Networking - help with wifi modules & ndiswrapper w1av - 13.09.2006, 02:28 Uhr Titel: help with wifi modules & ndiswrapper
Hello. I just did a complete dist-upgrade and kernel update on my laptop and STILL no luck with my wireless card. Kano suggested I use an updated ndiswrapper. Since I dist-upgraded I assume the ndiswrapper was updated too. I ran the ndiswrapper configuration but it wants to know where the "inf" file is.....I have no clue where to look for it. I would think I would have to look in my winxp partition under c:\windows\system????
I think there are 2 files ndiswrapper needs, so I need to find them and do I copy them somewhere in my Kanotix installation?
On the other hand I read in H2's script instructions that I may have to download wifi modules. I think the command is "dpkg -i modules*.deb"
But when I do that I get error. So I am trying to determine which is the lesser of 2 evils, to try to use ndiswrapper, or go crazy with trying to get the card recognized by another method. The chipset is rt2500. If I type in Konsole ndiswrapper -i it shows that ndiswrapper is installed for rt2400 and rt 2500......H E L P ! ! ! ! JimC - 14.09.2006, 03:41 Uhr Titel:
Chances are, if the driver installed in ndiswrapper is compatible with your card (and it may or may not be), then it will be pretty easy to get it working.
See if it shows both the driver and hardware present or not using ndiswrapper -i
If yes, see what you get when you type iwconfig from a console (as root).
You may need to perform a few steps (no big deal), to get it working (only a few, and I can give you a link to screen prints of how I normally get one of my cards to work via ndiswrapper.
Or, you may need to remove the driver already there and install the one that came with your card (usually on an included CD). I've got some screen prints showing me doing that with a card I use, too (one of my cards is already installed in some distros, and I have to use ndiswrapper -e to remove the driver and then install the one that came with it).
Here is one doing that with SimplyMEPIS (I have to remove the driver already there and install the one that came with my card). I usually copy the drivers to my desktop and do it from there):
It's only a few steps to get one working that way, provided you have the CD with the drivers (or can download them from somewhere). I don't know if they'd be on a Windows partition or not.
Kanotix even has a menu choice that lets you easily install drivers for ndiswrapper (I usually use a console to do it though).
I've got an rt2570 based adapter, too. But, I haven't tried that one via ndiswrapper (it would probably work, if I could only find the CD for it). lol
I've been meaning to look for it, since I like this adapter and it won't work with Kanotix 2006-easter-rc4 unless you use the UP kernel).
I do use a Netgear card with Kanotix via ndiswrapper though and ndiswrapper is pretty easy to configure with almost all distros I've tried using it with.
Chances are, it's not an ndiswrapper version issue. It's more likely the driver you see installed that's not compatible. But, I can't tell that yet from what you've told us. It could just be that you haven't finished configuring it yet.
For example, after adding a driver to ndiswrapper, I normally do this (for my card and the ESSID I use with my router) to make sure it generates what is needed and installed correctly (even removing it and installing it again in the process).
That's just to make sure it works. There is a menu choice in Kanotix you can use to configure the card so that it starts automatically with the correct parameters.
It may show up as something other than wlan0 (for example, my netgear card is rausb0).
Does it show driver present and hardware present when you use ndiswrapper -i ?
If so, what do you get when you type this (logged in as root)?
iwconfig
w1av - 14.09.2006, 14:21 Uhr Titel: ndiswrapper woes
Hi JimC. OK I will post the info you asked about as soon as I can get my laptop set up. The wireless card I have is an rt2500 chipset and when I do ndiswrapper -i it shows that.
I have tried to configure ndiswrapper from the Kanotix menu but it keeps coming up with a screen asking me where the files are. I dont know at all. Do I copy them from my Windows xp partition and paste them somewhere else? The directions are not clear to me. About all I know is they are .INF files, 2 of them.
The drivers that came with card are on a CD I have stored away. But the driver file is a Windows file so I am not sure what to do. It might be a .exe but that wont run in Linux. I am sorry for posting so many times but this is one of the most confusing things I have tried to do.
I know the card works cause it works in winxp and it worked fine in Kanotix 2005-4.
When you say "copy the drivers" thats where I get confused because I dont know what to look for. If I have to copy driver (s) from my CD for the wireless card, if the file is a .exe how do I go from there? .exe is a Windows executable. The drivers are obviously in my Windows xp installation so should I try to find them in there? Then again I dont know the name of the drivers!!!!!
It would be easier if all drivers had the extension ".drv" so you could find them easier.
Well I will take it 1 step at a time. I will find the CD with my original software for the card. Then look at CD and see what kind of file it is. More than likeley it is a Windows executable installation file. Not sure how to deal with that in Linux.
