Hello,
I tried get my wlan working under the 64 bit version of SUSE 10.
I installed ndiswrapper and it lookslike it is working, I have the following 64 bit Windows driver for my BROADCOM 802.11b/g card: netbc564.inf and the .sys file.
I installed it with ndiswrapper and it looks like it should work with the card:

linux:/home/octavian/software/ndiswrapper-1.5 # ndiswrapper -l
Installed ndis drivers:
netbc564 driver present, hardware present

Then if I run:

linux:/home/octavian/software/ndiswrapper-1.5 # ndiswrapper -m
modprobe config already contains alias directive

linux:/home/octavian/software/ndiswrapper-1.5 # ndiswrapper -l
Installed ndis drivers:
netbc564 driver present, hardware present
linux:/home/octavian/software/ndiswrapper-1.5 # depmod -a
linux:/home/octavian/software/ndiswrapper-1.5 # modprobe ndiswrapper
linux:/home/octavian/software/ndiswrapper-1.5 #

If I run
dmesg
I get:

wlan0: ndiswrapper ethernet device 00:90:4b:a3:86:13 using driver netbc564, 14E4:4320.5.conf
wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA; AES/CCMP with WPA
wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

Still the led is not blinking and if I try:

linux:/home/octavian/software/ndiswrapper-1.5 # iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

sit0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSIDff/any Nickname:"linux"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:00:00:00:00:00
Bit Rate=54 Mb/s Tx-Power:25 dBm
RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Encryption keyff
Power Managementff
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

linux:/home/octavian/software/ndiswrapper-1.5 # iwlist wlan0 scan
wlan0 No scan results
linux:/home/octavian/software/ndiswrapper-1.5 #


Please HELP!!!
Octavian

Under Windows I get several networks present all the time.
It should at least find them.
What can I do?
What am I doing wrong?
Thank a lot.
Octavian

You have a Broadcom BCM4306 too? I had to install the same driver on mine (Compaq Presario R4000). I couldn't get ndiswrapper1.5 to work though. I had to go all the way back to 1.1.

I don't have anything really enouraging to add only... How far way from the AP are you? For me to be able to see my wireless connection I have to be practically right next to it. I don't know what I need to do to get better reception, since connecting in Windows is not a problem from further distances.

Have you not edited /etc/rc.d/rc.wireless & rc.wireless.conf?

Hello,
No I did not edit that file. Was I supposed to? How was I supposed to change it. Actually in which way was I supposed to change it?
I jusct checked and:
/etc/rc.d/rc.wireless
does not exist

Let me add something.
At some point when I was running:

iwlist wlan0 scan

it found a few networks.

Then I ran:

iwconfig wlan0 essid 'linksys'
dhcpcd wlan0
ifup wlan0

I did not save the output but for sure it did not give me any error messages or any message saying that it would ignore my interface.
I did all this with the firewall down just to make sure it would not give me problems.
After this I was expecting to be able to browse the net... but it did not happen.

Can someone please help me further with some suggestions?

I am new to Linux... and I am a beginner with working witk linux command lines from a terminal and also with understanding in depth all the files that need to be modified to make something work.
This is a good point to ask about a reference that would help me undestand how a Linux opperating system is built. What is a good book where I could learn about the opperating system and also learn some basic programing skils for something like this?

The best thing to do in situations like this is to note as much as you can from the logs. Do "tail -v /var/log/messages" and "dmesg" after you make changes and connect (or try to connect) to see what the logs say.

Post the logs here and maybe we can figure something out.

Edit rc.wireless.conf so that it contains the commands you would pass to wlan0 using iwconfig - here's mine:

VERBOSE=1

case "$HWADDR" in

00:90:96:BB:B5:C2)
INFO="Broadcom WLAN 802.11g on Laptop"
ESSID="SSID" # Your SSID goes here – my system doesn’t like me to use it
CHANNEL="X" # Your channel goes here
MODE="Managed"
KEY="XXXXXXXXXX" # Your 10 character 64bit HEX WEP key goes here
;;

rc.wireless needs to be executable as well.

