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Old 01-04-2008, 02:47 PM   #1
thewordlife101
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Question Knoppix 4.0.2 Beginner Wireless Impossible?


I have an Acer Aspire 5920 Laptop. I recently bought a book called Hacking Knoppix which helps you understand how to customize Knoppix. I am a beginner in the whole Linux thing but I can't seem to understand how to get my laptop to be wireless. I know this forum probably has been answered somewhere but I am new at this Linux thing and I don't quite understand how the NDISWRAPPER thing works.

I have read tons of forums and no one quite explains it on my level, or the answers are impossible for me to understand.

My Acer Aspire 5920 uses an Intel Pro/Wireless 4965AGN card. I have the drivers that are designed for windows that I downloaded in case I would ever need them. I am hoping that someone can help me walk through the process for this.

The reason that I want to get through this is so I can continue to understand Linux. The book continues to walk me through all kinds of useful steps but if I can't get online wirelessly then the whole book is useless and so is Linux in a whole.

Thank you for any help.

Daniel New To Linux
 
Old 01-04-2008, 03:10 PM   #2
pentode
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http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/j...,installation/

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14063110

Not sure if ndiswrapper comes with Knoppix any longer or not. Regardless, you will have to set up some storage on your hard drive for Knoppix to store the Windows driver and possibly ndiswrapper. Knoppix docs should explain how to do that. But you'll have to be comfortable working from the command line.

Wireless networking is generally not going to be plug and play in Linux. It's going to take a little effort to get wireless going, but you should learn a lot in the process. It will be much easier if you can arrange temporary access to a wired Ethernet connection for Internet access. This generally works with little problem in Linux.

It's all a little trickier because you are trying to do this from a Live CD.
 
Old 01-04-2008, 03:15 PM   #3
pentode
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And maybe here:

http://kanotix.com/FAQ-id_cat-140.html

Kanotix is a variant of Knoppix.
 
Old 01-04-2008, 03:19 PM   #4
MoonMind
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Okay, first of all, KNOPPIX is at 5.1.1 - before you judge the distribution's capabilities, you'd better use the latest version.

Second, it's a fact that there is a GNU/Linux driver for the 4965AGN: http://www.intellinuxwireless.org/

In order to use the WinDoze drivers, you need a version of ndiswrapper newer than 1.45 - unfortunately, you don't get that with KNOPPIX, not even with the latest one (I checked the list of installed packages over at the KNOPPIX website). Neither is the 4965AGN driver there. So for what you demand, there's no foolproof way do get there.

But of course, there are a host of other solutions. If you prefer to let it all be just because the first one you try fails - well, it's up to you. But if you'd like to really get help, I'm sure we can get you up and running. You decide.

M.

Last edited by MoonMind; 01-04-2008 at 03:20 PM.
 
Old 01-05-2008, 08:48 AM   #5
thewordlife101
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Arrow

I have attempted to to several different distros but it seems that it is more hassle then the reward. I have attempted the follow version of Linux since my first post.

Linux 2007 OS
Mepis
Knoppix 4.0.2
Knoppix 5
and Backtrack

None of which support what i want them to do. I have even failed to get these versions of linux to connect wirelessly. I believe after talking to a friend, that the intel card mentioned earlier was actually my ethernet card and my box is printed incorrectly. Apparently since i have an Acer the wireless card is a RealTek or some spelling in that manner. I have not given up on linux it is just not making since to me how things are supposed to function. I mean if you spend time downloading all these ISO for the linux software and then you use it only to fail it gets quiet frustrating.

Thank you all for any help that you continue to give.
 
Old 01-05-2008, 09:17 AM   #6
onebuck
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Hi,

Quote:
Originally Posted by thewordlife101 View Post
I have attempted to to several different distros but it seems that it is more hassle then the reward. I have attempted the follow version of Linux since my first post.

Linux 2007 OS
Mepis
Knoppix 4.0.2
Knoppix 5
and Backtrack

None of which support what i want them to do. I have even failed to get these versions of linux to connect wirelessly. I believe after talking to a friend, that the intel card mentioned earlier was actually my ethernet card and my box is printed incorrectly. Apparently since i have an Acer the wireless card is a RealTek or some spelling in that manner. I have not given up on linux it is just not making since to me how things are supposed to function. I mean if you spend time downloading all these ISO for the linux software and then you use it only to fail it gets quiet frustrating.

Thank you all for any help that you continue to give.
I prefer SlackwareŽ as my distribution! As a new user you could try it. If you want a turnkey then you should try ubuntu or kubuntu, you can goto 'DistroWatch' to select one of these or another distribution. You could look at the LiveCD section of 'Slackware-Links' to select other livecds.

As for your identifying the hardware, you can use the 'lspci -vv' from the 'cli' command line in a terminal with Knoppix. This list will provide you with a detailed list of your hardware.

As for your frustration about downloading. I can understand that. There are ways to try out a distribution other than burning a cd. You could try a virtual install using VMware or similar. There are of players you could test, just do a google.

You could use a loop device but that would require a little experience. SlackwareŽ12_Janux_NET_NoBurn_Install is an example that you could use.

These links and others are available from 'Slackware-Links'
 
Old 01-05-2008, 08:02 PM   #7
MoonMind
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thewordlife101:

I've just checked: Ubuntu 7.10 ("Gutsy") comes with the driver necessary for your card (you were right about the wireless card - it's an Intel 4965AGN which definitely *is* wireless; I guess the RealTek is the wired connection, then). So my simplest advice would be to use the Ubuntu LiveCD and Network Manager (a GNOME tool that comes with Ubuntu) to do the configuration necessary. I would recommend to do that while having a wired connection available in order to be able to download any tools and software/firmware the system might require.

I'd choose Ubuntu for ease of use, consistency and availability of new user support - other distributions' communities do less hands-holding for newbies (it's absolutely not a bad thing to be one - we all started as such!). While there may be other, more philosophically sound distributions out there, Ubuntu goes out of its way to provide a system that "just works" - okay, after some experience, we all know that this is never true, especially not for operating systems, but Ubuntu is rather successful in trying to make it true.

That said, you can achieve the same thing with other distributions, but the way there may be longer and less obvious (while not essentially more complicated in retrospective, but that's not relevant when starting - you need some reassurance, hence success...).

M.
 
Old 01-25-2008, 03:11 PM   #8
thewordlife101
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Thank you all for your posts. I have come to find rather than pushing myself to understand how to get knoppix how to go wireless I simply took the advice of everyone and found a distribution that allows me to go wireless. Ubuntu 7.10 the newest is awesome. I love it goes wireless on this laptop and my realtek drivers or whatever for my surround sound work great. Even my volume buttons work.

Now I am moving on to some other things with Linux to better understand how things work.

Thanks again.
 
  


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