Debian + ndiswrapper = Hair Loss!!

overbored · 09-05-2004, 05:28 PM

I used the netinst ISO to install Debian Sarge/Testing (2.4 kernel) onto my Dell D600 Latitude laptop, which has an Intel Pro Wireless 2200BG. I need to get wireless working so I opted for ndiswrapper instead of ipw2200 because I've been told the Linux drivers are still in beta and have minimal functionality (whatever that means). Anyway, though I've been using Debian for a while, I've never built my own kernel before, and I may be doing something wrong (this is what I've picked up from Googling/IRC):

Code:

# add the ndiswrapper repository
echo 'deb ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net ./' >> sources.list
apt-get update

# get some important stuff first
apt-get install build-essentials bin86 kernel-package module-init-tools libncurses-dev debhelper

# this is for its config file
apt-get install kernel-image-2.6.7-1-686

apt-get install kernel-source-2.6.8 ndiswrapper-source

cd /usr/src
tar xjf kernel*bz2
tar xzf ndis*gz

# get a normal config
cd kernel-source-2.6.8
cp -a /boot/config*2.6.8* .config

# <no idea what i'm doing>
make oldconfig
make-kpkg kernel_image modules_image
cd ..
mv /lib/modules/2.6.8 /lib/modules/2.6.8.old
# </no idea what i'm doing>

dpkg -i kernel-image*deb
# now i see a vmlinuz-2.6.8... in my /boot and I can select it from GRUB

# now for ndiswrapper
cd modules
dpkg -i ndis*deb

The last command is where I get stuck. It says I need a dependency called ndiswrapper-utils-0.10-1:

Code:

Selecting previously deselected package ndiswrapper-modules.
(Reading database ... 18724 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking ndiswrapper-modules (from ndiswrapper-modules_0.10-1-2.6.8_i386.deb) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of ndiswrapper-modules:
 ndiswrapper-modules depends on ndiswrapper-utils-0.10-1; however:
  Package ndiswrapper-utils-0.10-1 is not installed.
dpkg: error processing ndiswrapper-modules (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Errors were encountered while processing:
 ndiswrapper-modules

I couldn't find any ndiswrapper-utils packages in apt-cache. Now, surely I'm not the first person who has tried to use Debian + ndiswrapper on a laptop. But I don't find anything when I Google for 'ndiswrapper-modules depends on ndiswrapper-utils-0.10-1'. Other query attempts return unrelated info.

Furthermore, if I try to boot into my new 2.6.8 kernel, I get a kernel panic (starting with 'VFS:') about being unable to mount the root file system. I don't know if this is related at all.

Please help, don't force me down the Windows path! Thanks!

m_yates · 09-05-2004, 09:59 PM

First of all, the kernel panic is likely because you don't have an initrd for the kernel. I wrote a list of steps I took to upgrade from kernel 2.4.26 to kernel 2.6.7 here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=206992

If you follow those steps, you should be able to install ndiswrapper from the source here: http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...ease_id=262015

You don't need to install the Debian source package. After you download the source, unpack it and install it:

Code:

tar -zxvf ndiswrapper-0.10.tar.gz
cd ndiswrapper-0.10
make clean
make
make install

You need to make sure that you have wireless-tools installed:

Code:

apt-get install wireless-tools

Then run:

Code:

ndiswrapper -i INFfile

wher INFfile is the INF file needed for your model wireless card. You can look here to find out which one you need:http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/List Once you have done that, you can continue to configure your card as described here: http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/w...elessCardSetup You should add "ndiswrapper" to /etc/modules to make sure it is installed at boot. When your computer boots up, you can establish a connection with the command:

Code:

dhclient wlan0

I have a Microsoft MN-720 802.11g card (on sale for $15 at CompUSA - otherwise I avoid Microsoft

) and was able to set it up following what I said above.

Good luck! Hope that helps.

overbored · 09-07-2004, 10:12 PM

Thanks for the tip on the kernel panic.

