Westside guy
macrumors 604
Both D-link and Linksys routers provide a Web interface for adjusting their settings - so they will be operating-system independent. I have a D-link router, and the only thing that might not work out-of-the-box is the option that lets you save router settings to your hard drive - that would require Windows compatibility (which you could enable by configuring Samba).
The biggest issue will be that the Mandrake PC will only be 802.11b compatible, since there aren't any 802.11g drivers out there for linux at present. This isn't a problem with the router; just the wireless card you select for your Mandrake box (plus be sure that the card you do select is supported under Linux, since not all are).
The biggest issue will be that the Mandrake PC will only be 802.11b compatible, since there aren't any 802.11g drivers out there for linux at present. This isn't a problem with the router; just the wireless card you select for your Mandrake box (plus be sure that the card you do select is supported under Linux, since not all are).
superbovine
macrumors 68030
Westside guy said:
my d-link di-624 saved the router infomation without a hitch. it didn't use samba, just downloaded like any other file from a web server.
Westside guy said:
My plan would be have the linux box wired into the ethernet, and have the ibook wireless, so the info goes to the router with 802.11g from the ibook, and into the box at ethernet speed. Am I right?
Westside guy
macrumors 604
blvdeast said:
Yup. 🙂 That makes the most sense in my opinion (which will, when combined with $3.00, buy you a latte). Linux will handle wired networking beautifully.
Westside guy said:
There are 802.11g drivers for linux. Check out prism54.org. I just finished adding my linux box to my network. I bought a smc2802 g wireless card from amazon. Currently 65.00 with shipping but a 15 dollar rebate will net you the price of 50.00. The great thing about adding my linux box to the network is that I can run X applications remotely from my powerbook. Simple ssh into my box with my username and password will do the trick. This is great for development purposes as I am a Computer Science student by trade. And before I made the switch I was a die hard linux (Gentoo) user. If you need any help reply to the thread, Ill put a subscription on it. Im more than happy to help
By the way. WEP was no major problem either. I have an Airport Extreme Base station, and things worked beatifully. I also tested WEP with a DLINK Access Point that my roomate owns. Again very easy to set up, provided that your not scared of working witha terminal and nano.
Westside guy
macrumors 604
nokq said:
I'm glad to see that! This wasn't the case back when I was running Red Hat on my Dell laptop, but I started paying less attention once I'd bought my Powerbook last fall.
Of course since this is a pretty new project it's doubly important to check the list of supported cards before you buy! (Not that it matters to the original poster, since he's wiring in to the network; but for other readers of this discussion thread). Don't just assume the Linux drivers will work with any 802.11g card out there.
Westside guy said:
As is always the case with Linux and hardware. Do your homework. Although I will throw some caution into the wind. I bought the smc2802 pci card. And its support count is heavy on the link that Westside Guy posted, which ironically I used in researching my descision to buy. There was a report that SMC changed their chipset. There are two different versions of this card out in the wild. One with the supported chipset by the prism54.org folks and one that is not. Your results may very by mileage.
Compiling the driver and loading it is only half the battle. The real trick for me was scripting it to automatically join my WEP enabled network. That of course had to come after I recompiled my Kernel with the necessary support for Firmware Loading, etc. All this is gentoo specific however. I see you guys are red hat/mandrake kind of guys. I really recommend Gentoo, as its a developer distro with a strong developer support. So things are just scripted to work. No joke. Check out the forums.gentoo.org if your interested in a fast meta distributions compiled for your arch, x86 or ppc. Im just waiting really for someone to develop the AP Extreme driver for linux.
After that, maybe ill think about installing linux on my powerbook.