will wireless work with Linux

EricTRA · 10-22-2009, 03:28 AM

Hi,

I noticed that too when I was configuring my NIC on Ubuntu. It means that the blacklisted the driver bcm43xx and replaced it with b43 and ssb. That setup however didn't work for me on my computer. So I removed and blacklisted them also. This way I was sure that only the driver used by ndiswrapper would be used without conflicting with any already installed drivers.

Kind regards,

Eric

joseph2020 · 10-27-2009, 02:10 AM

EricTRA, Thank you for your response.

I have tried 3 different .inf files both from Compaq and linksys. Nothing is working so far and I am running out of patience. I think I will wait until Ububtu v9.1 comes out in the next few days and hope the drivers are included. Thanks again for all your assistance.

Hangdog42 · 10-27-2009, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Hangdog42: 3 questions I would appreciate if you could answer --> 1) How do I install the firmware I need? 2) Where do I find it? 3) Would using Ndiswrapper be easier?

First off, sorry that I seem to have dropped off this thread. I missed your questions. Anyway, this page does have links to firmware packages and the repository they mention has current firmware packages. As for ndiswrapper being easier, it certainly used to be, but I'm not so sure anymore. The b43 driver has come a long way and the kernel devs have purposely broken ndiswrapper on at least one occasion. And as you've seen, finding the right Windows driver can be a pain. By the way, the next Ubuntu will have the same problem you're seeing here. Broadcom's licensing prevents Ubuntu from including either the firmware needed to make b43 work or a functional Windows driver so ndiswrapper can work.

EricTRA · 10-27-2009, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joseph2020

EricTRA, Thank you for your response.

I have tried 3 different .inf files both from Compaq and linksys. Nothing is working so far and I am running out of patience. I think I will wait until Ububtu v9.1 comes out in the next few days and hope the drivers are included. Thanks again for all your assistance.

Did your remove all the previous drivers before using the ndiswrapper? And also blacklist them so that they don't load on next reboot?

Kind regards,

Eric

joseph2020 · 10-29-2009, 02:46 AM

EricTRA, Thanks much for your continuing assistance.

I am so close now...But just now quite there yet. I am including some output when I followed the instructions you sent me.

root@evo:/home/joe/wireless# ndiswrapper -l

Code:

lsbcmnds : driver installed
	device (14E4:4318) present (alternate driver: ssb)

I have ssb blaclisted I don't understand why it's being listed as alternate. see below end of my blacklist file in /etc/modprobe.d:

Code:

# replaced by b43 and ssb.
blacklist bcm43xx
blacklist b43
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist ssb

here are the driver files from the original CD and the card website.

Code:

root@evo:/home/joe/wireless# ls
bcmwl5.sys  Lsbcmnds.inf

Here is where I started thinking something was wrong:

Code:

root@evo:/home/joe# dmesg | grep ndiswrapper
[   38.833791] ndiswrapper version 1.53 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[   40.633422] ndiswrapper (load_wrap_driver:108): couldn't load driver lsbcmnds; check system log for messages from 'loadndisdriver'
[   40.633603] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper

And:

Code:

root@evo:/home/joe# iwconfig
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

pan0      no wireless extensions.

ppp0      no wireless extensions

[CODE]

That is where I am at ths time. Any help or suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks again.

joseph2020 · 10-29-2009, 02:55 AM

Hangdog42, thanks for your reply

joseph2020 · 10-30-2009, 11:39 PM

Thanks to all who tried to help. I tried Mepis and it worked first time with no configuring anything...it just works. Goodbye Ubuntu. Problem is solved. End of topic.

Hangdog42 · 10-31-2009, 07:19 AM

Could I ask a favor? Would you post the output of lsmod from your Mepis install? I'm curious as to what Mepis is doing that Ubuntu isn't.