You then need to edit rc.local to get rc.wireless to run:
#!/bin/sh
#
# /etc/rc.d/rc.local: Local system initialization script.
#
# Put any local setup commands in here:

/etc/rc.d/rc.wireless wlan0 <--- this feeds the rc.wireless.conf settings

echo "Initialising sn55ge WLAN"
dhcpcd wlan0 <--- this gets an IP address from the dhcp server (my router)

Here is my /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf file:

UW PICO(tm) 4.9 File: wpa_supplicant.conf Modified

# See /usr/doc/wpa_supplicant-0.4.8/wpa_supplicant.conf.sample
# for many more options that you can use in this file.

# This line enables the use of wpa_cli which is used by rc.wireless
# if possible (to check for successful association)
ctrl_interface=/var/run/wpa_supplicant
# By default, only root (group 0) may use wpa_cli
ctrl_interface_group=0
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1

# WPA protected network, supply your own ESSID and WPAPSK here:
network={
scan_ssid=0
proto=WPA
key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
pairwise=CCMP TKIP
group=CCMP TKIP WEP104 WEP40
ssid="sn55ge"
#psk="XXXXXXXXXXXXX" <-- 13 character ASCII passphrase
psk=XXXX247875e3d58105849cc02f3a6bdfa25e3030147381228745ea192813e56f <-- the wpa_supplicant generated key
}

# Plaintext connection (no WPA, no IEEE 802.1X),
# nice for hotel/airport types of WiFi network.
# You'll need a recent version of wireless-tools for this!
network={
ssid="any"
key_mgmt=NONE
priority=2
}


Here is the debug output from "wpa_supplicant -c/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf -iwlan0 -d":

Initializing interface 'wlan0' conf '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' driver 'default' ctrl_interface 'N/A'
Configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf' -> '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
Reading configuration file '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'
ctrl_interface='/var/run/wpa_supplicant'
ctrl_interface_group=0
eapol_version=1
ap_scan=1
fast_reauth=1
Priority group 2
id=1 ssid='any'
Priority group 0
id=0 ssid='sn55ge'
Initializing interface (2) 'wlan0'
EAPOL: SUPP_PAE entering state DISCONNECTED
EAPOL: KEY_RX entering state NO_KEY_RECEIVE
EAPOL: SUPP_BE entering state INITIALIZE
EAP: EAP entering state DISABLED
EAPOL: External notification - portEnabled=0
EAPOL: External notification - portValid=0
SIOCGIWRANGE: WE(compiled)=19 WE(source)=18 enc_capa=0xd
capabilities: key_mgmt 0x5 enc 0xf
Own MAC address: 00:90:96:bb:b5:c2
wpa_driver_hostap_set_wpa: enabled=1
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
Driver does not support WPA.
wpa_driver_hostap_set_key: alg=none key_idx=0 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_HOSTAPD]: No such device
Failed to set encryption.
wpa_driver_hostap_set_key: alg=none key_idx=1 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_HOSTAPD]: No such device
Failed to set encryption.
wpa_driver_hostap_set_key: alg=none key_idx=2 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_HOSTAPD]: No such device
Failed to set encryption.
wpa_driver_hostap_set_key: alg=none key_idx=3 set_tx=0 seq_len=0 key_len=0
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_HOSTAPD]: No such device
Failed to set encryption.
wpa_driver_hostap_set_countermeasures: enabled=0
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
wpa_driver_hostap_set_drop_unencrypted: enabled=1
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
Setting scan request: 0 sec 100000 usec
Added interface wlan0
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b06 len=8
RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'wlan0' added
RTM_NEWLINK, IFLA_IFNAME: Interface 'wlan0' added
State: DISCONNECTED -> SCANNING
Starting AP scan (broadcast SSID)
Scan timeout - try to get results
Received 1049 bytes of scan results (4 BSSes)
Scan results: 4
Selecting BSS from priority group 2
0: 00:12:17:b7:aa:b1 ssid='sn55ge' wpa_ie_len=26 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
skip - SSID mismatch
1: 00:14:bf:2f:5c:d3 ssid='coolbeans' wpa_ie_len=26 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
skip - SSID mismatch
2: 00:11:f5:cb:64:c5 ssid='BTVOYAGER2091-C5' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
skip - no WPA/RSN IE
3: 00:11:f5:9a:ec:1b ssid='BTVOYAGER2091-1B' wpa_ie_len=0 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
skip - no WPA/RSN IE
Selecting BSS from priority group 0
0: 00:12:17:b7:aa:b1 ssid='sn55ge' wpa_ie_len=26 rsn_ie_len=0 caps=0x11
selected based on WPA IE
Trying to associate with 00:12:17:b7:aa:b1 (SSID='sn55ge' freq=2412 MHz)
Cancelling scan request
WPA: clearing own WPA/RSN IE
Automatic auth_alg selection: 0x1
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
WPA: using IEEE 802.11i/D3.0
WPA: Selected cipher suites: group 8 pairwise 8 key_mgmt 2
WPA: set AP WPA IE - hexdump(len=26): dd 18 00 50 f2 01 01 00 00 50 f2 02 01 00 00 50 f2 02 01 00 00 50 f2 02 00 00
WPA: clearing AP RSN IE
WPA: using GTK TKIP
WPA: using PTK TKIP
WPA: using KEY_MGMT WPA-PSK
WPA: Set own WPA IE default - hexdump(len=24): dd 16 00 50 f2 01 01 00 00 50 f2 02 01 00 00 50 f2 02 01 00 00 50 f2 02
No keys have been configured - skip key clearing
wpa_driver_hostap_set_drop_unencrypted: enabled=1
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
State: SCANNING -> ASSOCIATING
wpa_driver_hostap_associate
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_HOSTAPD]: No such device
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
hostap: Failed to configure ieee_802_1x param
Association request to the driver failed
Setting authentication timeout: 5 sec 0 usec
EAPOL: External notification - EAP success=0
EAPOL: External notification - EAP fail=0
EAPOL: External notification - portControl=Auto
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b06 len=8
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b04 len=12
Wireless event: cmd=0x8b1a len=14
CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING - signal 2 received
Removing interface wlan0
State: ASSOCIATING -> DISCONNECTED
No keys have been configured - skip key clearing
EAPOL: External notification - portEnabled=0
EAPOL: External notification - portValid=0
wpa_driver_hostap_set_wpa: enabled=0
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_HOSTAPD]: No such device
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
Failed to disable WPA in the driver.
wpa_driver_hostap_set_drop_unencrypted: enabled=0
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
wpa_driver_hostap_set_countermeasures: enabled=0
ioctl[PRISM2_IOCTL_PRISM2_PARAM]: No such device
No keys have been configured - skip key clearing
Cancelling scan request

