USB internet adapter

[Sieuwert]

Hi.
A couple of weeks ago I installed Fedora 7 on my machine, but I couldn't get the wireless network to work.
The network is connected to my computer by a USB adapter, it is a Siemens Gigaset USB Stick 108.
I a real noob in Linux, but I would be greatly satisfied if someone could help me get this to work.
Thanks in advance

[Sieuwert]

Anyone at all ? (bump)

[phree]

Hi, do a search on howto wireless using the forum search in the menu bar. There are a couple of tutorials on the subject.

With the help of the fine people on this forum, I have just got my Netgear usb stick up an running using Ndiwrapper for which there are also tutorials. If there is anything on this that may help then let me know.

Have a read of the tutorials and see how far you get, then post specific questions back here and i am sure people will help.

rgds Phree

[phree]

Also take a read here which I found helpful.

http://fedoramobile.org/fc-wireless/

[Sieuwert]

Alright, now I managed to get some tutorial off a dutch website (I'm dutch) and this kinda worked..
It involved installing ndiswrapper (done) then loading the windows xp drivers (done)

Now, according to the Wiki of www.fedora-linux.nl I should go to "Network Configuration" and activate the wlan0.
So I insert the USB stick, and press Activate, but it gives error (sorry if improperly translated): ndiswrapper networkcard wlan0 is apparently not inserted, initialization prosponed.

What am I doing wrong ? thanks for the help so far Phree

[phree]

Can you give a brief synopsis of what you have done so far to get to were you are.

rgds phree

[Sieuwert]

Yes sure, here's what I did so far:

Copied the Windows drivers from the Windows XP system to Linux. in folder /home/s108
downloaded kmod-ndiswrapper and ndiswrapper from http://rpm.livna.org/fedora
installed both the ndiswrappers.
Succeeded.

Then I opened a terminal, became root (su -, password)
went to folder containing the windows drivers
typed: ndiswrappers -i athfmwdl.inf
and then: ndiswrappers -i netwg11t.inf
Checked installation with: ndiswrapper -l

typed: modprobe ndiswrapper (not sure what this does, though)

Then I went to the Network settings, clicked wlan0 and tweaked some settings, including WPA-Key and such.
Plugged the USB into the port, and clicked "Activate" in the top right corner.
Then it gave the message: "ndiswrapper networkcard wlan0 is apparently not inserted, initialization prosponed." (translated from dutch)

HELP :P !!

[phree]

Sieuwert,

This might be a bit of the blind leading the blind but here is what I did, (with a little help from the guys on this forum)


1) Mkdir to hold the wireless drivers and copy them from CD/download into the directory. Make sure that any inf files are copied as well - not sure if these are required but did it anyway.

2) Yum install kernel-devel gcc

3) ln -s /usr/src/kernels/(kernel version) /lib/modules/(kernel version) you will need to alter this for your kernel but is easy to do

4) download the ndiswrapper source code from sourceforge

5) in the same directory as the ndiswrapper D/L and as su - run tar xvfz ndiswrapper-*tar.gz

6) still as root cd to the ndiswrapper* and run make install

7) then as root run ndiswrapper -i your_driver_path_and_ name

8) run ndiswrapper -l and it should if everything has worked list the driver and the stick (ensure the stick is in)

9) run modprobe ndiswrapper

10) run iwconfig which should show you the wireless lan

11) run iwlist wlan0 scan which will list available access points - assuming the previous steps worked

12) run ndiswrapper -m to create the aliase

13) check /var/log/messages to ensure that it is all loaded ok

14) At this point I struggled as i couldnt get at network manager to work but the guys on here helped with the following

15) su -
chkconfig --level 345 NetworkManager on
chkconfig --level 345 NetworkManagerDispatcher on
service NetworkManager start
service NetworkManagerDispatcher start

All the above should be done as su- I hmay have missed this off on a couple of actions. The trickiest bit was the sym link between the module and kernel directories and getting the right ones.

