How do I enable wireless on the Chirag PowerPlay14 D21 laptop?

Release found: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3

Introduction

The Raylink Technology Corp 802.11/a/g/n WiFi interface on the Chirag PowerPlay12 D21 is detected as a USB device visible in 'lsusb' output. This device will not work unless firmware for this WiFi interface is also installed on the system.

lsusb provided device details:

Bus 001 Device 002: ID 148f:2573 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT2501USB Wireless Adapter

Solution

The firmware for this device is shipped in an RPM package named "rt73usb-firmware" provided in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.3 Supplementary channel on Red Hat Network (RHN). Click here to list 32-bit & 64-bit RPMS of "rt73usb-firmware" from RHN Channels.

You can either directly download the rt73USB firmware RPM from RHN and then install this firmware package manually via the rpm command. Or, you can subscribe your system to the relevant channels pointed above and then install the rt73USB firmware RPM using the yum command.

After firmware is loaded, reload the relevant kernel modules or reboot the system. Once you log in to a Gnome session then NetworkManager will let you see scanned Wireless networks in range. You may also opt to configure network connections using Network Administration Tool.

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