[OldBob]

I am still working on getting my Realtek 8180 wireless LAN card to connect to the internet.

I have downloaded "ndiswrapper 1.48.tar" [presently it's on a flash drive] my question is how and where do I install it ???

[waterhead]

It should already be available from your distro, you shouldn't have to download and compile it. Which distro are you using?

If you still want to compile it from source, copy it to a convenient folder, like in your home folder. It usually is a .tar.gz file or a .tar.bz2 file. To unpack it, cd to the folder that it is in:

# cd /home/oldbob

Then type in this:

# tar xvfz ndiswrapper-1.48.tar.gz

or

# tar xvfj ndiswrapper-1.48.tar.bz2

This will create a folder named ndiswrapper-1.48. If I have the name wrong, correct it to match the file.

There should be a file in that folder with instructions to compile. You need things like the kernel source and some development programs installed.

It's easier to just install the version from the distro.

[HW_Hack]

I just got my anti-christ Broadcom 4318 rev2 working again --- you should follow the excellent advice and pointers in the sticky post --- use the wiki at the ndiswrapper link. I'm running Ubuntu and I tried all sorts of threads of "easy setups" etc. at the Ubuntu site -- just typing in commands .... nothing worked.

It took some reading and head scratching but I am posting this wirelessly.

Do not forget to blacklist any native drivers your distro may have installed.

For testing purposes I would recommend you disable passwords etc. on your wireless --- just takes one extra step out in trying to get a connection.

Lastly I was about to give up - because the wireless light was not on (running XP its always on) -- so I went to configure one last time ..... the LED flashed and I got an indication of 100% signal strength ----- turns out in Linux (at least Ubuntu) the wireless LED only comes on during actual transmissions.

Your results may vary - take notes - keep trying

[OldBob]

My setup is a T-21 Thinkpad notebook with a dualboot of Win98SE and Linux. I recently switched from Kubuntu to PClinuxOS.

Since I can't get online I can't download anything from the Repository. I download using Win98SE [internal modem works here] on to a flash drive.

I recently bought a 2nd wireless card -

USRobotics Support: USR5411 Wireless MAXg PC Card - 5411

It is "refurbished" and came without a driver CD. This is where I need something like ndiswrapper.

[waterhead]

NDISwrapper is included on the installation CD or DVD of many distros. I don't know if PCLinuxOS has it, but you could check.

Once you get NDISwrapper installed, you need to know the chipset of the wireless card. For USB cards enter this.

# lsusb

For all other cards, enter this.

# lspci

Then post the results.

Just a note, you should look for WinXP drivers for your cards. That is what works best with NDISwrapper. NDISwrapper is not a driver, it uses Windows XP drivers and interfaces them with Linux.

[waterhead]

The link that you posted for the USRobotics card has a driver for WinXP, that you can download. You most likely don't want to run this under Win98SE. Copy to a new folder in your Linux installation, then unpack it with this command.

> cabextract 5411a-2.00.004.exe

You're better off not being root for this.

This will create a folder called Disk1, your drivers are in the Broadcom folder. It looks like you need these two files:

bcmwl5.sys
bcmwls.ini

Hope this helps.

[OldBob]

SOLVED **** SOLVED **** SOLVED

Through much "trial & error" I got my Realtek LAN wireless card to work using PClinuxOS.

[waterhead]

Good to hear it!

If you took notes, please share them, so other Realtek 8180 owners will know what works and what doesn't.

[OldBob]

I have been switching between distros [Xandros, Kubuntu, PClinuxOS] because various things "worked".
Xandros - Obsolete version [.093a] wireless card worked, latest version [2007] card would not connect.
Kubuntu - Card worked, PS/2 mouse didn't.
PClinuxOS - Mouse worked, card was very close [yellow & green LEDs on]

Settled on PClinuxOS, the "problem" seemed to be the card's operating Mode.
Went to -
Control Center > Network & Internet > Wireless Connection

Window had buttons along bottom -

Configure - Connect - Refresh - Quit

The Mode seemed to be "stuck" on Master.

The choices were- Master, Secondary, Managed, Ad-Hoc

Somewhere, I had read I should be in Managed. I just keep playing with the Configure and Connect buttons until "suddenly" Master was changed to Manage and I was ON-LINE !!!!

I rebooted to "lock in" changes and make sure everything stll worked.

[waterhead]

Originally Posted by OldBob

The Mode seemed to be "stuck" on Master.

The choices were- Master, Secondary, Managed, Ad-Hoc

Somewhere, I had read I should be in Managed. I just keep playing with the Configure and Connect buttons until "suddenly" Master was changed to Manage and I was ON-LINE !!!!

Master would be for a wireless router or Access Point.

Secondary is when the wireless card acts as a backup master/repeater.

Managed is for a system that requires all wireless connections go through a central hub or Access Point (aka the Master).

Ad-Hoc is a system without a Master, and all wireless cards can connect directly with all other wireless cards.(No access point)

I have an Access Point connected to my LAN. It uses WPA-TKIP encryption (password) and I set it up as a Managed connection.