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- inactive, on 07/16/2008, -2/+80fantastic... NDISwrapper is a royal PITA even for seasoned nix users. I can't imagine how off-putting it would be for a potential new linux user to have to deal with unsupported wireless.
- ToadLeg, on 07/16/2008, -2/+75"Get it while it's hot!"
Oh no, I hope they don't run out of them before I can get one. I'd better line up outside for a few days to make sure. - GRAVEWiSH, on 07/16/2008, -1/+66broadcom owners rejoice!
- waspinator, on 07/16/2008, -2/+56I hope it comes default in Ubuntu 8.10
- Pamagester, on 07/16/2008, -0/+44Wow finally an easy way to get my wireless card working on Linux, I been looking around the web for ages and all the solutions have failed now I can finally connect to my college connection and start working on the good stuff.
- inactive, on 07/16/2008, -1/+42I don't use NDIS Wrapper, but I envy the people who have the kind of talent to develop this *****. Very very nice.
- ElcyionCoire, on 07/16/2008, -3/+40Linux is getting closer & closer to the masses...
- culbeda, on 07/16/2008, -4/+37This is an infinitely higher priority than desktop cubes, wobbly windows and all the other eye candy that is supposed to impress me.
- mbalionel, on 07/16/2008, -0/+29Wish this would have been out a couple of weeks ago. I reinstalled Ubuntu 8.04 thinking a bad install CD caused my wireless to mess up. I mean, I have been using the same hardware with Gutsy and it was fine.
When that didn't work, I spent a couple of days Googling and couldn't find a fix. Finally, I installed Mandriva Spring 2008.1 thinking it would get my wireless working; it didn't.
So I reinstalled 8.04 and, after another round of Googling, found a relatively obscure procedure involving rebuilding the kernel with the Serialmonkey Ralink driver, blacklisting the RT73 driver, doing the hokey-pokey and turning myself around. It worked.
Getting wireless should not be that hard in this day and age. This almost caused me to re-install Windows on my main box.
I will donate to this new project. - Killerah, on 07/16/2008, -0/+27Wow! I've been using ndiswrapper for a while and it's always been a series of 5 or 6 commands as well as hunting down drivers for your card before it was installed, this program looks like a real step forward! I hope it gets incorporated into all the major distros.
- inigomntoya, on 07/16/2008, -0/+20Oh come on - its not like this was written by Apple...
- heiroglyph, on 07/16/2008, -0/+17Serious question: How much harder was ndiswrapper before this?
I still haven't had a Windows install detect any of my wireless cards during installation, so I always have to track down a driver just like I do for ndiswrapper anyway.
I'm just saying that the expectations for ease of use are way higher for Linux than for WIndows. - WarBiscuit, on 07/16/2008, -0/+17For the people who don't want to use this / can't get it to work,
I'd also recommend the great "gtkndiswrapper" program...
it provides a gui interface to ndiswrapper which reduces ndis configuration
to point-and-click: just find the .inf file, and it takes care of everything else.
Hopefully all these projects will merge together eventually,
so much good work is being done in this area. - ElectricC0wb0y, on 07/16/2008, -0/+16Ever heard of Regedit? That is soooo much simpler than a text editor...
- franes, on 07/16/2008, -0/+15But you need to be connected to the internet (Wired) before you use it, as it downloads the drivers off the internet. Will save the hassle of six or seven commands though.
- FolkTheory, on 07/16/2008, -4/+18that card probably didn't work on windows either until you installed its drivers from a CD...so maybe you should ditch windows too? how do you expect things to work without their drivers?
- andrewtheart, on 07/16/2008, -0/+14This is a good temporary solution until more wireless card manufacturers port their drivers to Linux.
- phalkon30, on 07/16/2008, -0/+14I see your point!
- LiceHelpDotCom, on 07/16/2008, -1/+15After hearing everyone online praise Ubuntu, I was dying to try it on my laptop. Loaded it and it was great but my wireless card would not work with it. I am not a huge techno-geek but I am more savvy than the average user. I could not get my Linksys wireless card to work on Ubuntu. Deal breaker.
Maybe, I will give it a whirl again. - VinceNoir, on 07/16/2008, -1/+15Hmmm... I beg to differ. I used NDISWrapper on multiple occasions and it "just worked" after I followed the steps carefully. Generally, you build NDISWrapper, load the kernel module, locate a Windows driver that will work with your card (using the recommended driver packs linked from the project site), install the driver, and voila! You have an eth0 or wlan0 interface ready to configure with 'iwconfig'. It's not the most straightforward thing to use, so yeah... it's off putting to Joe Average. But anyone who actually knows what they're doing in Linux will have no trouble with this. If they do, then they don't really know what they're doing in Linux. Not meant as an insult, it's just the plain truth.
