Comprehensive ndiswrapper troubleshooting guide

[pytheas22]

Ah, that's obnoxious. Please try downloading this installer and use it instead. This is the generic wicd installer rather than Ubuntu's customized version. The generic wicd build should have all of its dependencies already satisfied.

[Xog]

Ah, that's obnoxious. Please try downloading this installer and use it instead. This is the generic wicd installer rather than Ubuntu's customized version. The generic wicd build should have all of its dependencies already satisfied.

when i get home im going to try this out. if it works im going to masturbate to your name or something.

[Xog]

Ah, that's obnoxious. Please try downloading this installer and use it instead. This is the generic wicd installer rather than Ubuntu's customized version. The generic wicd build should have all of its dependencies already satisfied.

the installer you linked to (1.5.9) isn't the latest one and when I tried to open the .deb it told me network-manager is a conflict.

The one needed is wicd_1.6.2.2-2_all.deb: http://packages.debian.org/sid/all/wicd/download

booting ubuntu now to see if it works *crosses fingers*

editing as I go along:
1) requires dependency: python-urwid
2) screw this, not spending another 16 hours straight trying to find this problem. im going to ask for help in my own thread.

[AlP36]

pytheas22 - I am back and going to make another stab at getting this d*** Atheros 5523 usb to work. I may be getting off subject here, if so let me know.
You directed me to this site: http://wiki.debian.org/ar5523 and I have been studying the process there to see if I can use those procedures. Now I have a question about one of them -

Patch the driver for use with Linux kernel version 2.6.26, then compile:

$ cd ar5523
$ patch < debian/patches/kcompat-2.6.2*
$ make

Do I need to do that and would it work with Kernel 2.6.31-17-generic in Ubuntu? Changing path and numbering of course.

[AlP36]

I also wanted to ask about the info here:

http://sourceforge.net/project/shown...ease_id=374651

which says in
Release Notes for ndiswrapper 1.6:
* Support for Atheros USB drivers, including RangeMAX MIMO, added.

The latest version I can find is 1.55 so I suppose that is what he is referring to. But why do you think we not been able to find this support in there? Is this support for the newer chips?

BTW, I have been able to get ndiswrapper to work with an Airlink101 (zd2111 chip) usb adapter using some of what you helped me with the first time. I put it in the window and taped aluminum foil behind and get about 20% strength. But I am sure if I get the ar5523 unit working I can increase that. Still 10X - 20X better than dial up.

[pytheas22]

AlP36: glad to give this another shot. Yes, if you try to compile the driver from that site, it will need to be patched in order to compile properly against the kernel you have installed on Ubuntu. The issue here is that the driver was written for slightly older kernels, and in order to work on the latest kernels, the source code needs to be tweaked a little. A patch provides the tweaking.

Unfortunately, that site on the Debian wiki doesn't offer any patches for 2.6.31 kernels, and I can't find any elsewhere. You can try using the patch for the 2.6.28 kernel, but I really doubt it will work.

However, what I think might work is using ndiswrapper to drive the card, now that you have the firmware installed (if you didn't install it and the output of "lsusb" still mentions there being "No firmware," please run the commands from post #658 to download and install firmware). I know you tried ndiswrapper before, but at that time there was no firmware, which I think was what was preventing it from working.

If ndiswrapper fails, we can go back to trying to compile the ar5523 driver, but without a patch that may not be possible. You could write a patch, but I'm no C programmer, unfortunately. You could also just downgrade to an older kernel in order to run the driver code as it's written now, which might be a more feasible option.

[pytheas22]

I also wanted to ask about the info here:

http://sourceforge.net/project/shown...ease_id=374651

which says in
Release Notes for ndiswrapper 1.6:
* Support for Atheros USB drivers, including RangeMAX MIMO, added.

The latest version I can find is 1.55 so I suppose that is what he is referring to. But why do you think we not been able to find this support in there? Is this support for the newer chips?

BTW, I have been able to get ndiswrapper to work with an Airlink101 (zd2111 chip) usb adapter using some of what you helped me with the first time. I put it in the window and taped aluminum foil behind and get about 20% strength. But I am sure if I get the ar5523 unit working I can increase that. Still 10X - 20X better than dial up.

Ah, that might be the information we were looking for all along! It addresses how to solve the firmware issue in order to get your card working with ndiswrapper. The approach I had been trying was different, but this clarifies a lot.

Please disregard the post above. Give me a few minutes and I'll write out instructions on where I think we should go from here. Hopefully the solution is close; thanks a lot for finding that page.

[pytheas22]

AlP36: ok, please give these commands a try. This is a lot of stuff and it has to be run in this order to work. Please post the output of all of it so I can see if it goes as expected (some commands may have no output). Also please make sure the device is plugged in while you run this:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get remove --purge ndiswrapper-common ndiswrapper-utils-1.9
sudo apt-get install build-essential ndiswrapper-common ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 libusb-dev
mkdir ~/ndiswrapper-stuff
cd ~/ndiswrapper-stuff
wget http://www.backports.ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=30111&d=1177015001 ###if it hangs here press control-C to return to the command prompt
tar -xzvf attach*
sudo ndiswrapper -i netwpn111.inf
wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/ndiswrapper/files/stable/1.6/ndiswrapper-1.6.tar.gz/download
tar -xzvf ndiswrapper-1.6.tar.gz 
cd ndiswrapper-1.6/utils/
make
sudo cp load_fw_ar5523 /usr/bin
cd ~/ndiswrapper-stuff
sudo load_fw_ar5523 ar5523.bin
sudo rmmod ndiswrapper
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
dmesg | grep ndis
ndiswrapper -l
sudo iwlist scan

I know that's a lot of code and I'm happy to explain what it all does tomorrow if you like, but for now I need to head to bed. Hopefully this will all do the trick, though. Let me know.

