Subject: Re: Realtek 8139 WiFi Cardbus Adapter
To: None <netbsd-help@netbsd.org>
From: Martijn van Buul <martijnb@atlas.ipv6.stack.nl>
List: netbsd-help
Date: 08/19/2006 10:39:11
It occurred to me that Jeff_W wrote in gmane.os.netbsd.help:
> Hi All,
> I recently acquired a Linksys 802.11b WiFi adapter (model WPC11-VN v.4) and
> am trying to figure out why it doesn't get configured using NetBSD
> 3.0.1_STABLE (GENERIC_LAPTOP).  The Install.txt doc seems to suggest that
> it's supported by the rtk(4) driver.

Eek, what a strange contraption.. An rtk8139 is a 10/100 Mbit/s *wired* 
ethernet NIC, not a *wireless* one. I doubt that the rtk8139 will ever be
able to handle this; it looks like someone has been *seriously* hacking
about in a non-standard way..

> I did notice that rtk(4) says "Configuration of PHYs are necessary" and 
> reading the referenced mii(4) man page suggests that this is where the 
> network configuration magic happens but I don't see an "rlphy" listed 
> though it is listed in the -current
> version.  Is this something I need -current for or is there some way to get
> this card working in STABLE?

rlphy will not solve your problem. An unknown phy will be picked up by ukphy,
the generic PHY driver. A *normal* 8139 will work "fine" using ukphy, but
this is a completely different matter.

I don't think your card can easily be supported - the best option might be
to get a different wireless NIC. A ral-based 11g cardbus NIC shouldn't be
too expensive, and are common as muck.