Well, what do I do if all the Ndiswrapper files are deleted (such as "ndiswrapper.ko")? I wanted to get rid of the obsolete Ndiswrapper 0.8, so I removed the files, which I thought was what Sourceforge said I should do. Now I have installed an RPM for Ndiswrapper 1.2, but it apparently has not reinstalled the lost files as I thought it would. I'd rather not reinstall Mandrake, but that is the only way I know how to get Ndiswrapper back.

I share your feelings about mobile phones, but I use them only when I need them.
PLC stands for Power Line Communications: it's a technology that uses regular low-tension power lines to transmit data. You plug your computer to a regular outlet, wherever you have one, through an adapter, and there you are!. You can use your pc or laptop anywhere in the house, at the job, etc, etc.

Oh,
I forgot to mention that several distro come with ndiswrapper pre-installed. I think Mephis has ndiswrapper already loaded and even has some drivers installed for certain cards. I think Ubuntoo also comes with ndiswrapper loaded. I might be wrong with Ubuntoo. So anyone having trouble loading ndiswrapper can install Mephis and its already loaded for you.

That's what each distro should do to make wireless easier. Mandrake almost does that. You have to load ndiswrapper from Mandrake Control Center but their version is very easy to install.

I tried Mephis and I like the rpm system more (since I'm a newbie) so I use Mandrake. But I believe Mephis loads ndiswrapper by default.

I have 3 computers (2 desktops and a laptop). I have 4 different wireless cards. All worked the first time with Mandriva version of ndiswrapper. If it is on the list of ndiswrapper supported cards then it usually will work.

Hope this helps

I know this is a little off of the subject, but I just could not help but to be reminded of a good movie that I once saw,

Emperor of the North !
Starring: "Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine
Keith Carridine & Vic Tayback

If you haven´t seen it, and can find it, I would highly recommend watching this movie.

As for your difficulties in installing this to your satisfaction, I can really sympathize with that. I have been trying for YEARS to get LINUX installed at my house with a working GUI that I am comfortable with... without a whole lot of success until I tried Mandrake 10.1. Now I am totally hooked. I hope these bad experiences do not sour you completely on LINUX/open source.... I cannot stop being amazed at how much really COOL stuff is out there now that I have a nice GUI running

huh...

when I read the thread name i thought you were refering to the name change

Mandrake-----> Mandriva

[QUOTE]Originally posted by charlescpc
[B]What version of Mandriva were you using? I have had a lot of luck with 10.1 and 10.2 official .

>>>snip

Mandriva come with ndiswrapper that you can install. Just go into Mandriva Control Center and go to the software part and install the software. This is really the only way to go unless you are a linux guru. With the version that comes with Mandrive you don't have to install the kernel source and edit any files. Here are the easy steps I did to install the Network cards. It's the easiest way I have found.

1) Install the software from Mandrake Control Center.
2) Copy the windows drivers to a folder .
3) Then go into terminal as root. Change to the folder with the windows drivers. Type in "ndiswrapper -i xxxxxx.inf" <= windows driver
4) Type in "modprobe ndiswrapper" to load ndiswrapper.
5) type in modprobe "ndiswrapper -m" to make the alias.

This should be type in modprobe "ndiswrapper -n to make the alias (not -m)

6) then edit /etc/modprobe.preload and add the line "ndiswrapper" to load it at startup.
7) Go into mandrake control center and add the network connection. You wireless card should be there to choose from. Then add encryption if needed etc.


Charles, with the exception of the one line I changed above your instructions worked great. I now have wireless working for the first time ever on my HP Omnibook 4150. Never thought I would see this day. It is great!

Thank you so very much for your clear instructions.

Doug in Kentucky

What verion of Mandrake were you using?
The download versions specifically state during install that they may not support some ATI or NVidia stuff nor some ADSL modems. I have loaded Mandrake 10.0 onto 4 different PCs and it found all the hardware every time, because I CHECKED the compatibility BEFORE installation.

Windows WAS NOT compatible with lots of stuff when first deployed.

Most any other industries use THEIR OWN MONEY initially to do "in house "research of their product BEFORE releasing it to the public. Examples are the pharmaceutical, aviation and auto industries.
Beginning with Windows 3.1, Bill Gates released a defective product and CHARGED the end user to "test out " his little OS. Each release after that was a "bugfix" of a previously released defective product that users spent billions of dollars on. Microsoft SHOULD HAVE PAID US to do their research for them. MS had billions and billions of OUR dollars to do concentrated research to finally produce Wxp ( a decent OS except for security)...........AFTER 20 years !!!!