If you use a distro like Ubuntu and don't get your hands dirty, then you are a user of open source software on Linux, but not Linux itself. If you actually know Linux, you work with scripts, configure your system via the shell, and rebuild the kernel and modules when you need new functionality. Again, this is not an insult to the end users on Linux. But... just like in Windows, someone who actually knows what they're doing in Windows (an admin) is at a different level from someone who knows how to use Office really well, but doesn't know how to install drivers and fix problems. So... Ubuntu is really creating a new level of user on the Linux platform: the end-user, who knows little, nor cares about actually using the OS itself. There are those same kinds of users on other Linux distros too. And they won't be bothering with NDISWrapper (again, they shouldn't have to). However, if Auto-NDISWrapper actually works, that can only be a good thing for these sorts of users.
Meanwhile, the sort of user that I am (intermediate at best) will continue to work at the level of compiling kernel, modules and software, tweaking /etc/* and writing custom Bash scripts to customize the system. Different kind of user, different set of needs. Kudos to Auto-NDISWrapper. - trogdor282, on 07/16/2008, -0/+13Apparently you haven't updated since then? All major distros have GUI control panels now.
- blackinthmiddle, on 07/16/2008, -1/+13I'm the most gullible person in the world, but I'm still skeptical on how well this will work in many cases. For example, I built a quad core machine in my house and the windows drivers that came with it simply don't have 64 bit drivers. In the end, I solved my problem using Madwifi, but even that doesn't work for every card. Atheros chipsets are well supported by madwifi. Good luck if you have one of the newer, unsupported chipsets.
And the thing is, manufacturers are not compelled to use any one chipset. So you can buy a card that you were told has the chipset you want, only to find out (from lspci or the like) that it doesn't.
Obviously this is not linux's fault. Wireless manufacturers have *really* dropped the ball here. I'd say, quite frankly, that it's on purpose. Fine, you don't want to write a linux driver for your card? At least release the specs so that it can be done by the open source community. Not releasing that almost seems that Microsoft is dictating how manufacturers behave. - toddc612, on 07/16/2008, -0/+10I always thought configuring my laptop wireless card was the most annoying aspect of setting up a nix OS. I agree with the comment above stating how off-putting that would be for new users trying to use Linux. Can't wait to try this out..
- crapmatic, on 07/16/2008, -0/+10About time. Poor WiFi support was a dealbreaker for me last year when I tried to install an older Ubuntu (6 or 7) on my laptop. This area is an Achilles heel of monumental proportions.
- ElcyionCoire, on 07/16/2008, -0/+10Kudos for the reminder that Windows doesn't auto detect wireless cards either, but when you buy the Wireless card, it comes w/ an install disc that has everything you need; pop in the disc, install the drivers, then shut down & plug in your new NIC. It's simple.
With Linux I spent an hour on the forums looking at how I could get my card to work, then another hour trying to figure out how to get NDISwrapper to work, then another hour on the forums ('cause I *couldn't* get it to work) to see that NDISwrapper wouldn't work at all w/ my particular NIC (a Linksys Wireless G adapter, NDISwrapper might work now, but I have it hardwired to my router now and the NIC is in a windows machine). A simple hardware upgrade in Windows turned into a weekend project on Linux.
I'm new to Linux, but damn... - Vadi0, on 07/16/2008, -0/+10Oh, it looks like there's a database they use: http://www.easylinuxwifi.org/forms.php
If you're experienced in this stuff, would be great if you filled in the info :) - sloppychris, on 07/16/2008, -4/+13That's what happens when you buy a wireless card that is built to work on windows, not linux. The question is why your card manufacturer doesn't support linux.
You're trying to fit a 51/4 inch disc into a dvd-rom drive. Your wireless card was built in the stone age, don't blame linux. - Vadi0, on 07/16/2008, -0/+8Wow. Very nice for those (unfortunately) sucky cards in Linux. Hope this thing works well and could be included in Ubuntu someday.
