Wireless wlan0/ndiswrapper problem
 

I have knoppix, and the realtek net8185.inf driver for my Gateway MX3230 Notebook. I used ndiswrapper to install the inf, and it states: net8185 driver present, hardware present. So far, so good. When I type modprobe ndiswrapper, it says FATAL: Error inserting ndiswrapper (/lib/modules/2.6.17/misc/ndiswrapper.ko): Invalid arguement. When I type: ifconfig, only lo shows up, (the local loopback). When I type ifconfig wlan0 up, it says that the there is no such device. Also, iwconfig shows eth0, lo, and sit0, all decribed as "no wireless extensions." Any help to get my wireless working, or at least being detected, would be great.

Many thanks in advance,
Glj12

By the by, the chipset maker is Realtek, and it is 8185.

What does lspci show for your NIC? I'm not familiar with the chipset used for the Realtek network cards in the Gateway MX3230.

Take your net8185.inf file *AND* the .sys file(s) that you also have and organize it.
Go to your home directory, then go to your user directory from there. Now create a folder called drivers and put those files in there. Now type in your terminal:
1. cd /home/yourusernamehere/drivers
2. ndiswrapper -L
3. ndiswrapper -e (-e is remove, you want to remove, all of your drivers that are listed)
4. ndiswrapper -L

Now you shouldnt have any drivers installed.... because you removed them which is good because you wont have anything getting in your way I dont think.
Now in your terminal again type:

1. ndiswrapper -i net8185.inf
2. ndiswrapper -l (if it says driver present, hardware present... this is good)
3. ndiswrapper -m

Now reboot your computer and you can configure your internet.

When you reboot your computer type in ifconfig wlan0 up.
This prob should make sure you got it all setup properly. Type iwconfig to see if your wireless is listed there if you have any troubles.

I did exactly as you had said, and when I typed ifconfig wlan0 up, it said: wlan0: ERROR while getting interface flags: No such device. Also, under iwconfig, it shows lo, eth0, and sit0, all stating no wireless extensions. I tried ifconfig eth0 up, and sit0 up. No luck. Ideas?

I did that, and it doesn't say anything about the NIC that I haven't already stated. Except that it gave the full company name of Realtek Semiconductor, and that it is an "unknown device."

Don't know which version of knoppix you have but if you go to the knoppix forum lots of people report same problem wth 5.0.1 and ndiswrapper. If it's h/d install suppose you could compile your own.

I have the latest knoppix version... Any actual HELP would be appreciated.

Sorry for appearing hostile, but I mean, I just really need some help. I've tried multiple versions of ndiswrapper, knoppix, and kanotix. I really need some help with this, and I am exhausted.

Ok let's get interactive here I'll ask some questions and give you some answers..... First off what does it say when you type:
ndiswrapper -l

Also.... Where it says net8185 does it say driver present, hardware present.

When I type ndiswrapper -l, as stated in my first post, it says: net8185 driver present, hardware present.

You won't get anywhere until you get past that error. Irrespective of those other commands (ndiswrapper -i, -l, -m), you have no driver module loaded. The card won't work without a driver.

Try reinstalling ndiswrapper, compiling from source or moving to a different version. Check the output of dmesg for more clues.

Wasn't clear in previous post, ndiswrapper is broken in knoppix 5.0.1 so I wouldn't waste your time trying to fix it. Regarding kanotix, first off give us the output of lspci -v and lspci -n just to confirm chipset.

Its alright, I got Kubuntu, and the wireless started working WITHOUT me doing anything. Cool eh? Alright, thanks for the attempt guys.

Ndiswrapper Woes
 

You could have stuck it out and tried this:

Uninstall ndiswrapprer

locate /misc/ndiswrapper.ko (or any ndiswrapper.ko file) and remove it from your system.

Build ndiswrapper from source

On SUSE 10.1 I had the same problem (and same errors) until I followed these steps. Then again I was using Broadcomm drivers...

Deion "Mule" Christopher

Nope, done that before, twice. Once on Knoppix, and once on Kanotix. Nice try though.

Ndiswrapper Woes - The Saga Continues...
 

Sorry to hear that you have tried everything and still can't get it to work...

After receiving the driver and hardware present message, are you sure you ran ndiswrapper -m? Also, did you restart your network services? Finally, did you make darn sure your WIFI info was correctly entered for your AP?

For you SUSE people: I also found that in order to get my Broadcomm card to work, I had to go into Yast/Network Devices/Network Card and configure the card from there. I also tested and could only get it to work by using "Traditional Method With Ifup" rather than using "Network Controlled With Network Manager."

Hope this helps those who haven't tried everything yet...

Deion "Mule" Christopher