Should I try a different Linux? 1

[Tearose]

I have openSUSE, and can't get it to print or use the installed wireless card on this 4-yr.-old HP laptop. I could instead use Mandrake, Ubuntu (or Kubuntu, or edubuntu). It will only be used for internet access and word-processing/printing by guests in our office. Which one is easiest to configure on a Windows network?

 

[pentode]

I've never had much problem with this step. I seem to recall from the ndiswrapper wiki that some of the necessary files may not have the .inf extension.

The recommended approach is to get latest Windows drivers from the website of the wireless NIC vendor.

 

[geirendre]

Maby this two howto's can help you out:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=606311&highlight=ndiswrapper+Gutsy

http://www.ubuntu1501.com/2007/11/wireless-in-gutsy-gibbon-with.html

Presuming you use the latest version of Ubuntu!

HTH

 

[Tearose]

You're right pentode, it turned out I had the correct driver the first time, but didn't install the sys file. After I got that installed, it recognized that I had the hardware that the driver runs. (This was after installing ndisgtk, which gave me better information than just the terminal.) I still can't get online, so I'm going through the troubleshooting guide. When I put in sudo lshw -C network, for the wireless interface, among other things it has "logical name: wifi0" But when I put in iwconfig, for wifi0 it says "no wireless extensions". All the wireless info, including the ESSID is with ath0. Is this where the problem lies, and if so, how do I fix it?

 

[pentode]

I'd check the output of lspci (or lsusb if a USB device), lsmod, and probably iwconfig.

Based on the interface names, this sounds like madwifi interface names and not ndiswrapper. Any chance you also have madwifi module loaded? Having two drivers trying to control the same NIC can cause problems. The lsmod command will let you know what modules are loaded - but it will be long list. Look for ath_pci, ath_usb and/or ndiswrapper.

 

[zeland]

In my experience, the "no wireless extensions" error means that your wifi interface is not up. Not sure if it is different on Ubuntu, but on Fedora I just run ifup wlan0 (wifi0 in your case).

--== Anything can go wrong. It's just a matter of how far wrong it will go till people think its right. ==--

 

[Tearose]

lsmod shows ath_pci, but not ndiswrapper. lspci tells me the wifi is by Atheros Comm. Inc., but I knew that. Can't find anything about madwifi. It's not in the Synaptic package manager (where ndiswrapper is) or the Add/remove applications list.

ifup wifi0 gets me: Ignoring unknown interface wifi0=wifi0

I can't get back to this till Monday, but would be happy to find more suggestions in here then. Thanks everyone,
Jill

 

[pentode]

ath_pci is madwifi, I think.

You might want to check out the madwifi documentation. Maybe it just needs to be re-installed. If it will work with your NIC, it's a better option than ndiswrapper.

I'd try rmmod ath_pci, then modprobe ath_pci to see if it will come to life.

 

[Tearose]

I tried those but nothing happened.
I opened Network Tools. Under devices it shows the correct configuration for ath0, which it calls an Unknown Interface. It also shows an Unknown Interface (wifi0), but when I select that, a popup says the Interface does not exist.

 

[thedaver]

Are you sure the friggin' wifi hardware/card is working properly?

D.E.R. Management - IT Project Management Consulting

http://www.dermanagement.com/

 

[Tearose]

Yes, it sees the card, and told me details about it. I think the problem is the windoze driver. I tried ndisinstaller to see if a GUI would help me, and it said the driver failed. I've decided to give madwifi a try,after seeing that it has a linux driver for my type of card, so I'm moving this to a new thread.