FC6 - ndiswrapper issue

[Mikha]

I'm having issues with ndiswrapper. I manually installed ndiswrapper and the kernel module using Livna's RPMs, but after installing (hopefully) the drivers, I get this:

[root@localhost mijokijo]# /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -l
couldn't run modprobe: No such file or directory at /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper line 838.


What the heck? Why is it doing a modprobe when I run that command?

FC5 wasn't as much of a pain as FC6 is when it comes to wireless stuff.

[Mikha]

Nobody has any ideas?

[spot221]

Could you post more info? Did you install the kernel mod for ndiswrapper? Which kernel are you running?


please post the results of

#uname -a
#/sbin/lsmod

[Draper]

wouldnt worry about it modprobes not in your PATH and ndiswrapper always assumes it is so the -m doesnt work. youll have to manually add alias "eht1 or whatever your dev is" ndiswrapper to your modprobe.conf file

[Mikha]

[mijokijo@localhost ~]$ uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.18-1.2798.fc6 #1 SMP Mon Oct 16 14:39:22 EDT 2006 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
[mijokijo@localhost ~]$ /sbin/lsmod
Module Size Used by
udf 116681 1
autofs4 58441 2
ip_conntrack_netbios_ns 36161 0
ipt_REJECT 38977 1
xt_state 35521 4
ip_conntrack 95461 2 ip_conntrack_netbios_ns,xt_state
nfnetlink 41225 1 ip_conntrack
iptable_filter 36417 1
ip_tables 56481 1 iptable_filter
ip6t_REJECT 38977 1
xt_tcpudp 36673 15
ip6table_filter 36161 1
ip6_tables 50817 1 ip6table_filter
x_tables 52041 6 ipt_REJECT,xt_state,ip_tables,ip6t_REJECT,xt_tcpud p,ip6_tables
ipv6 427553 17 ip6t_REJECT
vfat 47297 2
fat 90097 1 vfat
dm_mirror 64449 0
dm_multipath 53713 0
dm_mod 99857 2 dm_mirror,dm_multipath
video 53065 0
sbs 51473 0
i2c_ec 38977 1 sbs
button 41057 0
battery 44489 0
asus_acpi 51941 0
ac 39113 0
parport_pc 64233 1
lp 48529 0
parport 77133 2 parport_pc,lp
snd_hda_intel 53725 0
snd_hda_codec 223681 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_emu10k1_synth 41281 0
snd_emux_synth 73409 1 snd_emu10k1_synth
snd_seq_virmidi 41793 1 snd_emux_synth
snd_seq_midi_emul 40001 1 snd_emux_synth
snd_emu10k1 165089 2 snd_emu10k1_synth
snd_rawmidi 62401 2 snd_seq_virmidi,snd_emu10k1
snd_ac97_codec 143769 1 snd_emu10k1
snd_ac97_bus 35905 1 snd_ac97_codec
snd_seq_dummy 37317 0
snd_seq_oss 69953 0
snd_seq_midi_event 41921 2 snd_seq_virmidi,snd_seq_oss
snd_seq 96609 8 snd_emux_synth,snd_seq_virmidi,snd_seq_midi_emul,s nd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_pcm_oss 81761 0
snd_mixer_oss 51649 1 snd_pcm_oss
sg 72169 0
pcspkr 36673 0
forcedeth 77637 0
snd_pcm 125129 5 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_emu10k1,snd_ac97_c odec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_device 42581 7 snd_emu10k1_synth,snd_emux_synth,snd_emu10k1,snd_r awmidi,snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq
snd_util_mem 38721 2 snd_emux_synth,snd_emu10k1
snd_hwdep 44489 2 snd_emux_synth,snd_emu10k1
emu10k1_gp 37441 0
i2c_nforce2 41537 0
gameport 51409 2 emu10k1_gp
i2c_core 58177 2 i2c_ec,i2c_nforce2
snd_timer 59849 3 snd_emu10k1,snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd 101737 17 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_emux_synth,snd_seq _virmidi,snd_emu10k1,snd_rawmidi,snd_ac97_codec,sn d_seq_oss,snd_seq,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pc m,snd_seq_device,snd_hwdep,snd_timer
snd_page_alloc 44113 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_emu10k1,snd_pcm
shpchp 73609 0
k8_edac 50305 0
edac_mc 60753 1 k8_edac
soundcore 44769 1 snd
ohci1394 70297 0
serio_raw 41156 0
ieee1394 401497 1 ohci1394
ide_cd 76256 3
cdrom 70377 1 ide_cd
usb_storage 110497 0
ahci 54725 0
sata_nv 46533 8
libata 143849 2 ahci,sata_nv
sd_mod 55745 37
scsi_mod 191633 5 sg,usb_storage,ahci,libata,sd_mod
ext3 177873 5
jbd 100273 1 ext3
ehci_hcd 68301 0
ohci_hcd 56541 0
uhci_hcd 59865 0



