Comprehensive ndiswrapper troubleshooting guide

[sirspazzolot]

Chrome for the win.
1000 get.
Newer broadcom cards don't have the best support with Linux. Like the above poster said, the STA drivers are terrible.

[dngen]

Broadcom STA drivers are garbage. My wireless detected a good 10 more networks in the area after I downloaded ndiswrapper. With ndisgtk it should be at least the same speed as Windows!

Are you sure it's not a Firefox problem? Type in url bar

about:config 

then search "ipv6" and make sure under "ipv6 disable" that TRUE is toggled, not false.

Also try a built for speed browser like Chromium or light-weight one like Midori.

I agree. The STA driver has given me really poor internet speeds.

I can't detect any networks even though ndiswrapper says that the wireless driver is uploaded. I even used the working driver found on ndiswrapper's wiki page that matches my laptops pciid, but it doesn't load

[pytheas22]

dngen: sorry, didn't realize you'd already tried the STA driver with poor results.

I'm not sure why the Windows drivers you've tried so far with ndiswrapper aren't working, but if you go to this page and search for your device's PCI ID ("14E4:4328"), in quotes, several entries turn up, some with direct links to versions of the Windows driver which are avowed to work. Please try using one of those drivers and see if that makes a difference. Also, make sure you remove the Windows driver(s) you currently have installed before trying to load in a new one.

Sorry I've been slow to respond over the last couple days; I was traveling without much Internet access. I'm back at home now and should be more responsive.

[dngen]

dngen: sorry, didn't realize you'd already tried the STA driver with poor results.

I'm not sure why the Windows drivers you've tried so far with ndiswrapper aren't working, but if you go to this page and search for your device's PCI ID ("14E4:4328"), in quotes, several entries turn up, some with direct links to versions of the Windows driver which are avowed to work. Please try using one of those drivers and see if that makes a difference. Also, make sure you remove the Windows driver(s) you currently have installed before trying to load in a new one.

Sorry I've been slow to respond over the last couple days; I was traveling without much Internet access. I'm back at home now and should be more responsive.

YES!! The drivers I found on that site actually kinda work. Thank you so much for your help so far. I don't think you've been slow to respond at all

Ubuntu will now detect wireless networks, BUT I can't connect to any of them. Do you know what might be the problem?

[pytheas22]

dngen: well, at least you're making progress! There could be several reasons that you're not able to connect. If you have the patience for it, I'd first try any of the Windows drivers mentioned on that page I linked to which you haven't yet tested; you may find that everything will just work with one of the drivers, and your problems will be solved.

Otherwise, if possible, I'd try temporarily disabling all security on the router and seeing if you can connect that way. Then you'll at least be able to narrow down the scope of the problem, and there are some things we could try from there to attempt to get a permanent solution that won't require giving up encryption.

You may also have better luck connecting using wicd instead of NetworkManager. You can install wicd from the Ubuntu Software Center, then launch it from the Applications>Internet menu. I would disable NetworkManager before starting wicd by typing "sudo /etc/init.d/network-manager stop".

Finally, in situations like these it can also sometimes help to change the router's channel (e.g., from channel 1 to channel 6) or mode (e.g., from 802.11b/g to 802.11g only, or vice-versa). ndiswrapper may "get along" with a certain configuration better than it does with another one.

Let me know if any of the above helps. Also, if you don't find a solution, it would help to know the output at this point of the following commands, after you've attempted to connect to your router a couple times:

dmesg | grep -e ndis -e wlan
grep -e ndis -e wlan -ie wpa -ie wep -ie key /var/log/syslog
sudo iwlist scan
iwconfig

[TossTheTV]

I agree. The STA driver has given me really poor internet speeds.

I can't detect any networks even though ndiswrapper says that the wireless driver is uploaded. I even used the working driver found on ndiswrapper's wiki page that matches my laptops pciid, but it doesn't load

On my desktop I use a usb wi-fi adapter by Intellinet. It uses RaLink chipset

I went to http://www.ralinktech.com/ > Software > Windows
(Linux drivers wouldn't even unpack)

Windows Wireless Drivers (Ndisgtk) would take the rt2870.inf file, but no wi-fi networks would show up in Network Manager. Conflict.. I had to blacklist sta.

opened up this file:

gksudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf 

then added the line:

blacklist rt2870sta 

After saving, I instantly had perfect wi-fi. Perhaps you need something this, just customize the line to your chipset. There are some good write-ups.

Btw I'm on Mint Debian. Same deal of course

[dngen]

dngen: well, at least you're making progress! There could be several reasons that you're not able to connect. If you have the patience for it, I'd first try any of the Windows drivers mentioned on that page I linked to which you haven't yet tested; you may find that everything will just work with one of the drivers, and your problems will be solved.

Otherwise, if possible, I'd try temporarily disabling all security on the router and seeing if you can connect that way. Then you'll at least be able to narrow down the scope of the problem, and there are some things we could try from there to attempt to get a permanent solution that won't require giving up encryption.

