Hey all, Linux newbie here trying to get my Belkin 802.11G PCI card working on FC3. Using the ndiswrapper walkthorughs that have been posted here, I've managed to get close to paydirt, but I'm hitting some roadblocks now and am hoping y'all might have an idea for me.

After installing ndiswrapper 1.1 successfully (including my broadcom driver), my sequence of events is this:

1. I fire up my machine. the 2 lights on the back of my WiFi card are unlit. (I have the box turned backwards so I can watch ) After logging in as root, I go to the shell and type "modprobe ndiswrapper". At this point, the amber "link" light turns on on the WiFi card. (yay!)

2. I type "ndiswrapper -l"
This spits out the following: Installed ndis drivers: bcmwl5 driver present, hardware present. (yay!)

3. I type "dmesg". I get a ton of stuff, but specifically the following:
ndiswrapper version 1.1 loaded (preempt=no,smp=no)
ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,06/13/2003, 3.20.23.0) loaded
ndiswrapper: using irq 11
divert: allocating divert_blk for wlan0
wlan0: ndiswrapper ethernet device 00:12:45:18:ec:e2 using driver bcmwl5, coniguration file 14E4:4320.5.conf
wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP, WPA with TKIP, WPA with AES/CCMP
wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

4. After typing "iwconfig wlan0", it shows the specs for my card, but the ESSID says "off/any". If I try to change the essid, nothing happens. However, if I first change the mode to either Ad-hoc or Auto, then it will let me change the essid. But, if the mode is Managed, it REFUSES to let me change the essid.

Even if I put it in Auto or Ad-Hoc mode, change the essid to my own router (which has encryption turned off, and is broadcasting the SSID) it won't connect to the net. I've tried typing "dhclient wlan0", and I DO get some potentially alarming output:

/sbin/dhclient-script: configuration for wlan0 not found. Continuing with defaults.
/etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/network-functions: line 47: wlan0: No such file or directory.


Does anyone have some ideas for me to try? I feel like I'm really close, so I don't want to give up. (yet) Thanks in advance!

I really don't know, but I'm starting to think that this thing with not being able to set the essid is a bug.

When I set up ndiswrapper, I didn't have this problem.
Maybe I got a different version than everyone else.

Are you able to either ping or go into the wireless router?

No I'm not. What's really strange is, as I mentioned in my original post I can set the mode on wlan0 to either Ad-hoc or Auto. At this point, I CAN set the essid. However, even if I pick a totally bogus essid like "dutchelmdisease", the details in iwconfig make it look like my wireless NIC has actually "locked on" to a router - because it shows a MAC address after I type iwconfig wlan0. (a bogus mac address apparently, since dutchelmdisease is not a valid SSID).

OK, time for some troubleshooting.

This test will see if card is in fact working as it should.

It should see your wireless router (and any other router in range).
If not you have a hardware/driver problem.

next type:

My guess is that you will see: lo - for loopback and eth0 - wired interface.
Bring down the wired interface by typing

bring up the wireless

finally enter the ifconfig command again, you should see wlan0 instead of eth0.

Fun fact: most distros have the dhcpcd service set to wireless by default, therefore you have to reset by using the above commands or edit config files.

If I type "iwlist wlan0 scan", I get:
No scan results

However, from other posts I've read here it sounds like iwlist wlan0 scan doesn't necessarily "scan" for access points, but rather just gives details of your wireless config... whatever. Regardless, if I set the mode to "Auto" or "Ad-hoc" (by typing iwconfig wlan0 mode "Auto") and then set the ESSID (by typing iwconfig wlan0 essid someroutername) then type iwlist wlan0 scan, it WILL show results like the following:

wlan0 scan completed:
Cell 01 - Address:6E:7D:77:6F:CF:BB
ESSID: "someroutername"
Protocol: IEEE 802.11b
etc,etc, etc.


The problem is, I can type basically anything for the ESSID and it "appears" as though it's a legitimate router, but it's not.

As for dhcpcd commands, anytime I type that I get the following:

bash: dhcpcd: command not found

Some clarifications: bash-command not found are you in user or superuser mode. User mode gives you a cash or $ sign. Superuser mode gives a pound or # and is also called root. For our troubleshooting do the following in a console window:
As root enter the commands and see what your output is.

Please try iwlist wlan0 scan again. I've always seen a wireless AP with this command unless none existed which nothing was returned.

Make sure your router is on and is broadcasting SSID to view info.

Yes, I'm logged in as root. Any command I type that includes "dhcpcd" gives that error. I assume that means I'm missing a package or something?

iwlist wlan0 scan brings back nothing unless I explicity set the ESSID. Then it will bring back data about the ESSID. However, as I mentioned earlier, I can set the ESSID to anything - even a non-sensical word like "woijfowjflafeinnmbnzb", and it will still act as though that's a real access point in that it will show a MAC address for it, which is obviously bogus.

I've got 3 routers in my neighborhood that my Windows computer can see (including my own), all of which are broadcasting the SSID. Again, iwlist wlan0 scan shows nothing unless I set the ESSID to something.


I'm starting to question if it's even possible to get a Belkin 802.11g card working with FC3.... Either that or I've got a totally bogus driver, but I don't think so.

Uninstall ndiswrapper and reinstall the three files bcmwl5.inf, .sys, and .cat, I had a D-link, with a different chipset, and it acted hinkey as well. Reinstalled with drivers downloaded from realtek, the chipset maker, and it worked.

Go to broadcom, and see if it works.

I've got the same problem, have you solved it??

thanks
pie

No I didn't, in fact I actually gave up. I just decided to use a hard connection since this is going to my a PVR box (Myth). However, check out this thread:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=303798

I actually posted in this one too a while back before creating this thread, but it looks like there's a post near the end which talks about setting the radio on/off state in some config file. I never tried this, but it sounds promising. Good luck and post back here if you get it to work.