Comprehensive ndiswrapper troubleshooting guide

[orrymr]

Quite, positive; refer to attached image.

I am still having a few problems. I initially posted my problem in another thread, but it received no responses (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1711583)

Here's the content:

Finally managed to get the win2k driver for my wg311v3 card working via ndiswrapper. Got it loaded into the kernel and made sure it starts automatically every time I boot (by editing a text file.. can't remember which right now, think it was in /etc/module or somewhere around there). Network manager is picking up my wireless home network - I can see it there when I click on it, but it won't let me connect. I get the message: "Wireless Network Disconnected - you are now offline". When I type iwconfig, I get, among the results, Access Point: Not associated. I'm guessing that this is bad. Also, it did briefly connect once. Then the connection dropped. Thanks in advance

[pytheas22]

orrymr: it would be helpful to see the extracts from some of your log files. Please try connecting to your wireless network, then immediately post the output of:

dmesg | grep -ie wlan -ie ndis
dmesg | tail -20
grep -ie wlan -ie ndis /var/log/syslog
ndiswrapper -l

Hopefully that will point us in the right direction. (Also, FYI, I'm going to be quite busy tomorrow and may not get a chance to check back on this thread as soon as I'd like, but I'll do my best.)

[orrymr]

here are the results of dmesg | grep -ie wlan -ie ndis:

orry@ubuntu:~$ dmesg | grep -ie wlan -ie ndis
[    2.329204] scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access     SanDisk  Cruzer           8.02 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
[    2.329578] scsi 6:0:0:1: CD-ROM            SanDisk  Cruzer           8.02 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[   10.141292] ndiswrapper version 1.56 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
[   10.760179] ndiswrapper: driver wg311v3 (NETGEAR,02/22/2005,3.1.1.7) loaded
[   10.760299] ndiswrapper 0000:07:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 21 (level, low) -> IRQ 21
[   10.760600] ndiswrapper: using IRQ 21
[   11.020457] wlan0: ethernet device 00:14:6c:76:86:d1 using NDIS driver: wg311v3, version: 0x3000036, NDIS version: 0x501, vendor: 'NDIS Network Adapter', 11AB:1FAA.5.conf
[   11.020468] wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
[   11.020516] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
[   13.581501] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   27.528674] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[   38.272015] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
orry@ubuntu:~$

dmesg | tail - 20

orry@ubuntu:~$ dmesg |tail -20
[   11.447917] type=1400 audit(1300782436.394:6): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" name="/sbin/dhclient3" pid=1015 comm="apparmor_parser"
[   11.448398] type=1400 audit(1300782436.398:7): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" name="/usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-client.action" pid=1015 comm="apparmor_parser"
[   11.448742] type=1400 audit(1300782436.398:8): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_replace" name="/usr/lib/connman/scripts/dhclient-script" pid=1015 comm="apparmor_parser"
[   11.451279] type=1400 audit(1300782436.398:9): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" name="/usr/bin/evince" pid=1023 comm="apparmor_parser"
[   11.458574] type=1400 audit(1300782436.406:10): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" name="/usr/bin/evince-previewer" pid=1023 comm="apparmor_parser"
[   11.465169] type=1400 audit(1300782436.414:11): apparmor="STATUS" operation="profile_load" name="/usr/bin/evince-thumbnailer" pid=1023 comm="apparmor_parser"
[   11.735902] EXT4-fs (loop0): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,commit=0
[   11.764656] e1000e 0000:00:19.0: irq 46 for MSI/MSI-X
[   11.820537] e1000e 0000:00:19.0: irq 46 for MSI/MSI-X
[   11.820714] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
[   12.017786] [drm] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: Allocating FIFO number 2
[   12.020597] [drm] nouveau 0000:01:00.0: nouveau_channel_alloc: initialised FIFO 2
[   13.581501] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   13.842310] EXT4-fs (loop0): re-mounted. Opts: errors=remount-ro,commit=0
[   20.812467] ISO 9660 Extensions: Microsoft Joliet Level 3
[   20.819463] ISOFS: changing to secondary root
[   27.528674] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
[   38.272015] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[  107.929061] show_signal_msg: 9 callbacks suppressed
[  107.929065] nautilus[1725]: segfault at 34 ip 010996b1 sp b334ad58 error 4 in libc-2.12.1.so[f90000+157000]
orry@ubuntu:~$

ndiswrapper -l

orry@ubuntu:~$ ndiswrapper -l
wg311v3 : driver installed
	device (11AB:1FAA) present
orry@ubuntu:~$

grep -ie wlan -ie ndis /var/log/syslog gave me a few screenfulls of text (more than what the terminal could hold). I looked through it and one line stood out:

