Please help the Linux noob... - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

spectre · 12-23-2005, 06:32 PM

Okay, I just installed Linux Mandrake 10.1 and everything is running well except for my wireless card. It's the Linksys WPC11, and yes, unfortunately it's the one with the Broadcom chipset that's unsupported by wlan. After searching around a bit, I found that ndiswrapper along with the correct driver can get it to work. The only problem is that an older version (0.8) of ndiswrapper is currently installed and I can't install a newer version (at least 0.9 required for the wpc11 driver to work) until I uninstall the older version. Seems simple enough, but being a linux noob, I have no idea what to do at this point. I know how to install it once I've removed the old version, but how the hell do I get rid of the older version?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Latch · 12-23-2005, 07:27 PM

I'm making some assumptions here:

#1) ndiswrapper (ver 0.8) was installed by Mandrake during the install.
#2) ndiswrapper (ver 0.8) is an rpm, and ndiswrapper 0.9 is a source tarball that you'll ./configure and compile yourself.

at a shell prompt type:

rpm -qa | grep ndis

This should tell you the name of the ndiswrapper rpm that is installed (ndiswrapper-0.8-12 or something is most likely it). Once you can see the name of the rpm (ignoring all the number parts), remove the rpm with:

rpm -e ndiswrapper

This will remove the old version.

You're now free to install the new version. Good luck

(building ndiswrapper from source requires that you have the kernel sources [ or at least the kernel headers ] installed on your machine, so you may have to install them).

As an aside.. some people are starting to develop drivers for the broadcom chipset through reverse engineering. It's nowhere near stable or properly useable yet, but it should make life alot easier in the future.

spectre · 12-23-2005, 09:22 PM

Sorry, I should've been more clear. It is installed by Mandrake.
It's apparently not an rpm. I just found instructions on how to remove it here.

I've found three options for the install: 2 rpms:versions 0.9 and 1.2.3 and the source tarball for version 1.7.

And I'm glad to hear that people are making the drivers.

Thank you very much, I'll be back (hopefully from Linux, and hopefully soon) to report in on how it went.

spectre · 12-23-2005, 11:10 PM

Okay, now this is odd. No matter which one I use, I get the same error at the same step.
(All run as root during this)

With the tarball:

tar zxvf ndiswrapper-1.7.tar.gz

cd ndiswrapper-1.7

make distclean

make

make install

From this point is for both the tarball and rpm (and I only have one installed at a time when attempting this):

ndiswrapper -i /home/joe/drivers/bcmwl5.inf

This is the point where I get the following error:

bash: /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper: No such file or directory

Now, I know this means that ndiswrapper isn't being placed in the /usr/sbin directory, my only questions at this point are, what am I doing wrong and what can I do to fix this?

Again, thanks in advance for any help that can be provided.

cyrnel · 12-23-2005, 11:41 PM

Either call it fully qualified (/.../ndiswrapper...)
or rehash.

Latch · 12-24-2005, 07:42 AM

ooo.. I really don't like what that website tells you to do. While it's doing a manual uninstall of the kernel module itself, it seems to leave the ndiswrapper program and other related things on the system. This can cause problems if your new version of ndiswrapper installs to a location different than the old one.. but it seems to be OK now.

It seems to be OK from him though, and he's running the same version as you.

After doing make install, close your shell and open a new one.

spectre · 12-24-2005, 11:27 AM

Okay, another step closer now. I'm going with the 1.7 tarball I have the windows driver installed with ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf, and it shows as present.

According to the Installation wiki, I need to do the following:

depmod -a

modprobe ndiswrapper

The depmod -a works without an error, but the modprobe gives me the following error "FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found"
From what I understand of it, modprobe looks in the /lib/modules/VERSION/ directory, but there is not module there and there were no errors from all of the previous steps. Am I missing something here?

Thank you again for all of the help.

Latch · 12-24-2005, 09:42 PM

The "make install" you did should have installed the module into the /lib/modules/VERSION/ directory... not sure where you go from here, except making sure your running kernel is the same version as the VERSION in /lib/modules/VERSION (running 'uname -r' in a shell should tell you the running kernel version).

You could also attempt to run the 'make install' again and watch what it does.. see where it copies the module (if it does)..

spectre · 12-25-2005, 06:35 PM

I'm running 2.6.8.1-12mdk

I also forgot to mention that I did the:
ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.6.8.1-12mdk /lib/modules/2.6.8.1-12mdk/build

as stated on the wiki.

Is there a - option on how to watch where it copies to other then the verbose mode? I tried watching that, but I can't scroll to see all of it, and from what I did see, I didn't see anything go into the /lib/modules/2.6.8.1-12mdk directory.

Latch · 12-26-2005, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spectre

I'm running 2.6.8.1-12mdk

I also forgot to mention that I did the:
ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.6.8.1-12mdk /lib/modules/2.6.8.1-12mdk/build

as stated on the wiki.

