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Re: [LUG] DSL and ndiswrapper

 

You only need to install ndiswrapper once with eg "ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf". 
This allows the driver system to associate the PCI id of the device with the 
driver, so when it discovers the hardware it knows which driver to load. It 
should then get automatically loaded when the card is initialised. If 
ndiswrapper is not being loaded, make sure it is in /etc/modules.

With windows .inf files they often have both unicode and ascii version. Make 
sure you use the ascii one. If you use the wrong file, it says that it is 
installed, but doesn't work at all. Nice.

I also had a problem upgraded to the latest Ubuntu, and had to run the 
ndiswrapper install again. This told me that it was already installed, but 
fixed the issue. It also changes the names from wlan0 to eth1, and I hadn't 
the energy to find out why.

I've always found WiFi support on laptops to be a nightmare on Linux. Probably 
best not to use me for advice. I ended up writing my own Python script to 
work the magic. It just does an "iwlist eth1 scanning" to check for active 
APs, picks a known one out of a list, then runs the appropriate "iwconfig" 
command, making sure to save the settings to the card.

Installing the network monitor applet improves things ('nm-applet'). Once you 
have set up the card to talk to the access point it should connect 
automatically. This worked fine on my ThinkPad X60s (oh how I miss it - it 
went with the job), until I wrecked the settings. It turned out my WiFi 
access point had developed a fault, but I spent 2 hours trying to figure out 
what was wrong with the laptop, and trashed the settings in the process.

D

On Monday 19 November 2007 04:41:03 Simon Robert wrote:
> Neil Stone wrote:
> > Julian Hall wrote:
> >> Simon Robert wrote:
> >>> The problem is that I don't know how to make this happen automatically,
> >>> I have to reload the file each time. Does anyone know how I can get the
> >>> *.inf file and ndiswrapper to come up when the laptop is booted?
> >>
> >> Could you put the required lines into the startup file for KDE or Gnome
> >> (whichever you use).  I had a similr issue with a laptop trackpad, but
> >> by adding the required lines into the ini file for KDE it executed them
> >> every time the GUI launched.
> >>
> >> Kind regards,
> >>
> >> Julian
> >
> > or rc.local.. it's usually executed after all of the other init files..
>
> thanks for your responses so far. the problem isn't finding the config
> file, (though can't remember what it's called tight now), as I've
> already tweaked it to have a fixed IP address the problem is that I have
> zero idea of what to write in it! Guess it would be whatever it is one
> does to initiate ndiswrapper.... maybe ndiswrapper -i driver.inf? hmm,
> sorry to have bothered you.....
>
> Simon
>
> --
> Simon Robert
> www.oldhouse-cottage.co.uk

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