iwconfig gave me this:

linux-fsk6:/home/abourke # iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.


So it looks like the device isn't accessible on the first boot.

If I want to use ndiswrapper. Does that mean I have to remove madwifi?

Regards
ABourke.

You do not need to remove madwifi. It might be good to blacklist both ath5k and ath_pci just in case they would try to load. I showed you before where those get put. By the way, did you try that? Did you also try blacklisting ath_pci and putting ath5k in /etc/modules? You should try both followed up by iwconfig to see if either one works before blacklisting both. Also be sure to remove both of them from /etc/modules.

Here is the explanation at Novell for using ndiswrapper: http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Ndiswrapper

ath5k is already blacklisted by default. When I went to do it I found an entry was already there.

I finally got ndiswrapper to work as wlan0. So hopefully I wont have to reboot 2 or 3 times from now on.

thomas.le
had same problem with 10 and 11 suse sabyon worked with out probs fedorer 10 worked as well suse 11.1 all systems correct on acer 5315

Well it looks like the problem is still there.
I have ndiswrapper working.
But I still have to reboot (2 or 3 times) to get it to work.

For clarity:

First few boots: Each time iwconfig shows only lo
After several times: iwconfig shows wlan0 and wireless connects.

This sounds like hardware, to me.

I would also try lspci after each boot to see if the wireless hardware is found prior to when it actually works.

I made a mistake earlier. I told you to put only the driver name, but you must also put the word blacklist like:

blacklist ath_pci
blacklist ath5k

But I think you told me that ath5k was already there; so I think you got that right. Besides, I think that if ath_pci were loading first, it would happen each and every time.

I don't know much about router setup, network setup or hardware; so I can't help beyond this I'm afraid.

Looks like the hardware is there:

linux-fsk6:/home/abourke # lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
0a:03.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413 802.11bg NIC (rev 01)
0a:09.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller
0a:09.2 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD)

hy i have a dell vostro 1510...im tring to use backtrack 3 on it...but it doesnt detect my wifi card and there r no driver for my wifi card [dell 1395 mini wificard]...pls help me get solve this problem...so that i can use wifi on Backtrack 3
harshil2386@gmail.com

Please start new thread instead of hijacking this one