Zydas ZD1211 driver for Solaris

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What is it ?

This is a driver for wireless LAN (WLAN) devices using USB wireless LAN devices based on the Zydas ZD1211 chip. The program also contains some tools for connecting to an access point and an X11-based tool with a graphical user interface.

WARNING

This is an ALPHA version that still contains bugs. It is intended for programmers that want to rewrite and to advance the software. YOU USE IT ON YOUR OWN RISK !!!

Requirements

Currently the driver works on Solaris 9, Sparc, 64-bit mode. I do not know if it will work on other Solaris versions or (after re-compiling) on x86 platforms.
The driver requires USBA 1.0. This is installed using patch #115553 (Solaris 9/Sparc). An USBA 1.0 patch exists for Solaris 8 and Solaris 9/x86, too, but I do not know the patch number.
Solaris 10 already comes with USBA 1.0.

About the ZD1211 chip

The Zydas ZD1211 chip is a chip used in many USB-WLAN devices. It is always used together with a second chip. This second chip can be one of the following ones:
  • AL2230 (without "S") (supported by this driver)
  • AL2230S (unsupported)
  • AL7230B (unsupported)
  • RF2959 (unsupported)
  • UW2453 (unsupported)
  • A chip not listed here (unsupported)
  • Features

  • Supports devices with the AL2230 RF chip
  • Known supported devices are: Edimax EW-7317Ug
  • TCP/IP (and ARP, DHCP, ...) works
  • Infrastructure client mode
  • WEP (64, 128, 256; only 128 has been tested)
  • Command-line based connection tools
  • X11-based connection tool

    Bugs and limitations

  • Works rather instable for now
  • Has a lot of bugs (alpha version !)
  • Only a few devices are supported, yet.
  • Devices containing another chip than the AL2230 are not supported, yet.
  • No Ad-Hoc mode
  • The "This is GPL" text is missing in the files. However all the files are freeware. Commercial use is not allowed for now.
  • Hot-unplugging does not work, yet.
  • Suspending the system does not work when the device is connected.
  • ...

  • Solaris has problems with the EW-7317Ug (not a problem of this driver)

    Developers needed !

    Because my university studies are finished and I'm going to work now I do no longer have much time for freeware projects. Therefore this project needs more developers !
    Another aspect is the limited support for RF chipsets. Currently only the AL2230 chip is supported. Only developers that own devices with other RF chips can change this.