Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG for Debian GNU/Linux 4

The Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG card is already recognized by a Debian GNU/Linux 4 ! ;) You just need to download the FIRMWARE ! :) For that you can follow these steps:

* Download the firmware from http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php (the last version of the firmware will do)

* Unpack the firmware files and copy them in /lib/firmware with this commands:

tar xzvf ipw2200-fw-3.0.tgz
cd ipw2200-fw-3.0
cp * /lib/firmware

You should be root to issue these commands. The version may differ, so pay attention to the exact version you download (try to use the latest one).

* Reload the card's driver so it picks up the firmware newly copied with these commands:

rmmod ipw2200
modprobe ipw2200

You also need to be root to issue these commands ! ;) :)

And It's ready ! :)

* Now you will be able to the Network configuration wizard and setup the Wireless network for your newly setup card ! :)

ATTENTION: Some computers have a button to enable or disable the wireless network physically !! So if you have some error try to push this button to enable or disable the wireless hardware ok ! :)

OPTIONAL: For check if the wireless driver was detected you may use this command as root:

iwconfig

You will be able to see a new interface with wireless support that maybe called eth1 with some default values for ESSID and other wireless parameters with something like this:

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

sit0 no wireless extensions.

eth1 radio off ESSID:off/any
Mode:Managed Channel:0 Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:0 kb/s Tx-Power=off Sensitivity=8/0
Retry limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

* The exact device I tested has this report line with lspci:

06:04.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection (rev 05)

I hope you enjoy your new wireless connection with Debian GNU/Linux 4 ! :)