Very important note : ------------------- This release of the Wireless Tools is not compatible with Wireless Extensions earlier than 9. Kernels that support this version of the Wireless Tools are listed below. For all kernels before that, please use the version v19 of the Wireless Tools. You might have headers troubles and it doesn't compile, see below... You need : -------- o Compiler and development environment o A kernel supporting wireless extensions version 9 or higher -> from 2.2.14 onward -> from 2.3.24 onward Note : CONFIG_NET_RADIO must be enabled o (Optional) A Pcmcia package supporting Wireless Extension o A driver supporting wireless extensions -> Check my web pages for latest list of drivers, otherwise patch your favourite driver... Note : more recent kernels and drivers are likely to support more wireless extension features... Compile wireless tools : ---------------------- In theory, a "make" should suffice to create the tools. In practice, there is big troubles with the kernel headers. See below for how to fix that. Note : as some internal data structures change from kernel to kernel, you are advised to not use the precompiled version of the tools but to recompile your own. Installation : ------------ If I were you, I would not trust a "make install". If you feel courageous, just do "make install". It may even do the right thing. Actually, with the various bugfixes that happened over the time, it nowadays tend to do the right thing. I advise to copy the executable (iwconfig, iwspy and iwpriv) in /usr/local/sbin or /usr/sbin. The man pages (iwconfig.8, iwspy.8 and iwpriv.8) should be copied in /usr/local/man/man8 or /usr/man/man8. In fact, if you want to use Pcmcia wireless.opts, this step is mandatory... Kernel headers (why it doesn't compile) : --------------------------------------- Some changes in the kernel headers and glibc headers are making my life difficult. We now have a mechanism to automatically select the proper header based on various bits of information (libc version & kernel version), but it may fail to do the right thing. You may also see the message : "Your kernel/libc combination is not supported" If this happens to you, you will need to hack the rules at the top of iwlib.h and send me the patch. The second issue is that some distributions install some independant kernel headers in /usr/include. If you upgrade your kernel, those headers become out of sync and you don't benefit from the latest Wireless Extensions. Even worse, it can sometimes prevent the tools from compiling. The trick is to copy the file .../include/linux/wireless.h from the kernel to the /usr/include headers. Multi-kernel installation (expert only) : --------------------------------------- People who run different kernel on the same system may have problems due to the fact that those kernel have different version of Wireless Extensions and the Wireless Tools need to match the version of Wireless Extension used. It is now possible to install multiple versions of the Wireless Tools on a system and get the proper version used based on the kernel running, using a redirector. However, this support is still experimental and for expert users only. The redirector will work properly only with kernel using Wireless Extensions version 16 and higher. Earlier version of Wireless Extensions will be detected as either v15 (v12, v13, v14 and v15) or as v11 (v11 and earlier). The installation looks typically like : ------------------------------------ make clean make FORCE_WEXT_VERSION=11 make vinstall FORCE_WEXT_VERSION=11 make clean make FORCE_WEXT_VERSION=15 make vinstall FORCE_WEXT_VERSION=15 make clean make FORCE_WEXT_VERSION=16 make vinstall FORCE_WEXT_VERSION=16 [...] ------------------------------------ Jean