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On Mon, 10 Sep 2007, Christof wrote:
> Before I continue, however I would like to understand what the
> following lines in the configuration database /etc/pcmcia/config
> mean:
>
> -----------
> device "pcnet_cs"
>  class "network" module "misc/8390", "pcnet_cs"
> card "Network Card"
>  function network_adapter
>  bind "pcnet_cs"
> ------------

It looks to me like the most common PCMCIA NIC card driver with its helper 
module is getting loaded with these lines. It's probably there for those 
with one of the many cards that use those common modules so that their 
PCMCIA NIC's will work in the most plug-n-playish manner possible.

> Besides the Avaya card in the PCMCIA slot, my laptop has another
> built-in nework, that I have never tried, yet. Will this card
> perhaps get installed automatically and interfere to my wifi-
> experiments?

This is not a PCMCIA card if it's built-in. What does dmesg say about it? 
Does it auto-detect it and say what the chipset is? Did you ever load any 
modules for it? If at some point you do get it working by loading the 
right modules, it will be assigned a different interface name than your 
wireless card. Most likely it will end up being eth0, while your wireless 
card will be named something else. So it's unlikely to interfere--unless 
you end up putting in some lines to auto-configure (i.e., assigning it an 
IP or running dhcp on that interface) that card a boot-up.

> There is huge output from cardmgr. What will be the next step
> in order to go online with the wifi card?

Don't know about the output. But to go beyond the point you're at, what 
you really need is called (I think) wireless-tools. That will give you the 
most flexibility in connecting to available networks. What I do (not using 
BL, unfortunately) once the wireless NIC's module is successfully loaded, 
is issue

-----------
iwlist scan
-----------

from the CLI. If you've installed wireless-tools, the iwlist command will 
be on the system. The results of that command will provide you information 
on all wireless networks within range. It will tell you each network's 
essid (the network's name), broadcasting channel, and whether it's an 
encrypted network (among other things). After that, you decide which 
network you want to connect with and configure your card to use it. You do 
that by issuing

------------------------------------------
iwconfig wlan0 essid networkname channel #
------------------------------------------

(iwconfig is another utility included in wireless-tools). wlan0 should be 
replaced by the correct interface name for your PCMCIA card--not sure what 
name the Avaya card gets. # should be replaced by the channel number the 
iwlist output told you the network in question is broadcasting on. Then, 
just issue iwconfig on its own (no arguments) to check whether the card 
took the settings. Once it has, then issue udhcpc wlan0 (replacing wlan0 
with the name of your NIC). If you've selected an open, unencrypted 
network, your card should get an IP offer and you'll be connected to that 
network. Hopefully that network is, in turn, connected to the web and you 
can do your internet stuff.

If you have your own wireless router, the process could be alot different. 
For example you may run an open network (not recommended) with dhcp turned 
on. In that case you might be able to skip the iwlist scan step, not even 
needing to tell your card which network to connect to--you can just run 
udhcpc on the wireless interface and go online. In fact, you could just 
try this as a first step. If there is more than one network available it 
might not get you connected, and if all that is available is encrypted 
neworks, you won't get an IP. So using iwlist will be more informative as 
your first step.

James