[SOLVED] ndiswrapper won't recognize intel pro/5100

[out_of_time]

I've been banging my head against the wall on this one for a good long time now - new ThinkPad with Intel Pro/Wireless 5100 card. Out of box, it wouldn't recognize any hot spots when doing a scan; after trying to install the iwlwifi-5000-1 microcode, I decided to try the ndiswrapper route. Neither the Vista version of the driver nor the XP version will load at boot, although both of them allow ndiswrapper to recognize the card. I'd appreciate any help in troubleshooting this - I'm just about out of ideas.

Output from uname -a:

Linux MatBuntuBook 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 21:57:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

Output from lspci -nnv | grep -A 9 Wireless:

02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection [8086:4237]
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Device [8086:1211]
	Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 5
	Memory at fe1fe000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]
	Capabilities: [c8] Power Management version 3
	Capabilities: [d0] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit+ Queue=0/0 Enable-
	Capabilities: [e0] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
	Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting <?>
	Capabilities: [140] Device Serial Number 88-4b-cb-ff-ff-ea-16-00
	Kernel modules: iwlagn

Output from lshow -C Network:

  *-network UNCLAIMED
       description: Network controller
       product: PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       version: 00
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:0c:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 02
       serial: 00:23:54:2f:f2:7a
       size: 100MB/s
       capacity: 1GB/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=full ip=192.168.1.107 latency=0 link=yes module=r8169 multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100MB/s
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 1
       logical name: pan0
       serial: d2:fa:cd:70:78:cb
       capabilities: ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes

Output from ndiswrapper -l

netw5x32 : driver installed
	device (8086:4237) present (alternate driver: iwlagn)

Output from lsmod | grep ndis:

ndiswrapper           196380  0 
usbcore               148848  4 ndiswrapper,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd

Output from dmesg | grep -e ndis -e wlan with netw5x32 (XP) driver:

[    9.391838] ndiswrapper version 1.53 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[    9.439877] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: ntoskrnl.exe:'KeBugCheck'
[    9.440097] ndiswrapper (load_sys_files:206): couldn't prepare driver 'netw5x32'
[    9.440893] ndiswrapper (load_wrap_driver:108): couldn't load driver netw5x32; check system log for messages from 'loadndisdriver'
[    9.444571] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper

Output from dmesg | grep -e ndis -e wlan with netw5v32 (Vista) driver:

[    9.370049] ndiswrapper version 1.53 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[    9.414575] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: ntoskrnl.exe:'KeBugCheck'
[    9.414654] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMAllocatePort'
[    9.414662] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMNetPnPEvent'
[    9.414669] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMFreePort'
[    9.414677] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMDeregisterMiniportDriver'
[    9.414687] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisOpenConfigurationEx'
[    9.414695] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMSetMiniportAttributes'
[    9.414711] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMRegisterMiniportDriver'
[    9.414733] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMRegisterInterruptEx'
[    9.414741] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeIoWorkItem'
[    9.414749] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMDeregisterInterruptEx'
[    9.414789] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateTimerObject'
[    9.414797] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisCancelTimerObject'
[    9.414804] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisSetTimerObject'
[    9.414812] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeTimerObject'
[    9.414820] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMSetBusData'
[    9.414828] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMGetBusData'
[    9.414836] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisGetSystemUpTimeEx'
[    9.414843] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisCopyFromNetBufferToNetBuffer'
[    9.414851] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisQueueIoWorkItem'
[    9.414859] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateIoWorkItem'
[    9.414867] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMIndicateStatusEx'
[    9.414875] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMResetComplete'
[    9.414883] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMOidRequestComplete'
[    9.414891] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMSynchronizeWithInterruptEx'
[    9.414899] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMSendNetBufferListsComplete'
[    9.414907] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateMdl'
[    9.414915] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateNetBufferAndNetBufferList'
[    9.414923] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeMdl'
[    9.414930] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeNetBufferList'
[    9.414938] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMIndicateReceiveNetBufferLists'
[    9.414946] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisAllocateNetBufferListPool'
[    9.414954] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMRegisterScatterGatherDma'
[    9.414962] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMDeregisterScatterGatherDma'
[    9.414970] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMFreeNetBufferSGList'
[    9.414978] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisMAllocateNetBufferSGList'
[    9.414986] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: NDIS.SYS:'NdisFreeNetBufferListPool'
[    9.414989] ndiswrapper (load_sys_files:206): couldn't prepare driver 'netw5v32'
[    9.415732] ndiswrapper (load_wrap_driver:108): couldn't load driver netw5v32; check system log for messages from 'loadndisdriver'
[    9.419160] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper

[ieee488]

Suppose to work right out of the box with Ubuntu 8.10 per post at http://www.connect-utb.com/index.php...catid=34:linux

As far as I know ndiswrapper does not work with Vista drivers.

