ndiswrapper/atheros/SUSE10.3

[Nathan Hale]

Ok, after plenty of time spent trying to get madwifi to work, I've decided to try ndiswrapper. I feel as if I'm damn close to getting it to work, and as if my card is being recognized, but when I pull out the ethernet cord I'm not connected. I really need to get this wireless working soon, as I'm going away and am going to need my wireless working. When I reboot now I get a few options of what to load, they are as follows:

XEN - OpenSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.5-21
XEN - OpenSUSE 10.3 - 2.6.22.5-21
OpenSUSE 10.3 Failsafe
OpenSUSE 10.3 0 2.6.22.5-21
OpenSUSE 10.3
I'm not sure where to go from here, any help would be greatly appreciated. I feel like I'm on the right path but can't get it.

[waterhead]

You should usually use the newest kernel. The bottom selection seems to be the default, so use it unless the second last one uses a newer kernel.

There are native Linux drivers that load, and ndiswrapper won't work if they are loaded. Post the output of these commands:

lspci -nn
lsusb
lsmod

Is this a USB or PCI wireless?

Here is some info on the Linux Atheros driver:
madwifi - Linux Wireless

[Nathan Hale]

PCI I think

Korey@linux-2haz:~> lspci -nn
bash: lspci: command not found
Korey@linux-2haz:~> lsusb
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Korey@linux-2haz:~> lsmod
Module Size Used by
af_packet 29064 2
ip6t_LOG 10496 7
nf_conntrack_ipv6 22848 4
xt_pkttype 5888 3
ipt_LOG 9984 8
xt_limit 6656 15
snd_pcm_oss 50432 0
snd_mixer_oss 20096 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq 54452 0
snd_seq_device 12172 1 snd_seq
ip6t_REJECT 9216 3
xt_tcpudp 7168 4
ipt_REJECT 8448 3
xt_state 6528 8
iptable_mangle 6784 0
iptable_nat 11140 0
nf_nat 21912 1 iptable_nat
iptable_filter 6912 1
ip6table_mangle 6656 0
cpufreq_conservative 11272 0
nf_conntrack_ipv4 14856 6 iptable_nat
cpufreq_userspace 8704 0
nf_conntrack 61684 5 nf_conntrack_ipv6,xt_state,iptable_nat,nf_nat,nf_c onntrack_ipv4
nfnetlink 9752 4 nf_conntrack_ipv6,nf_nat,nf_conntrack_ipv4,nf_conn track
cpufreq_powersave 5888 0
acpi_cpufreq 13192 1
ip_tables 16324 3 iptable_mangle,iptable_nat,iptable_filter
speedstep_lib 9220 0
ip6table_filter 6784 1
ip6_tables 17476 3 ip6t_LOG,ip6table_mangle,ip6table_filter
x_tables 18308 11 ip6t_LOG,xt_pkttype,ipt_LOG,xt_limit,ip6t_REJECT,x t_tcpudp,ipt_REJECT,xt_state,iptable_nat,ip_tables ,ip6_tables
ipv6 268152 19 nf_conntrack_ipv6,ip6t_REJECT,ip6table_mangle
microcode 15372 0
apparmor 40736 0
loop 21636 0
dm_mod 56880 0
pcmcia 41076 0
firmware_class 13568 2 microcode,pcmcia
yenta_socket 28684 1
rsrc_nonstatic 15872 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 40852 3 pcmcia,yenta_socket,rsrc_nonstatic
container 9088 0
tifm_7xx1 11392 0
tifm_core 14084 1 tifm_7xx1
sr_mod 19492 1
sg 37036 0
cdrom 37020 1 sr_mod
i2c_i801 12560 0
serio_raw 10756 0
sky2 45060 0
joydev 13632 0
i2c_core 27520 1 i2c_i801
snd_hda_intel 272796 8
snd_pcm 82564 4 snd_pcm_oss,snd_hda_intel
snd_timer 26756 4 snd_seq,snd_pcm
iTCO_wdt 14372 0
snd 58164 19 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_seq,snd_seq_device,s nd_hda_intel,snd_pcm,snd_timer
iTCO_vendor_support 7812 1 iTCO_wdt
soundcore 11460 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 13960 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
dock 13960 0
button 12432 0
battery 14724 0
ac 9604 0
intel_agp 27156 1
agpgart 35764 2 intel_agp
ehci_hcd 34956 0
uhci_hcd 27024 0
sd_mod 31104 3
usbcore 123372 3 ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
edd 12996 0
ext3 131848 1
mbcache 12292 1 ext3
jbd 68148 1 ext3
fan 9220 0
ata_piix 21380 3
libata 136776 1 ata_piix
scsi_mod 140376 4 sr_mod,sg,sd_mod,libata
thermal 19848 0
processor 40744 2 acpi_cpufreq,thermal

[waterhead]

Try entering lspci with the path;

/sbin/lspci -nn

It must be PCI, as the USB shows nothing.

