Ubuntu stopped recognizing my USB/wireless adapter

[sand77]

Hello,
New to the forum. Hope someone can help with my issue.
I recently set up one of old PC's with ubuntu 9.10. The installation went smoothly and I connected to the internet via the ethernet NIC and updated everything (except a few openoffice programs and the games ) that came under update manager.
The next step was to install a Wireless USB adapater. Here is what happened at first.
>>When I plugged in the adapter ( a new Netcomm, NP545) to a USB port a light would blink ( to show its alive i guess ) but it obviously wouldn't come up in ubuntu.
>>I then followed the instructions on [ U.R.L= alstevens.co.uk/how-to-install-wireless-usb-drivers-for-ubuntu/]this article and installed ndiswrapper-utils, ndiswrapper-common and ndisgtk from the Synaptic Package Manager.
>>Next i uploaded the .inf driver files from the vista32 folder in the drivers CD and they were successfully installed. Everything appeared fine and I took off the messy ethernet cable that was running across everyone's space and was on the wireless connection for a good few hours!

Now here is the issue. The next time i restarted the computer the wireless option had disappeared. I thought the drivers must have got unloaded or corrupted but even the light on the adapter wont blink. I thought maybe the usb slot on the pc have got messed up..but my usb mouse was still working fine. I swaped slots and my mouse still works and the wireless adapter refuses to show the slightest sign of life no matter which usb slot i plug it in. I tried the wireless adapter on another computer and it starts blinking all over as soon as it's plugged in (both linux and windows, the blinking seems to happen whenever it gets plugged in regardless of the OS)

So what am I doing wrong?It must be something obvious but im new to linux and dont even know how to check the usb ports or manage my hardware through ubuntu. Hope the post wasn't too long. Any help would be much appreciated !

[D-cat]

After you plug the USB adapter in, open a Terminal window and show the output of the following commands:

lsusb

dmesg | tail

lsmod

ifconfig

iwconfig

Thank you.

[sand77]

Thanks for the reply.. here are the outputs. I hope they are not too messy. I can upload the textfiles if necessary. Some of them were too large for screenshots. There was no ethernet connection. I copied the outputs via a usb memory stick which I plugged in after going through the terminal commands. The usb stick got enabled automatically without any problems. Thanks again for taking the trouble to go through my amateur work !

sand@PANTAR:~$ lsusb

Bus 001 Device 003: ID 148f:2573 Ralink Technology, Corp. RT2501USB Wireless Adapter
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 062a:0000 Creative Labs Optical mouse
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

sand@PANTAR:~$ dmesg | tail

[ 2611.421597] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeNetBufferList'
[ 2611.421610] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeNetBuffer'
[ 2611.421624] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateNetBufferPool'
[ 2611.421637] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateNetBufferListPool'
[ 2611.421650] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeNetBufferListPool'
[ 2611.421660] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: WDFLDR.SYS:'WdfVersionUnbind'
[ 2611.421670] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: WDFLDR.SYS:'WdfVersionBind'
[ 2611.421679] ndiswrapper (load_sys_files:206): couldn't prepare driver 'netr73'
[ 2611.423250] ndiswrapper (load_wrap_driver:10: couldn't load driver netr73; check system log for messages from 'loadndisdriver'
[ 2611.423395] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper


sand@PANTAR:~$ lsmod

Module Size Used by

ndiswrapper 185532 0
isofs 31620 1
udf 81188 0
crc_itu_t 1852 1 udf
savage 30620 2
drm 160032 3 savage
binfmt_misc 8356 1
iptable_filter 3100 0
snd_via82xx 23576 2
gameport 11368 1 snd_via82xx
snd_ac97_codec 101216 1 snd_via82xx
ac97_bus 1532 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_pcm_oss 37920 0
snd_mixer_oss 16028 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 75296 3 snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
ip_tables 11692 1 iptable_filter
x_tables 16544 1 ip_tables
snd_page_alloc 9156 2 snd_via82xx,snd_pcm
snd_mpu401_uart 6940 1 snd_via82xx
snd_seq_dummy 2656 0
snd_seq_oss 28576 0
snd_seq_midi 6464 0
snd_rawmidi 22176 2 snd_mpu401_uart,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 6940 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
i2c_viapro 7344 0
ppdev 6688 0
via_ircc 24016 0
irda 189564 1 via_ircc
crc_ccitt 1852 1 irda
snd_seq 50224 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
snd_timer 22276 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 6920 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
snd 59204 15 snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_o ss,snd_pcm,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore 7264 1 snd
parport_pc 31940 1
shpchp 32272 0
lp 8964 0
parport 35340 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
usbhid 38208 0
via_rhine 22212 0
mii 5212 1 via_rhine
via_agp 7932 1
agpgart 34988 2 drm,via_agp
tulip 48320 0
floppy 54916 0


sand@PANTAR:~$ ifconfig

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:40:05:30:86:9b
inet6 addr: fe80::240:5ff:fe30:869b/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:4 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:4
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:17 Base address:0xec00

eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0d:87:c0:99:1b
UP BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
Interrupt:23 Base address:0xed00

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:4 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:240 (240.0 B) TX bytes:240 (240.0 B)

sand@PANTAR:~$ iwconfig

lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
eth1 no wireless extensions.

