wireless configuration in Fedora 8 using ndiswrapper

Redling · 06-22-2008, 12:50 PM

Hello everyone.

I am dual-booting Fedora 8 and Windows XP. I have working wireless in XP, but Fedora has given me a bit of trouble even though native drivers are available for my model of wireless card, an Encore ENLWI-N (PCI).

My experience with Linux so far is very n00b, thanks to my Windows upbringing I've gone through all of my installation based on step-by-step instructions online or in man pages.

I managed to compile the native drivers but was unable to find decent instructions for the steps that come after that (I couldn't figure out where to start). I finally removed the drivers out of frustration and tried ndiswrapper.

I managed to compile the drivers again, this time from the CD that came with the card. I tried to configure using the Network Manager that comes with Fedora 8 and configured the device eth0 as 'Wireless'. (The only options were eth0 - eth7.) This automatically created two hardware profiles called 'RaLink Unknown device 0601' (eth1) and 'Marvell Technology Group Ltd. Gigabit Ethernet Controller' (eth0). The status of both devices is 'ok'.

When I attempt to activate the device with eth1 I get the error: 'Determining IP information for eth0... failed; no link present. Check cable?'

I'm not literate with iwconfig, so all of my attempts with that have been shots in the dark. I've been googling this pretty heavily for about a week and I have not found any general answers.

netdog · 06-22-2008, 05:45 PM

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archiv...p/t-29659.html

This should help. You have to figure out your own driver set (I was lucky, I happened to have a broadcom chip set) but I passed this along to lot's of others on both HP and Toshiba laptops and it seems to work (at least it is the last I hear about it).

Ciao!

valbmet · 06-27-2008, 02:26 PM

I too having issues with my wireless....
After playing with SuSE 10.3 for a couple of days I loaded Fedora 8 and it seems that I have the same problem. After installation went to NM, both the NIC and the wireless cards are listed. When I tryed to activate the wireless I received a message that there is no hardware present. Attemt to select my bcm43xx as a new card failed, as it's not listed in the interface list. Since I am absolutely new to Linux, I am not sure whether I need to install a driver/firmware for bcm43xx or type some magic command in the shell that will do the trick?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Regards to the community.

Redling · 06-30-2008, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by netdog

http://forums.fedoraforum.org/archiv...p/t-29659.html

This should help. You have to figure out your own driver set (I was lucky, I happened to have a broadcom chip set) but I passed this along to lot's of others on both HP and Toshiba laptops and it seems to work (at least it is the last I hear about it).

Ciao!

I came across these directions once, but it is good to come back to them because they may have pointed me in the right direction. I go off track here:

Quote:

In Network Configuration, click on New and then "Select Device type box" shows, highlight Wireless connection and click on "Forward".
This brings up the "Select Wireless Device box" window, which has ndiswrapper(wlan0) highlighted, then click "Forward".

When I try to create a new device ndiswrapper(wlan0) is not an option, instead I just have "Other wireless card". When I move forward I am prompted to choose a card from a list and I was just selecting the one closest to mine (I am choosing "Raylink Wireless LAN", I think, but I am not at home right now).

When I try to make a device using these settings wlan0 is never even an option. I've searched this some, but still no luck!

(My actual card is an ENCORE ENLWI-N IEEE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833180052.)

Larry Webb · 06-30-2008, 04:01 PM

Redling, remove your ndiswrapper and its drivers. Now find out the chipset and go to this site and install the right driver (according to the read me files) in the driver. These are native linux drivers and you do not need ndiswrapper or fwcutter.

http://www.ralinktech.com/ralink/Hom...ort/Linux.html

Redling · 07-12-2008, 07:29 PM

All right, I've uninstalled ndiswrapper, although somewhat clumsily because ndiswrapper was a bit grumpy.

I have the driver from Ralink as downloaded from the website mentioned above. I checked online to make sure my chipset is correct. I'm almost certain it is, so far so good.

Some of my old attempts using this driver and ndiswrapper were still showing up, so I did my best to clean up by using rmmod.

