Using Windows wireless card drivers

Revision as of 14:51, 28 September 2008

For many wireless networkcards, Linux drivers are not available. Don't worry! Despite that, it is very easy to get your card working: With 'ndiswrapper', you can load the Windows-drivers. This is a small guide to get wireless working.

1. Make sure ndiswrapper is installed. Normally it is installed in Pardus, you can check it in Package Manager.
2. Download the Windows drivers of your networkcard. If you don't know where you can find it, have a look at this list: http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/joomla/index.php?/component/option,com_openwiki/Itemid,33/id,list/ or http://linux-wless.passys.nl/?lang=english (For the next steps, download the driver to your Desktop and remember your username.)
3. Unzip it, and remember the name of the created directory with the drivers.
4. Open a terminal in administrator mode: Pardus Menu -> Programs -> System -> More Applications -> Terminal Program - Super User Mode. Then, enter your administration password.
5. Go to the directory with the drivers. cd /home/username/Desktop/directory-with-the-drivers.
6. Check for already installed drivers: ndiswrapper -l
7. If necessary remove them with: ndiswrapper -r drivername
8. Install the driver: ndiswrapper -i driver.inf (Replace 'driver' with the name of your .inf-file.)
9. Check with: ndiswrapper -l
10. Check for problems: depmod -a
11. Load ndiswrapper module: modprobe ndiswrapper
12. Type this: ndiswrapper -m
13. Check for: "adding "alias ........"
14. Check if device is present with: iwconfig
15. Configure the device in: Pardus Menu -> Tasma -> Internet & Network -> Network Manager -> New connection
16. Check for the connection with: iwconfig
17. To load ndiswrapper after a new start: echo ndiswrapper>>/etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6