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Old 01-31-2005, 12:35 PM   #1
Zypher
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Registered: Jan 2005
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Step-By-Step Instruction to install Linksys WPC11 Ver.4 Wireless Card


Hello Everybody

this post is my humble attempt to have a Step-By-Step guide for the installation of Linksys WPC11 Ver.4 Wireless card. This guide is for Mandrake 10.1 release as of January 31st. 2005. Linux version: 2.6.8.1-12mdk

There are several posts out there but most of them seem to skip the ease of explanation expecially for a newbie. (Note: This might be too much info. post for the Guru's ... )

Step 1: Finding out if you have the ndiswrapper installed

This could be a very simple thing. Open the "Terminal"..(the command line) by clicking on the little "Black Terminal Icon with a cursor" in Taskbar.

Then once the Terminal is Open, type: su -l
This will prompt you for the "root" password. Enter the root password and hit enter.

Then type: ndiswrapper --help
If ndiswrapper is not installed it will say so immediately at the prompt.

OR:

Simply Type: rpm -q ndis

This will tell you if you have ndiswrapper installed or not.

You could also use: rpm -qa | grep ndis
This should tell you the precise name of the ndiswrapper RPM package on your system. Do not worry if you have version ndiswrapper-0.9-1mdk installed. You are in good shape and can simple skip the Next Step

If ndiswrapper is already installed with a different version type:
rpm -e <packagename> to erase it.


Step 2: Installing the ndiswrapper

There are several ways of doing this and lots of documentation available BUT let's try the simplest approach first to install the ndiswrapper.

Ok..here we go....Remember that the Mandrake 10.1 release downloaded on or around January 31st 2005 contained the following version of ndiswrapper on it's CD 3.

Version was: ndiswrapper-0.9-1mdk

This version seems to work PERFECTLY with the Linksys WPC11 ver.4 wireless card.

Here's what you need to do:

At the command line type: urpmi ndiswrapper

This will prompt for the CD to be installed and within a minute it will install the ndiswrapper.
To check if it is installed simply type:

This: ndiswrapper --help

OR:

This: rpm -qa | grep ndis


Step 3: Download the WPC11 Driver

Now download the drivers for the WPC11, from their official site or (in case it moves) from this server. ftp site: 152.104.125.40/cn/wlan/rtl8180l/ndis5x-8180(173).zip

Then unzip the driver in whatever directory you prefer by just "right-click" on the zip file and choosing "extract here"

Step 4: Installing the Driver

Use the following command. REMEMBER THE PATH WHERE YOU EXTRACTED THE ZIP FILE AND TYPE THAT CORRECTLY TOO.

Simply Type: ndiswrapper -i NET8180.INF

OR

Simply Type: ndiswrapper -i /path to the INF file/NET8180.INF
example: ndiswrapper -i /home/admin/NET8180.INF

Remember to have your Wireless Card plugged in:
Check it installed OK..Type: ndiswrapper -l

This should produce output similar to following:

Installed ndis drivers:
net8180 hardware present

Step 5: Creating the ifcfg-wlan0 file

This is very simple. Click on the "Star Icon" for the Start Menu then click on:
Run Command --> Options -->Run As a Different User-->Type username as "root" and then the "root passowrd" ---->In the Command Type:Kwrite--->Then Click "Run"

This should open Kwrite with "root" access. In the Kwrite Screen Type The following Values:

DEVICE=wlan0
BOOTPROTO=dhcp
ONBOOT=no

That's it. Now do as "Save As" to save this file in the following Location: /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
Name the file as: ifcfg-wlan0

Close everything...You are done here with the main part


Step 6: Setting Up the Wireless Network Connection

Remember, there are several ways of doing this, but what I have realized that your Wireless card might not work if some packages are not installed. As a result, we follow the final step:

Click on the "Star Icon" for the Start Menu then click on: System -->Configuration-->Configure Your Computer-->Network & Internet---->New Connection---->Wilreless---->Choose wlan0--->Automatic IP----> choose Track Network card id and Start at boot

For the following I do not remember the exact sequence in which the Wizard aska the question...But following are the answers to the questions/settings:

-->Then in the computer name: Choose any name you like for your computer
--> Then the Wizard will say that you can enter "Gateway Ip Address" (Note:read everything carefully). Type your Gateway IP addres here. It is usually something like 192.168.something.something
You can find that using ipconfig /all on a windows machine

-->The the Wizard will ask for some other stuff...You DO NOT have to enter any of that. You Don't need it (I think ....)

Just Click "Next"

Then finally the wizard will say that it needs to install packages. This could be some DHCP stuff. Put the CD in and the Wizard will do it's thing. After everything is complete It will say that You might wanna restart .

So simply Restart...and You should be Surfing with fun

Thanks everybody...and Have a GREAT day

Last edited by Zypher; 01-31-2005 at 12:44 PM.
 
Old 02-03-2005, 05:56 AM   #2
musicman_ace
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Registered: May 2001
Location: Indiana
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You might want to submit this on the "Answers" page or post it under the HCL entry of that NIC
 
Old 04-13-2005, 12:09 AM   #3
Iridesce
Member
 
Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Olympia, WA
Distribution: Mepis 3.3 Rocks / Mandrake 10.0 Official / Windows 98SE / Windows XP
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Mandrake 10.1 - WP11v4 - ndiswrapper

Greetings,

Thanks for the post - by the number of reads and lack of other replies, I can only surmise that others did not run into the obstacle I did.