Let me know how yuo get on.

rgds Phree

PS everyone on this site is more experienced than me as i have only been at this for a short while. Whilst this worked for me and it should work for you, if someone else can help then please listen to what they have to say before me :-)

[Sieuwert]

Thanks for the guide, I printed it, and tried, but when I entered the first command into the terminal (yum install kernel-devel gcc) it said: some info and then Error: cannot open/read repomd.xml file for repository. It also had some kind of link in the info...

I continued, and everything worked, except for:
ndiswrapper -l; it didn't say that the stick was present, only that the drives were installed.
continued and then at iwconfig it said lo: no wireless extentions; eth0 no wireless extensions
ran iwlist wlan0 scan: interface doesn't support scanning...

Help !! :(

[phree]

Hi, do a search on this forum for 'repomd.xml' and you will find plenty of posts from others who had the problem and workarounds that others have used.

Alternatively you could try yum install yumex and when installed run yumex from the terminal as root. You can then try loading kernel-dev and gcc from there.

see how you get on with that

rgds Phree

[Sieuwert]

Ok heres what I found:
Do you have a Fedora 7 DVD? I think kernel version 2.6.21-1.3194 is the base release of F7 as on the DVD, so you should be able to find the package there. If you do, you just need to copy the file to some location on your file system, "cd" to the location where the file is (in a terminal) and install it:rpm -ivh kernel-devel-2.6.21-1.3194.fc7.i686.rpmThe DVD ISO should also have any other packages you may need.

from this (http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=165570&highlight=repomd.xml) link
Ill try it soon, I think monday or tomorrow, because the DVD is at my dads work :(
Thanks for the help I really appreciate it
Ill keep you posted

[phree]

Try, Applications Menu => Then choose the Add/Remove software option which is at the bottom of the drop down list.

From there choose Development on the left and check(tick) the boxes for Development tools and development libraries - Gcc is deffo in that group.

Dont check anything else or untick anything that was already checked.

Click Apply

rgds Phree

[Sieuwert]

Try, Applications Menu => Then choose the Add/Remove software option which is at the bottom of the drop down list.

From there choose Development on the left and check(tick) the boxes for Development tools and development libraries - Gcc is deffo in that group.

Dont check anything else or untick anything that was already checked.

Click Apply

rgds Phree

Tried it, but after entering the root-password it said I needed an internet connection :(

Damn this is hopeless..

[phree]

Apologies, I didnt realise that you had NO connection at all. In which case you will either need to get a connection (wired) or get the disk (s).

Don't loose hope... :-)

rgds

[Sieuwert]

Alright, I suddenly realised we had some internet cables lying around, so I hooked them up to the computer, and internet in linux WORKED :D:D
But not yet wireless :(

I did the steps you told me to do again, with internet, but still, when I typed ndiswrapper -l it didnt say the stick was plugged in, which it was...
Could it be that I have the wrong drivers ?
I dont think so, because when I search for drivers gigaset 108 these are the drivers I get..
Anyhow, the drivers are called netwg11t.inf and athfmwdl.inf I just installed them using ndiswrapper -i driver_name
Could there be anything wrong with that ?
Currently writing this in Linux, wired :(
Wired = better that nothing

[phree]

Hi, Strangely enough i had the same 2 drivers for my Netgear stick. I used the athfmwdl.inf driver, make sure you copy any sys files as well from the driver disk, (not sure this makes any difference but safer to do so)

when you install the stick and type lsusb (as root) does the stick show up in the list?

rgds Phree

[Sieuwert]

Yes it does, but not with a name, only
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 129b:160c
The rest is either ID 000.000 or has a name, and I know what hardware it is.
Well, Ill just look for other drivers and try again.
thanks

[Sieuwert]

It works Finally !!!
The trick was to swap the netwg11t.inf ndiswrapper for the net5523.inf files !!
Icant believe this works !!
Thank you SO much for youre help :D:D
Writing this from Fedora 7 on Wireless LAN :D:D
Yoohoo

[Sieuwert]

Alright, being realistic, maybe you want me to post a step-by-step guide of what I did ?
If so, ill post one, but Im not bothered at this moment, now I just want to check out the WWW :D:D
thanks again

[phree]

Hey man, thats excellent news! glad to be able to help out when so many have helped me on this forum.