You may also have better luck connecting using wicd instead of NetworkManager. You can install wicd from the Ubuntu Software Center, then launch it from the Applications>Internet menu. I would disable NetworkManager before starting wicd by typing "sudo /etc/init.d/network-manager stop".

Finally, in situations like these it can also sometimes help to change the router's channel (e.g., from channel 1 to channel 6) or mode (e.g., from 802.11b/g to 802.11g only, or vice-versa). ndiswrapper may "get along" with a certain configuration better than it does with another one.

Let me know if any of the above helps. Also, if you don't find a solution, it would help to know the output at this point of the following commands, after you've attempted to connect to your router a couple times:

dmesg | grep -e ndis -e wlan
grep -e ndis -e wlan -ie wpa -ie wep -ie key /var/log/syslog
sudo iwlist scan
iwconfig

I disabled my routers security settings but it still doesn't connect.

When using WICD, it gets stuck on "None: Validating authentication" and then tells me bad password, but thats definitely not the problem.
If I use the network manager, it constantly tries to connect but never can.

When I'm trying to connect to the router, dmesg | grep -e ndis -e wlan outputs:

dmesg | grep -e ndis -e wlan
[    6.352160] ndiswrapper version 1.56 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[    7.416778] ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,10/12/2006, 4.100.15.5) loaded
[    7.416950] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[    7.416970] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[    7.431835] ndiswrapper: using IRQ 17
[    7.673609] wlan0: ethernet device 00:22:69:79:2b:57 using NDIS driver: bcmwl5, version: 0x4640f05, NDIS version: 0x501, vendor: 'NDIS Network Adapter', 14E4:4328.5.conf
[    7.673682] wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
[    7.675697] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
[   14.929570] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   29.403405] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   30.851351] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   33.722710] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[   44.272042] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[   68.543314] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   82.632598] ndiswrapper: device wlan0 removed
[   82.632648] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A disabled
[   82.632710] usbcore: deregistering interface driver ndiswrapper
[   82.642405] ndiswrapper version 1.56 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[   82.651268] ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,10/12/2006, 4.100.15.5) loaded
[   82.651505] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[   82.651532] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[   82.666400] ndiswrapper: using IRQ 17
[   82.909473] wlan0: ethernet device 00:22:69:79:2b:57 using NDIS driver: bcmwl5, version: 0x4640f05, NDIS version: 0x501, vendor: 'NDIS Network Adapter', 14E4:4328.5.conf
[   82.909576] wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
[   82.915935] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
[   82.922209] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   89.067347] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   95.867298] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   96.008294] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   98.790674] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[  108.976143] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[  138.595735] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  163.113011] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[  275.744080] ndiswrapper: device wlan0 removed
[  275.744144] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A disabled
[  275.744311] usbcore: deregistering interface driver ndiswrapper
[  275.759133] ndiswrapper version 1.56 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[  275.766516] ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,06/21/2006, 4.80.28.5) loaded
[  275.766737] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[  275.766760] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[  275.778993] ndiswrapper (NdisWriteErrorLogEntry:190): log: C000138D, count: 1, return_address: fe624de0
[  275.778997] ndiswrapper (NdisWriteErrorLogEntry:193): code: 0x10b
[  275.779004] ndiswrapper (mp_init:219): couldn't initialize device: C0000001
[  275.779008] ndiswrapper (pnp_start_device:435): Windows driver couldn't initialize the device (C0000001)
[  275.779013] ndiswrapper (mp_halt:262): device f547a480 is not initialized - not halting
[  275.779015] ndiswrapper: device eth%d removed
[  275.779026] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A disabled
[  275.779034] ndiswrapper: probe of 0000:0b:00.0 failed with error -22
[  275.781305] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
[  301.957337] usbcore: deregistering interface driver ndiswrapper
[  301.957542] ndiswrapper (ntoskernel_exit:2677): object f5f33820(2) was not freed, freeing it now
[  301.981825] ndiswrapper version 1.56 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[  301.989275] ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,10/12/2006, 4.100.15.5) loaded
[  301.989472] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[  301.989496] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[  302.004408] ndiswrapper: using IRQ 17
[  302.246611] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  302.246808] wlan0: ethernet device 00:22:69:79:2b:57 using NDIS driver: bcmwl5, version: 0x4640f05, NDIS version: 0x501, vendor: 'NDIS Network Adapter', 14E4:4328.5.conf
[  302.246888] wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
[  302.254501] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
[  310.010458] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[  320.704032] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[  341.173853] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  341.349016] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  342.379725] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  344.117184] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[  354.328033] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[  746.243566] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  746.416050] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  747.448926] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  749.115518] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[  759.169138] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[  920.744605] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  920.880482] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  928.645907] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[  938.881027] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[  958.461056] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 1472.810544] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 1472.826964] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[ 1482.240515] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[ 1492.640145] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

I'll try the other commands if that doesn't help. I didn't want my post to be overloaded with a ton of output results.