Sorry for the untimely reply. Will try manually adding to modprobe.conf now.

[Mikha]

How do I know what to put in modprobe.conf? I recall in FC5 that my wireless adapter listed in ndiswrapper as wlan0 or some such. Is that what I would put in modprobe.conf? How would I find out if this is true or not (besides guessing with different options)?

[Draper]

alias eth1 ndiswrapper

replace eth1 with whatever your device is

[Mikha]

Tried that, no dice. I tried alias wlan0 ndiswrapper, I'm not really sure what other options there are. Since it is a Linksys WUSB54GC I figured it would be wlan0. What other things can I try?

[spot221]

I saw no module for ndiswrapper in the output of lsmod make sure you have both rpms installed
ndiswrapper-1.25.i386.rpm
kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-2.6.18-1.2798.i686.rpm
Note that the version of the ndiswrapper and the kernel module for ndiswrapper must match ie 1.25 or 1.27 or what ever.
Note kthat the version of the kernel module for ndiswrapper must match the running kernel.

make sure you use rpms apropriate to you arch. (x86_64 I believe in your case). If this is a new install and make sure that anaconda installed the correct kernel.

[Mikha]

[mijokijo@localhost ~]$ rpm -q kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-1.2.6.18_1.2798.fc6
kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-1.2.6.18_1.2798.fc6
[mijokijo@localhost ~]$ rpm -q ndiswrapper
ndiswrapper-1.25-1.lvn6
[mijokijo@localhost ~]$ rpm -q kernel
kernel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6


I'm also pretty sure it is an i686 kernel.

BTW, I did a rpm -i --nodeps ndiswrapper to get ndiswrapper to install, if that makes any difference.

[Mikha]

Anybody have any ideas?

[spot221]

I would give the i586 kmod-ndiswraper rpm a shot. If that does not work you may need to biuld the module from source.
I believe that the error you are getting has to do with a kernel version mismatch. What happens when you:
/sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper

[brobertsleo]

I am having the same problem that he is having. I tried the suggestion above. When I ran /sbin/modprobe/ndiswrapper nothing happened. Hope this problem is worked out.

[GreyWizzard]

[mijokijo@localhost ~]$ rpm -q kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-1.2.6.18_1.2798.fc6
kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-1.2.6.18_1.2798.fc6
[mijokijo@localhost ~]$ rpm -q ndiswrapper
ndiswrapper-1.25-1.lvn6
[mijokijo@localhost ~]$ rpm -q kernel
kernel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6


I'm also pretty sure it is an i686 kernel.

BTW, I did a rpm -i --nodeps ndiswrapper to get ndiswrapper to install, if that makes any difference.
To find out exactly what version of kernel you have installed (along with all the other kernel related packages as well) try this command:

$rpm -qa --queryformat "%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n"|grep kernel|sort
Not realy sure why you chose to install ndiswrapper and ignore the deps for it, but I would never suggest it to anybody. You will probably have to remove it and reinstall before this is all over. Make sure you have all the deps for it this time.