How do I get the INF file from the setup.exe on the cards list? Or do I just feed ndiswrapper the whole .exe? I extracted as much as I could from the .exe but I found no .inf file in there, only a .msi file, and I don't know how to extract that. I also tried giving ndiswrapper the .exe. I highly doubt that worked. ndiswrapper doesn't complain about bad INF files (I gave it some garbage), and ndiswrapper -l says "hardware NOT present".

By the way, I am also trying ipw2200.sf.net drivers. Anything to get wireless going!!

I have downloaded the ipw2200 drivers and firmware and followed the instructions in INSTALL (all I did was install wireless-tools, make, make install, and copied the firmware files into the hotplug directory). Now when I type 'iwconfig' I can see various details for eth1, and I can also choose a WLAN using iwlist.

Now I just be able to use eth1 somehow. I tried "ifup eth1" but that just gave me "Ignoring unknown interface eth1=eth1". Do I need to change something in /etc/network/interfaces? I'm not sure how, I couldn't find anything on this.

But I was also able to see eth1 show up in ifconfig once (reporting the correct mac address)...I have no idea what I did, and I didn't realize its significance until now, since I've never been able to get it back.

Can anybody help? Thanks!

m_yates · 09-08-2004, 08:33 AM

Here is a solution I think: Download this driver: ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/pub/Vaio/WLA...t_80129000.exe

Then, make sure you have "unzip" installed and extract it:

Code:

apt-get install unzip
unzip WLD_int_80129000.exe

This will create a directory called "WLAN_8.0.12.9000" and inside that directory is the file "w22n51.INF" that you can use with ndiswrapper as described above.

overbored · 09-08-2004, 03:45 PM

Thanks, but the IPW2200 drivers seem to be working with random success now...that's the closest I've gotten to getting online. After adding 'iface eth1 inet dhcp' to /etc/network/interfaces, the I can start to get online sometimes. However, there are lots of problems, so I'm probably doing somethin wrong. (I know that the IPW2200 drivers are labeled as 'beta' but the devs claim that the basic functionality should work.)

The first time I tried, I was able to get online (I used 'iwlist eth1 scan' to find all the WLANs and 'iwconfig eth1 essid MyWLAN key MyKey' to connect to it and 'ifup eth1' to bring up eth1), but I was put on a different subnet than my LAN (192.168.1.* instead of 192.168.2.*....this doesn't happen in Windows).

The second time, I ran the exact same commands but it didn't work. I checked 'iwconfig' which reported stuff like 'Access Point: 00:00:00...'

The third time, I ran 'iwconfig eth0' but that failed miserably. I got about two screenfuls of error messages:

Code:

$ iwconfig eth1 essid MyWLAN key MyKey
ipw2200: Start IPW Error Log Dump:
ipw2200: ERROR_SYSASSERT 55944422 0x0001c0e8  0x0000be3c  0x000002f4  0x00fd0a54  0x0000038b
ipw2200: ERROR_DMA_STATUS 55944426 0x000...
ipw2200: ERROR_DMA_STATUS 55944430 0x000...
...
(snip)
...
ipw2200: Fatal error
ipw2200: Start IPW Error Log Dump:
...
(snip)
...
ipw2200: failed to send ASSOCIATE command
eth1: Setting MAC to 00:0e:...
ipw2200: Calibration

Does anybody have the slightest idea what's going on? I'm so close! Yet so far....

HappyTux · 09-08-2004, 06:51 PM

You may want to try the debian-user@lists.debian.org mailing list there may be someone there who has seen the error before. Be sure to ask for a CC if you do not subscribe or you can always search the archives at http://lists.debian.org for replies, you can subscribe there as well but be aware if you do it is a high volume list (sometimes 200+ posts a day) plus the spambots seem to harvest the list for address so you may want to sign up for a webmail throw away address somewhere almost all my spam comes from it and other Debian lists.