*** Steps to enable wifi on IBM T43 (Ref : http://vijayk.blogspot.com/2006/11/how-to-enable-wireless-lan-on-wifi-fc-6.html)
1. Download ipw2200-fw-3.0.tgz from
http://ipw2200.sourceforge.net/firmware.php
2. Unarchive ipw2200-fw to /lib/firmware
3. reload ipw2200 $/sbin/modprobe -r ipw2200
restart ipw2200 $/sbin/modprobe ipw2200
OR reboot the machine.
Look for the dmesg log as root
$ dmesg | grep ipw2200
Output:
ipw2200: Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver, 1.2.0dmq
ipw2200: Copyright(c) 2003-2006 Intel Corporation
ipw2200: Detected Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network Connection
ipw2200: Detected geography ZZM (11 802.11bg channels, 0 802.11a channels)
$system-config-network and configure the
wireless card.
http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-7684
===========================
Release Found: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 and later
This article explains how to enable the Intel 4965 PRO/Wireless card in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 or later. Support for this card was added as a technology preview in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1 and full support became available in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2. The directions below make use of NetworkManager to support network connectivity as it is Red Hat's simplest tool for controlling network devices. Advanced users can manually configure the network without the use of NetworkManager if necessary.
To begin, confirm that 4965 hardware is actually present in the system by running the following command as root:
# lspci | grep 4965
If it returns a result, choose the section below that matches your update version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 and follow the procedure to enable support:
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.1
As root, activate NetworkManager with the command service NetworkManager start and then use the command chkconfig NetworkManager on to configure NetworkManager to start each time the system is booted. The network connection will drop temporarily as NetworkManager connects for the first time, so make sure you are not running any network-dependent operations at this time.
Install the firmware RPM file for the wireless card
To install from the the Supplementary CD:
Insert the Supplementary CD into the system's optical drive.
Browse to the Supplementary directory on the disc and install the file manually using the command rpm -ivh iwl4965-firmware-4.44.17-1.noarch.rpm.
To install from the Red Hat Network (RHN) Supplementary channel:
Alter the channel subscription for the targeted system to have the "RHEL Supplementary" channel enabled:
Log in to the Red Hat Network (RHN) with your username and password.
Click the "Systems" tab, then click the name of the system that needs the iwl4965 firmware installed.
Click the "Alter Channel Subscriptions" link at the top of the list of subscribed channels.
Check the box next to "RHEL Supplementary (v5.1 for 32-bit x86)" and click the "Change Subscriptions" button to complete the channel addition. Note that the full name of the channel will differ based on the architecture of the system. Ensure that the channel is the released Supplementary channel (there is no "BETA" in the name).
Install the firmware package
Normally the file could be installed using the command yum install iwl4965-firmware on the system in need of the firmware, but that will install the latest package, not the one designed to run on 5.1 To obtain the correct package for 5.1:
Click the "Info" link to the right of the Supplementary channel name.
Click the "Packages" link on the Details page.
Use the forward button on the page until you find the iwl4965-firmware-4.44.17-1.noarch link, then click it.
Scroll to the bottom of the page to the "Download Package" link and click it to download the firmware package.
As root, open a terminal window, change directories to the location where you downloaded the firmware package and install it with the command rpm -ivh iwl4965-firmware-4.44.17-1.noarch.rpm.
Note: The manual installation method described above does not technically require you to add the Supplementary channel to the system, but its addition ensures that the system will be able to fully update should you decide to use the yum update command to perform a full update at some point in the future.
Edit the module blacklist file, /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist, and remove the blacklist iwl4965 line to enable the iwl4965 driver. The blacklist entry prevents the driver from loading automatically on installation and will only be present while it is in the technology preview state. Once the driver becomes fully supported, this step and many others will no longer be needed. Another knowledgebase article will be written at that time to cover the updated installation procedure.
Reboot the computer to allow the firmware to be properly loaded. The system will also create the necessary configuration file for the wireless card at this step.
