Having trouble installing Ndiswrapper, Please help!

[Ataxicwolf]

Hey there, I was recently trying to get my wireless adapter working with linux, however, since i still needed the drivers, I decided to install Ndiswrapper. I've been looking all over the internet, and I've managed to unpack it to a folder, however whenever I try to install it, I get "Can't find kernel build files in /lib/modules/....." I've looked into this error, and some sites say that I need to install the latest kernel, and the latest kernel-devel. Currently I have a 2.6.1.8 Kernel, and am using fedora. (as far as i know, I don't have a kernel-devel)

I have a few questions:

A.) Where can I download the latest kernel?

B.) Once downloaded, how can I install it?(please be specific, as I've had fedora for a couple days, and don't know too many terminal commands

C.)What's Kernel-Devel?

D.)Where can I download it?

E.) How would I install it?

Also, on a side note, what's the equivalent of the windows .exe file in linux?

And lastly, (please don't be offended
Why is the process for installing most of these programs so seemingly difficult?

Thanks for all of your help

Sincerely,

Ataxic Wolf

P.S Sorry for my Linux-Noobishness.

[MercyMe]

A.) Where can I download the latest kernel?
Should come on the CD that you installed from you probably just didn't specify for it to be installed And you want KERNEL SOURCE not the latest kernel
for me kernel-headers was enough.
B)install=cd to the place where there is a file named MAKE(basically wherever you put kernel source)
make
make install
//OMGS SO CONFUSE ^^
C)Kernel-devel is a package that should be on your cd honestly just install kernel-source and you dont' have to worry about kernel-devel/kernel-headers or anything else just install it all.(kernel-source)
D)see above
E)omg
make
make install
or even double click if you are in the GUI you know like windows normally just double click on it
F).exe=.exe in linux O_O
G) U BETTER check this cuz i typed it
H)Its not really hard to install anything as long as you have
a)kernel-source b)gcc (Compiler for most languages onl linux should be installed by default no matter what you checked)
b) these files are probably on the cd in a folder named POOL in the main directory *probably* thats where it was for me ^^

[Thrillhouse]

If you need the latest version of the kernel, which I don't think you do, you can get it from http://kernel.org/ . But, if you're on Fedora, try installing ndiswrapper with yum. Are you using FC6? If so, try these commands:

$rpm -ivh http://rpm.livna.org/livna-release-6.rpm
#yum -y install ndiswrapper

That will import the Livna repository into your system and you can use that to install ndiswrapper, instead of compiling from source. The second command requires root privileges but it should take care of most of the headaches for you.

[Ataxicwolf]

Thanks, and the reason that I can't download directly (from the second post) is because I don't yet have the drivers from my wireless adapter on linux yet, which is why im installing ndiswrapper in the first place.

[Ataxicwolf]

Hey there,
I was recently trying to install ndiswrapper on fedora core 6. The only problem is, I keep getting error messages, so I was wondering if someone could tell me what I was doing wrong, I posted pictures of the error messages, and the install manual on photobucket. Here's the link:

http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p...%20ndiswraper/

Thanks a ton for the help

[jglen490]

Someone has you going in about a half-dozen directions at the same time, and their all colliding.

One problem at a time. The most important thing is NOT whether you have the proper kernel source for your Fedora installation, it's whether you already have a compiled version of ndiswrapper avilable to you with that installation.

First, open a terminal and enter:

sudo find / -name ndiswrapper*

If it is installed, it may not be in your PATH variable, or it may be a root application.

If the "find" command lists a location for it, use the absolute path reference to execute it:

/path/to/ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper -l

If it's a root application in Fedora, and it exists on your machine, you may need to preceed the above code entry with sudo. I don't use Fedora, so I don't know any of its quirks.

If you can't find ndiswrapper anywhere on your machine, you could use an ethernet connection (if you have one on your machine), or someone more familiar with FC6 could tell you where it is on your install CD/DVD. With a new distro, and you as a new user, it's usually best to avoid compiling until you are a little more familiar with Linux.

Once you get ndiswrapper and your Windoze driver files, it's a fairly standard process to setup ndiswrapper and get your card working - addressed many times in these forums. Good luck to you!!