linksys wireless network card

[Jim Nicholson]

I installed Fedora Core 5 on my IBM Thinkpad and it wouldn't detect my Linksys WPC11 ver4 Wireless-B network card. How do i configure it manually. I don't see any "Install New Hardware" icon-do you have to install any new hardware in a terminal?

[FreeRules]

Ok, I am new and not qualified to answer, but I am currently going through the same issue and i am probably 20 minutes ahead of you. You need to install ndiswrapper because the card you have does not have Liinux drivers. Ndiswrapper will allow you to use windows driver to use some equipment. You also need to determine which chipset your card has. Basically there is an identifier for your card and i found mine by opening terminal and using the command lspci and it gives you something like this (my list):

[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.27]# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 741/741GX/M741 Host (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS AGP Port (virtual PCI-to-PCI bridge)
00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS963 [MuTIOL Media IO] (rev 25)
00:02.1 SMBus: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS961/2 SMBus Controller
00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE]
00:02.6 Modem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Modem Controller (rev a0)
00:02.7 Multimedia audio controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] Sound Controller (rev a0)
00:03.0 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.0 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.1 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.0 Controller (rev 0f)
00:03.2 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller
00:04.0 Ethernet controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet (rev 90)
00:09.0 Ethernet controller: Linksys, A Division of Cisco Systems WMP11v4 802.11b PCI card
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661/741/760/761 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter

here you can see my wmp11 is 00:09.0, then you do the -n command of lspci:

[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.27]# lspci -n
00:00.0 0600: 1039:0741 (rev 03)
00:01.0 0604: 1039:0003
00:02.0 0601: 1039:0963 (rev 25)
00:02.1 0c05: 1039:0016
00:02.5 0101: 1039:5513
00:02.6 0703: 1039:7013 (rev a0)
00:02.7 0401: 1039:7012 (rev a0)
00:03.0 0c03: 1039:7001 (rev 0f)
00:03.1 0c03: 1039:7001 (rev 0f)
00:03.2 0c03: 1039:7002
00:04.0 0200: 1039:0900 (rev 90)
00:09.0 0200: 17fe:2120
00:0a.0 0200: 10ec:8139 (rev 10)
01:00.0 0300: 1039:6330

here you can see that the 00:09.0 is 17fe:2120. Luckily my card is listed at the ndiswrapper wiki as a compatible card. You card needs to be physically attached to see this. Check it out and see if you get this far. Also please take this with a grain since i am a noob.

[Jim Nicholson]

thanks for your post- i'm getting a "command not found" with the lspci command :((((

[FreeRules]

Ok,

Sorry i was vague. You need to be loggin as root or you need to add your current username as su or suid. I have setup fc5 a couple of times and the best options for me are to configure the os under root and then never use that login again. This is probably bad practice, so you should read up on it since we are both stabbing in the dark. It should be obvious that i know only enough to cause trouble. Best of luck because i seem to be having the same issue as you just further down the line. One thing that was curious to me was that you mentined a laptop but i found the wmp11 to be a pci card? (maybe there are multiple versions).

the best

[DarkoD]

I am not that experienced with Fedora too, but the following might help you (I was "playing" with my wireless for 2 weeks! about 6 months ago when installing my FC5 before getting it right). :)

I find it easiest to use ndiswrapper and the NetworkManager function of Fedora.

1. Get your Windows driver for your device, the .inf file and MAKE SURE you have the correct 32-bit or 64-bit version, depending if you want to install Fedora i386 or x86_64.

2. Install ndiswrapper. For me the easiest way is to get the prepared rpms from www.atrpms.net, click on the corect Fedora version and then on ndiswrapper to see the list of files. You need two rpms, the ndiswrapper and the ndiswrapper kernel. VERY IMPORTANT: both rpms must match the ndiswrapper version (current on that website is 1.27) and they MUST match your Fedora build (for example 2.1.18-1.2789, the 2789 part must match too). After you get these rpms you can install them with a simple right click and selecting Open with Software Packager option. First install the kernel and then the ndiswrapper.