My system boots with WEP 64bit enabled.

I then "iwconfig wlan0 key off", change my AP from WEP to WPA-PSK and then try and get wpa_supplicant going.

Any ideas what I'mmissing here?

Firstly - disregard the posts of __spc__, particularly those that mention anything about files in /etc/rc.d/*. These are not Suse configuration files, but more like Fedora or RedHat. On Suse /etc/rc.d contains startup scripts, not configurations. As such, it would be the wrong place to begin hacking.

Secondly, ndiswrapper 1.5 has caused (me) some grief with certain kernels, so I'd suggest to upgrade to 1.10.

You seem to have performed the correct steps in what concerns ndiswrapper, so I won't address that.

All network connectivity configuration files in Suse reside in the directory /etc/sysconfig/network. They can be edited using Yast, or manually, if you preferred.

The configuration of a network card is stored in a file named

• device prefix is something like "eth" (for eth0, eth1, etc.) or "wlan" (for wlan0, etc.), depending on the name of the device assigned to the card.
• HWAddr is the hardware address (MAC) of the card in question. You can find the MAC addresses of the cards in your computer by running
  
  Code:

  hwinfo --network

Since ndiswrapper names the device wlan, in most likelihood your configuration file should be named:
Such configuration files are written by yast, so you could create one from there. I would suggest at this point to remove the files /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcgf-* (back them up first, in case something went wrongly, of course).

Then modprobe ndiswrapper, to make sure that yast sees the driver. At this point, if you typed "iwlist scan" you should see your access point (or at least a mention of the wlan0 interface, in case you weren't around any access points).

This is a sample output:
Now, if you started yast, the interface wlan0 would be detected, so you could configure it. For the time being, don't set up any encryption - small steps at a time. After you saved the new configuration, check for the file /etc/sysconfig/network/ifcfg-wlan0-id-<your hwaddr>.

For instance, my configuration without encryption looks like this:
At this point, you can start the wireless network with:

Such a configuration assumes that your access point is running a DHCP server. So, if this didn't work, make sure that:

• the access point is running a DHCP server
• the access point allows your MAC address to connect (see security restrictions)
• there is at least one available IP address in the dynamic pool of the access point

Once you got this working, I would suggest to try to install a more secure environment, using wpa (wpa_supplicant).

This can also be done from yast, which will add more info in the configuration files. Later, when you start the network, a wpa_supplicant.conf file will be automatically generated, so you needn't write it yourself.

My configuration file looks like this:

In this example, I switched from DHCP to a static address, and I fixed the access point to the one that has the MAC address 00:0F:66:B2:AC:11.

I prefer to boot the computer without any network configured, so the start mode is "manual". Given this, one can start the network with the command:
Hope this helps.

Slackware... 10.2

How else under Slackware do you configure WiFi, if not via /etc/rc.d/rc.wreless & rc.wireless.conf?

You're right - that's how it's done in Slackware. I was unaware of it, since I haven't run Slackware since version 3.0, when I switched to Suse. I apologise for the harsh words I wrote in my previous post.

I also removed them, so that they won't confuse future readers.

Cheers

I have had a similar problem.
I have noticed that you must have acpi=on in the grub.lst file. You can check it in yast->system->boot loader config->other->edit config files and select grub.lst file.
Then you must config your ethernet conection to manual, you can do this also with yast (network adpters). This is in order to avoid having both eth0 and wlan0 working at the same time. And wlan0 up on startup.
Hope this would be usefull