LinuxQuestions.org - DISCUSSION: Ndiswrapper in Fedora Core 5

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- - DISCUSSION: Ndiswrapper in Fedora Core 5 (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linuxanswers-discussion-27/discussion-ndiswrapper-in-fedora-core-5-a-428731/)

Are they installed?

rpm -q kernel-devel

macoklein, try updating the database with 'updatedb', then try 'locate (kernel name here)'
Get your kernel name with 'uname -r'. Look for entries that refer to directories.

ndiswrapper is supposed to be available via yum, so are the kernel and kernel-devel packages in the howto.

from FedoraForum.org

Quote:

Please make sure kernel-devel is installed to make the install easy and painless
If you have FC4 and have /etc/yum.repo.d/livna.repo configured

Code:

[livna-stable] name=Livna.org Fedora Compatible Packages (stable)

baseurl=http://rpm.livna.org/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/RPMS.lvn 

enabled=0 gpgcheck=1

Code:

# yum --enablerepo=livna-stable install ndiswrapper kernel-module-ndiswrapper-$(uname -r)

or for FC5 do this

Code:

# yum -y install kmod-ndiswrapper-$(uname -r)

For my case, I have a Broadcom BCM9306 chipset and the windows driver needed is bcmwl5.inf and bcmwl5.sys. Move both files to a folder in your home directory called bcmwl. I hope you know you first have to creat the folder bcmwl

Code:

mkdir bcmwl

Do the "make install" only if you have the source file. I will strongly recommend the rpm file from livna
Open a terminal and uncompress ndiswrapper.

Go to the ndiswrapper folder and as root

Code:

#make install

--do this if you downloaded the source file or skip this if you used the livna rpm

Code:

# /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -i <your home directory>/bcmwl/bcmwl5.inf 

    ...this command will create a folder in /etc/ndiswrapper/bcmwl5/bcmwl5.inf

# /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -l 

    -- make sure it says "bcmwl5 present" 

# /sbin/depmod -a 

#/sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper 

# dmesg 

    --you will see a log about the driver been loaded if you do then 

# /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -m 

    --create an alias in /etc/modprobe.conf

Here comes the easy part
close terminal and point your cursor to Desktop -->System Settings -->Network Configuration and type in the root's password when prompted.
In Network Configuration, click on New and then "Select Device type box" shows, highlight Wireless connection and click on "Forward".
This brings up the "Select Wireless Device box" window, which has ndiswrapper(wlan0) highlighted, then click "Forward".
This bring up the "Configure Wireless Connection box" which allows you to set the mode, ssid, channel, rate and hex key. After you are done, click "Forward"
This brings up the "Configure Network Settings box" which allows you to set the dhcp, dns and ip address. When you are done, then click forward.
The next box "Create Wireless Device box" has all you settings for you to double check before hitting apply.
When you hit apply, it should take you back to Network Configuration, highlight the created wlan0 and click "Edit" which allows you to fine tune the configuration, like if you want all users to be able to enable wlan0, if you want wlan0 to start on boot etc. Go though the tabs and check everything and make sure it is up to your specification, then click "Ok" and then the final thing
on "Network Configuration", click on "File" and then "Save"

If every is correct, you can then click on activate to activate wlan0

Fedora 5 - ndiswrapper - Belkin Pre-N Wireless Card

OK. So I did not heed the age old saying "leave well enough alone".

I installed FC5 like 6 weeks ago and after a few days of learning all about linux and ndiswrapper I was able to get WiFi working. The problem was that I also wanted to run Oracle 10g AS on this box and at least at the time it was not supported. Technically it's still not supported but I did find an article or two written by known Oracle gurus that have claimed successful installations on FC5 although I have yet to replicate it.

Anyhow, much to my dismay I decided to downgrade to FC4 only to find that I was not able to get Wifi working so I upgraded back to FC5 and now it's been like 2 weeks and I can't for the life of me figure out what I did to get it to work the first time around.