I have tried to install ndiswrapper via kanotix menu, but it comes up with a box where you have to "browse" to find the files!!!! Not easy!!!! I dont know where they are !
I do have the -up kernel and did total dist-upgrade.
OK so I will post my ndiswrapper -i and iwconfig and post it here later today. Hopefully I can get it working if you have the patience!!!!!
w1av - 14.09.2006, 15:23 Uhr Titel: some results
OK Here is what I get by doing ndiswrapper-l (with card inserted)
If I do ndiswrapper -i, I only get a small list of options for using ndiswrapper, nothing else.
Heres my iwconfig:
lo no wireless extensions
lan0 no wireless extensions
And the file on my wireless card CD is a BIG 20MB windows executable.
IS_STA_2500_D3.0.3.0_U-2.3.6.0_042505_1.0.2.0.exe
I would assume you would have to RUN this file under Windows, and try to extract the actual DRIVER out from it. I have this already working in windows. Not sure what to do next. JimC - 14.09.2006, 19:10 Uhr Titel:
Good.
ndiswrapper is showing you that the hardware and the driver are present.
That doesn't mean that the included driver is actually compatible, though.
But, I'd try a few steps to find out before looking for other drivers.
Logged in as root, try this from a console (this will make sure that Kanotix is using the right card found by ndiswrapper, and remove and reinsert ndiswrapper, then display any adapters found):
Then, see if a new adapter shows up in the list that you didn't see before (rausb0, wlan0, ra0, etc.).
If so, then it will probably work without you needing to track down drivers, and you can configure the card by using a built in script with Kanotix (it's just a matter of correct configuration after finding a compatible driver).
Logged in as root, go to Kanotix > Network/Internet > Network Card Configuration
You'll see wlan0 listed (or whatever name you see show up under iwconfig for your wireless adapter, as it might show up as ra0 or something else). .
After you select it and press OK, just go through the screens until everything is set the way you want. With my card, I leave most everything at their defaults except for ESSID (one of my cards needs it, and another doesn't), and answer yes to Enable DHCP broadcast if you use DHCP versus static IP addresses with your router..
After all of your desired options have been entered, another screen will come up and ask you if you want to enable it at bootup (this one may take a minute before it actually pops up). Tell it yes and it will take you back to the original menu. Just select EXIT and you should be fine after that.
If you don't see a new interface after you do the steps above (ndiswrapper -m, modprobe -r ndiswrapper, modprobe ndiswrapper, iwconfig), then, you'll need to find drivers for it (and I don't know if that .exe extracts them or not).
Let us know if the above works first and we can go from there.
w1av - 15.09.2006, 12:24 Uhr Titel: not too good
OK well I dont think the module for ndiswrapper is installed. Heres what I got:
ndiswrapper -m:
"modprobe config already contains alias directive"
modprobe -r ndiswrapper:
"FATAL: module ndiswrapper not found"
modprobe ndiswrapper:
"FATAL: module ndiswrapper not found"
iwconfig:
[color=olive]lo no wireless extensions
lan0 no wireless extensions[/color]
I am not sure whay ndiswrapper is not found. I thought by doing dist-upgrade it would be installed. what should I do next?
JimC - 15.09.2006, 16:37 Uhr Titel:
Are you sure that you were logged in as root when issuing the commands from a console?
P.S.
I just noticed that you mentioned having the UP kernel. That one might already have support for rt2500 built in (it does for rt2570). You might even have a conflict if a native rt2500 driver is there (two drivers loading for the same card). We can check for that after you retry the commands if ndiswrapper doesn't work by looking at installed modules using lsmod
But, if ndiswrapper were not there, you wouldn't see the driver and hardware present messages using ndiswrapper -i
My guess is that you were not logged in as root when you issued the commands I suggested. If not logged in as root, you wouldn't have had rights to do the configuration and would have gotten errors similar to those you posted.
Make sure you're logged in as root and repeat the steps and let us know what you get.
If the driver already installed for the rt2500 in ndiswrapper won't work (and we don't know whether it will or not yet, judging from the errors you got), then we can either try to locate the .inf and .sys files that came with the .exe on your CD and use them (I always copy both to my desktop and navigate to the desktop to install drivers via ndiswrapper), which means we'll need to remove the one already installed first.
Kano even has a nice menu choice that allows you to select a driver for installation with ndiswrapper by browsing (versus needing to do it from a console like I did in the above example in Mepis). But, it's been my experience that it's best to copy the drivers to your desktop first (I had a problem with folder names with spaces on my Windows CD that it didn't seem to like when I tried it last).
Or, we can try to install a native Linux driver for the rt2500 (which should work with the UP kernel, since I can get my rt2570 based adapter to work with it). For example, all I need to do in order to get a native rt2570 driver using the UP kernel is this (it's already in the distro).
dpkg -i rt2570*deb
So, there may be one already there you can use with an rt2500 based card (or if not, there may be one somewhere else we can find), if the one already installed in ndiswrapper doesn't work (and we don't know if they will or not yet from what I can tell).
