Compaq Presario Slackware Install - ndiswrapper and X.org resolution question
 

Hello everyone.

I read a very good article from linux-laptops detailing how to install and configure Slackware Linux on the Presario R3120US. Apparently Linux Forums doesn't want me posting the link, but once I get five posts, I'll do it, or mail it to anyone who wants to see it. I myself have an R3210US, which isn't too much different from the one in the article, and have recently begun attempting to install Linux on it. I'm using Slackware 10.1, and did a full install onto the 60 GB drive. I'm using the 2.4.29 kernel.

I managed to install the most recent Nvidia driver, but am having some real difficulty setting up XWindows to handle the 1280x800 resolution. I changed my modeline in my xorg.conf file, and have also changed the resolutions available in the monitor's section. No go. Any ideas as to what I can do further in order to try to get this to work? Pulling my hair out here, and not many other articles online about this specific laptop. I can post my xorg.conf if you would like to see it.

Second question. I'm trying to get my wireless card to work, following largely the same methodology that the article did. I installed the ndiswrapper module successfully, and tried the Compaq drivers, which did not work, and then tried the Dell drivers mentioned by the author, which also didn't work. My laptop SAYS they work (iwconfig shows my access point, etc.), but they don't. I can't ping anything, or get to any site via the command-line's links utility or Xwindows' Mozilla. Could this be something with wlan0 being blocked from accessing my network?

I also noticed that the author said that he installed the .SYS file under ndiswrapper. Anyone know how to do this? Ndiswrapper's site tells me to install the .INF files, and whenever I try to wrap the .SYS file, it yells at me.

Thanks for any help you can give. Hopefully someone else has experience configuring Slackware for a similar model.

1280x800 resolution: does your laptop's bios support this resolution? Many don't. I have a dell 700m with that same resolution and I needed to install the 855resolution patch:

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/apoirier/

ndiswrapper: did you unpack your windows wifi driver zip or exe file? If so, both should have been in the resulting folder. To install ndiswrapper you do need both the inf and the sys files from the windows driver zip file. I would download the windows driver for your particular wifi card from the manufacturer's site and then go into that directory and execute the ndiswrapper -i command.

ahh
 

So Ndiswrapper doesn't need an argument when doing a -i if you're in the driver directory? Ok, I'll give that a shot.

As for my laptops' resolution, you quite possibly are right about that... I wouldn't be surprised if the BIOS didn't support 1280x800. I'll give that patch a shot too. Hopefully it'll work with a Compaq.

Thanks so much. I'll let you know how things turn out when I get home.

Re: ahh
 

No, I didn't mean that. Sorry, I should have been more clear. It does need an argument -- the name of the driver.

All I meant was that once you unpack your windows driver folder, go into slackware, navigate to that folder, and then run the ndiswrapper -i <driver name> command. You don't tack on the .sys or .inf.

In other words, for my dell 700m, it uses the bcmwl5a.inf driver. When I install ndiswrapper, I use the following command: "ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5a" without the .inf or .sys on the end. Ndiswrapper then knows to install the .inf and the .sys files. That's what works for me, at least.

Ohh! Very good. That must have been what I was doing wrong. I was trying stuff like "ndiswrapper -i xxx.inf" and "ndiswrapper -i xxx.sys."

Alright, so I got home and tried both your suggestions. Here's a roundup of what happened.

Resolution issue:

855resolution outputs the following whenever I try to use it:
So, I guess that's not working. Any other ideas on how to enable my Compaq's 1280x800 resolution?

Wireless issue:

Here's what happenes when I try to set up ndiswrapper as you outlined:
Any other ideas?

Hm... Not sure what else to suggest on either issue.

For the wifi, try uninstalling what you installed (i.e. ndiswrapper -e <driver>) and then try installing ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5a.inf. I googled around for "ndiswrapper bcmwl5" and found quite a few hits, including this thread in the ubuntu forum:

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=25683

Also, I found this page on installing linux on your laptop and it addresses both resolution and ndiswrapper:

http://www1.pacific.edu/~khughes/presario-r3120us/

That article about the laptop was the one I read originally... and afterward still had these issues. I think maybe my wireless isn't working because Slackware might be blocking it by default. How would I check if this is the case?

Also, maybe I need to upgrade my kernel in order to get 1280x800 working? Do you have a good link outlining the recompile process?

Thanks.

As root, type in "iwconfig" and "ifconfig" and copy and paste the output here.

Also, does your laptop have a button or something to turn on your wifi card and if so, is it on? Take a look at these other 2 pages on your laptop:

http://cmb.phys.cwru.edu/kisner/linux/compaq-r3000/
http://jeff.tk/compaq_presario_r3140us/

maybe there is something there that might help. As to compiling your kernel, there are tons of howtos on how to do this. Check out Shilo's page:

http://shilo.is-a-geek.com/slack/

Iwconfig Output:
Ifconfig Output:
Sorry for the formatting... The forums chopped off the leading spaces. I just editted my xorg.conf file even further and now Gnome won't even start. Just hangs on a black screen and I have to hard boot.

Oh, and I figure my card is pushed on... I've tried it pushed and not pushed - it's hard to tell cause it won't light up in Linux like it did in Windows.

It looks like your wifi card is working but hasn't been assigned an ip yet by your router. As root, try "dhcpcd wlan0" and then do "ifconfig" again and see if wlan0 has been assigned an IP.

Ah, dhcpd yells at me, says the config file is wrong. I tried editting it before because it was empty but it still didn't work. What should I put in it?

For that matter, where can I find that config file? It used to show me its directory before I made it not empty.

dhcpcd not dhcpd

or, try this as root:

/sbin/dhcpcd wlan0

Holy crap. I love you, man. It works. Now, how can I make my machine do this every time I boot up? Ndiswrapper has an -m option to store the module, would that do it? When I execute ndiswrapper -m it goes: Adding "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper" to /etc/modules.conf

glad it's working! getting it to start on boot is easy. add this to your /etc/rc.d/rc.local file:

modprobe ndiswrapper
ifconfig wlan0 up
/sbin/dhcpcd wlan0