If we are correct and you have the 64bit kernel installed, then you will also need a 64bit Windoze driver for it as well.

By the way, please be kind enough to post the output of the command above just in case there are any more issues that come up. It will help in the long run.

[Mikha]

[mijokijo@localhost ~]$ rpm -qa --queryformat "%{NAME}-%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}.%{ARCH}\n"|grep kernel|sort
kernel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.x86_64
kernel-devel-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.x86_64
kernel-headers-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6.x86_64


[root@localhost mijokijo]# rpm -i ndiswrapper-1.25-1.lvn6.x86_64.rpm
warning: ndiswrapper-1.25-1.lvn6.x86_64.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID a109b1ec
error: Failed dependencies:
ndiswrapper-kmod >= 1.25 is needed by ndiswrapper-1.25-1.lvn6.x86_64

[root@localhost mijokijo]# rpm -i kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-1.2.6.18_1.2798.fc6.x86_64.rpm
warning: kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-1.2.6.18_1.2798.fc6.x86_64.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID a109b1ec
error: Failed dependencies:
ndiswrapper-kmod-common >= 1.25 is needed by kmod-ndiswrapper-1.25-1.2.6.18_1.2798.fc6.x86_64



My assumption was that ndiswrapper-kmod-common was just ndiswrapper. I am unable to locate it on livna's site.

I have also tried installing ndiswrapper via source, but when doing a modprobe ndiswrapper, I get an error:

FATAL: Module wlan0 not found

If I run iwlist scanning, it doesn't even see wlan0

By installing from source, I am able to run ndiswrapper -l . Getting closer, but I guess I am missing something.

depmod -a doesn't give me any errors.

Sorry for the late reply, been busy.


I forgot to mention that I think I get the error because I don't have a kernel module setup for ndiswrapper. I remember having a script when I installed ndiswrapper for FC3 that created a module, but I failed in my search to find one last night. Maybe someone knows where I can find such a script?

[Mikha]

Anybody have any ideas? Some how the latest error I'm getting after installing ndiswrapper seems familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.

[GreyWizzard]

OK,

It is obvious that you have the X86_64 (64-bit) kernel installed based on the output of the command I asked you to run.

Based on that and the troubles you are having, I am willing to bet that you did NOT get the 64-bit Windoze driver to go with your card. Of course, I could be wrong, but this is what jumps out at me at the moment.

Mind sharing the file you tried to install for the drivers and a link to where you found them so we can confirm?

Just a word to the wise (based on my experience only) on compiling from source and installing:

When you choose (or are forced) to do so in Fedora, I would always suggest replacing make install with make rpm just to make future upgrades, removals, etc. more manageable.

It takes the same amount of time, but most of the time all you have to du when you upgrade a kernel (and are forced to upgrade software because of it) is to run the same 'make rpm' command and simply upgrade the kernel module instead of the entire package.

Of course, as I said, this is simply based on my experience and your mileage may vary... :p

[Mikha]

I used the drivers found at http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?childpagename=US%2FLayout&packedargs=page%3D2%26cid%3D1115416835852%26c%3DL_ Content_C1&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&SubmittedElement=Linksys%2FFormSubmit%2FProductDow nloadSearch&sp_prodsku=1134691790190

Wasn't aware of the 'make rpm' command, I'll have to try it.

So driver issues like this would cause the current issue I am having with not being able to find the wlan0 any place? Do you believe it would be prudent to install the 32-bit version of FC6? I just wanted to try the 64-bit version with my new computer, but if I can get this to work by just using the 32-bit I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[Mikha]

Ok, I reinstalled FC6 using the i386 version and I was able to successfully get an internet connection.

Problem: I only get about 2 minutes before I lose the connection and have to restart to get it back. I think I am going to try downloading NetworkManager and see if that helps.

[Mikha]

Woohoo, I think I got it going. Didn't need to install NetworkManager (it was already installed).

Finally I can use Linux regularly again!