Yep, that's cool.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spectre

Is there a - option on how to watch where it copies to other then the verbose mode? I tried watching that, but I can't scroll to see all of it, and from what I did see, I didn't see anything go into the /lib/modules/2.6.8.1-12mdk directory.

hmmm, not sure offhand. You could type "make install > output.txt 2>&1". This will capture everything to output.txt so you can parse it later. It won't display on screen, so don't panic when you see nothing. If you don't see anything obvious, paste the output to here.. or PM me with the attachment output.txt (assuming you can somehow get the file off that computer and onto the one you're using now).

The make install must throw the module into the directory. You're running the make install as root, right? make install must be done as root.

If it doesn't do it itself, maybe the make install is busted (highly unlikely, though). Look in the ndiswrapper's build directory. You may be able to find the .ko file in there. Try typing "insmod ndiswrapper.ko" That may install the module for you as well.

Good luck, let me know how it goes..

phukraut · 12-26-2005, 11:39 AM

I think i built ndiswrapper a long time ago, and I followed the instructions in the INSTALL file to the letter, with success. Maybe check to see if the INSTALL file is different from the Wiki you are using.

spectre · 12-26-2005, 09:34 PM

This post coming to you live from Mandrake 10.1.

I got it working this morning. Apparently, it didn't like the name of the folder I was in, so I moved it to the desktop and compiled and ran it from there. It would only run the commands on the utils directory, but not the drivers directory.

Thank you all very much for all of your help.

Now, I have one more question, in windows, I'm used to using Ctrl + Tab to switch tabs in Firefox and other programs, but that just switches Desktops for me, so how do I switch tabs from the keyboard?

Latch · 12-27-2005, 11:27 AM

Glad ndiswrapper finally got in correctly

You'll probably want to disable Ctrl-Tab in KDE/Gnome so it doesn't switch the desktop. Gnome/KDE have different ways of doing it. Gnome has it in Desktop->Preferences->Keyboard Shortcuts (I think, I'm working from memory). KDE has a control center I believe, I don't use it. It should be in the control center though

Good luck.

phukraut · 12-27-2005, 07:13 PM

in KDE I think it's Control Center --> Regional & Accessibility --> Keyboard Shortcuts. You can also set up mouse gestures here going to Input Actions (as of KDE 3.5).

spectre · 12-27-2005, 07:29 PM

Awesome, thank you all again.

spectre · 01-31-2006, 05:43 PM

Okay, the noob's back with another question:
I've written a shell script to start ndiswrapper as well as a few other things. They all need to be run as root, so my question is, when logging in as a regular user (other than root, I only have one account on this machine), how can I run this script as root?

I'm getting kind of tired of having to fire up the command line after logging in just to get net access.

Thanks in advance.

12-23-2005, 06:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
spectre Junkie	Please help the Linux noob... Okay, I just installed Linux Mandrake 10.1 and everything is running well except for my wireless card. It's the Linksys WPC11, and yes, unfortunately it's the one with the Broadcom chipset that's unsupported by wlan. After searching around a bit, I found that ndiswrapper along with the correct driver can get it to work. The only problem is that an older version (0.8) of ndiswrapper is currently installed and I can't install a newer version (at least 0.9 required for the wpc11 driver to work) until I uninstall the older version. Seems simple enough, but being a linux noob, I have no idea what to do at this point. I know how to install it once I've removed the old version, but how the hell do I get rid of the older version? Any help is greatly appreciated. __________________ "Fuck these chains No goddamn slave I will be different" ~ Machine Head

12-23-2005, 09:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
spectre Junkie	Sorry, I should've been more clear. It is installed by Mandrake. It's apparently not an rpm. I just found instructions on how to remove it here. I've found three options for the install: 2 rpms:versions 0.9 and 1.2.3 and the source tarball for version 1.7. And I'm glad to hear that people are making the drivers. Thank you very much, I'll be back (hopefully from Linux, and hopefully soon) to report in on how it went. __________________ "Fuck these chains No goddamn slave I will be different" ~ Machine Head Last edited by spectre; 12-23-2005 at 11:01 PM..

12-23-2005, 11:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
spectre Junkie	Okay, now this is odd. No matter which one I use, I get the same error at the same step. (All run as root during this) With the tarball: tar zxvf ndiswrapper-1.7.tar.gz cd ndiswrapper-1.7 make distclean make make install From this point is for both the tarball and rpm (and I only have one installed at a time when attempting this): ndiswrapper -i /home/joe/drivers/bcmwl5.inf This is the point where I get the following error: bash: /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper: No such file or directory Now, I know this means that ndiswrapper isn't being placed in the /usr/sbin directory, my only questions at this point are, what am I doing wrong and what can I do to fix this? Again, thanks in advance for any help that can be provided. __________________ "Fuck these chains No goddamn slave I will be different" ~ Machine Head

12-23-2005, 11:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	Either call it fully qualified (/.../ndiswrapper...) or rehash. __________________ There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