I know that most of my setup is correct. I am using a Belkin Pre-n Wireless card in my Dell Dimension 4700 SMP computer. I have the latest kernel installed (and yes I even tried formatting my hard drive and using the kernel that I first used to successfully get wifi working 6 weeks ago and that did not work either) which is currently version 2.6.16-1.2111_FC5.stk16smp. I recently patched the 2.6.16-1.2111_FC5smp version to incorporate the 16k stack (even though I was able to use the 4k one in my successful attempt several weeks ago b/c after so many failed attempts I figured it couldn't hurt).

So this is where I stand now:

1. Installed Fedora Core 5
2. Updated all packages, kernel etc. so I am running 2.6.16-1.2111_FC5.stk16smp
3. Downloaded and installed kernel-smp-devel-2.6.16-1.2111_FC5.stk16.i686.rpm
4. Installed latest version of ndiswrapper using the src files from the package noted above and got no errors during compilation/installation
5. Installed Windows "inf" driver (made sure to use the Netgear one instead of the Belkin one located on the CD just like I did the first time around when I successfully got WiFi to work).
6. Ran all the necessary commands (i.e. ndiswrapper -i /u01/wifi_drivers/NetAni.inf, ndiswrapper -l, ndiswrapper -m etc.)
7. Added necessary alias entry to etc/modprobe.conf file (i.e. alias wlan0 Belkin)
8. Added pci=assign-busses as new parameter to grub.conf
9. Ran command "iwconfig wlan0 essid gonzo" and witnessed that the device had bound itself to my AP (it had the MAC address for my Wifi router) and it also had the correct SSID name which is "gonzo".
10. Checked to make sure I could actually "see" Access Points by running iwlist wlan0 scan and it returned 4 nearby AP so I know the card is technically "working".

This is where the problem occurs:

11. I either run "dhclient wlan0" or I click on my Wifi card in the Network section under "System => Configuration => Network" and click "Activate" and it never gets an IP address from the router.

I have the correct channel set (my router is using 11) and I tried using both "managed" and "auto" for the wifi card configuration type.

So as you can see I have become somewhat of an "expert" on this subject. The REALLY irritating thing was that although configuring WiFi on FC5 was no picnic the first time around (it did take me like 2 days) it's absolutely driving me UP THE FREAKING WALL now that I can't figure it out the second, third, fourth etc. time around.

I basically need another set of eyes. The thing I don't get is that when I check my router's log it shows that this wifi card has made multiple "successful" connection attempts. The problem is it never actually assigns it an IP. I even have encryption disabled for the time being just to avoid any issues that could complicate communication between the router and the NIC card.

If there is anyone out there that could help me figure out what the heck I am doing wrong I would GREATLY appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

If you've done all this on a completely fresh FC5 install, then the problem is probably not on the FC5 machine - maybe on the router.

There's a wee niggle in the back of my minds saying that your card's mac address (or whatever) is recorded against the previous time it was able to connect - so the router won't accept this "new" client claiming to be the old card ... or something.

This is clumsily explained - there is a particular word for what I want but it escapes me right now. But sometimes some data gets cached somewhere and you need to change the details (or empty to cache) or there will be conflicts.

Anyway - I'd hunt through all the stuff the router stores about it's sessions and look for anything to do with your card - and reset it. (Or reset the whole router?)

Of course, if the FC4-5 step was one of Anaconda's "upgrades" ... this is probably your problem. It has kept whatever didn't work in FC4 ... possibly a kernel configuration (though I see iwtools is installed). In which case, the simplest workaround is to reinstall.

You had it working from a virgin install that the router had never seen. Restore these conditions and the system will work.

On another point: I take it you had a howto for FC4 - which is the reason for the downgrade?

In general, howto's can be intellegently applied to the next release up anyway. There is a small matter of reading through the entire howto carefully and comparing with the release notes (and/or changelog) to make sure that things you are told to install are not present by default. rpm -q is good for this too.

