New Ralink RT2500-USB Driver [a la Airport Driver] - V 1.5

[Prasys]

Hey guys,

 

One of the beauty of Open Source Drivers that it would work just about any platform. Thats the beauty of Ralink Drivers [RT2500-USB]. It works on Linux , MacOS X and of course on Windows. But there were few problems on the MacOS X port , particularly on hackintohses . Certainly it had some good stuff , enabled us to connect to Wireless Networks , but then the GUI was sort of crippled and it lacked the 'Airport' thingy , the cooling icon. So what I did was to modify the GUI , the driver and added RT2500Replug so that all these issues would be fixed and we could enjoy a better Driver !.

 

 

Features :-

 

1. A New Makeover

The USB now comes with new makeover. Now I have fixed some of the problems in the GUI and edited the menu preferences [removed all the unwanted stuff such as preferences] and I also have changed the Icons and the application Icon to be like OSX Style [a la Airport/OSX Style]. These are little cosmetic changes. More to come of course !

 

 

2. RT2500Replug - Fix It !

I have included the in-famous RT2500Replug that fixes the USB Plugging-in and Plugging out dilemma for RT2500-USB Users. So , you dont have to re-plug it each time you use OSX. It would just work instead. Its a pretty nifty patch , of course you got to thank the original developer.

http://mitglied.lycos.de/thomsmac/RT2500Replug.html

 

 

3. Packet Compression

This is something new to the RT2500 World. The driver actually supports Packet Compression , but it was not implemented for a reason. So I fixed it by turning it on and adding an option in the GUI. Certainly , it helps to 'speed' up the overall network performance.It does it by sending the data packets in '1Mbps' Mode. Certainly its not ideal for transferring large files. But if your Signal Strength is low , then you might want to try to use Packet Compression. Oh yeah , you might have occasional kernel panics , thats one of the drawbacks. -----USE THIS AT FEATURE AT YOUR OWN RISK--------

 

 

4. Airport Detection [Menu] - BETA-

This is something new , many of us do want that cute little tiny Airport logo in their menu bar. So I have included it in my package installer. Notice that its still new and beta , and sometimes it does not work right. I am working on it. It might work or might not for you

 

5. SuperG+ [bETA]

This enables SuperG+ Mode on most [err just about any supported RT2500 Devices]. It gives you 108Mbps/72Mbps/22Mbps [Theoretically]. Pretty much it boosts network transfers on supported routers only

 

 

 

 

 

 

How-To

 

1. Download the program from

 

http://rakis.net/~prasys/Ralink%20Wireless...Wizard.mpkg.zip

 

 

2. Install it. Once its done , repair its permissions using disk Utility . Once its fixed , you would need to build kext-cache back [To do this , press F8 before the Darwin X86 booting screen and type -f in the boot prompt]

 

3. Download the V 1.5 from http://www.rakis.net/~prasys/ralinkv015.zip

 

Alternate download location:

http://rapidshare.com/files/99361138/ralinkv015.zip

http://rapidshare.com/files/99361102/Ralin...Wizard.mpkg.zip

 

Change log

 

Changelog - version 0.15

1. New Ralink Tool [A Total New Look]

2. 802.11G+ [enables 802.11G+ Booster]

3. Optimisation ....A lot of them this time. It should be much much more faster on SSE2 Hackintoshes. More to come

4. Leopard Ready - Thats right , it works with Leopard [with some kernel panics]

 

Changelog - version 0.12

1. Added Linksys WUSB54GC Support [Thanks SilverTab and Simania_NL] and wrapped with the new RT7 Series Driver

2. RT2500's Driver version has been upgraded from 1.1.3 to 1.1.5 [Thanks toshi for the drivers]

3. Fixed Airport menu thingy [For now it should at least show up the Airport icon but I am not too sure if it really works or not. This is the first stage getting the Airport logo Icon thingy working]

4. Added lots of optimisation to the code to make it even better

 

 

KUDOS

 

I would like to thank :-

 

nVidia_user - for testing it

toshi - for the new driver thingy

Simania_NL - for the Linksys WUSB54Gs support thingy !

 

 

Q/A

 

If you're having any problems , feel free to send me a PM or meet me on IRC - macspeak , #scripts. Oh yeah if you like to support me [to pay up my Tuition fees , then you could PM me ]. I will be working on other stuffs as well. Just a guy who is helping the OSX86 World !

[King A]

hey, nice work

 

i was just cheking out your driver.

unfortunately the airport-thingy doesn't work.

 

quick question: remove the previous rt2500 driver before installing yours?

 

will you keep us updated on your development via this thread?