Linux was basically developed OVER THE INTERNET for FREE!!! ......by people who have no access to the kind of resources that MS had. OF COURSE it's going to take time

Have you forgotten how each version of MS Works was incompatible with the last?
How about that little backup utility that never really worked right and was incompatible from Wme to W2000.
How about the incompatible file systems.
Why was system restore in , then out, then in again?
Why are MS Outlook .pst files incompatible between Office 2000 and Office 2003?
If XPis "perfect", why is Wxp SP2 such a gigantic file? Does it have MS Office on it?....for free? NO........ it''s a BIG GIGANTIC BUG FIX!!
there are dozens of other examples.

Wxp - I hooked up DSL last month, firewall-on, spybot-on, zonealarm - on, SBC antivirus -on .........surfed for 2 weeks and the Wxp partition became useless. I'm still surfing with Mozilla on my linux partition. I'm going to finally take all my files off the Wxp partition and delete the LAN - DSL connection in Windows and let the kids use it for games

Linux - OS has never locked up,
Used W98, me for about 3 years -Constant lockups of OS and windows manager, W2000 - 1 lockup, Wxp - several lockups before DSL hookup; dozens after DSL hookup.

Use xp to get your stuff done and put linux on a little Pll or Plll with 128mb RAM and spend some time learning like you had to with Windows.

Cheers

douginky
Glad you finally got your wireless working!
I'm Trying to get the word out to use Mandriva's version on ndiswrapper. It's so much easier. I never would have gotten it going using the download version.

I haven't found a card yet (that is listed in ndiswrapper list of supported cards)that wouldn't install in about 3 minutes.

Like I said glad it worked for you. Pass on the info.

Charlie

I didn't know my version earlier, but I just found out...it is Mandrake 10.1.

At this point, I am not even seriously trying to use the internet in Linux, because of Ndiswrapper's and Linux's increasingly bizarre behavior and because, evidently, no one at LQ has any idea what my system log's error messages mean. I have given up in disgust, and concluded that the one time I got the connection running was a fluke and that all I can use Mandrake for is word processing. Just a few days ago, the LINK light on my wireless adapter came on, indicating that the connection had mysteriously started working. I ran Konqueror, but it still could not load any websites. So the link was active, but it wasn't. [sigh]

you purchase your equipment at? Did you get it firsthand? It seems like someone might be pulling your leg if you had this up and running before. It seems like your post has already helped someone else out.

As for the person that is experiencing so many problems with XP, the way I usually look at it is, while it is EASY to blame all potentially unknown problems on some sort of problem with that, I try to keep in mind that part of the reason that there are so many XP EXPLOITS has to do with the fact that XXX% of people are using XP. If that same percentage of people were using YOUR particular LINUX distro, it would be JUST as bad there. Believe me. There are just as many potential holes in LINUX as whatever you are having probs w/, I just try to enjoy the hassle free ride while it lasts...

Yes, it was firsthand equipment.."Walmart" may be an obnoxious store, but it doesn't sell junk.

I would be disappointed if someone is pulling my leg...people at LQ didn't appear to be jerks.

Then Walmart pulled your leg!

Never ever I've had card problems (only in Suse 9.2 pro) that could not be solved by the use of the right driver, usually furnished by the distro itself (or packman, guru, thac's and so on), and on quite different makes of desktops, laptops, ppc. i386, etc., etc.

Keep trying and follow LQ advices
(unless you are on the Redmond payroll..)

Hmmm, Mostly what I do is install and configure linux workstations and servers. I've installed Mandrake 9.2, 10.0, 10.1, Mandriva LE2005 as well as Suse 9.1, 9.2 and 9.3. Also Redhat 6.x, 7.x, 9.x. I've probably installed it on a few dozen different platforms from smp p4's with 5 disk hardware managed raids to lowend pc's from about 10 different vendors and laptops (delll, panasonic and compaq). I've never had a problem installing Linux and believe me when I started this job I knew a little about Linux and had installed it a couple times but hadn't used it for anything in the real world. So this job has been a learning experience for me. I had some unix admin experience so I wasn't a complete stranger to the world but this was a shocker it the power and configurability of linux compared to UNIX or Windows is sometimes a bit overwhelming.

As far as Mandrake installs are concerned do the text based install and look at the log files and see what package is being installed when your install process goes south. That should tell you what the problem is. Lord knows I've had my problems with various platforms but I've always been able to work through them. I 've had good success using google and this board to get my questions answered.

M. Lacy
Western Tool Supply.

Mandriva needs support from the community in order to put out a good distro. If you just snatch up the free download its going to be limited to certain hardware configurations.I have tried many other distro's but have ended up going back to Mandriva time and time again.I had problems getting my card working too back in 10.0 I tried the linuxant driverloader its 20.00 per card but it was a one time fee. Ndiswrapper has gotten better since then but it is still a pain to get set up.GNU/Linux no matter which distro you use is not going to be like Windows Preschool edition (XP). So Don't expect a miracle from any of the other distro's.