--- author: email: rafl@fsfe.org keyid: 742f2a428e635a5e name: Florian Ragwitz categories: - Hacking comments: [] date: 2006-04-01T01:26:48Z guid: 5b986834-c314-40c9-ace5-c3fe9dcf18c2 modified: 2006-04-01T01:26:48Z raw: "-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----\nHash: SHA1\n\n=pod\n\nAfter having some\nL\nwith madwifi-ng and hostap already, I decided to put the Atheros MiniPCI\ncard I bought some months ago in my laptop to be able to use the cool\nL drivers there as well.\n\nUnfortunately after putting it in and booting you get that:\n\n 1802: Unauthorized network card is plugged in -\n Power off and remove the miniPCI network card.\n\nSome investigation\nL\nthat this is caused he card's PCI-ID being checked against a whitelist\nin the BIOS. I liked IBM ThinkPads, and especially my X41, quite much so\nfar, but this check hardly seems to have a technical background. It just\nforces people to buy IBM authorized cards..\n\nAnyway, I wanted to use an Atheros card. So what were the possibilities?\n\nBuying a PCMCIA card with Atheros chip? No.. I already had an Atheros\ncard around and wanted to use the integrated wifi. Some people reported\nthat the check could be switched of by flipping a CMOS bit. That doesn't\nseem to work with my X41. I could still have flashed the BIOS with a\nversion with a changed whitelist, but I didn't want to fuck up a 1,600\nEUR laptop. Therefor I decided to change the PCI-ID of my card. Only 40\nEUR would have been lost if I did it wrong.\n\nI found a nice\nL that\nexplains how to do that very well. Basically you need to\n\n=over 2\n\n=item remove the MiniPCI wifi card\n\n=item switch the laptop on\n\n=item put the card in while the laptop is running (after the BIOS checks and before the Linux kernel boots)\n\n=item install madwifi\n\n=item use a special tool to change the PCI-ID to the ID of an authorized card\n\n=item hack the driver to recognize the card with the new PCI-ID\n\n=item go outside, enjoy the nice weather and hack\n\n=back\n\n\nLife can be so easy.\n\n=cut\n-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----\nVersion: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)\n\niD8DBQFGCP+kdC8qQo5jWl4RAhZ8AJsHF9g9CZKcEfU38lpb+JRSncT+lQCfRyx5\nsXo/0BBnT84e5y4wdQ8m1m0=\n=nnX3\n-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----\n" signed: 1 summary: " After having some fun with madwifi-ng and hostap already, …" tags: [] text: " After having some fun with madwifi-ng and hostap already, I decided\n to put the Atheros MiniPCI card I bought some months ago in my lap-\n top to be able to use the cool madwifi-ng drivers there as well.\n\n Unfortunately after putting it in and booting you get that:\n\n 1802: Unauthorized network card is plugged in - Power off and re-\n move the miniPCI network card.\n\n Some investigation brought up that this is caused he card's PCI-ID\n being checked against a whitelist in the BIOS. I liked IBM ThinkPad-\n s, and especially my X41, quite much so far, but this check hardly\n seems to have a technical background. It just forces people to buy\n IBM authorized cards..\n\n Anyway, I wanted to use an Atheros card. So what were the pos-\n sibilities?\n\n Buying a PCMCIA card with Atheros chip? No.. I already had an\n Atheros card around and wanted to use the integrated wifi. Some\n people reported that the check could be switched of by flipping a\n CMOS bit. That doesn't seem to work with my X41. I could still have\n flashed the BIOS with a version with a changed whitelist, but I\n didn't want to fuck up a 1,600 EUR laptop. Therefor I decided to\n change the PCI-ID of my card. Only 40 EUR would have been lost if I\n did it wrong.\n\n I found a nice article that explains how to do that very well. Basi-\n cally you need to\n\n remove the MiniPCI wifi card\n\n switch the laptop on\n\n put the card in while the laptop is running (after the BIOS checks\n and before the Linux kernel boots)\n\n install madwifi\n\n use a special tool to change the PCI-ID to the ID of an autho-\n rized card\n\n hack the driver to recognize the card with the new PCI-ID\n\n go outside, enjoy the nice weather and hack\n\n Life can be so easy.\n" title: Even more wireless fun type: pod uri: http://perldition.org/articles/Even%20more%20wireless%20fun.pod xhtml: "
\n

After having some\nfun\nwith madwifi-ng and hostap already, I decided to put the Atheros MiniPCI\ncard I bought some months ago in my laptop to be able to use the cool\nmadwifi-ng drivers there as well.

\n

Unfortunately after putting it in and booting you get that:

\n
1802: Unauthorized network card is plugged in -\nPower off and remove the miniPCI network card.\n
\n

Some investigation\nbrought up\nthat this is caused he card's PCI-ID being checked against a whitelist\nin the BIOS. I liked IBM ThinkPads, and especially my X41, quite much so\nfar, but this check hardly seems to have a technical background. It just\nforces people to buy IBM authorized cards..

\n

Anyway, I wanted to use an Atheros card. So what were the possibilities?

\n

Buying a PCMCIA card with Atheros chip? No.. I already had an Atheros\ncard around and wanted to use the integrated wifi. Some people reported\nthat the check could be switched of by flipping a CMOS bit. That doesn't\nseem to work with my X41. I could still have flashed the BIOS with a\nversion with a changed whitelist, but I didn't want to fuck up a 1,600\nEUR laptop. Therefor I decided to change the PCI-ID of my card. Only 40\nEUR would have been lost if I did it wrong.

\n

I found a nice\narticle that\nexplains how to do that very well. Basically you need to

\n
\n\t
remove the MiniPCI wifi card
\n\t
switch the laptop on
\n\t
put the card in while the laptop is running (after the BIOS checks and before the Linux kernel boots)
\n\t
install madwifi
\n\t
use a special tool to change the PCI-ID to the ID of an authorized card
\n\t
hack the driver to recognize the card with the new PCI-ID
\n\t
go outside, enjoy the nice weather and hack
\n
\n\n\n\n

Life can be so easy.

\n\n\n
"