 

thanks

[Prasys]

Yes , for thats for sure and I am hoping to start a X-Labs Project on this. Plus I might be working on some extras to give some extra umph

 

Here you go the airport menu thingy , its still in beta.

 

http://rakis.net/~prasys/Airport2.menu.zip

 

How to install , well simply put it to /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras and then from that folder drag it to the menubar to test it out. Oh do not forget to fix its permission. Its still work-in-progress thingy

[cyclonefr]

for me it only display an icon : no quality link sensor .. and when i click on the icon i can see waiting for menu and Open preferences.That's it..Is it normal?.

[Prasys]

Again , its still new

 

Waiting for menu - I am fixing the bug and it might take sometime. I am doing this without any pay plus I need to pay up my tuition fees for my U and I got my studies as well . So do expect some 'slowness' on this project. Not ranting what-so-ever. Just explaining my situation right now !

[toshi]

Good work on the RT2500-Home style driver. (I have yet to try it)

 

I thought I may be able help a little. I have a driver from RA-Link that's only 6 weeks from their development house.

 

It's reliability is excellent as is it's thruput. NO MORE replugs required with this beasty for me.

 

Let me know this one helps!

 

Toshi

RT7X_Ralink_Installer.dmg

[sambo60]

I am very confused. I have a linksys WUSB54GS v2.1. The vendor id is 13b1 in hex so that should be 5041 in Decimal. This thread http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=33913 talks about the WUSB54GC. It shows the same vendor ID. Does that mean mine is ralink or does that 5041 refer to the manufacturer (linksys)? Also, in mac os, system profiler shows my device and says the manufacturer is broadcom. The product ID is 0x0014. Anyone know what I should do?

[rathalos]

Hey dude! The new drivers and software is working like a charm.... thanks so so much on it!!! U're the man!!!

 

Well, for wish list, i was hoping to get a new revamp on the GUI..... the current GUI looks quite boring... maybe u can help spice it up?? maybe make it look more integrated with the OS... more Appleish or something....

 

Thanks!! Will be willing to beta test all versions for you if neccessary......

 

 

EDIT: Just my 2 cents worth... maybe the dock icon could be designed to look cool too... currently its just using airport config util icon....

[tomtefar]

toshi: I'm currently unable to test the driver you supplied since I don't have an adapter but I'm curious, does it register as "airport" in MacOSX with that driver?

[Prasys]

I need someone to make the Icon , at the moment I am re-doing the whole thing. So I need someone who is good at making icons and graphics to help me. I will integrate the latest driver as well and include a fix for WUSB by Linksys as well

 

oh yeah , sambo60 yours is Ralink !

[rathalos]

darn, i'm not good at graphics..... i only know basic photoshop and some 3d modelling skills..... fairly pathetic....

 

all i can help is to beta test....

 

oh, it would be nice if the menu bar icon could be integrated... like a real airport.... haha... jus a wish list.... anyway, keep up the good work.. post new stuff here and i'll beta test and report back for u...

[toshi]

@Prasys

 

Awesome driver package - well done, rock solid performance and extra thruput again me thinks with the "compression box checked"

 

Also I installed the Airport2.menu - It works great - looking forward to rev2 for more functions.

 

@Tomtefar

 

No it does not register as a true airport - but Prasys homebrew & Airport2.menu is the next best thing.

[Simania_NL]

I am very confused. I have a linksys WUSB54GS v2.1. The vendor id is 13b1 in hex so that should be 5041 in Decimal. This thread http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=33913 talks about the WUSB54GC. It shows the same vendor ID. Does that mean mine is ralink or does that 5041 refer to the manufacturer (linksys)? Also, in mac os, system profiler shows my device and says the manufacturer is broadcom. The product ID is 0x0014. Anyone know what I should do?

At first I would like to say that my product ID is 0x0020, but I'm not sure that it's the only version that works.

*edit: your product ID is 0x0014 = 20 decimal so change 32 for 20 in the info.plist and try again.

Just follow the thread and please report the outcome, in the case it won't work we can try to find a solution.

 

@Prasys

I'm pretty good with Photoshop, please sent me a pm about what you're looking for.

Continue with your great work and hopefully you've full WUSB54GC support as well.

[sambo60]

I tried it but it doesn't recognize the device at all. Are you guys sure that the vendor id 5041 doesn't just mean linksys made the device? I ask this because System Profiler says the manufacturer of my device is Broadcom!

[slave-zeo]

Is this for the USB ralink adapters only or does it work on the PCI variety as well ?

 

testing it with my USB adapter right now, but would love to use my PCI linksys adapter.

[plas]

Plugged in my DWL-G122. It found the device and wep worked (didnt with the drivers from the ralink site).

