[SOLVED] RTL8192se Driver / Firmware - Quick Question

[Canuck]

Today I was inspired by "A Mageia Rant" in which trish wrote glowing words about having a ThinkPad A520 64 bit with Mageia 64 bit installed. Once the correct driver was secured, the wireless worked. I have a ThinkPad Edge, E520, which is a close relative of the A520, with I assume the same wireless card.
I searched the Networking forum and found the entry [SOLVED] RTL8191SEvB Wireless Lan controller: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=593
There dele was advised to find the rpm: kernel-firmware-extra-20110517-1.mga1.noarch.rpm. That solved the problem for dele.

Because I could test Live Mageia 1.0, 32 bit, I did so and found that it detected my RTL8192ce card, allowing me to have wireless for my Thinkpad Edge E520. Based on the Rant by trish and the query by dele in Networking, I suspect that the rpm will solve my problem if I install the 64 bit Mageia, which I would like to do. I did a search for the rpm and found it and also noted that it was checked as being installed. This further led me to believe that this is the rpm I would need to install on the 64 bit version of Mageia.
Is this a correct assumption? Conceptually, for my understanding, am I correct in assuming that the prescribed rpm contains additional drivers rather than just one.

I am hoping that a quick answer will be YES

[doktor5000]

No, it does not contain driver, but the firmware needed for some of those drivers.
Doesn't matter if 32bit or 64bit. So yes, if you install it, and it contains the needed firmware,
and you have the driver installed, then it'll work.

[Canuck]

Can I assume that the driver is installed because my wireless works and because the rpm shows as being installed? I know that the 64 bit version does not contain 'nonfree' firmware. Guess, I do not know the difference between drivers and firmware. Is there a way that I can determine if the needed driver is installed? Right now, everything works on my 32 bit installation. Thanks

[doktor5000]

It's not a matter of 32bit vs. 64bit, it's more a matter of FreeDVD or LiveCD.
The former only contains free software, the latter contains some nonfree stuff,
like graphics driver, wireless driver and some needed firmware.

If the driver wouldn't be installed you wouldn't have any wireless.
You can look for the driver with

Code: Select all

lspcidrake -v | grep NETWORK

It should show your wired and wireless devices, and the used driver right at the start of the lines.

For the terms itself, please read on here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_driver

[Canuck]

Because of the excellent advice provided to me (esp. from doktor5000) I was able to successfully install the DVD 64bit version of Mageia on my ThinkPad E520. Knowing that I could, after installation, secure the needed firmware in the non-free repository, "kernel-firmware-extra......." made all of the difference. Everything is working perfectly. Because the previous Live CD install made a second partition /var all of my settings, mail, and bookmarks were preserved.

Mageia is my home! I trust that all of the information in this thread will be helpful to others.