After the reboot, go into the directory /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts. The blacklist may have caused the system to create multiple ifcfg-XXX files that are linked to the same wired interface. There should be one ifcfg-ethX file for each wired interface, one ifcfg-wmasterX file for each wireless interface, and one ifcfg-lo for the loopback interface. If there are more "ifcfg-ethX" and/or "ifcfg-wmasterX" files than there are interfaces in the computer, remove those that do not have a HWADDR (hardware address) line inside them, as those are duplicates. Be sure to not accidentally remove the ifcfg-lo file as it is required for proper system operation. For the sake of neatness, you may wish to rename the files so that the interfaces have the lowest possible interface number. For example, if the files ifcfg-eth0 and ifcfg-eth1 exist on a system with only one wired network port and ifcfg-eth1 contains the HWADDR line, ifcfg-eth0 can be deleted, as it is a duplicate. Then, ifcfg-eth1 can be renamed to ifcfg-eth0 and the file contents edited to change all references from "eth1" to "eth0". This will ensure that the only wired interface on the system is called "eth0".
We recommend that you change the ONBOOT parameter to ONBOOT=no for all the system's ifcfg-ethX and ifcfg-wmasterX configuration files at this time. These files are located in the directory /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts. This parameter determines whether the system will attempt to bring up the specific interfaces during the boot sequence. Because the NetworkManager service will manage all network connections from now on, attempts to set up network connections during boot are superfluous and will only increase boot time. Note: do not change the ONBOOT line in the ifcfg-lo file. This file controls the loopback interface and must be active at all times (NetworkManager does not control it).
If duplicates were present in the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts directory, there will also be duplicate entries in the /etc/modprobe.conf file. This is the file that loads the proper driver for hardware like SCSI controllers and Ethernet interfaces. Edit the file and remove any lines that reference the duplicate Ethernet interfaces that were removed in the previous step. Remember to remove the proper ones if you renamed any of the ifcfg-ethX files. Also ensure the /etc/modprobe.conf file contains the following line and add it if it does not:
alias wmaster0 iwl4965
Reboot the machine to complete removal of duplicate hardware configuration files.
After logging in, left-click on the NetworkManager icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and choose the appropriate wired or wireless network connection for your location. If you are prompted for a network key or passphrase, enter that to connect.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 or later
As root, activate NetworkManager with the command service NetworkManager start and then use the command chkconfig NetworkManager on to configure NetworkManager to start each time the system is booted. The network connection will drop temporarily as NetworkManager connects for the first time, so make sure you are not running any network-dependent operations at this time.
Install the firmware RPM file for the wireless card
To install from the the Supplementary CD:
Insert the Supplementary CD into the system's optical drive.
Browse to the Supplementary directory on the disc and install the file manually using the command rpm -ivh iwl4965-firmware*
To install from the Red Hat Network (RHN) Supplementary channel:
Alter the channel subscription for the targeted system to have the "RHEL Supplementary" channel enabled:
Log in to the Red Hat Network (RHN) with your username and password.
Click the "Systems" tab, then click the name of the system that needs the iwl4965 firmware installed.
Click the "Alter Channel Subscriptions" link at the top of the list of subscribed channels.
Check the box next to "RHEL Supplementary (v5.2 for 32-bit x86)" and click the "Change Subscriptions" button to complete the channel addition. Note that the full name of the channel will differ based on the architecture of the system and the update release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Ensure that the channel is the released Supplementary channel (there is no "BETA" in the name).
Install the firmware package
As root, run the command yum install iwl4965-firmware on the system in need of the firmware installation. Answer "yes" to any questions that appear during the install.
Reboot the computer to allow the firmware to be properly loaded. The system will also create the necessary configuration file for the wireless card at this step.
After logging in, left-click on the NetworkManager icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and choose the appropriate wired or wireless network connection for your location. If you are prompted for a network key or passphrase, you will need to enter that before you can connect.
We recommend that you change the ONBOOT parameter to ONBOOT=no for all the system's ifcfg-ethX and ifcfg-wmasterX or ifcfg-wlanX configuration files at this time. These files are located in the directory /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts. This parameter determines whether the system will attempt to bring up the specific interfaces during the boot sequence. Because the NetworkManager service will manage all network connections from now on, attempts to set up network connections during boot are superfluous and will only increase boot time. Note: do not change the ONBOOT line in the ifcfg-lo file. This file controls the loopback interface and must be active at all times (NetworkManager does not control it)