How do I get a Ralink RT3060 wireless card working?

For 12.04:

• The only official support for the RT3060/3062/3562/2592 in Linux is experimental and may not be fully functional.
  • This is provided by the rt2800pci driver from the kernel.org/compat-wireless team
  • The driver is an independent effort and does not seem to use Ralink code

Option 1. Try installing the latest compat-wireless backports package and see if it works

• Click the below to install it via the Software Center:

  

• Alternatively, open a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T and paste:

  sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-cw-3.3-precise-generic

• Once installation is complete, reboot and see if your wireless card works better. If not, follow option 2.

Option 2. Build and install Ralink's own drivers

1. Download them from Ralink's website.

2. Save to your Downloads folder (default):

   

3. Open a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T, and paste the following, line by line:

   sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r) build-essential dkms
   cd Downloads
   tar -xzf DPO_RT3562_3592_3062_LinuxSTA_V2.4.1.1_20101217.tgz
   cd DPO_RT3562_3592_3062_LinuxSTA_V2.4.1.1_20101217
   WPA1=HAS_WPA_SUPPLICANT
   WPA2=HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT
   sed -i -e "s/$WPA1=n/$WPA1=y/g" -e "s/$WPA2=n/$WPA2=y/g" os/linux/config.mk
   sudo make && sudo make install && sudo make clean
   cd ..
   

4. Blacklist the built-in driver, and load the new one with:

   echo "blacklist rt2800pci" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rt2800pci.conf
   sudo modprobe -rfv rt2800pci
   sudo modprobe -v rt3562sta
   

5. Your RT3060 should now be functional. You can now open up the Downloads folder in the File Manager and delete the downloaded Ralink file/folder:

   

For 11.10:

There appears to be an issue with the RT3060 wireless card in 11.10 - it defaults to the 2800 kernel module which is incorrect.

Connect via your fixed wired link and run:

wget http://media.cdn.ubuntu-de.org/forum/attachments/2814031/angepasster-DPO_RT3562_3592_3062_LinuxSTA_V2.4.1.1_20101217.tar.gz
tar xzvf angepasster-DPO_RT3562_3592_3062_LinuxSTA_V2.4.1.1_20101217.tar.gz

Run the following (copy and paste) into a terminal - N.B. you'll need to do this each time there is a Kernel update.

sudo apt-get install --reinstall linux-headers-generic build-essential dkms
cd angepasster-DPO_RT3562_3592_3062_LinuxSTA_V2.4.1.1_20101217/
sudo make
sudo make install
echo "blacklist rt2800pci" | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rt2800pci.conf
sudo modprobe -rfv rt2800pci
sudo modprobe -v rt3562sta

This should make the wireless card work ok.

If you have wireless drop-outs then you'll need to disable power-management

gksudo gedit /usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/wireless

change this part:

case $driver in
ipw2100) iwpriv_ac="set_power 0"
iwpriv_batt="set_power 5"
iwconfig_ac="power on"
iwconfig_batt="power on";;
ipw3945)
iwpriv_ac="set_power 6"
iwpriv_batt="set_power 7";;
iwl*) if [ -f "/sys/class/net/$1/device/power_level" ]; then
iwlevel_ac=0
iwlevel_batt=3
else
iwconfig_ac="power off"
iwconfig_batt="power on"
fi;;
*) iwconfig_ac="power off"
iwconfig_batt="power on";;
esac

to:

case $driver in
        ipw2100) iwpriv_ac="set_power 0"
            iwpriv_batt="set_power 0"
            iwconfig_ac="power on"
            iwconfig_batt="power on";;
        ipw3945)
            iwpriv_ac="set_power 6"
            iwpriv_batt="set_power 6";;
        iwl*) if [ -f "/sys/class/net/$1/device/power_level" ]; then
                 iwlevel_ac=0
                 iwlevel_batt=0
              else
                 iwconfig_ac="power off"
                 iwconfig_batt="power off"
              fi;;
        *) iwconfig_ac="power off"
           iwconfig_batt="power off";;
    esac

More information and possible wireless-N workarounds are described in the source of this answer.

One solution may be to upgrade to Ubuntu 12.04.

My ralink wireless adapter works out of the box in Ubuntu 12.04, which has an RT3062 chipset.

Although not released yet at the time of writing, Ubuntu 12.04 Beta 2 has proven itself quite stable in my experience, and certainly less of a hassle than having to install the patched driver every time there's a kernel update.