And the lesson: do your experimenting on another machine.

(You could run another nix in a dual boot or Xen (VM) and do your experimenting there - you can then port successful results to your more "mission-critical" machine)

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt1206

Hi,

I've having truouble getting this to work. I've installed the latest kernel and kernel-devel, but when I run the make install KSRC.... I get the below error:

Code:

[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.12]# make install KSRC=/usr/src/kernels/2.6.16-1.2084_FC5-i686

make -C driver install

make[1]: Entering directory `/home/Ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper-1.12/driver'

make -C /lib/modules/2.6.16-1.2084_FC5/build SUBDIRS=/home/Ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper-1.12/driver \

        DRIVER_VERSION=1.12

/usr/src/kernels/2.6.16-1.2084_FC5-i686/scripts/gcc-version.sh: line 11: gcc: command not found

/usr/src/kernels/2.6.16-1.2084_FC5-i686/scripts/gcc-version.sh: line 12: gcc: command not found

make[2]: gcc: Command not found

make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.16-1.2084_FC5-i686'

  LD      /home/Ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper-1.12/driver/built-in.o

/bin/sh: ar: command not found

make[3]: *** [/home/Ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper-1.12/driver/built-in.o] Error 127

make[2]: *** [_module_/home/Ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper-1.12/driver] Error 2

make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/kernels/2.6.16-1.2084_FC5-i686'

make[1]: *** [default] Error 2

make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/Ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper-1.12/driver'

make: *** [install] Error 2

Can anyone point out where I'm going wrong?

Thanks

Matt

I suppose you've moved on by now, but the problem is that you don't have the GCC compiler installed. See the 'make[2]: gcc: Command not found line? That's the culprit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Bridge

ndiswrapper is supposed to be available via yum, so are the kernel and kernel-devel packages in the howto.

from FedoraForum.org

Everything above went fine, but the card isn't showing up in the Network section by eth0. The light on the laptop indicates that the wifi is on, but no IP and no configuration through the menu in FC5 Gnome.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong?

the cli tool is called iwconfig - (wireless eqiv for ifconfig) have a look what it says... should be a clue.

I'm not clear on what you've done... you installed ndiswrapper et al as per the fedorafaq? You installed the network device via the internet configuration wizard?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Bridge

lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

sit0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"WIFI"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:0F:B5:5B:12:DC
Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power:25 dBm
RTS thr:2347 B Fragment thr:2346 B
Encryption key:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality:100/100 Signal level:-50 dBm Noise level:-256 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

is what it says. It is seeing my AP and recognizing wlan0 but not getting ip info etc.

[QUOTE=You installed the network device via the internet configuration wizard?[/QUOTE]

Where is this?

main menue > system tools > internet configuration wizard (same place as the network device control)...

You should also read the iwconfig man page.

Hi everyone

I' using RHEL 4 in my compaq nx9010 with Broadcom wireless card and kernel 2.6.9. I've followed the installation steps until step no. 8.

According to the list in ndiswrapper( listed in B, no. 42), nx9010 uses driver bcmwl5.inf. I've managed to get the driver after following the steps given in the ndiswrapper list.

I tried:
ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf

but it says invalid driver. So, i tried with bcmwl5a.inf. Also invalid driver. I am using the correct driver and I am sure because my wireless card works fine in Windows XP.

I tried unintall ndiswrapper and reinstall it. But, i still got the same problem of invalid driver. One more thing, when I reinstall, I realised that I've also gotten the 4K size stack warning.....

Could anyone help me with this? Please.....

What's wrong? You have no gcc (compiler) installed, so you cannot compile ndiswrapper kernel module.
But in fact it's not necessary: type as root "yum install ndiswrapper kmod-ndiswrapper" and skip all compilation-installation steps. It works for me (on FC5).

Good luck! :)

I've managed to solve the problems already. What i did was instead of only copying the *.inf file, i also copied the *.sys file and another bin file into the ndiswrapper directory. Then, all my problem has been solved. My driver is now present and working fine.