ndiswrapper works on Ubuntu but not Fedora (Dell E1505)

[bbfuller]

Hello concoran

The usual advice for installing something like ndiswrapper is to get it from one of your distributions repositories if possible. ndiswrapper, when installed, has a relatively unchanging part and a kernel module that is intimately linked to one particular kernel.

Fedora changes kernel more often than a lot of other distributions and if you go the do-it-yourself route then you end up recompiling each time the kernel changes. As long as you keep an eye on what you are updating there is usually a precompiled ndiswrapper module released at the same time or shortly after a new kernel.

Although ndiswrapper is "free" software the windows drivers it wraps around certainly aren't and so it doesn't get included in the usual repositories but instead ends up in the livna ones.

So you install the livna repository with:

rpm -i http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-8.rpm

That calls the details in from the internet so you need a wired connection to get it and the ndiswrapper parts.

Then install ndiswrapper:

yum install kmod-ndiswrapper

That brings in the kernel module and associated parts.

The actual drivers are everything. I have one particular card that will only ndiswrap with one particular variant of the driver and that's a win98 driver. The good news is that if it doesn't work with one driver you can delete its folder from '/etc/ndiswrapper' and try again.

For broadcom based cards it is safest to blacklist the built in kernel drivers. Open the file '/etc/modprobe.d/blacklist' and add two lines:

blacklist b43
blacklist ssb

Safest to restart here and try:

/sbin/lsmod | grep b4

to assure yourself that b43 is not loading, you can modify the command and do it for ssb as well.

You know the 'ndiswrapper -i' and 'ndiswrapper -l' commands.

With the driver installed:

modprobe ndiswrapper

You should now be able to use:

/sbin/iwconfig

and

/sbin/iwlist wlan0 scan

to see sensible information about your connection and then use NetworkManager to control it. You may need to modify the iwlist command if you card was not identified as wlan0 in the first command.

Don't try and use the 'Gnome system menu - Administration - Network' to configure your card. I haven't used ndiswrapper on a broadcom for some time. I can tell you that using the b43 my broadcom's don't show up in this network configuration dialogue.

However if yours does, resist the urge to try and configure it here. You may though need to click on such a wireless interface if it appears, click "Edit" and make sure "Activate Device when Computer Starts" is NOT ticked but that "Controlled by NetworkManager" is. That latter will only appear if your system is up to date within the last couple of weeks.

If you can now control your card from the top Gnome Panel, NetworkManager should have taken up residence in the notification area to the right, all well and good.

First time you do this you 'may' need to start NetworkManager explicitly. Do that from 'Gnome system menu - Administration - Services'. Make sure NetworkManager is ticked, started and saved so that it starts automatically.

If all is working, this won't preserve your connection between reboots. You need to issue the command:

ndiswrapper -ma

and then add a line to /etc/modprobe.conf along the lines of:

alias wlan0 ndiswrapper

depending on what interface name 'iwconfig' has revealed.

If you experiment with several cards as I have, it appears important that you only have one alias for ndiswrapper in modprobe.conf, but you can have several different drivers installed.

I've had wlan0, wlan1 and wlan2 on one occasion with drivers installed for each card and and been able to use whichever card I plugged in by altering the alias. It appears a fairly robust system so you should be able to experiment without doing damage.

It's mid-morning here. I'll be looking for progress reports during the day with interest.

EDIT: Anyone coming across this post please note concoran's variations in post #49

[concoran]

Hi Fuller,
Thanks for your response. Sorry I couldn't post Sunday as it wasn't a day off for me.

Anyways, it seems I have some problem with ssb.

[root@localhost ~]# lsmod | grep b4
b44                    26193  0 
ssb                    30533  1 b44
mii                     8385  1 b44
[root@localhost ~]# lsmod | grep ssb
ssb                    30533  1 b44

Don't know where to find ssb, but here's what I did:
[root@localhost /]# find -name ssb
./lib/modules/2.6.23.1-42.fc8/kernel/drivers/ssb
./lib/modules/2.6.23.15-137.fc8/kernel/drivers/ssb
./sys/module/ssb
./sys/bus/ssb

SSB still shows up in modules. Is there a way to remove it?
At this point, I stopped installing the driver since I don't want to complicate any further.
Thanks.

[bbfuller]

Hello concoran

I've never noticed that happen before but I suppose it does.

The b44 also appears to be a driver for certain broadcom wired chipsets that calls the ssb module on its own behalf. I took a look at one of your earlier posts and of course your wired chip is a Broadcom 4401.

I don't think this will make any difference to your ndiswrapper though. Just continue ahead.

[concoran]

Hi Fuller,
With a couple of modifications to your post above, I have wlan0 finally working Thanks for your help.
First is, after 'modprobe ndiswrapper', iwlist wouldn't list wlan0. So I did a ''ndiswrapper -ma'.
Then, with networkmanager service starting at boot up I restarted the machine with network cable removed (not sure if that matters).

Also, I didn't have to add an alias to modprobe.conf - because, upon restart, the networkmanager detected the wireless before I could add that line.

But when I look at modprobe.conf, I see an 'alias wlan0 b43' already there. Do you want me to remove b43 and replace it with ndiswrapper?
Thanks

[bbfuller]

Hello concoran,

I think we'll go along the route "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

Just make a note that there is an odd 'alias wlan0 b43' in modprobe.conf and not the 'alias wlan0 ndiswrapper'.

Time enough to alter them if the wireless doesn't react properly sometime.

[concoran]

Hi Fuller,
Given my stupid risk taking streaks, I replaced b43 with ndiswrapper in that file, and upon restart I was able to connect as easily as earlier. Next I tried without that line altogether. I can still connect.
What I am not sure is if that line makes any difference, or upon seeing that line missing, Fedora somehow manages to figure what to do.
Thanks.

[bbfuller]

Hello concoran

Well, I have to say that if I had been in your position I'd have done just the same. You don't learn anything if you don't try things out.

That said, it's one thing for you to make up your own mind to try it and quite another for me to recommend it!

[concoran]

Fuller,
Just for the sake of it, I installed FC8 one more time to see if I could take it from scratch, and it worked fine.

A big thanks to you and dangermouse for all your help. Much appreciated.

But, before I let you go, everytime I log into Gnome, some NetworkManager dialog box asks me to type in a keyring so that it can store my password - without which I can't go any further. I wonder what this is all about.

[bbfuller]

Hello concoran,

The keyring is a way of storing long passphrases on your computer and using them by giving a shorter password.

So for example with your wireless key, say for the sake of argument it was "the boy stood on the burning deck whence all bet he had fled". It's something you are going to remember but it's a real pain to type in each time you want to connect.

The Gnome keyring is offering to store that and produce it for the wireless network whenever it is required. It will encrypt it on your machine and password protect it. You give the keyring a simpler password say "casabianca" and that's all you have to type to get NetworkManager to connect.