Thanks now i just need to get the audio working an i will be happy

[Prasys]

Good to know , I will be adding more stuff in. Just trying to make the driver even better for us all. Making it usable for all

 

Oh , I am looking for someone to donate their PCI card or I might have to fork out to get some. I will do my best for PCI Support , but first USB. Plus I might have to 'pause' the project for a while as I have my studies [need to pay fees and stuff like that]. So I hope , I will resume it back once I get everything kickin'

[rathalos]

sure thing!!!! ok, manage to fiddle the driver and the utility around last nite at home, admist my studying for my exams this monday...

 

apparently the packet compression can be checked, but it cant be applied.... the appy button is greyed out even if i made those changes.... the other two check buttons trigger the apply button well, but the packet compression doesnt....

 

is it me or is the wireless disconnecting at a rate of once every two or three hours? cos i'm connected to my sch network which says 99% signal strength and yet it disconnects once every 2 or 3 hours.... something wierd....

 

as for the startup, sometimes the wireless utility startsup after login, sometimes it doesnt... i still cant determine the reasons for it not being able to start.... either that or it takes really forever to start, which happens sometimes...

 

this is just the results of the beta testing.... the menu airport indicator is great.... it stays active and there even when i reboot and there is no usb attached to my com... thats a bit wierd.... maybe it could detect and grey itself out if the wireless is not present or something??? hmm...

 

so much for this round of beta testing.... post your next build when u r free!! i will be checking back this page regularly...

 

cheers!!

[Doosje]

_Prasys_ ., can you make the Belkin F5D7050 also supported ?

I've tried the driver and didn't work .. adjusted 3 plists's but didn't help

Somehow the kexts don't get loaded.

[rathalos]

Doojse, what is the chipset inside your Belkin F5D7050? The driver here works for the RT2500 and the RT3X series....

 

Apparently i went to the website to check, only the Belkin F5D7050 V2000 has the RT2500 chipset.... if your hardware revision is not that, then i'm sorry, this driver might not work for you...

[Simania_NL]

Prasys I adapted the RT2500Replug so it works with with the WUSB54GC from linksys, I think all RT73 usb sticks can work with the RT2500Replug since it's only a USB-thingy, not an actual driver.

The change I made in the Info.plist:

<key>LINKSYS</key>

<dict>

<key>CFBundleIdentifier</key>

<string>ch.walter.thomas.RT2500Replug</string>

<key>IOClass</key>

<string>ch_walter_thomas_RT2500Replug</string>

<key>IOKitDebug</key>

<integer>0</integer>

<key>IOProbeScore</key>

<integer>100000</integer>

<key>IOProviderClass</key>

<string>IOUSBDevice</string>

<key>bcdDevice</key>

<integer>1</integer>

<key>idProduct</key>

<integer>32</integer>

<key>idVendor</key>

<integer>5041</integer>

</dict>

If you would like to use it with your WUSB54GC just go to: RT2500 Replug

Download the kext and add this information to the info.plist

If you like it donate some money to the official maker

[theofan1960]

This driver works really great for me with my DWL-G122 on WPA.

 

However, yesterday I tried to connect to a WPA Enterprise network and the driver said "It is no YET supported". Is there any plan to implant WPA Enterprise for this driver???

 

Thanks a lot for this wonderful driver

[jhonnypolak]

Prasys mate, any chance of releasing this driver for the PCI version ?

 

I've got a D-Link DWL-G510 rev C1 (based on RaLink RT2500 chipset) and i'm dying to get it to work

[kevinosx]

jhonnypolak: I'm not sure if this is what your after but I have a PCI based adaptor (that came on the laptop) with the TR2500 chipset and I just went to the Ralink website and downloaded their driver for the Mac pci. When I install the program it works great, connects to the internet etc.

The only problem I'm having is that when I restart it doesn't detect the internet until I reinstall the program (only takes a couple secs) and restart the computer.

I'm going to try the Replug driver and see if it works even though it's not USB.

[bgrau]

Hi Prasys, and other geeks like me lol

Prasys, you advised me to get a Ralink USB wireless, actually I didnt know, but I had one already (the v2000, lucky me) which I used on another old PC...

So initially not aware of this thread, I found the Ralink website and got the latest driver (usb wireless assistant), it installed nicely, and I started getting some network connectivity.

Using the PCI NIC is useless on my system, (or maybe its only because of the NIC's I got)...

Anyhews, I finally installed your gear, and it works too.

I can network all computers, but I still can't get an internet connection through the PC, or via airport.

I can ping the PC (which has the Ralink and is connected to the internet), I can ping airport, and I can get network connections, but no DHCP or internet connections...

Any idea?

Cheers dude/s