Ndiswrapper Howto
From TheLinuxVault
This how-to is about: Ndiswrapper, Wireless networking
What you need to know to use this how-to: The Terminal, sudo, apt-get
NdisWrapper is a utility to use a Windows wireless network card driver on linux. It is generic, so can be used on any distribution.
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[edit] Install NdisWrapper
Please choose the system you use to install and follow the directions to install.
[edit] Ubuntu/Debian
Installing on Ubuntu/Debian is quite simple. Doing so does not require any compiling.
To install on a recent Ubuntu or Debian based system, do the following:
[edit] Other
An install on a non-Debian based system is a bit harder. Since those distributions can vary in configuration, these are quite generic instructions that may need to be modified for other systems.
Make sure to have to current headers and build-essentials installed. You may need to investigate on how to do so on your distribution.
To install, go here and download the latest "source tarball" to your home directory.
Once it is downloaded, do this:
tar xvzf ndiswrapper*.tar.gx cd ndiswrapper* ./configure make sudo make install
[edit] Install the Packages
To install the packages, open up Synaptic (click System>Administration>Synaptic Software Manager), and enter your password. Then, click "Search" and type in "ndiswrapper", and click the "Search" button. Click the check button by ndiswrapper-common, and ndiswrapper-utils. (There may be a number at the end of ndiswrapper-utils. Make sure to choose the highest number.) Then click the "Apply" button. The packages will be downloaded and installed onto your system.
Experts Only
If you are an expert and would rather install manually from the command line, do the following:
sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-common ndiswrapper-utils-*
These packages are also available on the Ubuntu Alternate CD, which can be added as an APT source. An option to do so is presented when you insert the CD.
[edit] Install the Windows Wireless Driver
Now that we have NdisWrapper installed, we can configure it by using our Windows driver. There are thousands of chipsets, so there is never just one file to tell you to download. Just make sure to find the Windows driver for your card. You should get a .inf and a .sys file. Put those both into your home directory. Now, open up the terminal (Applications>Accessories>Terminal) and type in the following, pressing <Enter> after each line.
sudo ndiswrapper -i <your_file.inf>
Where "your_file.inf" is whatever .inf file you downloaded.
sudo ndiswrapper -l
It should result in something like this:
sis163u : driver installed
device (0457:0163) present
The key parts to note are that it says "driver installed" and "device present".
sudo ndiswrapper -m sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
As long as that went without errors, your interface is configured.
sudo echo "ndiswrapper" >> /etc/modules
Your device should now be loaded and configured.
[edit] Configuring Your Network
The last task is to configure your network. You can do this all through an easy, graphical interface. Simply go to System>Administration>Network, and choose the Wireless interface. Most networks use "DHCP", so all you have to enter is the network name. If you are using Kubuntu or the GUI does not work, you might need to edit /etc/network/interfaces. Under wlan0, use "wireless-essid" (and "wireless-key" for WEP).