3. Obviously as root, do "ndiswrapper -i /foldername/windrv.inf" to install the driver. You can check if the driver is installed with "ndiswrapper -l", you should see driver present hardware present message.

4. Use editor (gedit) to open /etc/modprobe.conf (not sure if I got the location correct, I'm typing this from work, search for the file in worst case), to add the line "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper". Make sure there is a blank line at the end of the file.

5. If there is a built in Fedora driver for that device (but you can't make it work), you should blacklist it probably. Or just disable the device in System/Administration/Network.

6. Then go to System/Administration/Network, click on New and you should see the wlan0 device there. Follow the steps to add the new device, don't forget to check (clicking on Edit button in Network) whether the tick box to start the device on boot is selected. Note: You might need a reboot before seeing the wlan0 device in Network so you can add it, not sure about that.

Sorry it is not 100% step by step precise instruction, I am typing this from work and my printed instructions are home.

I did a clean install of FC6 last night and even though this release had a built in driver for my Broadcom BCM4318 I simply couldn't connect to my wireless network. I just blacklisted that driver, selected the device (eth1) not to start at boot, did the ndiswrapper procedure as above and it got it working working in 5min.

PS. I forgot to add, you should also go to System/Administration/Services and select NetworkManager and NetworkManagerDispatcher to start on boot, if that's what you want to use for your wired/wireless connections. I find it easy to use and functional, especially for newbies like myself.

If there are further questions feel free to ask and report any success.

Cheers.

[DarkoD]

I am not that experienced with Fedora too, but the following might help you (I was "playing" with my wireless for 2 weeks! about 6 months ago when installing my FC5 before getting it right). :)

I find it easiest to use ndiswrapper and the NetworkManager function of Fedora.

1. Get your Windows driver for your device, the .inf file and MAKE SURE you have the correct 32-bit or 64-bit version, depending if you want to install Fedora i386 or x86_64.

2. Install ndiswrapper. For me the easiest way is to get the prepared rpms from www.atrpms.net, click on the corect Fedora version and then on ndiswrapper to see the list of files. You need two rpms, the ndiswrapper and the ndiswrapper kernel. VERY IMPORTANT: both rpms must match the ndiswrapper version (current on that website is 1.27) and they MUST match your Fedora build (for example 2.1.18-1.2789, the 2789 part must match too). After you get these rpms you can install them with a simple right click and selecting Open with Software Packager option. First install the kernel and then the ndiswrapper.

3. Obviously as root, do "ndiswrapper -i /foldername/windrv.inf" to install the driver. You can check if the driver is installed with "ndiswrapper -l", you should see driver present hardware present message.

4. Use editor (gedit) to open /etc/modprobe.conf (not sure if I got the location correct, I'm typing this from work, search for the file in worst case), to add the line "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper". Make sure there is a blank line at the end of the file.

5. If there is a built in Fedora driver for that device (but you can't make it work), you should blacklist it probably. Or just disable the device in System/Administration/Network.

6. Then go to System/Administration/Network, click on New and you should see the wlan0 device there. Follow the steps to add the new device, don't forget to check (clicking on Edit button in Network) whether the tick box to start the device on boot is selected. Note: You might need a reboot before seeing the wlan0 device in Network so you can add it, not sure about that.

Sorry it is not 100% step by step precise instruction, I am typing this from work and my printed instructions are home.

I did a clean install of FC6 last night and even though this release had a built in driver for my Broadcom BCM4318 I simply couldn't connect to my wireless network. I just blacklisted that driver, selected the device (eth1) not to start at boot, did the ndiswrapper procedure as above and it got it working working in 5min.

PS. I forgot to add, you should also go to System/Administration/Services and select NetworkManager and NetworkManagerDispatcher to start on boot, if that's what you want to use for your wired/wireless connections. I find it easy to use and functional, especially for newbies like myself.

If there are further questions feel free to ask and report any success.

Cheers.