Have fun :-)

rgds Phree

[Sieuwert]

Now for the step by step guide: NO guarantees (obviously)
1. download and install ndiswrapper. Many other guides can be found everywhere but make sure its done properly :P
2. make a directory to hold the wireless drivers for windows, and copy them there, if it is just a single EXE file, use the archiver in linux to un-exe it, and you will see 2 .inf files:
-net5523.inf
-athfmdwl.inf (correct me if im wrong)
3. Make sure you have a wired internet connection and then do:
yum install kernel-devel gcc
in a terminal.
4. do
ln -s /usr/src/kernels/kernel version/lib/modules/kernel version
where kernel version is the version of your kernel
5. As root, run :
ndiswrapper -i athfmdwl.inf (while in the right folder, ofcourse)
ndiswrapper -i net5523.inf
ndiswrapper -l It should say driver installed, and usb stick plugged in (of course the stick should be in)
6. run
modprobe ndiswrapper

then
dmesg
Search for wlan0 and ndiswrapper, and if you cant find them do:
cd /etc/ndiswrapper/net5523
cp 1385:4250.F.conf 129B:160B.F.conf (where 1385:4250 is the name of the file in the folder, and 129B:160B.F.conf is the name of the device which you are trying to get installed. This last one can be found by typing
lsusb in terminal and then searching for the usb stick.)

7. run
modprobe -r ndiswrapper
modprobe ndiswrapper
dmesg (now it should say some sort of network usb stick and such)

8. run
iwconfig which should say some info about the wireless lan.


as root run
chkconfig --level 345 NetworkManager on
chkconfig --level 345 NetworkManagerDispatcher on
service NetworkManager start
service NetworkManagerDispatcher start

Now I saw in my top-right screen a kind of network icon, clicked it, and I had to enter some WPA key which I had for security.
It got an IP Address, and it worked !!
Any questions don't hesitate to ask

[RalphCC]

Did you get anywhere or have you stuck with the wired connection.
It seems from other threads that USB to Internet is not good unless anyone has any news?
Ralph.

[phree]

Ralphcc, yes it worked and he has documented in the final post or 2.

Phree

[LeFou]

Congrats to him. i've just spent about 7 hours trying to duplicate his success. The basic rundown
i've done ndiswrapper several times in my life, once with this very device. That was on FC5 and I'm on FC6 now (hard drive bricked, so I was forced to upgrade)

In a nutshell I've seen just about everything, and am getting pretty frustrated.

I started with
yum install kmod-ndiswrapper
/usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -i [my extracted .inf]
-l (driver installed)
...hooked up the stick
-l (driver installed, hardware present)
su
modprobe ndiswrapper
[[[[[[[[segfault]]]]]]]]]]
whee

[[[[[[[[machine crash, including a neato effect wherein X server displayed my windows upside down

whee

K, that looks like a no-go.
yum remove kmod-ndiswrapper

So I try ndiswrapper from source.download then
make install
Can't find kernel build files in /lib/modules/2.6.22.5-49.fc6/build;

oh, duh... need kernel-devel
yum install it, then try again
Can't find kernel build files in /lib/modules/2.6.22.5-49.fc6/build;

Looks familiar.

[[[[Wait! What's This?!!]]]

the little zip with the drivers had a NETPRISM.inf but *also a WinXP/NETPRISM.inf !!! I bet that's the latest and greates

yum [re-]install kmod-ndiswrapper
/usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -i /ndiswrapper_drivers/NETPRISM.inf
installing netprism ...
/usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -l
netprism : driver installed

Score!

now let's hook 'er up and see...