Everything went fine until I got to:

" Click on the "Star Icon" for the Start Menu then click on: System -->Configuration-->Configure Your Computer-->Network & Internet---->New Connection---->Wilreless "

At which point the only option I have is to manually load a driver ....

OK, got past that with mikevicious' post ( Thanks Mike! ) - now it does show wlan0
( http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=311113 )
I think step 14
14. /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -m
got it working.

Now I am able to get wlan0 up, but still no connection with router ... ping returns 'Destination host unreachable'

It should be noted that I have a WEP enabled network and that the WEP key is included in the output of iwconfig wlan0

iwconfig wlan0 scan returns the AP info

When I attempt to change the values in iwconfig for essid and ap, they don''t change ... I am thinking that if I could change that, we might have a connection ....

That's going to be it for the morning ... I do have to go to work tomorrow ...

So, I am stuck - any ideas ???

Other posts asked for data - below is mine:

lscpi returns ( among others )
06.000.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8180L 802.11b MAC (rev 20 )

modprobe ndiswrapper returns without error


Thanks for the how-to and hopefully the answer to my question

Michael

Last edited by Iridesce; 04-13-2005 at 02:13 AM.
 
Old 04-15-2005, 04:35 AM   #4
Iridesce
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Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Olympia, WA
Distribution: Mepis 3.3 Rocks / Mandrake 10.0 Official / Windows 98SE / Windows XP
Posts: 48

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Pass

Greetings all,

There are times ( especially in hardware compatibility issues like these ) when it has become easier ( though less satisfying ) to just exchange hardware. For a mid forties guy, with a career, a home, a family, linux is an enthusiastic hobby and I have found that ( after a couple weeks of searching boards, reconfiguring again and again ) sometimes it is just easier to give $40 to pcconnection and resolve the issue.

For anyone contemplating the purchase of a wireless card ( or just stuck like I am ) - the Proxim / Orinoco Gold card is the answer. Combined with the support Proxim gives the linux community in terms of drivers and the gods ( I am not worthy, I am not worthy .... ) of code that contribute to the coding community, even a longterm linux amateur like me can get a wireless client up on an aging notebook.

Thanks to all who make LQ work and to all who ask, search and answer here.

Enjoy,

Michael
 
Old 05-08-2005, 10:12 AM   #5
mrmcctt
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Registered: Oct 2004
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Thumbs up This really helped!!!

Thank you for taking the time to write this out Zypher. This is just what I needed to get my wireless (WPC11 ver.4 Linksys card) working. I had been struggling to get this card working and had even read somewhere that I would not be able to get WPA security working.

Now, thanks to this, I have gotten my card online and I'm using WPA security.
 
Old 07-24-2005, 04:40 PM   #6
fhferret
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Jul 2005
Posts: 1

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This is a great post! I'm getting another error when i run ndiswrapper -l. The error is net8180 hardware NOT present. The Linksys wireless card is in and lit up and also shows up under the system config utiliy /hardware as : Dscription: ?RTL8180 Realtek RTL8180 Wireless LAN (Mini-)PCI NIC. What am i doing wrong?? Thanks in advance for your help.

********* FIXED *************

I was viewing another post by "AM1SHFURN1TURE" and this worked!!!

"I had a problem similar to that but on a debian system: modprobe ndiswrapper seemed to work but ndiswrapper -l showed only that the driver was installed - but no hardware present. I will tell you what I did because it might be of use to you.

I basically did a 'refresh' of everything. (shown here in sequence)
ndiswrapper -e <your driver>
rmmod ndiswrapper
ndiswrapper -i <the INF file of your driver in the appropriate location>
depmod -a
modprobe ndiswrapper

You may find this helpful, just thought I would add my two cents in.
Afterwards 'modprobe ndiswrapper' should be able to do the trick, so you can have that in a script somewhere to be automated at boot. "

Last edited by fhferret; 07-25-2005 at 01:14 AM.
 
Old 08-16-2005, 11:04 PM   #7
betapops
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Registered: Sep 2004
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nice post, i am new to linux and am trying to install the linksys wpc11 on a toshiba techra 8100 running f4. so far its a no go. before i dive to far into this will this work with f4? if not, could you point me in the right direction?
 
Old 02-08-2006, 10:07 AM   #8
LeetChris
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Registered: Feb 2006
Location: Ohio
Distribution: Fedora Core 6
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First off let me say I am newbie to Linux,Ive been having problems getting my wireless setup up untill i found this post which really help but im gettting stuck when it comes to installing the Driver I unzip it to my Desktop and when i opend it I do not see a inf file? is there something i'm doing wrong so any help would be greatly apperaciate
 
Old 08-12-2009, 10:43 AM   #9
linuxgeeko
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 1

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Everything went fine... until step 6

Thank you for your detailed post, it's really helpful for any newbies trying hard to set up a linksys WPC11 wireless card.
Everything went perfect until I got to step 6, as Iridesce already mentioned. I managed to get "wlan0" displayed as a choice in the "New Connection" wizard, but I'm stuck at this point, with no wireless network detected. Something bizzare I noticed, when running the wizard, is that it also offered me the choice "wlan0:9:", is this maybe linked to the ndiswtraper version I used (I installed version ndiswrapper-0.9-1mdk as advised) or may I need to install the kernel sources package ?
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for the post.
 
  


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