I also don't see any Atheros modules loading. This is strange, as I believe that they are built into the kernel. I think that yenta_socket is a wireless driver, but I'm not positive. I need that lspci output.

Edit: yenta_socket is a pcmcia module.

[Nathan Hale]

Korey@linux-2haz:~> /sbin/lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [Class 0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/PM/GMS, 943/940GML and 945GT Express Memory Controller Hub [8086:27a0] (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [Class 0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a2] (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller [Class 0380]: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:27a6] (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device [Class 0403]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) High Definition Audio Controller [8086:27d8] (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [Class 0604]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:27d0] (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [Class 0604]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 2 [8086:27d2] (rev 02)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [Class 0604]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [8086:27d4] (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [Class 0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:27c8] (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [Class 0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:27c9] (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [Class 0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:27ca] (rev 02)
00:1d.3 USB Controller [Class 0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:27cb] (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [Class 0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller [8086:27cc] (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [Class 0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev e2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [Class 0601]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM (ICH7-M) LPC Interface Bridge [8086:27b9] (rev 02)
00:1f.2 IDE interface [Class 0101]: Intel Corporation 82801GBM/GHM (ICH7 Family) SATA IDE Controller [8086:27c4] (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus [Class 0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801G (ICH7 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:27da] (rev 02)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller [Class 0200]: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8038 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller [11ab:4352] (rev 14)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller [Class 0200]: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5006EG 802.11 b/g Wireless PCI Express Adapter [168c:001c] (rev 01)
0a:09.0 CardBus bridge [Class 0607]: Texas Instruments PCIxx12 Cardbus Controller [104c:8039]
0a:09.2 Mass storage controller [Class 0180]: Texas Instruments 5-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/xD) [104c:803b]
Korey@linux-2haz:~>

[waterhead]

Thank you.

And yes, your device is indeed an Atheros, as you said:

Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5006EG 802.11 b/g Wireless PCI Express Adapter [168c:001c] (rev 01)

I wanted to make sure that we were looking for the correct drivers. Manufacturers make different versions of wireless cards using different chips. Yet the name of the card stays the same.

Since no native Linux drivers are loading, you should have no trouble with NDISwrapper. Remember to set up the wireless as a new network card after installing the driver with NDISwrapper.

For a list of all NDISwrapper options, enter this command:

ndiswrapper --help

[Nathan Hale]

So did I install the driver correctly then? Also that command doesn't work for me. I don't know how to find or connect to wireless connections.

[waterhead]

Using the ndiswrapper command is how you install the WinXP driver. If you can't run it with the --help option, how in the world could you have installed it correctly?

Try adding the path to the command:

/usr/sbin/ndiswrapper --help

NDISwrapper must be run with root privileges. This means first entering su into the terminal, and then entering the root password:

su <enter>
Password: <enter password here>

Now, when you insert the driver with ndiswrapper, you must include the path to the drivers .inf file. The drivers .sys file must also be in the same folder:

ndiswrapper -i /path/to/driver.inf

So it may look something like this:

ndiswrapper -i /home/nathan/drivers/driver.inf

If no errors, check to see if it installed OK:

ndiswrapper -l

If the driver is listed, then enter these commands, one at a time:

ndiswrapper -m
ndiswrapper -ma
ndiswrapper -mi

Now reboot the computer. Then configure the wireless in YaST as a new network card. I recommend using NetworkManager to run the network connections instead of the tradition ifup method. This is chosen in YaST when you set the cards up.

[Nathan Hale]

Korey@linux-2haz:~> /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper --help
bash: /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper: No such file or directory
Korey@linux-2haz:~> su
Password:
linux-2haz:/home/Korey # ndiswrapper -i /path/to/driver.inf
bash: ndiswrapper: command not found
linux-2haz:/home/Korey # /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -i /path/to/driver.inf
bash: /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper: No such file or directory
linux-2haz:/home/Korey # ndiswrapper -l
bash: ndiswrapper: command not found
linux-2haz:/home/Korey # ndiswrapper -m
bash: ndiswrapper: command not found
linux-2haz:/home/Korey # ndiswrapper -ma
bash: ndiswrapper: command not found
linux-2haz:/home/Korey # ndiswrapper -mi
bash: ndiswrapper: command not found
linux-2haz:/home/Korey # ndiswrapper --help
bash: ndiswrapper: command not found

Sorry if I seem like a lost cause lol, but I'm just really confused as to what to do. I installed the thing from YaST software manager and rebooted then I got those options, so I figured I must be along the right path, but none of those commands seem to work for me. I also followed the guide about how get the new network card in the Network Manager, but I'm thinking I didn't do that correctly either.

[waterhead]

When you install NDISwrapper from the YaST repositories, you also need to install the NDISwrapper kernel module. The module installed must match your kernel version. To find the kernel version you are running, use this command:

uname -r

It doesn't sound as if NDISwrapper is installed. Do a search for it, and see if I gave you the correct path to it.