Upon attempting to install ndiswrapper on my shiny out-of-box FC5 system, I ran into the dreaded yet persistent CONFIG_4KSTACKS warning:

*** WARNING: Kernel is compiled with 4K stack size option (CONFIG_4KSTACKS); many Windows drivers will not work with this option enabled. Disable CONFIG_4KSTACKS option, recompile and install kernel

I freaked out a little at first, because I've never done anything to a kernel besides update. I did some searching and a couple sites said that it was just a warning, to try and install anyway. So I did make install, and it returned the same warning (when I tried to do ndiswrapper -i Rt2500.inf, it just told me that the command "ndiswrapper" wasn't found - a make uninstall revealed that there had been no installation in the first place).

I looked up the guide for recompiling/tweaking the kernel (found at http://www.digitalhermit.com/linux/K...ild-HOWTO.html) but it intimidated me after the first couple of steps. I'm willing to try it (would be even more willing if I could find a more specific guide as to what to do in the tweaking part), but as a relatively new Linux user, it kind of scared the crap out of me when I first read it.

Then I wimped out and did more searching, wherein many of the results told me that all I would have to do is yum install kernel-{version higher than mine}, along with kernel-devel{version higher than mine} and some other stuff.

Here's where I run into a little more difficulty outside of the initial problem: I only have a wireless card, and the router is on the other end of the house. I'm on my WinXP boot at the moment to access the 'net. So yum is a bit useless right now.

I tried looking for an updated kernel in .rpm repositories, but my searches aren't being very fruitful.

If someone could point me to the .rpms I'd need (or an easier workaround), I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

Edit: My current kernel is 2.6.15-1.2054_FC5.i686

Rebuilding a kernel or building a custom kernel is not as hard as you think. Reading the Kernel Rebuild Guide is good start, but building or rebuilding a Red Hat family kernel is a little bit different. The steps which do differ a bit from the guide are in order;

make mrproper
make menuconfig
make
make modules_install
make install

The make menuconfig step is where you do all your tweaking, the Kernel hacking section is where you make the 4k kernel stack change.

This page may be of interest to you;

http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/m...dex.php/Fedora

Updated the kernel and installing the kernel-devel rpm packages can be found here, for example;

http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pu...pdates/5/i386/
http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pu...0.fc5.i686.rpm
http://download.fedora.redhat.com/pu...0.fc5.i686.rpm

Download both if you need to copy (burn) them to a CD then istall both at the same time as root by typing something like; rpm -ivh kernel*.rpm

It is always a good idea to install a new kernel and keep the older one(s), just in case.

Thank you for your response and the links. I haven't tried recompiling the kernel yet (I have to go set up soon for elections tomorrow) but I can't tell what I'm doing or where I'm going with the other options (install new kernels)

I've installed the stk16 kernel and tried installing the ndiswrapper rpms in that one and this is what happens:

[root@localhost Desktop]# rpm -ivh ndiswrapper-1.25-1.lvn5.i386.rpm kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-1.2.6.18_1.2200.fc5.i686.rpm
warning: ndiswrapper-1.25-1.lvn5.i386.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID a109b1ec
Preparing... ########################################### [100%]
1:kmod-ndiswrapper ########################################### [ 50%]
2:ndiswrapper ########################################### [100%]

then:

[root@localhost rt2500]# ndiswrapper -i Rt2500.inf
bash: ndiswrapper: command not found

So basically it's not installing. Right? Is it because the kmod-ndiswrapper package didn't match the 2.6.15 kernel? Because I couldn't find a kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25 package for 2.6.15. When I tried creating my own rpm, I would navigate to the directory and do ./configure and it would tell me that there was no such command.

I installed the newest kernel, too - the 2.6.18 one - and that one's throwing me for a loop. Here's what I did with the installation:

[root@localhost rt2500]# cd /home/emiphiste/Desktop
[root@localhost Desktop]# rpm -ivh kernel-devel-2.6.18-1.2200.fc5.i686.rpm kernel-2.6.18-1.2200.fc5.i686.rpm
warning: kernel-devel-2.6.18-1.2200.fc5.i686.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 4f2a6fd2
Preparing... ########################################### [100%]
1:kernel ########################################### [ 50%]
2:kernel-devel ########################################### [100%]

Again with the 50%. I'm not sure if anything I try to install is installing correctly, because when I try to boot the 2.6.18 kernel, it shows me that it's booting the kernel, and then I'm taken to a black screen with that black-on-white "X" cursor ... and it stays there. I left it for ten minutes, hoping it would do something, but nothing happened.

I'm so confused, and I apologise if it looks like I'm making things worse, but I honestly have no idea what to do with these options.

Well to be honest, I have never used the Livna ndiswrapper rpms because you need to install the kmod-ndiswrapper module for each and every kernel that gets installed on the system. You have to rebuild the ndiswrapper module for each kernel upgrade also to be fair, but it is not hard to do since you already have the source code on the system*.

This rpm; kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-1.2.6.18_1.2200.fc5.i686.rpm is meant for the FC5 supplied kernel of the same version number, not the one from Linuxant. It is not advisable to mix the Linuxant kernel and the Linva ndiswrapper rpms.

* As I stated it is not hard to rebuild the ndiswrapper module, for example I have the latest version (as of 2006-10-29) of the ndiswrapper source saved in my /usr/src directory location. After building/installing a new kernel I simply call a little script file to build/install the module and restart the network service. The filename for the script file is Wireless and reads like;

cd /usr/src/ndiswrapper-1.28
sudo make distclean
sudo make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
sudo service network restart
cd


After creating this file I also made it excutable by using the command;
chmod +x Wireless

Then placed a copy in /usr/local/bin so it is available for use by all in the wheel group (just me).