(The list here corresponds to the directions in the readme file with the driver.)

1. I untarred the folder and left it on the desktop.

2. I opened Makefile to make the changes directed, but didn't need to change anything except the linux kernel path.

Code:

ifeq ($(PLATFORM),PC)
    ..
    /lib/(shell uname -r)/2.6.23.1-42.fc8/build
    ..
endif

changed to

Code:

ifeq ($(PLATFORM),PC)
    ..
    /lib/modules/2.6.23.1-42.fc8/build
    ..
endif

3. This step I didn't understand so well. From the directions:

In os/linux/config.mk
define the GCC and LD of the target machine
define the compiler flags CFLAGS
modify to meet your need.
** Build for being controlled by NetworkManager or wpa_supplicant wext functions
Please set 'HAS_WPA_SUPPLICANT=y' and 'HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT=y'.
=> #>cd wpa_supplicant-x.x
=> #>./wpa_supplicant -Dwext -ira0 -c wpa_supplicant.conf -d
** Build for being controlled by WpaSupplicant with Ralink Driver
Please set 'HAS_WPA_SUPPLICANT=y' and 'HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT=n'.
=> #>cd wpa_supplicant-0.5.7
=> #>./wpa_supplicant -Dralink -ira0 -c wpa_supplicant.conf -d

I don't know about most of these, so I just built for control by WpaSupplicant. That is, I set

Code:

'HAS_WPA_SUPPLICANT=y'

and

Code:

'HAS_NATIVE_WPA_SUPPLICANT_SUPPORT=n'

in config.mk

4. I compiled the source code:

Code:

$make

The instructions didn't say to use make install, but it seemed like a good idea from what I was reading on the internet.

Code:

$make install

It seemed to work.

To be continued...

Redling · 07-12-2008, 07:30 PM

The saga continues...

5. The instructions:

$cp RT2860STA.dat /etc/Wireless/RT2860STA/RT2860STA.dat
# !!!check if it is a binary file before loading !!!

I copied it Windows-style, with drag and drop. The file opened in a text editor, so I can only hope they meant it should NOT be a binary file (the instructions are really bad, but at least they exist).

6. ifconfig ra0 inet 192.168.1.103 up

I used the IP address that another computer on the same network was showing. No response, all is well?

From this point I've been following the website http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/w...vice.22_Errors

At first I started the configuration as if it would be under the device eth0, as the guide used, but it became clear that the driver "wanted" to use ra0.

[root@localhost ~]# iwconfig ra0 mode Managed
[root@localhost ~]# iwconfig ra0 essid rah

I've been mostly using iwconfig to configure, and NetworkManager a little bit too. iwconfig seems more useful at this point.

Here's where my antics get really fishy. There wasn't any ifcfg-ra0 file, so I copied ifcfg-eth0 and put this in it:

Code:

#
# Wireless configuration
#
DEVICE=ra0
IPADDR=192.168.1.103
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
ONBOOT=yes
BOOTPROTO=none
TYPE=Wireless
USERCTL=yes
IPV6INIT=no
PEERDNS=yes
CHANNEL=1
MODE=Managed
RATE=54Mb/s
ESSID=rah
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
DHCP_HOSTNAME=
DOMAIN=
HWADDR=00:08:54:86:5d:51
GATEWAY=192.168.0.1

This is created by mashing together the instructions on that website and the existing content in ifcfg-ra0.

Well, now ra0 appears to be detected. Also, I created two files: keys-ra0 and keys-eth0 (just in case) with just "KEY=**********" in them in case they were sought out by Fedora 8.

Here's the hitch: iwconfig both show entries for ra0, but iwlist says that it's connected and has an encryption key:

Code:

lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

ra0       Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:0F:3D:65:41:14
                    ESSID:"rah"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:6
                    Quality:60/100  Signal level:-80 dBm  Noise level:-87 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:36 Mb/s

and iwconfig says the opposite:

Code:

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

ra0       RT2860 Wireless  ESSID:""  Nickname:"localhost.localdomain"
          Mode:Auto  Frequency=2.412 GHz  Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:169
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

Naturally, I can't pull the "ask both parents and then pick the one that says yes" trick. I don't have any connection even after restarting.