- Arghblarg, on 07/16/2008, -0/+8Problem is, a lot of manufacturers just won't do it. They have this wonderful cop-out excuse from the FCC, if I recall correctly; wifi drivers, since they're RF devices, are heavily regulated as to power output and such. Intellectual Property zealots love falling back on this excuse as a reason to keep pumping out black-box, buggy, binary-only drivers so no one can actually control their own hardware.
Support only truly open wifi devices. Make your purchases according to this chart:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open_so ... - RetepNamenots, on 07/16/2008, -0/+8Totally.
- brettalton, on 07/16/2008, -0/+8It is no different for Windows when you need wireless drivers though. This at least, is automatic.
- filefly, on 07/16/2008, -0/+8You're in the Linux/Unix section. If you don't like it, disable it.
- mossblaser, on 07/16/2008, -1/+8The people who wrote the app to resolve that issue...
- badassninja, on 07/16/2008, -0/+7I have both installed on my box right now, although I almost never use my windows install. I thought I had to boot into windows yesterday ( I was wrong, btw ) and it hit me that some of my software was out of date. It then hit me that in windows you have to go to a web site, look for their install, download it and then install it, and then if I want the newest version I need to #1 Even know that a new version has come out, then uninstall my old version (maybe, depending on the program), find the newest on the web, download it and install it. Such a pain in the dick over opening Synaptic, keyword search for the program, click install and then from that day forward my computer informs me when a new version comes out and clicking on install installs the newest version.
Now if you give me a min, my kernel just updated and I need a restart. - ChayesFSS, on 07/16/2008, -0/+6Great work, the last wrapper worked great for me as I just popped the windows CD in, selected the inf and bam, wireless was working great.
- dark_helmet, on 07/16/2008, -2/+8Whats so bad about BCM43xx? http://bcm43xx.berlios.de/
Its worked perfectly fine with any broadcom card i've ever had. - igyigyigy, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5They don't know what the JAZZ is all about
- Sabakunoneji, on 07/16/2008, -2/+7Nice, this was the one thing that prevented me from using Linux. Now I can make the switch!!
- wigren, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5Not really. A lot of wireless cards work right out of the box (my Averatec laptop with a RaLink card). And the ones that don't are easy to install (My Acer with Atheros). This is one of many options to make it even easier.
- arjie, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5Ah, but franes, then those drivers are already available to the ndiswrapper user. A good idea, though, perhaps you should suggest it to the developer: Search CD for driver.
- arjie, on 07/16/2008, -0/+5Do not digg Arghblarg down. He is correct. Intel mentions this outright. While their drivers are open-source they required a userspace regulatory daemon to comply with FCC RF norms. Third question on the FAQ:
http://intellinuxwireless.org/?n=faq&s=license - zosoIV, on 07/16/2008, -1/+5About. Freakin'. Time.
- veriix, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4Legit? Seriously? This damn kids these days with their eye-candy linux and their slang terms.
- okubax, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4Good news at last. Acer can have my middle finger !!
- Pankakezz, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4Nah dude my broadcom wont work with it either. THANK GOD
- mizike, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4If this is true, it a huge deal. Horrendous wireless support has been a big problem for pretty much all linux distros more or less since wireless was invented.
- ap44, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4This has made me re-install Ubunutu. Windows is seeming further and further away each day!
- newwatch51, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4This script can't even download from the right location! wget got a 404
- arjie, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4I have to agree. I even got a fakey ethernet card to work.
The card claimed to have a Realtek 8139D chipset, but when I fitted in the PCI slot and had a look through lspci -v it was apparently a Silan Microsystems SC92031 chipset. While the newer versions of the Linux kernel claim to have a driver for this chipset, that old kernel didn't (ubuntu 6.06, this is in Jan this year) so I installed ndiswrapper, installed the Windows XP driver for the chipset (provided with the card, the drivers were written to make it look like the chipset was RTL8139D on Windows. Bastards, the standard driver for that chipset won't work.), and loaded the kernel module. It was an extremely simple process and I have no claim to being an expert.
I then had a wlan0 interface that connected over ethernet. Cool, eh? - mossblaser, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3In all fairness the wireless support is actually stunning - of all the 8 different wifi adapters I've tried to use on linux, 6 "just worked" (at least 4 with WPA, the others I never tried) and the other I managed to make work with ndis' GTK front end and the other i couldn't do (but each time i was flailing about trying to do it over the phone). The problem is that if you're one of the unlucky few (yes, surprisingly it is a minority in terms of quantity) then it is a killer problem - no internet = serious limitation (like using vista with 512 of ram - its theoretically possible but you just wouldnt want do it).
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