I've also got some screen prints I can show you on how to navigate to your desktop and install drivers in ndiswrapper (as in the one I posted above showing you how I needed to remove a driver in ndiswrapper and install a different one for my netgear card).
Note the WG311v3.INF and .sys files on my desktop in this screen print? Those are the files I copied from a Windows 2000 folder on a CD that came with my Netgear card. We can do the same thing with the drivers for your card (and they'll have a different name) if the ones already in ndiswrapper won't work (the .exe you have may extract them, or we may find some available elsewhere we can use).
Note that I removed a driver already in ndiswrapper using ndiswrapper -e (the one showing hardware and driver present), because it wouldn't work with my card. Then, I installed the WG311v3.INF file that I had on my desktop using ndiswrapper -i (after changing folders to my desktop) to get my card working. Your driver will have a different name.
If the one already installed in ndiswrapper won't work with your card (and we don't know that yet, since your errors lead me to believe you have a permissions problem from not being logged in as root), then we can do something similar using other drivers for your card.
Don't get discouraged. We should be able to find a way to get it working. I do this all the time with a netgear card I have using ndiswrapper to test drive different distros.
w1av - 18.09.2006, 13:11 Uhr Titel: wifi woes
OK JIMC, I will try those commands again as root. I thought I was root when I did them but I will try again...I should have the info posted sometime tonight.
I wonder if I should delete all but the rt2500 drivers? Maybe the rt2400 or another is conflicting, like you said. But I will wait first. I should have info posted tonight. Thank you for your patience and help. I have been struggling on and off with this for some time. I would have had the info posted sooner but had gotten distracted with other computer projects.
ockham23 - 18.09.2006, 13:26 Uhr Titel: RE: wifi woes
w1av, if you suspect that your system may be impaired by prior attempts to load a driver, you can still download the latest Kanotix-2006-01-RC1 and experiment with the LiveCD. Boot your computer with cheat code "unionfs" and the LiveCD will behave like a hd install. Then you can try what Jim C. suggested. If your experiments with the LiveCD are successful, you can repeat the setup procedure with your hd install.
gs - 18.09.2006, 14:10 Uhr Titel: RE: wifi woes
since I am interested in WLAN I follow this thread.
Wlav, I cannot find info on the card you want to get going, only that is has an rt2500 chip.
Let us assume that it is a DLink and the CD which came with it, does not contain any .inf-file, I would install the card using my Windows-Partition. The .exe-file which does this produces a directory called DLink, which then contains the .inf-file. This file you can copy to the desktop of your linux-install and go on as suggested by JimC. If you want to find the location of this DLink-file, use the search in Windows.
If the card is not DLink but xxx, the directory windows makes, is called xxx and you search for xxx
Of course, this all works only if you have Windows installed on a Partition or somewhere else, where you could copy the .inf from....
slam - 18.09.2006, 15:22 Uhr Titel: RE: wifi woes
@w1av:
Please post the outputs of the following commands (you can use those nice code-boxes):
And let me know if you find your adapter here.
For faster help consider visiting us at the IRC.
Greetings,
Chris
w1av - 19.09.2006, 12:02 Uhr Titel: wireless woes
OK I issued the commands that JIMC suggested AS ROOT and i get same results. I also ran the commands that SLAM suggested as root and each one came back with nothing! No response, just returned to command prompt. My card IS on the list that SLAM asked me to check:
Hawking Tech. 802.11g hwc54g Cardbus PrismGT
I dont know if "prismgt" is chipset, but I thought that cards chipset was rt2500...thats what I used before. Anyway it's almost like the card wont be recognized.
Maybe tonight I will go on IRC and ask for help. Also I will try to run computer from the new kanotix version 2006-1 off the CD and see if that works. Frustrating!!!! Also I do have the card/software installed on my Winxp partition on same laptop. I can check the folder for the card and see if there are any .inf files in there. JimC - 19.09.2006, 19:03 Uhr Titel: Driver Download Link for Hawkings Hawkings HCW54G
Something is flaky with your ndiswrapper. It thinks it's installed showing driver and hardware present for an rt2500 based card. But, your Hawkings HCW54G is probably based on the Prism GT chipset.
The manufacturer's drivers probably work with ndiswrapper either way, though.
You have rebooted your PC lately, right? I'm wondering if doing something like the dist-upgrade could have messed everything up.
I know my luck isn't the best when I've tried it before. Reboot and don't get back in. lol
I did a little digging around in the forums for other distros and found a couple of forum posts from others with your card (Hawkings HCW54G) and said that the newer drivers you can download from there work with ndiswrapper if you specify the ESSID.