[AlP36]

OK - I got it all in although I missed the third step and had to get it later. That may have fouled up something but I don't think it did. I kept a record of the out put from every step in an .odt document. I don't think you will want the entire thing, do you? It is 9 pages long. Here is the output from the last 3 commands:
Step #18:
alp910@alp910-desktop:~/ndiswrapper-stuff$ dmesg | grep ndis
[ 13.311799] ndiswrapper version 1.55 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[ 14.047701] ndiswrapper: driver zd1211bu (WLAN,10/28/2005,6.3.0.0) loaded
[ 14.515366] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
[ 41.370137] ndiswrapper (iw_set_auth:1602): invalid cmd 12
[39448.539647] usbcore: deregistering interface driver ndiswrapper
[39448.872151] ndiswrapper: device wlan0 removed
[39479.897098] ndiswrapper version 1.55 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[39480.121403] ndiswrapper: driver zd1211bu (WLAN,10/28/2005,6.3.0.0) loaded
[39480.516405] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
[39495.766965] ndiswrapper (iw_set_auth:1602): invalid cmd 12
[39598.432328] ndiswrapper: device wlan0 removed
alp910@alp910-desktop:~/ndiswrapper-stuff$

Step #19:
alp910@alp910-desktop:~/ndiswrapper-stuff$ ndiswrapper -l
net5523 : driver installed
netwpn111 : driver installed
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper, it will be ignored in a future release.
zd1211bu : driver installed
device (0ACE:1215) present (alternate driver: zd1211rw)

Step #20:
alp910@alp910-desktop:~/ndiswrapper-stuff$ sudo iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 00:1F:90:A5:8C:78
ESSID:"salon"
Protocol:IEEE 802.11g
Mode:Managed
Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
Quality:32/100 Signal level:-75 dBm Noise level:-96 dBm
Encryption keyn
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s
12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
Extra:bcn_int=100
Extra:atim=0
Cell 02 - Address: 00:11:95:36:9C:15
ESSID:"dlink"
Protocol:IEEE 802.11g
Mode:Managed
Frequency:2.462 GHz (Channel 11)
Quality:18/100 Signal level:-84 dBm Noise level:-96 dBm
Encryption keyff
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
12 Mb/s; 24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Extra:bcn_int=100
Extra:atim=0


And from lsusb:

alp910@alp910-desktop:~$ lsusb
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 0cf3:0002 Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5523 (no firmware)
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0ace:1215 ZyDAS WLA-54L WiFi
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 03f0:1204 Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 930c
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 04a9:221e Canon, Inc. CanoScan 8400F
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

Still (no Firmware) with the ar5523. I tried disconnecting the zd1211 adapter and unpluging and repluging the ar5523 with no luck. Also rebooted with the 5523 only but no change.
After looking at Step 19 output I did look in /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper and found this one entry:
alias usb:v0ACEp1215d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip* ndiswrapper

Do I need a similar entry for the ar5523?

[pytheas22]

AlP36: thanks for running the commands. There are a few different issues that still need to be addressed before it will work, but I'm curious in particular to know whether the command that was supposed to load the firmware proceeded correctly. That command was:

sudo load_fw_ar5523 ~/ndiswrapper-stuff/ar5523.bin

If you type that command, what does it say? Afterwards, does 'lsusb' still mention the "No firmware" stuff?

Getting the firmware loaded I think is really the key here.

And to provide a better explanation of what all those commands did, in case you're interested: the link you provided yesterday explained how the firmware is supposed to be loaded for this device (which is an exceptional case; on most adapters this would not be an issue) by ndiswrapper.

In earlier versions of ndiswrapper, there was a utility called load_fw_ar5523, which came with ndiswrapper, that you would run to load the ar5523 firmware. For some reason that I couldn't figure out, that utility no longer exists in the current version of ndiswrapper. To work around this, the commands I had you run yesterday grabbed part of the source code for version 1.6 of ndiswrapper (which is older than version 1.55, the most up-to-date relase...go figure), which contains the firmware utility, and then compile just that part. Then I had you copy the firmware program to your /usr/bin directory so you could execute it from anywhere.

Now, if we're lucky, you'll be able to run that program and have it load the firmware. Then you would just load the ndiswrapper driver, and everything is supposed to be peachy, according to that documentation you linked to yesterday. Before we go any further, however, we should make sure the firmware program is really doing what it's supposed to do, because everything else is contingent on that.

Thanks for your patience in all this. I know a lot of this is confusing, and the fact that ndiswrapper is sketchily documented and works in mysterious ways doesn't help.