Hi guys, my friend has a compaq nx9005 laptop whose combo drive broke down and he wanted to install linux.Since his laptop is a bit old i installed ubuntu 8.04 on it using the alternative install method from hard drive.It installed and runs ok,but it won't detect my friend's usb wifi card(TP-Link TL-WN723N).He only has a wifi connection and so do i.Ubuntu 8.04 doesn't have a "install windows wireless driver" option.How do i fix this.
Thanks in advance.

Ubuntu 8.04 was released in 2008 and is no longer supported.

Have you tried the current Ubuntu 11.04 release? According to a quick search of UbuntuForums.org, it has built-in support for your card: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1760629

If the new Unity interface is too heavy for the old laptop, you can try Xubuntu 11.04 or Lubuntu 11.04, which have "lightweight" user interfaces.

Good luck!

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Hi snowpine,thanks for the reply.I just had the ubuntu 8.04 image on my hard disk and i thought what the hell i am gona install it.
My friend told me that he did tried Ubuntu 11.04 but it was TOO heavy for his laptop.
I couldn't find any alternative install images for lubuntu 11.04 which i need to install it from the hard disk since his combo drive is broken.But i did find xubuntu 11.04 alternative image.Downloading it right now.Will post the results as soon as i install it.

I'd install Debian 6 (Squeeze) it isn't a resource hog and will outperform Ubuntu 8.04 and 10.04 which was the last LTS release. 11.04 wont run on my old Acer yet Debian will so it is worthwhile considering it if you want a rock solid, stable, and supported system.

thanks for the suggestion k3lt01,but can Debian 6 (Squeeze) be installed from a iso image on the hard disk(the ubuntu can be)because the combo drive is broken and this laptop won't boot from a usb.

I usually recommend Lubuntu for netbooks as the latest changes to the main Ubuntu release make it very bulky. Having said that, I use Crunchbang which works well for me but may be a little too confusing for anyone with no previous Linux experience.

Do we know for a fact that TP-Link TL-WN723N will work with Debian Squeeze or CrunchBang? If the post I linked to in #2 is accurate, that card requires kernel 2.6.38 or newer. Squeeze (and distros based on it, like CrunchBang) only has 2.6.32.

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If you do a netinst you can pull in kernel 3 if you want.

@Stranger, it wont boot from a usb and the combo drive is broken. Is the machine worth working with? I have never seen Ubuntu install from an iso already on the hdd and I don't know if Debian can but apparently GRML can and it is based on Debian.

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Tricky to do a netinstall without a working internet connection, no? Much easier to just install *buntu 11.04 and be done with it.

(And I say this as a Debian/CrunchBang user myself. )

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Post 1 says he has a wifi connection.

If the machine is old as is indicated by the lack of being able to boot off USB then I really doubt many *buntu's would work with it easily or at least without a bit of work after the first boot and that is IF ureadahead doesn't cripple the machine on its first boot. Then you have things like Plymouth which still doesn't work with a few video cards. Without knowing the hardware it is very hard to give advice that won't have the OP going around in circles chasing his own tail.

@stranger, on the CD there should be a pool folder and in it, you'll have to look around a bit, there should be ndiswrapper-common and ndiswrapper-utils1.9 or something like that. Find them and install them. If you can get that done I'll post instructions on how install the windows drivers. I have to go to work now, I'm late.

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Fortunately it is very easy to Google "Ubuntu hardware requirements" "Lubuntu hardware requirements" "Debian hardware requirements" etc.

Hi guys,i just logged in.@k3lt01.my friend only uses the laptop for browsing and watching movies.The guy has NEVER played a video game in his life.So the laptop works for him.
I have managed to find ndiswrapper folder on the ubuntu 8.04 disk it has two files.

ndiswrapper-utils-1.9_1.50-1ubuntu1_i386.deb
ndiswrapper-common_1.50-1ubuntu1_all.deb
And i also have the driver cd for TP-Link TL-WN723N.
About that hard disk install.I just followed the instructions on this guide

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...on/FromWindows

I used the "CD image approach"
The xubuntu 11.4 download is now finished.should i install it or try to install ndiswrapper?

Hi guys,it is SOLVED.@k3lt01.The ndiswrapper worked.I installed the two packages mentioned in my last post using gdebi.Opened a root terminal using su.Then installed windows driver using ndiswrapper -i.Then used ndiswrapper -mi to write module install information for all devices and when i restarted the computer the wifi usb device worked.
Thenk you all so much for your help.

Glad it works for you and your friend. I personally wouldn't install 11.04 I might upgrade to 10.04 though as it is supported till April 2013 while 11.04 is only supported to October 2012. Another issue might be that I haven't seen ndiswrapper work on any kernel after 2.6.35 and while I can't remember what number kernel 11.04 has I do know it is newer than 2.6.35 while 10.04 is 2.6.32 (same as Debian 6). I'd hate to see you update after all this work and end up with an update that breaks the work you have just done leaving you with a machine that has no wifi connection and no chance of getting one again.

Hi k3lt01, thanks for the info.You wrote that ndiswrapper won't work on any kernel after 2.6.35,but i have a pclinuxos 2011.6 kde on my laptop whose Kernel is 2.6.38.8bfs and ndiswrapper works well with my broadcom b43 internal wifi card.Since there is a driver already included for my wifi card in there,i never had to use ndiswrapper from a terminal though.
And BTW the ubuntu 11.04 kernel is 2.6.38