ndiswrapper shows hardware, but iwconfig shows no device
 

First, thanks for reading my question and all help is gracefully accecpted.

I have read many posts on the chipset:

"00:0e.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)"

I am really new when it comes to installing hardware on linux machines. However, I am willing to work to get it done. Here is my problem:

I run
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[root@localhost Desktop]# uname -r
2.6.9-22.EL
[root@localhost Desktop]#

[root@localhost Desktop]# cat /etc/redhat-release
CentOS release 4.2 (Final)
[root@localhost Desktop]#
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The chipset above is from lspci, thats the card im attempting to get working now. I have installed the drivers with ndiswrapper and here is some output from ndiswrapper:

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[root@localhost Desktop]# ndiswrapper -l
Installed drivers:
bcmwl5 driver installed, hardware present
[root@localhost Desktop]# ndiswrapper -m
modprobe config already contains alias directive

[root@localhost Desktop]
---end copy--

And here is some output with iwconfig:

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[root@localhost Desktop]# cat /etc/modprobe.conf
alias eth0 via-rhine
alias snd-card-0 snd-via82xx
options snd-card-0 index=0
install snd-via82xx /sbin/modprobe --ignore-install snd-via82xx && /usr/sbin/alsactl restore >/dev/null 2>&1 || :
remove snd-via82xx { /usr/sbin/alsactl store >/dev/null 2>&1 || : ; }; /sbin/modprobe -r --ignore-remove snd-via82xx
alias usb-controller ehci-hcd
alias usb-controller1 uhci-hcd
alias wlan0 ndiswrapper
[root@localhost Desktop]# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

sit0 no wireless extensions.

[root@localhost Desktop]#

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Here is some of my kernel messages about ndiswrapper:

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ndiswrapper version 1.11 loaded (preempt=no,smp=no)
ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,12/22/2004, 3.100.46.0) loaded
ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:00:0e.0[A]: no GSI
PCI: Unable to reserve mem region #1:2000@10004000 for device 0000:00:0e.0
ndiswrapper (start_pdo:314): couldn't request PCI regions: fffffff0
ndiswrapper: probe of 0000:00:0e.0 failed with error -22
---end copy---

Anyone have any ideas? In all honesty, i think it should be working, but it is not showing up and the problem seems to be with the way ndiswrapper is interfacing with the intergrated wireless device? Let me know!

Regards,
ZST

This from ndiswrapper faq "If you get probe of XXXX:YY.ZZ.A failed with error -22, you may have IRQ problems or it might be a USB driver problem. If you have problems with IRQ assignment the kernel couldn't assign IRQ for the wireless card, you can find out which IRQ ndiswrapper is trying to use and release that IRQ find out which other device is using it with cat /proc/interrupts. You may want to use ACPI and configure BIOS to assign IRQs using ACPI. If it's a USB driver problem there are known issues with high speed USB and ndiswrapper, module under 2.6 is called ehci_hcd, try modprobe --remove ehci_hcd and then reload the ndiswrapper module, that's worked for some people.

modprobe ndiswrapper

this will put ndiswrapper in the kernel if you haven't already

does this work?

Thanks for that, i tried removing the ehci_hcd and just about every other hardware module that is loaded on the system that isn't system critical. For some reason, ndiswrapper *was* attempting to call out to irq0. To fix that issue, i gave the boot-time options:
pci=biosirq acpi=noirq

Now i get:

No IrQ known for interrupt pin A of device 0000:00:0e.o.
unable to reserve mem region #1:2000@10004000 for device 0000:00:0e.0
couldn't request PCI regions: fffffff0
probe of 0000:00:0e.0 failed with error -22

--------------------------------------

Some more information that may help trouble shoot is that:

The bios does not let me change the way IRQ's are handed out. Disabling anyhardware does not help in this situation. I tried the boot time options pci=biosira and acpi=noirq both togther and seperate to no avail.

At the present im searching the mailing list archives for ndiswrapper as well as their wiki. I can not seem to find a way to tell ndiswrapper not to try for irq0.

If you have any help, again it will be gracefully accecpted.


Regards,
ZST

sorry but i needed to /bump this

If you cant change bios options re irq settings have you tried changing the pnp os setting? Worth a try - what kind of bios do you have anyway?

Thanks for the reply, however i got this to work.

Basicly, the CentOS4.2 precompiled kernel had some bugs in it, when it comes to the gateway MX3225 model laptop. What i wound up doing is installing the vanilla kernel from kernel.org. After that, everything worked, 3d accelleration, cardbus/pcmcia, hardware sound button, the works.

I can't tell exactly what went wrong w/ the kernel, if anyone needs it or is interested i can post the diff --side-by-side of the kernel config files, but i don't want to waste time with it at the moment.

In regards to the bios question, gateway gives you a VERY limited bios, i couldn't disable the cdrom, harddrive(both IDE channels). The most i could do was disable the modem/wired lan/change the shared video mem. I hate gateway. But the laptop was the right price and i got everything working.

I am having an issue w/ fluxbox, if i can't figure that out later today, ill post on that. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction to make this work.

Regards,
ZST