I'm going to uninstall and try again.

...To be continued!

royor · 07-13-2009, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redling

The saga continues...

5. The instructions:

$cp RT2860STA.dat /etc/Wireless/RT2860STA/RT2860STA.dat
# !!!check if it is a binary file before loading !!!

I copied it Windows-style, with drag and drop. The file opened in a text editor, so I can only hope they meant it should NOT be a binary file (the instructions are really bad, but at least they exist).

6. ifconfig ra0 inet 192.168.1.103 up

I used the IP address that another computer on the same network was showing. No response, all is well?

From this point I've been following the website http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/w...vice.22_Errors

At first I started the configuration as if it would be under the device eth0, as the guide used, but it became clear that the driver "wanted" to use ra0.

[root@localhost ~]# iwconfig ra0 mode Managed
[root@localhost ~]# iwconfig ra0 essid rah

I've been mostly using iwconfig to configure, and NetworkManager a little bit too. iwconfig seems more useful at this point.

Here's where my antics get really fishy. There wasn't any ifcfg-ra0 file, so I copied ifcfg-eth0 and put this in it:

Code:

#
# Wireless configuration
#
DEVICE=ra0
IPADDR=192.168.1.103
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
ONBOOT=yes
BOOTPROTO=none
TYPE=Wireless
USERCTL=yes
IPV6INIT=no
PEERDNS=yes
CHANNEL=1
MODE=Managed
RATE=54Mb/s
ESSID=rah
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
DHCP_HOSTNAME=
DOMAIN=
HWADDR=00:08:54:86:5d:51
GATEWAY=192.168.0.1

This is created by mashing together the instructions on that website and the existing content in ifcfg-ra0.

Well, now ra0 appears to be detected. Also, I created two files: keys-ra0 and keys-eth0 (just in case) with just "KEY=**********" in them in case they were sought out by Fedora 8.

Here's the hitch: iwconfig both show entries for ra0, but iwlist says that it's connected and has an encryption key:

Code:

lo        Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0      Interface doesn't support scanning.

ra0       Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 00:0F:3D:65:41:14
                    ESSID:"rah"
                    Mode:Managed
                    Channel:6
                    Quality:60/100  Signal level:-80 dBm  Noise level:-87 dBm
                    Encryption key:on
                    Bit Rates:36 Mb/s

and iwconfig says the opposite:

Code:

lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

ra0       RT2860 Wireless  ESSID:""  Nickname:"localhost.localdomain"
          Mode:Auto  Frequency=2.412 GHz  Bit Rate=54 Mb/s   
          RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:169
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

Naturally, I can't pull the "ask both parents and then pick the one that says yes" trick. I don't have any connection even after restarting.

I'm going to uninstall and try again.

...To be continued!

Well, I have been trying to make the rt2860 driver (downloaded from rpmfusion for FC11) work. To no avail.
Amazingly, the driver used to work in FC7. But not in F11.

So, I thought I would resort to using the ndiswrapper.
To make a long story short, wpa_supplicant is able to
associate with the AP for a second or two before losing
it and the whole handshake starts all over again - this is happenning in an infinite loop, as evidenced by the
logfile, from which the tail end excerpt is:

WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
Associated with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 completed (reauth) [id=0 id_str=]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
Associated with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 completed (reauth) [id=0 id_str=]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
Associated with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 completed (reauth) [id=0 id_str=]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
Associated with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 completed (reauth) [id=0 id_str=]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
Associated with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 completed (reauth) [id=0 id_str=]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
Associated with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
CTRL-EVENT-CONNECTED - Connection to 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 completed (reauth) [id=0 id_str=]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]
WPA: Key negotiation completed with 00:1d:5a:c8:91:c1 [PTK=TKIP GTK=TKIP]

I have posted questions to fedora-list about the rt2860
and have not received a single answer.