Linux on Realtek RTL8181

Linux on Realtek RTL8181

Mission statement

To develop a clean, GPL compliant port of the Linux kernel, drivers and tools to Realtek's RTL8181 "802.11b wireless gateway controller" system-on-chip, used in a variety of wireless access point and gateway devices.

Project status

The project is presently in the alpha stage. All software components needed to build a fully operational system are available and their overall development status can be generally described as "functional". These include:

32-bit Linux kernel with math emulation, memory and cache manager
driver for on-chip Ethernet adapters
driver for on-chip wireless adapter with master/station/monitor modes and WEP support
system console via on-chip serial port
flash ROM access via standard MTD (with optional partitioning) Read this first
compressed boot image builder/loader with options for RAM or ROM images

A cross-compiler toolchain is also available, with complete source code. Besides compiling the kernel files and drivers, the toolchain can be used to build other open-source tools and programs with only minimal effort - usually as easy as adding an extra flag to the command line.

You are invited to download a copy, test it, come back and tell us all about it. Pre-built demo images are also available.

History:

2005-04-04: New version 0.0.5 of the wireless driver released. This version includes the latest patch from jirif and an important update of copyright notes in David Young's code - apologies to dyoung for the initial mis-attribution.
2004-10-28: New wireless-enabled binary RAM images released.
2004-10-22: Wireless-enabled binary RAM images now available.
2004-10-21: A proof-of-concept open source wireless driver is now available for download.

2004-10-21: Version 0.1.2-pre1 of the kernel patch.

2004-10-20: Version 0.2 of the ELF bootloader.

2004-08-30: New website feature: pre-built "test-drive" binary RAM images. No flashing needed, just upload & run!
2004-08-22: Second (alpha level) release of the kernel files and patches.
2004-06-01: Successful test of the nonmips preview toolchain 0.1, links updated.
2004-05-28: Launch of the nonmips project, aiming to provide open source tools and support patches for patent-free MIPS clones, including RTL8181.
2004-05-11: "Silly Season" summary and a call for participation
2004-03-09: Compilation instructions updated (HTML bug).
2004-02-03: Initial release of the kernel files and patches. Pre-alpha quality.
2004-01-11: Initial release of the second stage boot loader (rtl-lxload).
2004-01-01: Official project launch.

Who's responsible for this?

This is an open source project started by a few coders from Streetdata, an Australian company, and by the way, we're not responsible.

Participation is open and voluntary. If you believe in the goals of our project and wish to get involved, you are welcome to contribute as much or as little as you feel like. Check the call for participation for more details or contact a project administrator if not sure where to start.

The obligatory fine print:

All code contributed to this project by Streetdata developers, whether on the clock or after hours, is Copyright (c) Streetdata Pty Ltd, released under version 2 of the GNU General Public Licence. Code contributed by other project members and/or reproduced legally from third-party sources is copyright by its respective authors. Comments, rants, inflamatory remarks etc are strictly the poster's own opinion and do not represent an official company position, nor do they necessarily reflect the company's views.

The project is not affiliated with, nor officially supported or endorsed by Realtek Semiconductors Inc, or any hardware OEM mentioned on this website. All other people's registered trademarks are registered trademarks of other people. :)