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: SMP

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: Oops: 0002 [#1]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: CPU: 0

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: EIP: 0060:[<e0e4689d>] Tainted: P VLI

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: EFLAGS: 00010283 (2.6.22.5-49.fc6 #1)

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: ds: 007b es: 007b fs: 00d8 gs: 0033 ss: 0068

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: Process modprobe (pid: 3490, ti=c882b000 task=d4cd0c00 task.ti=c882b000)

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0e47b44>] NdisAddDevice+0x2d3/0x370 [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0e42c8d>] wrap_pnp_start_device+0x1f6/0x214 [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0e42ee2>] wrap_pnp_start_usb_device+0xb2/0xbc [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: Call Trace:

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c04b2aba>] __sysfs_new_dirent+0x20/0x4a

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: c8062000 ded0204c d4cd0c4c 0d00b9fb e0e5041e d6ce5c18 00000501 da957300

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c062f58f>] mutex_lock+0x1a/0x29

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0e42776>] IoSendIrpTopDev+0xad/0xfb [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0e40970>] IofCallDriver+0x7d/0xac [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c0559687>] driver_probe_device+0xea/0x168

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c05597ab>] __driver_attach+0x0/0xa5

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: EIP is at NdisDispatchPnp+0x797/0xc7c [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: Stack: 00000100 c80628bc 00000014 00000000 00000010 00000066 0000000b 0000003c

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c0593e65>] usb_register_driver+0x6d/0xd4

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c04b2bc8>] sysfs_make_dirent+0x29/0x35

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c059350a>] usb_match_one_id+0x1c/0x71

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0e38b8d>] loader_init+0x1d1/0x207 [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c0593a87>] usb_autopm_do_device+0x8c/0x93

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0e42fc1>] wrap_procfs_init+0x56/0xa3 [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c0594317>] usb_probe_interface+0x81/0xb2

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0852074>] wrapper_init+0x74/0xae [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c0445a34>] sys_init_module+0x1699/0x17d2
localhost kernel: [<c055981b>] __driver_attach+0x70/0xa5

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0e40c4e>] IoAllocateIrp+0x55/0x62 [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c04559ab>] disable_irq+0x0/0x27

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: eax: 80000000 ebx: da957300 ecx: c882bb24 edx: 00000072

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: esi: d3d2ef1c edi: 00030004 ebp: c8062500 esp: c882bb58

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c047ac6a>] vfs_read+0xa6/0x158

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c0420929>] update_stats_wait_end+0xd3/0xfe

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c0558c00>] bus_for_each_dev+0x39/0x5b

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c05594e2>] driver_attach+0x16/0x18

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c0404f8e>] syscall_call+0x7/0xb

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c05597ab>] __driver_attach+0x0/0xa5

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<c0558ee4>] bus_add_driver+0x6d/0x16d

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: EIP: [<e0e4689d>] NdisDispatchPnp+0x797/0xc7c [ndiswrapper] SS:ESP 0068:c882bb58
localhost kernel: [<c0630000>] __down_interruptible+0xc2/0xf0

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: [<e0e42a50>] pnp_start_device+0x44/0x8b [ndiswrapper]

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: e0e5041e d6ce5c18 00030004 00000501 da957300 d3d2ef1c 3c420f39 00000000

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: =======================

Message from syslogd@localhost at Sun Sep 16 16:29:19 2007 ...
localhost kernel: Code: 4c 24 5c c7 04 24 00 01 00 00 e8 df f1 ff ff 85 c0 75 54 31 d2 c7 84 24 d0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 eb 12 8b 5c 24 5c 8b 44 93 04 90 <0f> ab 84 24 d0 00 00 00 42 8b 44 24 5c 3b 10 72 e6 8b 84 24 d0

[LeFou]

Naturally, this is looking like a possible bad-hardware issue at this point, so I'd actually appreciate it if someone just told me what kind of wireless card to go buy. This is a 2yo Dell Inspiron 1150; it actually has a wireless card built in but that thing's been toast for about a year. I will pay [lots] extra for a wireless card that works with Fedora. Over the years I've probably spent $1100 worth of my time futzing with ndiswrapper