Kernel & ndiswrapper trouble

Parazuce · 10-19-2006, 09:49 PM

Ok, I will start off by saying hello to everyone, this is my first post here on the forums.

Alright, I picked up a DVD version of Fedora Core 5 installation (i686), and I installed everything perfectly. My only problem is that when I tried to configure my wireless card, it wasn't on the list, and I couldn't find any similar card on the list either. So I searched google, and I got a whole bunch of things talking about ndiswrapper. Well, I tried installing it, and had a lot of trouble. So I come here for help.

I read where you have to install the source of the kernel (because ndiswrapper uses the headers), but even with that I've had a lot of trouble (it wouldn't even let me install it). I've reinstalled FC5 many times thinking that I must have done something wrong.

The first thing I tried though, was to update the kernel manually (to version 2.6.18-1.2200) by downloading the RPMs and installing them via terminal, but for some reason when I went to boot up using that kernel, nothing worked (it would come up with a screen that had the mouse cursor as an X).

The second thing I tried, was to install the source of the kernel (which is 2.6.15-1.2054). There were two files that weren't installed, so I went to install them, and I did manage to successfully install the kernel-devel, but with the kernel source rpm I wasn't so successful.

I'm guessing I'm just missing some simple detail here, but sometimes you need a second person to check it out.

I'm just really frustrated, and I came here as a last resort to see if anyone out there could possibly offer some assistance.

Also, I have searched the forums for something similar, and I did find some posts, but none were working solutions.

NOTE: I do not have wired internet, so hooking up the internet with a cord and using yum to update the kernel is NOT an option.

Thanks.

pgpython · 10-20-2006, 07:05 AM

To be honest after trying out both Mandrake and Suse I don't really trust the rpm system. It always seems to leave something out or something which shouldn't be there.

My suggestion would be to go www.kernel.org and download the latest stable kernel tarball. Extract it to /usr/src/linux. That way you'll be sure to have a kernel which has everything you want and nothing else including ndiswrapper support. Just make sure that the vanilla kenel is booting your fedora system and not the fedora and you should be fine

Parazuce · 10-20-2006, 08:38 AM

I forgot to mention that I'm a noob to Linux :P

I have the latest kernel downloaded (linux-2.6.18.tar.gz from ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kerne...-2.6.18.tar.gz), but I'm not sure what you mean by making sure the vanilla kernel is booting my system instead of fedora.

Also, after I extract everything to /usr/src/linux, what do I need to edit to make sure fedora is using that kernel (don't I have to edit a grub.config file or something?).

pgpython · 10-20-2006, 09:21 AM

First of all you need to configure the kernel in the directory /usr/src/linux type make menuconfig and select all the options you need. You type y to have it built into the kernel and M to have it built as a module which has then has to be loaded at runtime. Seeing as though your new you best have it built in. To find out what stuff you need use lspci (lists pci devices) and lsusb (lists usb devices). Once you have it configured Exit and when it asks if you want to save the config say yes. Then type make && make modules_install followed by make install. The kernel should then be in /boot probably called something like vmlinuz.

Now you can grub.conf in /boot/grub or if grub.conf doesn't exist edit menu.1st. There will be a line that says kernel=. You just change that to say kernel=/boot/vmlinuz. Then you should be able to reboot the system and install ndiswrapper

Parazuce · 10-20-2006, 01:48 PM

Ok, I successfully installed the kernel, ndiswrapper AND the drivers (wg311v2). When I run the command: ndiswrapper -l

It shows that I do have it installed, and on the right device (104c:9066). However, for some odd reason it will not recognize wlan0 (even when I added the alias into modprob.config).

So now I'm stuck, and have no idea what to do. Does anyone else have any ideas? I also read somewhere about the acx drivers, but I tried those out without any success.

pgpython · 10-20-2006, 02:38 PM

Have you got the ndiswrapper module loaded. It should be in lsmod. If it isn't there modprobe ndiswrapper will install the module into kernel space. After this you probably want ndiswrapper loaded at boot. There are two ways to do this.

1) One you install coldplug and hotplug and have then run at runtime.
2) You add ndiswrapper to /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6.

After that you just have to configure the wireless device to which there is probably a tool to do that in Fedora

Parazuce · 10-20-2006, 03:26 PM

Alright, everything you asked was already done (it loads on startup, and is on the lsmod list). There is a line in modprob.config which is:

Code:

alias wlan0 ndiswrapper

Here's some output I get using some simple commands:

Code:

command: iwconfig wlan0
output:
wlan0     No such device
------------------
command: iwconfig

output:
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth1      no wireless extensions.

There is a tool that configures wireless, but it isn't recognizing wlan0, it only recognizes my built in ethernet slots (eth0 and eth1).

When I go to add a wireless card (through the tool NetworkManager), it should show in the list ndiswrapper of detected wireless cards, but it's not.

I first thought it might be the drivers, but they are successfully applied to my card. It could still be a possibility, maybe I should look for updated ones. However, I would like some more opinions.

Thanks again.

pgpython · 10-20-2006, 07:23 PM

Can you post the output of dmesg | grep ndiswrapper. The answer almost certainly lies there

Parazuce · 10-20-2006, 08:10 PM

Here's the output:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# dmesg | grep ndiswrapper
ndiswrapper version 1.26 loaded (preempt=no,smp=yes)
ndiswrapper: driver wg311v2 (NETGEAR, Inc.,06/17/2004,6.0.5.30) loaded
ndiswrapper (add_bin_file:320): couldn't allocate memory
ndiswrapper (get_bin_file:282): loadndiswrapper failed (59904); check system log for messages from 'loadndisdriver'
ndiswrapper (miniport_init:269): couldn't initialize device: C0000001
ndiswrapper (pnp_start_device:426): Windows driver couldn't initialize the device (C0000001)
ndiswrapper (miniport_halt:326): device f7f0c400 is not initialized - not halting
ndiswrapper: device eth%d removed
ndiswrapper: probe of 0000:04:08.0 failed with error -22
usbcore: registered new driver ndiswrapper

pgpython · 10-21-2006, 04:49 AM

Unfortunately I have never come across this problem with ndiswrapper. Are you using the latest drivers from netgear with the latest ndiswrapper version? You should also check you have High Mem disabled in the kernel. You may want to check over at ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net on the forum or irc for better advice. Failing that you could always try the madwifi driver