[out_of_time]

Thanks so much for the reply. The problem I started out with (before messing with ndiswrapper etc.) was similar to the last poster on that thread - the wireless card never reported any available hotspots. I tried troubleshooting that directly but wasn't able to get anywhere with it so I tried the ndiswrapper route. I can of course easily go back to the out of box drivers - can you point me anywhere that might be helpful for troubleshooting the issue of no hotspots appearing? Thanks!

[ieee488]

How did you determine it couldn't find any hotspots?
I used the commandline

sudo iwlist scan

that I learned about in these forums.

[out_of_time]

Yep, that's how I'm doing it as well. I've removed the XP driver from ndiswrapper and un-blacklisted the built-in driver; here's the situation now.

# lshw -C Network
  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wmaster0
       version: 00
       serial: 00:16:ea:cb:4b:88
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list logical ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=iwlagn latency=0 module=iwlagn multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11abgn
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:0c:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 02
       serial: 00:23:54:2f:f2:7a
       size: 100MB/s
       capacity: 1GB/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=full ip=192.168.1.107 latency=0 link=yes module=r8169 multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100MB/s
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 1
       logical name: pan0
       serial: 76:2a:45:d4:a8:46
       capabilities: ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes

# dmesg | grep -e wlan
[  466.602451] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

# ifup wlan0
Ignoring unknown interface wlan0=wlan0.

# iwlist scan
wlan0     No scan results

Help!!

[kevdog]

If you are booting with the iwlagn driver (because that is the driver currently assigned to the card), what does dmesg show regarding this driver? Is there more errors?

[out_of_time]

Here's the output of dmesg -e iwlagn -e wlan:

[    7.489811] iwlagn: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link AGN driver for Linux, 1.3.27ks
[    7.489814] iwlagn: Copyright(c) 2003-2008 Intel Corporation
[    7.501234] iwlagn 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[    7.501244] iwlagn 0000:02:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[    7.501265] iwlagn: Detected Intel Wireless WiFi Link 5100AGN REV=0x54
[    7.520412] iwlagn: Tunable channels: 13 802.11bg, 24 802.11a channels
[    7.578486] iwlagn 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A disabled
[   31.129633] iwlagn 0000:02:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[   31.129747] iwlagn 0000:02:00.0: restoring config space at offset 0x1 (was 0x100002, writing 0x100006)
[   31.150584] iwlagn loaded firmware version 5.4.1.16
[   31.150794] iwlagn: Radio disabled by HW RF Kill switch
[  466.602451] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

Thanks!

[out_of_time]

Something else I just came across - here's the output of nm-tool:

NetworkManager Tool

State: connected

- Device: eth0 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  Type:              Wired
  Driver:            r8169
  State:             connected
  Default:           yes
  HW Address:        00:23:54:2F:F2:7A

  Capabilities:
    Supported:       yes
    Carrier Detect:  yes
    Speed:           100 Mb/s

  Wired Settings

  IPv4 Settings:
    Address:         192.168.1.107
    Prefix:          24 (255.255.255.0)
    Gateway:         192.168.1.1

    DNS:             208.67.222.222
    DNS:             208.67.220.220


- Device: wlan0 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  Type:              802.11 WiFi
  Driver:            iwlagn
  State:             disconnected
  Default:           no
  HW Address:        00:16:EA:CB:4B:88

  Capabilities:
    Supported:       yes

  Wireless Settings
    WEP Encryption:  yes
    WPA Encryption:  yes
    WPA2 Encryption: yes

  Wireless Access Points

The "State: Disconnected" bit seems to be a problem. Is this just one of those "turn your wireless card on" situations? I have to admit I've been using Apple hardware pretty much exclusively until recently so I'm totally clueless about that sort of thing...

[out_of_time]

Just installed WICD per the recommendation of another forum post. It does seem more user friendly but I still don't see any wireless networks in the list.

[kevdog]

HW RF Kill switch

Is there a switch on the outside of your box to turn the card on?

noob12 (a different user) once posted a similar solution for this type of problem. Its been awhile though and I don't remember the exact solution. A search for noob12 and intel might yield results.