I've got that problem with my Netgear card, too. ndiswrapper works fine with it if you use a specific ESSID (but you can't leave it blank, or use any/all to get it working like my other cards can work).
Here is a link to download the drivers for it from the manufacturer:
I'd download it somewhere you'll have access to it from Kanotix if you don't have a wired connection (windows ntfs or partition you can see, USB Drive, CD, etc.) Then, all you need to do is click on the t2wpg2k4_7.0.1.33.zip file if you're browsing folders with konqurer to automatically see it's contents using to it after booting into Kanotix.
Go to the Driver subdirectory in the downloaded .zip file and copy those files to your desktop (or a folder on your desktop).
It probably only needs the TNET1130.INF and .sys files. But, it could need the .bin files or something else, too. So, I'd just extract the entire contents to a folder and point ndiswrapper to it for installing the driver.
You'll need to remove the old driver first so that there is not a conflict (it found hardware and driver present for rt2500).
I'd reboot first before starting this (I've had odd problems before when ndiswrapper got messed up that required rebooting).
Logged in as root, type this:
ndiswrapper -e rt2500
Make sure you don't have any errors.
That will remove the driver that's already there finding hardware present so that it doesn't cause a conflict.
Then, just select the kmenu menu choice for the built in ndiswrapper configuration that Kano and team built into Kanotix, and point it at the TNET1130.INF file in the folder you extracted the files to on your Kanotix desktop. These are the files you'll want to copy from the .zip file's Driver folder:
If you point the built in ndiswrapper configuration at TNET1130.INF in the folder where you copied these files from the .zip file to, that should install the driver for it in ndiswrapper. Check from a console with ndiswrapper -l and see if a new driver is listed with driver and hardware present.
If not, we may have to do it from command line, like I did to remove a driver and install another one in my screen print above. You'll need to navigate to the folder the drivers are in before trying to use ndiswrapper -i TNET1130.INF to add it, and you may need to do the other steps above, too.
I'd probably do the entire configuration this way to make sure the card worked (assuming the files were extracted to the Desktop and I was logged in as root). Note that when changing directories in Linux, it's case sensitive (for example, Desktop needs to have an upper case D). I'll get used to it eventually I guess.
You'd need the correct ESSID and any other options to make sure it worked this way.
If something goes wrong (you're in the wrong folder when you do an install of a new driver, etc.), you'll probably need to use ndiswrapper -e TNET1130.INF and remove the bad install and try again, making sure you're in the same folder with the drivers when you add one to ndiswrapper with -i).
After getting the driver installed OK in ndiswrapper (using the built in GUI install for ndiswrapper or doing it from a console), you should see a new wireless interface show up when you type iwconfig (probably wlan0), and you can use Kanotix>Network Card Configuration to set it up with your desired options.
JimC - 19.09.2006, 20:34 Uhr Titel:
Ooops..
It looks like there are three different revisions of this card (the file above is only for T series cards).
But, they have drivers for the other cards, too.
Go to this link and select the "click here for support" link you'll find by your card (R series, T serids, etc.). Then, you'll see a link to drivers for it.
I'd probably try the Win2K drivers first (they seem to be the most reliable for cards I've used ndiswrapper with). It looks like they have a separate link for each driver type after you click on "click here for support" by a card and scroll down to the bottom of the page that follows.
The procedure as in my last post should be the same, substituting the correct .inf filename for your driver if it's not a T series card using the same file as in my example above.
w1av - 21.09.2006, 18:27 Uhr Titel: wireless problems
OK JIMC.....wow this is very involved to get this card working! Well I will attempt to try what you suggest this weekend. Right now I am bogged down with moving and won't get a chance to play around with laptop. The only thing I don't understand is "essid". I always left that blank. But I will download the .zip file and extract it on my fat32 partition which I share with my winxp/Kanotix installs. I will put the extracted files in a directory and when I run the ndiswrapper configuration, at least now I will have a place to point to the files.
I dont think my dist-upgrade did anything wrong because my wireless has not worked since I was using 2005-4. As soon as I upgraded to the Easter RC Edition, thats when I no longer had wireless. And it's been a struggle ever since.
But I will mess with it over the weekend and post back my results. JimC - 22.09.2006, 22:48 Uhr Titel:
The ESSID is something you would have set up in your router when you installed it. It's basically a network name assigned to the router.
Log into your router and you should find it in one of it's configuration screens. It's under the Wireless tab in my Linksys WRT-54G.
With my Netgear router, the default IP Address is http://192.168.1.1/ and you can log into it via any browser for configuration. Your router may or may not be using a the same IP.
You'll need the username and password you assigned when doing the initial installation to log in. Then, you can make changes to it's configuration, including the ESSID assigned.
