Hi, I am a total 100% newb to Linux. I'm running Suse Personal 9.1, but I can't get my Linksys Notebook Adapter to work on my computer, so I found ndiswrapper and got the source (I'm using another computer right now). However, I am totally lost from here on in. I have no idea what to do with this source or how to build it or whatever. So, I would appreciate if someone would explain to me how it all works, please and thanks.

I installed ndiswrapper two nights ago, here are some notes that might help you out.

http://www.csfalcon.com/index.jsp?topic=NdisWrapper

I don't run suse, so hopefully someone can give you some information about suse kernel source and wireless configuration.

Here are a couple of links that should get you going, post back if you have trouble.

http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/0...iswrapper.html

http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/NDIS_Wrapper

http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/p...p?Installation

Sorry to sound like a newb, but I don't get how to install it at all. Those links and others I've seen just say to install it, but I don't get how to do it. I know it sounds stupid but I just started using Linux and I want to get more used to it.

Maybe you could try following these steps. I've tried to include all steps, if I missed something and you encounter an error, post back.

1. Download the latest version of the ndiswrapper sources from http://sourceforge.net/projects/ndiswrapper (get ndiswrapper-0.12 November 24, 2004)

2. Extract it with the command "tar zxvf ndiswrapper-version.tar.gz"
This is like unzipping and will create ndiswrapper-version directory.

3. Become root by typing "su -"

4. Change to the directory which has ndiswrpper extracted (not the directory which has the file you downloaded!) by typing "cd directory-name"

5. Type "make install"
This installs it.

6. Now get the Windows driver for your wireless card. For help see http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/p...p?Installation
Since each card has different drivers there's not much more I can tell you about how to get it. If you can't find it then search here or on google.

7. Type "ndiswrapper -i filename.inf"
where filename.inf is the driver you got.

8. Type "ndiswrapper -l"
to see the status of your installed drivers. If you have installed the correct driver you should see something like this

Installed ndis drivers
bcmwl5 hardware present

Where "present" means that you have a card that can be used with the driver installed. In this case, broadcom driver bcmwl5 is used.

9. Type "modprobe ndiswrapper"

10. Type "iwconfig"
You should see some info about the card, like ip address etc.
If your computer does not find this command then you need to install wireless-tools. Search here or on google for "installing wireless-tools suse" for help.

11. Type "iwlist wlan0 scan"
If everything before this had gone fine then this should find the wireless router. Make sure router is switched on etc.

12. If you use encryption (WEP), set the key by typing "iwconfig wlan0 key restricted XXXXXXXX"
where XXXXXXXX is the encryption digits.

13. Type "ifconfig wlan0 up"

14. Type "dhclient wlan0"
If the command is not found then try "dhcpcd wlan0"

15. Try pinging by typing "ping www.google.com" You should receive reply if the thing is working. If it is then try browsing the net.

16. If everything works fine then type "ndiswrapper -m"

17. Now add the line "ndiswrapper" in the file /etc/modules OR /etc/modprobe.conf depending on which one already exists on your computer.
This will load ndiswrapper on boot. To add the line use any text editor like gedit, kedit, xemacs.....

18. That's it.

*Post any errors and point out which step it occured after.*

Okay, well I got to step 5 or so, and I'm in Konsole, and I typed 'make install', but it says

-bash: make: command not found

So, I don't know what's wrong

Try typing "/usr/bin/make install"

I have tried the same thing, but my problem is when I try to "make install" I get the following error:
"can't find kernel sources in /lib/modules/2.6.8.1-3-386/build;
give the path to kernel sources with KSRC=<path> argument to make"

As you probably see; I am also new to Linux....

It is my understanding that SUSE 9.1 personal does not come with a compiler. So, you will not be able to build ndiswrapper from source. Can anyone suggest a RPM?

I doubt if there's an RPM. I must say that it is not very nice to have a distro without the most important component, the compiler. I mean, you won't be able to install half the software without "make". Moreover, unlike Fedora/Gentoo/Debian, as far as I know Suse doesn't even have package-management system.

I would suggest installing the "kernel sources" and the compiler and the make tools. Search on how to do these since these are distribution specific.

I got it installed on SuSe, got the drivers and installed all those on the card, but it did not say hardware present, only present. I then did modprobe ndiswrapper, and iwconfig, but it didn't give anything involing wlan0. It did say eth0, sit0, and lo, each with no extensions. I then tried iwlist eth0 scan (and the same for the rest), but they said "Interface does not support scanning". So now I don't know what's going on or what to again.

Can u post the output of "dmesg" and "lspci -v"

Please see that it appears in a readable format since sometimes when you post these on the forums all the lines get messed up.

i'll try to figure out from the post.

I have SuSE 9.1 pro, and it didn't come with the compiler installed either.

go to YaST, (suse menu --> System --> YaST), login with your root password and go to Add/Remove programs.

there search for "make" and check all the packages for the make compiler (including any make-devel)
then click next/finish.

you should be able to continue with the instructions listed here.

for #5 make sure there's nothing else you need for it to run.
to do this type "./configure"
if there's no errors type "make"
once that is done, then do "make install"

My one issue with linux is the dependencies for software.
Let me know how it goes.

Becks method of typing ./configure and make before #5 is okay.

For package dependency issues move on to Fedora, Gentoo or Debian. These 3 distros have automatic package management systems. For example, if you want to install gcc in Fedora you just type "yum install gcc" and it'll do everything including taking care of dependencies. Same for uninstalling.

That's probably one of the msot important reasons why people use these 3 distros. I started with Mandrake and soon moved to these as well. Anyway that's the issue of another post, hopefully we won't start a distro war in this post