The folder I'm loading the driver contains these files:

bcm43xx.cat
bcm43xx64.cat
bcmwl5.inf
bcmwl5.sys
bcmwl564.sys

Should I remove bcm43xx from my blacklist file?[/CODE]

Oh, I tried lshw -C Network to see if my driver was recognized and got this:

  *-network
       description: Wireless interface
       product: BCM4321 802.11a/b/g/n
       vendor: Broadcom Corporation
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:0b:00.0
       logical name: wlan0
       version: 03
       serial: 00:22:69:79:2b:57
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ndiswrapper+bcmwl5 driverversion=1.56+Broadcom,10/12/2006, 4.100. latency=0 multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g
       resources: irq:17 memory:f1efc000-f1efffff memory:f0000000-f00fffff

Not sure if that helps, but I figured I'd include it

[pytheas22]

TossTheTV: thanks for the comment and glad you got it working. FYI, the native driver should probably support your device--though I'd have to know the device ID to say for sure--but if you're up and running with ndiswrapper, tant mieux, as the French say.

dngen: thanks for all that output. I'm afraid, however, that it seems, based on what you've posted, like a driver issue rather than something to do with your connection configuration; in other words, ndiswrapper just still doesn't agree with the Windows driver you have loaded in. Have you tried all potential Windows drivers from that page I linked to a few posts above, and been unable to find any that makes everything work?

You could also try compiling ndiswrapper from source to see if that makes a difference, but I'd be skeptical it would.

Should I remove bcm43xx from my blacklist file?

No, you should leave it blacklisted. Some of the Windows driver files have the same name, but they don't actually have anything to do with the Linux driver named bcm43xx. bcm43xx (referring to the family of Broadcom chips in the 4300 series) is just the name of the chipset family to which your hardware belongs, hence why you see it referred to in the file names.

Also, after doing some more googling, I found your device mentioned on this page. It's old but several people there report success with ndiswrapper and your particular hardware by using step 2d of those instructions (i.e., downloading the Windows driver from http://myspamb8.googlepages.com/R151517-pruned.zip). I'd definitely give that a shot if you're still unable to find a driver that works well.

[dngen]

dngen: thanks for all that output. I'm afraid, however, that it seems, based on what you've posted, like a driver issue rather than something to do with your connection configuration; in other words, ndiswrapper just still doesn't agree with the Windows driver you have loaded in. Have you tried all potential Windows drivers from that page I linked to a few posts above, and been unable to find any that makes everything work?

You could also try compiling ndiswrapper from source to see if that makes a difference, but I'd be skeptical it would.


No, you should leave it blacklisted. Some of the Windows driver files have the same name, but they don't actually have anything to do with the Linux driver named bcm43xx. bcm43xx (referring to the family of Broadcom chips in the 4300 series) is just the name of the chipset family to which your hardware belongs, hence why you see it referred to in the file names.

Also, after doing some more googling, I found your device mentioned on this page. It's old but several people there report success with ndiswrapper and your particular hardware by using step 2d of those instructions (i.e., downloading the Windows driver from http://myspamb8.googlepages.com/R151517-pruned.zip). I'd definitely give that a shot if you're still unable to find a driver that works well.

I've tried compiling from source but I get the same results.

EDIT:
I've installed the driver you posted.
Here is what I get:

~$ dmesg | grep -e ndis -e wlan
[   13.786564] ndiswrapper version 1.56 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[   15.907003] ndiswrapper: driver bcmwl5 (Broadcom,10/12/2006, 4.100.15.5) loaded
[   15.907215] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 17
[   15.907241] ndiswrapper 0000:0b:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[   15.922101] ndiswrapper: using IRQ 17
[   16.168598] wlan0: ethernet device 00:22:69:79:2b:57 using NDIS driver: bcmwl5, version: 0x4640f05, NDIS version: 0x501, vendor: 'NDIS Network Adapter', 14E4:4328.5.conf
[   16.168677] wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
[   16.172864] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
[   16.223682] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   46.033149] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[  282.914816] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[  299.652632] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[  309.920140] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present

But it still won't connect

[chrisjabroni]

Hi,

I read through your troubleshooting guide and I think* i did everything the best I could.

In part 3, how would you change it from checking the PCI or onboard port and to check the USB wlan adapter? I ran lshw -C Network, but all i got was the info for the onboard ethernet adapater

So i tried to move on and check everything else and when went to check the dmesg area, I got a whole bunch of errors ... mainly in part from the "unknown symbol"
Again I tried to keep moving but I got to the point where we reinstall ndiswrapper but my computer doesnt have an internet connection ... how would I run:

cd ~/Desktop
sudo -s
apt-get install build-essential patch
tar -xzvf ndiswrapper*
cd ndiswrapper*
patch -p0 < ndiswrapper-2.6.35.patch ### Only run this command if you need the patch; otherwise, if you are using Ubuntu 10.04 or earlier, ignore this line
make
make install

I'd really appreciate your help, I'm new to ubuntu and i'm learning fast but I still have no idea what im doing