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Sunday, November 2, 2008

NDISwrapper in Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

NDISwrapper uses a wireless devices' Windows driver in Linux. If you are using the Broadcom STA wireless driver via the Driver Manager and it's working for all your day to day needs, I wouldn't recommend taking the time to change drivers. NDISwrapper used to work better then the Broadcom driver but in Intrepid Ibex, I haven't noticed a substantial difference.

If you have already enabled the Broadcom restricted driver, uninstall it before attempting this guide.

Step 1: Stop ssb From Loading Before NDISwrapper
Make a script for NDISwrapper's fix
In a terminal type:
sudo gedit /etc/init.d/wirelessfix.sh

Paste this into the file:
#!/bin/bash

modprobe -r b44
modprobe -r b43
modprobe -r ssb
modprobe -r ndiswrapper
modprobe ndiswrapper
modprobe b44

Point the terminal to your init.d file and make your script exectuable:
In a terminal type:
cd /etc/init.d/ && sudo chmod 755 wirelessfix.sh

Update and make it stick:
In a terminal type:
sudo update-rc.d wirelessfix.sh defaults

Then reboot
In a terminal type:
sudo reboot


Step 2: Get Needed Packages
To install ndiswrapper
In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 ndiswrapper-common

or you can also try:
sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-utils-1.9* ndiswrapper-common

***If the terminal outputs an error message, telling you NDISwrapper could not be found, insert the Ubuntu disc you used to install Intrepid Ibex and manually search for the file.



Get the Windows driver for your Dell 1501.
This is for the Broadcom 1395 chipset. if yours is different you will need to find the correct windows driver for your chipset to make this guide work.
In a terminal type:
wget http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R140747.EXE


Step 3: Get Everything Ready
Now we will make a folder.
In a terminal type:
mkdir ~/.drivers

Now we will move R140747.EXE (the Dell driver), to the folder we just made.
In a terminal type:
mv ~/R140747.EXE ~/.drivers


STEP 4: Driver Setup
In order for us to unzip the R140747.EXE driver we need to point your terminal to the /.driver folder.
In a terminal type:
cd ~/.drivers

Unzip the R140747.EXE driver
In a terminal type:
unzip -a R140747.EXE

We need to point your terminal to the DRIVER folder we just unzipped
In a terminal type:
cd ~/.drivers/DRIVER


Step 5: Configure The Windows driver With NDISwrapper
Now install the Windows driver
In a terminal type:
sudo ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf

* bcmwl5.inf is for my chipset, if you are using another driver you will have to use a different .inf file.

Then:
sudo ndiswrapper -l (that is a lowercase L)

You should see a message that says driver present, hardware detected.

Now finish installing the driver
In a terminal type:
sudo ndiswrapper -m
Then:
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper

YOU MUST REBOOT NOW!
In a terminal type:
sudo reboot

STEP 6: TEST WIRELESS
Your wifi light on your laptop should be illuminated. If not, you can always turn it on and off with the Fn+F2 (Function & F2 Key) and you're all set! Try running this to see if your wireless card is functioning properly.)

In a terminal type:
sudo iwlist scanning
edited by pHreaksYcle

21 comments:

thor2002ro said...

1) this "#!/bin/bash

modprobe -r b44
modprobe -r b43
modprobe -r ssb
modprobe -r ndiswrapper
modprobe ndiswrapper
modprobe b44"
is my script :P

2) b43 works full speed it's fixed no need for ndiswrapper :)

Ricky said...

Getting the ndiswrapper and drivers installed was fine, but my home network has WPA-PSK TKIP security. On the wireless connection in Ubuntu the closest option I have is "WPA & WPA2 Personal". Has anyone had the same issue, and figure out how to connect to your WPA-PSK TKIP secured network?

Arenlor said...

I'm wondering, have you tested on an .11b, as I can't seem to get mine to work with .11b for some reason.

Nerdfest said...

How would I revert to the restricted drivers after doing this? I do get connectivity, but it's a bit flaky originally getting connected.

Unknown said...

You do not need to use ndiswrapper. Plug computer into Ethernet, go to system>administrator>update manager and update your computer. Once it is done restart computer. Now go to system>administrator>Hardware drivers and activate all that's there, ie the Wireless card and the graphics card. It really is not that hard.

Unknown said...

You do not need to use ndiswrapper. Plug computer into Ethernet, go to system>administrator>update manager and update your computer. Once it is done restart computer. Now go to system>administrator>Hardware drivers and activate all that's there, ie the Wireless card and the graphics card. It really is not that hard.

redDEAD said...