[D-cat]

ndiswrapper couldn't load the driver, I'm guessing due to a conflict.

Linux has a native driver for this card (supposedly), rt73usb, though I've seen some implication it might need firmware.

Try this:

sudo modprobe -r ndiswapper

sudo modprobe rt73usb

Let us know if it works or not, and if not, what the errors are.

Thank you.

[sand77]

It worked ! Can't thank you enough. When I typed in the first line it said
WARNING: All config files need .conf /etc/modprobe.d.ndiswrapper, it will be ignored in a future release
FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found

I'm guessing the 'FATAL warning' is normal ? As soon as I typed in the second line the usb adapter started blinking.
So why did ndiswrapper fail to load the driver in the first place. Was the method initial method I used to install the adapter wrong? Hope nothing will reset itself and give driver conflicts again. Guess I have a long long way to go to understand linux. Would have never got through this without the help from this forum!

Thanks again

[waterhead]

You can't use Vista drivers with NDISwrapper. WinXP drivers only.

[D-cat]

Yeah, this is just temporary. Once ndiswrapper has been configured (it really should be a last resort), it has a nasty tendency of taking over. We will have to edit some config files to make this permanant.

First we remove the ndiswrapper configuration:

sudo ndiswrapper -e netr73

(if error, try sudo ndiswrapper -r netr73)

Then we can remove ndiswrapper all together, it's only in the way.

sudo apt-get remove ndiswrapper-common

Then comes the (maybe) hard part. We have probably lost the ability to hotplug this stick. Either you can keep doing this setup manually (sudo modprobe rt73usb) every time you want to plug the card in (and you have to do the sudo modprobe -r rt73usb every time before removing it, and make sure there are no errors), or you can place rt73usb in the /etc/modules file, which will require you to keep the stick plugged in from boot to shutdown (premature removal in either case could do anything from confuse networking to lock the system solid), or we can go through the trouble of finding what udev or other files ndiswapper messed with so we can undo the damage and possibly get hotplugging back (this can be drawn out). I'll leave that decision to you.

[sand77]

Hi
So I can't leave things as they are, because NDISwrapper will probably upset things next time I reboot or do something with the usb? I will go ahead and try remove the NDISwrapper configuration since it seem to be the cause of all the trouble. Keeping the usb adapter permanently plugged in doesn't sound too inconvenient. Neither does the doing the sudo modprob every time I want to enable it..a tleast at this stage. I think I'll be happy as long as I can get rid of the ndiswrapper configuration and come to a point where i understand when and how I'll have to reload the adapter configuration in the future.
I'll report back soon. All this has been really helpful. Maybe your third option (finding what udev or other files NDISwrapper messed) is a good idea. Will help me get a better idea how these drivers work. Probably never going to configure random things again without asking anyone or understanding the trouble they can cause.
Thanks again everyone

[D-cat]

If option 1 is acceptable to you, we can write a small script to make it easier. We'll need to know what network interface was assigned to rt73usb, then we can write a script that sequentially installs the module and brings up the interface, then all you have to do is connect however you'd normally do it.

Another script would do the reverse, bring down the interface then remove the module, thereby making it safe to remove the WiFi stick. This way you get to name the commands you'd like to use (say rt-on and rt-off), as long as they're not existing commands.

Just an idea, if you like. If so, show me iwconfig while already connected, this will tell me the interface name.

[sand77]

Hi again,
So I don't think NDISwrapper exists any more. Does this look alright?
sand@PANTAR:~$ sudo ndiswrapper -e netr73
[sudo] password for sand:
sand@PANTAR:~$ sudo apt-get remove ndiswrapper-common
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
linux-headers-2.6.31-14 libsensors4 lm-sensors
linux-headers-2.6.31-14-generic
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following packages will be REMOVED:
ndisgtk ndiswrapper-common ndiswrapper-utils-1.9
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 3 to remove and 83 not upgraded.
After this operation, 676kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? Y
(Reading database ... 154497 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing ndisgtk ...
Removing ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 ...
Removing ndiswrapper-common ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
sand@PANTAR:~$

Here is the iwconfig output right afterwards the NDISwrapper removal

sand@PANTAR:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
eth1 no wireless extensions.
wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan3 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"Black Hole"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: 00:22:15:4B:16: D2
Bit Rate=54 Mb/s Tx-Power=8 dBm
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on
Link Quality=38/70 Signal level=-72 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

Does that give enough information for the script? So what exactly is my situation right now. I have got rid of NDISwrapper but will have to configure the stick manually every time i restart it?

Thanks for all the help