ndiswrapper problem

[Rick Stevens]

On Sat, 2005-11-12 at 18:49 -0800, Harold Hallikainen wrote:
> >
> >> On Fri, 2005-11-11 at 12:16 -0800, Harold Hallikainen wrote:
> >>> THANKS to this list, it looks like I've pretty much got ndiswrapper
> >>> working with the built in wireless on my new HP Pavilion zv6000 with
> >>> FC4-64. I can do /sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper and get the driver
> >>> installed
> >>>
> >>> I can then run /sbin/wlan0 scan and see networks that are running.
> >>>
> >>> I can also run Applications/Internet/kWifiManager and scan for
> >>> networks.
> >>>
> >>> With my old D-Link card, I used Desktop/SystemSettings/Network to
> >>> enable
> >>> the card and have it do a dhcp query on startup. The D-Link card was
> >>> assigned an eth number. The internal card (with ndiswrapper) is getting
> >>> a
> >>> wlan nunber, which does not show up in Desktop/SystemSettings/Network.
> >>> So,
> >>> what do I do to get the internal card to start working on bootup
> >>> (getting
> >>> an IP address, etc.)?
> >>
> >> Make sure you have
> >>
> >> 	alias wlan0 ndiswrapper
> >>
> >> in your /etc/modprobe.conf file.  That'll cause ndiswrapper to start
> >> at boot.
> >>
> >>> Also, can the system be configured to use whatever network it finds,
> >>> including my WEP encrypted network at home or any other non-encrypted
> >>> network without my having to tell it which to use?
> >>
> >> Well, not really.  You can set up a couple of network profiles and
> >> select one to run at any given time.  For example, you could create one
> >> that specifies wlan0 using an unencrypted wireless connection and DHCP,
> >> another one that has wlan0 using WEP-enabled wireless, yet another that
> >> uses eth0 instead and so on.  You'd activate one of the profiles by
> >> using "Main Menu => System Tools => Network Device Control" or by using
> >> the command line:
> >>
> >> 	system-config-network-cmd --profile <profilename> --activate
> >>
> >> Note that the system ALWAYS brings up the profile in "common" at boot
> >> time, so put your most commonly used profile in there.  See the help
> >> menu when you run "Main Menu => System Tools => Network Device Control"
> >> for more information.
> >>
> >> As to getting a new DHCP if the network goes away, take a look at
> >> netplugd.
> >
> > It works! The only remaining wlan problem is netplugd. If I try to start
> > it from desktop/systemsettings/serversettings/services, I get an error.
> > Looking at /var/log/messages, I find
> >
> > Nov 11 20:10:55 localhost netplugd[5696]: wlan0: state INNING pid 5697
> > exited status 0
> > Nov 11 20:11:03 localhost netplugd[5696]: caught signal 15 - exiting
> > Nov 11 20:11:03 localhost netplugd[5884]: Could not create netlink socket:
> > Permission denied
> >
> >
> > However, if I start it from /sbin/netplugd , it seems to start fine.
> >
> > Ideas?
> >
> > THANKS!
> >
> > Harold
> 
> 
> Following up on myself... watching during bootup, I now see netplugd
> starting a bunch of processes, so I guess that's working. I'll have to see
> how it behaves with wlans dropping in and out.
> 
> Another problem... Using "Main Menu => System Tools => Network Device
> Control", I am able to set up device wlan0. I set this up for home with an
> encryption key and it worked great. I then created a new device for
> unencrypted access points. It was assigned to wlan0:1. This would not
> activate. I'm sitting in a coffee place right now with open wifi and
> erased the encryption key from device wlan0 and it activated fine. It
> SEEMS that there's a problem with having multiple "devices" on the
> ndiswrapper. wlan0 seems to work, but wlan0:1 does not. I'll mess with it
> some more, but any ideas appreciated!

Encryption keys and such set up the physical link between your wifi and
the access point you're using.  wlan0 is the baseline NIC.  wlan0:1
relies on wlan0 running to do its thing.  Since wlan0 is expecting an
ESSID and WEP key to link (and it's not getting it), wlan0:1 won't come
up.

You need separate configs for each type of link you expect wlan0 to
use...one for open networks (no WEP key) and ones for each restricted
network you'll be connecting to.  That's the nature of the beast.

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- Rick Stevens, Senior Systems Engineer     rstevens at vitalstream.com -
- VitalStream, Inc.                       http://www.vitalstream.com -
-                                                                    -
-    If Windows isn't a virus, then it sure as hell is a carrier!    -
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