Elan,

The guide is for people who want to use ndiswrapper in Ubuntu 8.10 because they don't like the kernel driver.

cosmovern said...

I tried this and got to step 5, but when I ran sudo ndiswrapper -l, I got "bcmwl5 invalid driver!" Is there a way I can fix this?

cosmovern said...

Okay, I got it to accept by uninstalling the driver ("sudo ndiswrapper -e bcmwl5" from the directory) then reinstalling it. I got the success message, but I'm still not able to see any wireless networks after finishing the commands. And "sudo iwlist scanning" returns with

lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wmaster0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down

pan0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

So, yeah, now I'm pretty stumped. Sorry, I'm a total noob (literally just installed 8.10 Sunday and it's my first ever Linux distribution. Thanks in advance for any advice or help you can give me!

cosmovern said...

Yatta! I did it!

I found this at the following link.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/bcm43xx/Feisty_No-Fluff#Step%203:%20All%20BCM43xx%20-%20Configure%20NDISWrapper%20(and%20WPA%20Supplicant)

sudo rmmod b43
sudo rmmod b44
sudo rmmod b43legacy #this step added Apr 27 2008
sudo rmmod wl #this step added Sep 20 2008
sudo rmmod ssb
sudo rmmod ndiswrapper
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
sudo modprobe ssb
sudo modprobe b44 #this step added May 1 2008

cosmovern said...

Sorry, dude, I'm not a spammer, I SWEAR!

I ended up losing all of my work whenever I rebooted. I had to run that last set of commands each time.

I found a firmware update at the following link.

http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/b43#devicefirmware

Fixed my problem completely.

Thanks for getting me started. Please feel free to compile all of that into one and post it. I'm sure it will be most helpful to many.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

My Wifi light is lit up but I cannot connect.

I hide my SSID at home. So when I try to connect, I click on the network icon towards the upper right-hand portion of the screen and select connect to a hidden network.

From the resulting screen, I enter the SSID, and my WPA key. When that is applied, I see the network icon turn to two dots and a little blue comet circling around the two dots. The dot towards the lower left turns green right away. The other dot, towards the upper right, always stays grey.

The little blue swirl goes round and round in a circle but never seems to connect. Every now and again, I get challenged with a prompt to "Enter password for the default keyring to unlock"... I've tried my account password and my WPA passkey here. It always fails as I keep repeatedly getting the prompt.

How can I connect to my wireless network? What steps am I missing which are preventing me from completing this task?

Anonymous said...

Nevermind my last post about WiFi... I went back to Mandriva (v 2009.0). My install and using the wireless connection took about 20 minutes.

With Ubuntu, it seems like you're screwed if what you're trying to do doesn't explicitly fit their esoteric ways of operating... battling sudo and the package manager if one needs software which has to be built from source for example.

Unknown said...

I got the blacklist for modprobe to do what I wanted it to after long last... and B44 isn't necessary to run Wireless, but maybe it helps, dunno, mine seems to work ok without it. In /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist I have this for the wireless stuff (order is important here, b44 is dependant on ssb being loaded, so it'll keep it from working in the wrong order).

blacklist b43
blacklist b44
blacklist ssb
blacklist wl
blacklist ipv6
blacklist b43legacy
blacklist iwl4965 #alias for wl
blacklist iwlagn #alias for wl

that way you don't have to use a script every time

Unknown said...

I LOVE YOU!!! seriously.

- Me! said...

Thank you so much... this is the easiest, most-straightforward NDISwrapper guide I've found, and the only one that solved my problems with a ENLWI-G card!!!!!
Thank you loads again!

miguel said...

thanks!!!
:D

Now I love my Inspiron with Ubuntu :D

Shih-gian Lee said...

This is still the best NDISWRAPPER tutorial I found so far. It works on Ubuntu 9.10. Thanks for the great post!

Shih-gian Lee said...

I uninstalled the broadcom ATA that came with Ubuntu 9.10 and rebooted the system. Then, install the broadcom ATA back and rebooted the system and it worked!

It is good to know that I can always fall back to the ndiswrapper if all else failed.

Unknown said...

I love you I love you I love you I love you!

Anonymous said...

Did an alternate install of Natty Narwhal (wanted encrypted ubuntu!) and for some reason the Broadcom Driver didn't work but this was perfect, many thanks!