Ndiswrapper iz a pain!!

raydub · 19-November-06, 02:30 AM

I spent a couple hours trying to install and compile ndiswrapper on Fedora Core 6 with my WLAN card. I have everything; drivers n' stuff, but I'm having a dificult time doing it all. Can someone help, maybe give clearer intructions?

FunkyStickman · 19-November-06, 02:04 PM

I'm assuming you're using ndiswrapper for a wireless card, correct?

FIrst, Fedora should have an ndiswrapper package included.... you shouldn't have to compile it! If you don't have it installed, use yum or smart (or just plain rpm) to install the ndiswrapper package.

Once it's installed, run "ndiswrapper --help" to get an idea of how to use it (that's two dashes before the word help). You also have to use the raw .inf files for ndiswrapper to use.... it isn't able to un-zip drivers stored in .cab files and whatnot. Search on the drivers CD the card came with to see if there are .inf files.

To install the drivers for your card, cd into the directory where the .inf files are, and type

Code:

ndiswrapper -i ./*inf

You can then type ndiswrapper -l to see if it worked... it should say "drivers xxxx installed, hardware present"

The next part is fun.

Code:

stickman-linux:/ # lspci -vb
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333]
        Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc.: Unknown device 0000
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
        Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable)
        Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 2.0
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2

00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333 AGP] (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
        Memory behind bridge: dbe00000-dfefffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: bbd00000-dbcfffff
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2

00:0c.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6105 [Rhine-III] (rev 8b)
        Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc.: Unknown device 0105
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 10
        I/O ports at ec00
        Memory at dfffff00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
        Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

See the ethernet controller in there? remember the first number before it's name... in this case, mine is 00:0c:0 This isn't the whole device list, just a snip.

Let's move on. Now we get lspci to show us the actual PCI hardware numbers.

Code:

stickman-linux:/ # lspci -vn
00:00.0 Class 0600: 1106:3099
        Subsystem: 1106:0000
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
        Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
        Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 2.0
        Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2

00:01.0 Class 0604: 1106:b099
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0
        Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
        Memory behind bridge: dbe00000-dfefffff
        Prefetchable memory behind bridge: bbd00000-dbcfffff
        Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2

00:0c.0 Class 0200: 1106:3106 (rev 8b)
        Subsystem: 1106:0105
        Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 10
        I/O ports at ec00 [size=256]
        Memory at dfffff00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
        Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2

You can see my ethernet card is 1106:3106 so now we add it to ndiswrapper's list, and tell it which driver to use. If my card used driver aero32.inf then I would install that driver for this card like so:

Code:

stickman-linux:/ # /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -d 1106:3106 aero32
ls: /etc/ndiswrapper/aero32/: No such file or directory
Driver 'aero32' is not installed properly!
stickman-linux:/ #

Oh geez! Looks like I didn't actually have any drivers installed... but you get the idea. If you did everything right up to this point, then you can have it load as a module on bootup like so:

Code:

stickman-linux:/ # ndiswrapper -m
modprobe config already contains alias directive
stickman-linux:/ #

You can see here, I've already had ndiswrapper working at some point on this computer, as there's already a modprobe link to it. Once you reboot, it should load the card's drivers, and you can type

Code:

ifconfig wlan0 up

to start the card. It should then show up and be able to associate freely.

Good luck!

raydub · 19-November-06, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FunkyStickman

I'm assuming you're using ndiswrapper for a wireless card, correct?

FIrst, Fedora should have an ndiswrapper package included.... you shouldn't have to compile it! If you don't have it installed, use yum or smart (or just plain rpm) to install the ndiswrapper package.

Once it's installed, run "ndiswrapper --help" to get an idea of how to use it (that's two dashes before the word help). You also have to use the raw .inf files for ndiswrapper to use.... it isn't able to un-zip drivers stored in .cab files and whatnot. Search on the drivers CD the card came with to see if there are .inf files.

To install the drivers for your card, cd into the directory where the .inf files are, and type

Code:

ndiswrapper -i ./*inf
You can then type ndiswrapper -l to see if it worked... it should say "drivers xxxx installed, hardware present"

The next part is fun.

Code:

stickman-linux:/ # lspci -vb 00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333] Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc.: Unknown device 0000 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0 Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 2.0 Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2 00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333 AGP] (prog-if 00 [Normal decode]) Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0 Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0 Memory behind bridge: dbe00000-dfefffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: bbd00000-dbcfffff Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2 00:0c.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6105 [Rhine-III] (rev 8b) Subsystem: VIA Technologies, Inc.: Unknown device 0105 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 10 I/O ports at ec00 Memory at dfffff00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
See the ethernet controller in there? remember the first number before it's name... in this case, mine is 00:0c:0 This isn't the whole device list, just a snip.

