Hi all,

I am on Fedora 5, and trying to follow the instructions here, step by step:

ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/mediawiki/index.php/Installation

(Sorry, they don't let me paste links in my post).

It says in the very beginning:

THAT'S GREAT TO KNOW THAT I NEED IT, BUT HOW DO I GET IT, AND HOW DO I INSTALL IT. A TOTAL NEWBIE IS HERE.

What does it mean to have a kernel with source? What is the difference from having a kernel without source? And why is the source needed??

Then they tell you "how to do it":

It does not help me much. I have no idea what the exact rpm file that I need to get is, where I get it, and how I install it.

When I do:

I get: 2.6.15-1.2054_FC5

I guess that's the kernel version that is running on my computer. Am I right??? If so, this is not 2.6.6 or 2.4.26 that they tell me that I need....

If I get the 2.6.6 kernel that they tell me that I need, does it mean that I won't have the original 2.6.15 kernel on my computer anymore? Or could they both live together side by side?

Question: this ndiswrapper is quite old. I thought that Fedora 5 is quite new. So how could they ask people to get the 2.6.6 kernel with Fedora 2, Fedora 3, which I have read on the web people were able to install ndiswrapper with.

Stupid questions, I know. Newbie.

I'm not a kernel guru but I believe your on the right track by checking your existing kernel with "uname -r". Having posted the results it looks like you have met the minimum requirements for your kernel.

I think the kernel you have is going to work.

As for your question about "kernel source" you would only need that if you were going to re-compile your kernel, and again I don't think you need to do that. However maybe somebody could correct me if I'm wrong.

How far have you gotten regarding the ndis installation? Could you post were your having the problems?

The source files will be on your FC5 disks, and they are needed because a kernel module is created for your system. This will allow ndiswrapper to start when you boot your system up. Other than that, you appear to meet the requirements to install/load ndiswrapper.


Quote:

the sources can be installed using the "package kernel-source<kernel-version>.rpm" command.

This is the command with FC5 that will install the source from your install media.

I am not sure I really understand from your explanation why the kernel source is needed for ndiswrapper.

But suppose it is needed.

So you say that my kernel is installed ok since it's version 2.6.15, and now I only need to install the kernel source?

Am I getting you right?

I installed Fedora from a FAT32 partition (not from CDs). How do I tell the command where to look for what it needs...?

So you say that I can install the kernel source by typing in the terminal:

????????

Am I right????
How does that command figure out where to look for the rpm??

ALSO,

some people gave me a different answer to my question (a great way to get a major headache, isn't it?). They say that in order to get my kernel updated, I should update with yum two packages: kernel & kernel-devel.

Like this:

Ok, this is supposed to install on my computer the newest version of the fedora kernel, right? (Does it install the source too??? I have no idea??)

What is kernel-devel, what does it do, why do I need it here, is it needed at all for the ndiswrapper thing (since neither you nor the above mentioned tutorial mention it), and if it is needed how do I install it without Yum...

How can I use Yum if I am still trying to install the ndiswrapper which will hopefully let me have internet on my fedora one day...?

I am pretty confused...

Updating the kernel can help, but not necessary, the source files are required since ndiswrapper will attempt to make a module for you specific kernel so it can load at boot time. Without source you have to manually load the ndis program everytime you log in plus some possible compile errors for ndis itself.

As far as the package command, I assumed you used CD's, my mistake. The command Yum will know where your installation packages are located and will check there first. So should the package command. If you update the kernel using that yum command, it will also install source.