12-24-2005, 11:27 AM	#7 (permalink)
spectre Junkie	Okay, another step closer now. I'm going with the 1.7 tarball I have the windows driver installed with ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf, and it shows as present. According to the Installation wiki, I need to do the following: depmod -a modprobe ndiswrapper The depmod -a works without an error, but the modprobe gives me the following error "FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found" From what I understand of it, modprobe looks in the /lib/modules/VERSION/ directory, but there is not module there and there were no errors from all of the previous steps. Am I missing something here? Thank you again for all of the help. __________________ "Fuck these chains No goddamn slave I will be different" ~ Machine Head

12-23-2005, 07:27 PM	#2 (permalink)
Latch In Your Dreams Location: City of Lights	I'm making some assumptions here: #1) ndiswrapper (ver 0.8) was installed by Mandrake during the install. #2) ndiswrapper (ver 0.8) is an rpm, and ndiswrapper 0.9 is a source tarball that you'll ./configure and compile yourself. at a shell prompt type: rpm -qa \| grep ndis This should tell you the name of the ndiswrapper rpm that is installed (ndiswrapper-0.8-12 or something is most likely it). Once you can see the name of the rpm (ignoring all the number parts), remove the rpm with: rpm -e ndiswrapper This will remove the old version. You're now free to install the new version. Good luck (building ndiswrapper from source requires that you have the kernel sources [ or at least the kernel headers ] installed on your machine, so you may have to install them). As an aside.. some people are starting to develop drivers for the broadcom chipset through reverse engineering. It's nowhere near stable or properly useable yet, but it should make life alot easier in the future.

12-24-2005, 07:42 AM	#6 (permalink)
Latch In Your Dreams Location: City of Lights	ooo.. I really don't like what that website tells you to do. While it's doing a manual uninstall of the kernel module itself, it seems to leave the ndiswrapper program and other related things on the system. This can cause problems if your new version of ndiswrapper installs to a location different than the old one.. but it seems to be OK now. It seems to be OK from him though, and he's running the same version as you. After doing make install, close your shell and open a new one.

12-24-2005, 09:42 PM	#8 (permalink)
Latch In Your Dreams Location: City of Lights	The "make install" you did should have installed the module into the /lib/modules/VERSION/ directory... not sure where you go from here, except making sure your running kernel is the same version as the VERSION in /lib/modules/VERSION (running 'uname -r' in a shell should tell you the running kernel version). You could also attempt to run the 'make install' again and watch what it does.. see where it copies the module (if it does)..

12-25-2005, 06:35 PM	#9 (permalink)
spectre Junkie	I'm running 2.6.8.1-12mdk I also forgot to mention that I did the: ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.6.8.1-12mdk /lib/modules/2.6.8.1-12mdk/build as stated on the wiki. Is there a - option on how to watch where it copies to other then the verbose mode? I tried watching that, but I can't scroll to see all of it, and from what I did see, I didn't see anything go into the /lib/modules/2.6.8.1-12mdk directory. __________________ "Fuck these chains No goddamn slave I will be different" ~ Machine Head

12-26-2005, 11:39 AM	#11 (permalink)
phukraut Addict	I think i built ndiswrapper a long time ago, and I followed the instructions in the INSTALL file to the letter, with success. Maybe check to see if the INSTALL file is different from the Wiki you are using.

12-26-2005, 09:34 PM	#12 (permalink)
spectre Junkie	This post coming to you live from Mandrake 10.1. I got it working this morning. Apparently, it didn't like the name of the folder I was in, so I moved it to the desktop and compiled and ran it from there. It would only run the commands on the utils directory, but not the drivers directory. Thank you all very much for all of your help. Now, I have one more question, in windows, I'm used to using Ctrl + Tab to switch tabs in Firefox and other programs, but that just switches Desktops for me, so how do I switch tabs from the keyboard? __________________ "Fuck these chains No goddamn slave I will be different" ~ Machine Head

12-27-2005, 11:27 AM	#13 (permalink)
Latch In Your Dreams Location: City of Lights	Glad ndiswrapper finally got in correctly You'll probably want to disable Ctrl-Tab in KDE/Gnome so it doesn't switch the desktop. Gnome/KDE have different ways of doing it. Gnome has it in Desktop->Preferences->Keyboard Shortcuts (I think, I'm working from memory). KDE has a control center I believe, I don't use it. It should be in the control center though Good luck.

12-27-2005, 07:13 PM	#14 (permalink)
phukraut Addict	in KDE I think it's Control Center --> Regional & Accessibility --> Keyboard Shortcuts. You can also set up mouse gestures here going to Input Actions (as of KDE 3.5).

12-27-2005, 07:29 PM	#15 (permalink)
spectre Junkie	Awesome, thank you all again. __________________ "Fuck these chains No goddamn slave I will be different" ~ Machine Head

01-31-2006, 05:43 PM	#16 (permalink)
spectre Junkie	Okay, the noob's back with another question: I've written a shell script to start ndiswrapper as well as a few other things. They all need to be run as root, so my question is, when logging in as a regular user (other than root, I only have one account on this machine), how can I run this script as root? I'm getting kind of tired of having to fire up the command line after logging in just to get net access. Thanks in advance. __________________ "Fuck these chains No goddamn slave I will be different" ~ Machine Head