How to ndiswrapper in Fedora

[zenora]

Yep, mismatch between the kernel version and ndiswrapper version. Make sure they are the same version.

# /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -i /<location>/<windows-driver-file>.inf
Installing <windows-driver>
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
Forcing parameter IBSSGMode|0 to IBSSGMode|2
# /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -l
Installed ndis drivers:
<windows-driver> driver present, hardware present
# /sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper
# /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -m
Adding "alias wlan0 ndiswrapper" to /etc/modprobe.conf
# /sbin/iwconfig

Then GoTo Desktop>>SystemsSetting>>Network>> and do as the 1st message on this thread says... it took me almost almost a month to get my Microsoft MN-730 Wireless working.

The whole darn thing can be simplified with a simple GUI. I hope someone makes one. As I've seen in many [many!] postings, Linux is weak on installation process, and especially of wireless.

[sabergo]

I've gotten my Motorola card (bcmwl5) to work using the HOWTO at the beginning of the post. All went as it should until I went to activate the card -- had to try maybe 20-30 times before it activated. Worked fine for awhile but stopped on re-boot and refused to activate again. Went through uninstall-reinstall routine multiple times, but No Go. Kwifimanager and the network connection monitor both showed a perfect signal, with Kwifi reporting the Router by name. Every check in the last 5 pages of postings worked.

My 5 year old (getting frustrated with papa in front of the computer for so long) said: "the computer isn't broke, something else is." Ah ha -- the Router. Made two changes -- channel and something on the same page as the firewall settings (i'll check if someone wants), rebooted into Linux, and it works -- even though the channel in the FC network device control is different (9 vs 6) -- and has continued to work. Download rates are double that of windows for the same file on the same site! Thats weird.

Good luck all.

steve

[zenora]

If you updated the kernel, ndiswrapper might expect the driver in the latest kernel area and the original ndiswrapper installation is pointing to older kernel area. That would be a point of failure to check. I remember driverloader [similar to ndiswrapper] recompiling from source at reboot everytime there was a FC4 kernel in the last month or so.

[P235]

Hi, I've tried the steps to the first post here but I'm having problems when I try modprobe ndiswrapper. If I try that command I get "bash: modprobe: command not found"

If I try "/sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper" I get "FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found."

I'm a newb using FC4. I've installed ndiswrapper via yum from the repository posted above as well.

Thanks

[Darkmage]

Hi, I've tried the steps to the first post here but I'm having problems when I try modprobe ndiswrapper. If I try that command I get "bash: modprobe: command not found"

If I try "/sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper" I get "FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found."

I'm a newb using FC4. I've installed ndiswrapper via yum from the repository posted above as well.

Thanks

What is the output of this command from a terminal

rpm -qa |grep kernel |sort

[P235]

What is the output of this command from a terminal

rpm -qa |grep kernel |sort

The output is

kernel-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4
kernel-2.6.12-1.1390_FC4
kernel-module-ndiswrapper-2.6.12-1.1390_FC4-1.2-0.lvn.3.4

[Darkmage]

The output is

kernel-2.6.11-1.1369_FC4
kernel-2.6.12-1.1390_FC4
kernel-module-ndiswrapper-2.6.12-1.1390_FC4-1.2-0.lvn.3.4

What is the output of

/bin/uname -r

[Finalzone]

uname -r display the current kernel you use on your system

Example

$ uname -r
2.6.12-1.1390_FC4

[P235]

What is the output of

/bin/uname -r

It is:

2.6.11-1.1369_FC4

[Darkmage]

It is:

2.6.11-1.1369_FC4

You are booting into linux with the wrong kernel for ndiswrapper. Try booting into kernel-2.6.12-1.1390_FC4.
Then it will be possible to run /sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper.

[P235]

Thanks Darkmage, you're very helpful. I'm posting this via my wireless card now. So where do I go if I want to be as wise about linux as you and a whole bunch of others seem to be?

Is there a way to make .6.12-1.1390_FC4 default on reboot?

[Darkmage]

Thanks Darkmage, you're very helpful. I'm posting this via my wireless card now. So where do I go if I want to be as wise about linux as you and a whole bunch of others seem to be?

Is there a way to make .6.12-1.1390_FC4 default on reboot?

open a terminal and used an editor -vi, emac, gedit, kate, kwrite to edit this file as root
The example I am going to give is using gedit

su -c "gedit /etc/grub.conf"

Then type in the root password

change default=1 to default=0. Save and exit. Reboot and it should boot the first kernel in your /etc/grub.conf


For more linux knowledge, I prefer a rieference book like these Fedora Books
I like Red Hat Fedora 4 Unleashed

[Confuse]

I have tried using the instructions from this howto and they have worked well in installing and loading the bcmwl5.inf driver. The problem is that the redhat network gui can't configure the card for some reason. I have to do everything manually in order to get it to work properly. By manually I mean I have to use iwconfig and friends and setup my network like that. NetworkManager tries to send a dhcp package to my router connection but it times out. Is this inability of the GUI network config something thats happened to someone else?

Error I get in GUI: Determining IP information for wlan0...failed; no link present. Check cables?

[Gallan]

I installed new kernel and ndiswrapper/wlan disappearred. I have used tar.gz file with 2.6.11 kernel and here is tiny howto what I have done and everything is working

kernel 2.6.11

untar ndiswrapper
go to ndiswrapper-1.2/lib
make
make install
ndiswrapper -i "driver path"
ndiswrapper -l (lists driver info)
ndiswrapper -m (adds alias line to modprobe.conf)
modprobe ndiswrapper (if not hanging boot machine)

when kernel changed I just done make and make install again and I can use wlan OK!

[Gallan]

hello Confuse

I had that same porblem some time ago with FC3 and reason was ssid name and encryption. I didn't have to make any configuration when I installed FC4 just check channel, ssid (make it auto first), don't use encryption right away.