First, there is some really good information to be had on the Linux ThinkPad Wiki (and not just for ThinkPads): http://www.thinkwiki.org.
Next, I'm reconfiguring my T30 for Diane to use, as the T21 she's using now is really falling apart (literally; the keyboard bezel and case came from a client's castaway, and his son really put this poor thing through its paces - it's cracked almost in half - and yes, I do have other bezels and cases, but building a new system for her is so much more fun than just fixing the other one...!). I seem to be pretty well moved into my T43 at this point, with GenMAC and XWLAN handling my Intel 2915 quite well. So, I figured that instead of continuing with the Cisco 350 PCMCIA, as she has an annoying habit of bending the ears on protruding PC cards (don't ask; she does a similar thing with the AC adapter plugs - I guess it has something to do with balancing the machine on her lap all day), I would install one of the mPCI cards I have floating around.
The Cisco AIR-MP20B should be handled by GenMAC 1.7 (I think), howeever, there is mention of the T30 not supporting this card under certain firmware revs (ThinkPad firmware, not card firmware). GenMAC loaded up the first time without coughing, but subsequent boot cycles brought me up to a TRAP 8 (interrupt left hot?), and the first time around I was not able to get the card to be seen. So...on to option number two.
I had a brand new (in the box) IBM 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter, P/N 31P9701, FRU unknown (not on the box). As the card bears a Philips label on it, I knew it was some sort of Atheros chip. A quick look at the ThinkPad Wiki showed me some interesting details, without having to even boot the machine first: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/IBM_11a/b/g_Wireless_LAN_Mini_PCI_Adapter.
I installed the card, booted to a command prompt, and edited PROTOCOL.INI for the new card (the GenMAC statements were in there from the Cisco card, so this was fairly easy). Upon restarting, I got the dreaded:
01C9: More than one Ethernet devices are found. Remove one of them.
What I've noticed is that I can't seem to get the card to switch to 802.11a mode. It does not detect my own 11a access point (even though my T43 with the Intel 2915 sees it, so I know it's working), and it doesn't seem to want to get an IP address once it associates via 802.11g. That said, running my trusty NICOFF.CMD (thanks again, Neil!), I am able to get valid DHCP information, so this may be an XWLAN thing (I'll investigate further).
Finally, as an aside to any of you using the Cisco 350 PCMCIA who may be holding off upgrading to XWLAN 2.14, I can tell you that 2.14 was able to manage my 350 without a problem prior to my taking the system down to swap in the mPCI card. Again, do not expect the same hotspot scanning feature available under the GenMAC driver from the Cisco PCMCIA driver (and as stated many times before, this is not the fault of XWLAN!), but you will be safe making the move to the newer XWLAN build.
More info as I spend some time with this over the weekend.
N.B.: Look for a technote from me on the Notebook/2 site concerning the setup of the T43 under eCS 1.2MR. I'll be putting that together soon.
--
Lewis
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Lewis G Rosenthal, CNA, CLP, CLE
Rosenthal & Rosenthal, LLC
Accountants / Network Consultants
New York / Northern Virginia www.2rosenthals.com
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