Let's move on. Now we get lspci to show us the actual PCI hardware numbers.

Code:

stickman-linux:/ # lspci -vn 00:00.0 Class 0600: 1106:3099 Subsystem: 1106:0000 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0 Memory at e0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M] Capabilities: [a0] AGP version 2.0 Capabilities: [c0] Power Management version 2 00:01.0 Class 0604: 1106:b099 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0 Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0 Memory behind bridge: dbe00000-dfefffff Prefetchable memory behind bridge: bbd00000-dbcfffff Capabilities: [80] Power Management version 2 00:0c.0 Class 0200: 1106:3106 (rev 8b) Subsystem: 1106:0105 Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 10 I/O ports at ec00 [size=256] Memory at dfffff00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256] Capabilities: [44] Power Management version 2
You can see my ethernet card is 1106:3106 so now we add it to ndiswrapper's list, and tell it which driver to use. If my card used driver aero32.inf then I would install that driver for this card like so:

Code:

stickman-linux:/ # /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -d 1106:3106 aero32 ls: /etc/ndiswrapper/aero32/: No such file or directory Driver 'aero32' is not installed properly! stickman-linux:/ #
Oh geez! Looks like I didn't actually have any drivers installed... but you get the idea. If you did everything right up to this point, then you can have it load as a module on bootup like so:

Code:

stickman-linux:/ # ndiswrapper -m modprobe config already contains alias directive stickman-linux:/ #
You can see here, I've already had ndiswrapper working at some point on this computer, as there's already a modprobe link to it. Once you reboot, it should load the card's drivers, and you can type

Code:

ifconfig wlan0 up
to start the card. It should then show up and be able to associate freely.

Good luck!

Ok. Fedora Core 6 does not have ndiswrapper built into it. According to some guides on the net, I was able to get up to the commands: "make" and "make install" but after reading the output I get errors therefore it won't install. I still must be doing something wrong. Do you know any versions of Linux that has ndiswrapper already installed on Linux?

say10(666) · 19-November-06, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raydub


	Ok. Fedora Core 6 does not have ndiswrapper built into it. According to some guides on the net, I was able to get up to the commands: "make" and "make install" but after reading the output I get errors therefore it won't install. I still must be doing something wrong. Do you know any versions of Linux that has ndiswrapper already installed on Linux?

If you cant get it to work in fedora, there is always Kubuntu. I have been using that with my wireless card with out having to install ndiswrapper. It picked up my Netgear PCMCIA card automatically and works flawlessly. BTW i was having the same issue with fedora 5. Tha darn package would not install.

FunkyStickman · 19-November-06, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raydub


	Ok. Fedora Core 6 does not have ndiswrapper built into it. According to some guides on the net, I was able to get up to the commands: "make" and "make install" but after reading the output I get errors therefore it won't install. I still must be doing something wrong. Do you know any versions of Linux that has ndiswrapper already installed on Linux?

First of all, ndiswrapper should have come with the distro, it just wasn't installed by default. Did you install Fedora from a DVD? FTP? There should be a package there for it. If not, you could download it from here. (note, this is the x86 version package)

You've already gone through the trouble of installing Linux, it would be pointless to switch distros just to get around having to learn how to use it. Kind of defeats the purpose. Once you've downloaded the correct package, cd to where it is and type

Code:

rpm -ivh ./ndiswrapper*rpm

to install it. Then follow instructions above.

crash_maxed · 24-December-06, 12:47 PM

You can do it to FC...I just haven't played w/ it in a while. All my linux boxes are Gentoo. All I do is "emerge ndiswrapper" and poof....I have ndiswrapper.

raydub · 25-December-06, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crash_maxed


	You can do it to FC...I just haven't played w/ it in a while. All my linux boxes are Gentoo. All I do is "emerge ndiswrapper" and poof....I have ndiswrapper.

You know, Ubuntu had native support for my Airlink card. Thats awesome how you gots urs to work. I guess i can try it out on my notebook and see what happens....

19-November-06, 02:30 AM		#1 (permalink)
raydub Apex Master Tech Apprentice	Ndiswrapper iz a pain!! I spent a couple hours trying to install and compile ndiswrapper on Fedora Core 6 with my WLAN card. I have everything; drivers n' stuff, but I'm having a dificult time doing it all. Can someone help, maybe give clearer intructions?

24-December-06, 12:47 PM		#6 (permalink)
crash_maxed Apex Techie Lite	Re: Ndiswrapper iz a pain!! You can do it to FC...I just haven't played w/ it in a while. All my linux boxes are Gentoo. All I do is "emerge ndiswrapper" and poof....I have ndiswrapper.

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