Mar 22 10:42:14 ubuntu NetworkManager[1063]: <error> [1300783334.733242] [nm-device-wifi.c:3095] real_update_permanent_hw_address(): (wlan0): unable to read permanent MAC address (error 0)

[orrymr]

I'm being an idiot. When something says "FATAL" it should probably grab my attention immediately. Anyway, when I boot the I get the following error:
modprobe: FATAL: could not load /lib/modules/2.6.35-22-generic/modules.dep: no such file or directory.
It prints this out twice. I tried going into /etc/initramfs-tools/initramfs.conf and changing the line Modules = most to Modules = dep, as suggested elsewhere. This didn't help, so I changed it back. My system seems to be in some trouble here, although I'm not sure why - I haven't actually done anything with Ubuntu, aside from installing it and using ndiswrapper for my wireless card...

[orrymr]

(Sorry for flooding this thread!!!)
I just reinstalled Ubuntu, 32bit this time. I installed the relevant version of ndiswrapper as well as the relevant version of my wg311v3 card's driver. This got rid of that FATAL error. However, I still cannot connect to the net, despite the fact that my card is picking up my home network (at least I know the card is working with Ubuntu).


grep -ie wlan -ie ndis /var/log/syslog returns (among many other earlier entries)

Mar 22 17:30:00 ubuntu dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 9
Mar 22 17:30:00 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: completed -> disconnected
Mar 22 17:30:00 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: disconnected -> associated
Mar 22 17:30:00 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: associated -> 4-way handshake
Mar 22 17:30:00 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: 4-way handshake -> group handshake
Mar 22 17:30:00 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> (wlan0): supplicant connection state: group handshake -> completed
Mar 22 17:30:09 ubuntu dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11
Mar 22 17:30:20 ubuntu dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 14
Mar 22 17:30:34 ubuntu dhclient: DHCPDISCOVER on wlan0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 19
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <warn> (wlan0): DHCPv4 request timed out.
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> (wlan0): canceled DHCP transaction, DHCP client pid 1723
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IP4 Configure Timeout) scheduled...
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IP4 Configure Timeout) started...
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 7 -> 9 (reason 5)
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <warn> Activation (wlan0) failed for access point (NETGEAR)
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <warn> Activation (wlan0) failed.
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> Activation (wlan0) Stage 4 of 5 (IP4 Configure Timeout) complete.
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> (wlan0): device state change: 9 -> 3 (reason 0)
Mar 22 17:30:38 ubuntu NetworkManager[987]: <info> (wlan0): deactivating device (reason: 0).

[orrymr]

Found a fix (thanks to the user colio). I used the Windows XP driver instead of the Windows 2k one (which I'd been using unsuccessfuly all along), and all is well. The signal strength isn't the strongest, but I'll try experimenting with other drivers (ME and 98) and see what happens.

[pytheas22]

orrymr: great to hear you're sorted out. Sorry I didn't get a chance to respond sooner. Different versions of the Windows driver often turn out to do the trick, and I'm glad it worked for you. Have fun with Ubuntu

Also, FYI, it looks (from some quick googling) like your card has a Marvell chipset, and I believe there's a native driver available for that chipset in general. I'm not sure if your particular model is supported, or how well, but if you have some time that might be worth looking into. In most cases native drivers give better performance than ndiswrapper.

[orrymr]

Couldn't find a native driver. Unfortunately the connection is very temperamental; I struggle to connect, although usually once I'm connected it stays connected. I actually haven't managed to connect once today via ubuntu (I'm currently booted up using Windows 7).

[iDrago]

I get this error

FATAL: Could not read '/lib/modules/2.6.35-22-generic/kernel/ubuntu/ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper.ko': No such file or directory

when I execute this command

sudo modprobe ndiswrapper

[pytheas22]

orrymr: the native driver that should possibly drive your card is "libertas," available here. I have no idea whether it supports your particular device, but it supports some chips in your device's family. (You should be able to figure out more of the details with research; unfortunately I'm not very familiar myself with the Libertas scene and don't have time to do much googling at the moment.)

If you can't get the native driver to work, my other recommendation would be to keep trying different versions of the Windows driver--try version 1.0 instead of 2.0, for example, and try the drivers for all the different flavors of Windows (98, ME, 2000, XP...) that you can find. If you get lucky you'll find one that works. In general (but only in general), older Windows drivers tend to work better with ndiswrapper, in my experience.

You could also try compiling ndiswrapper from source to see if it makes a difference. See below for instructions on that.

iDrago: that's a really strange error, but the same one that orrymr was getting, which suggests that it's not just something particular to his or her situation.

I am not sure why you have this problem, but you should be able to solve it by compiling the ndiswrapper module from source. To do that, first go here, click the "Attached File" link, then click the "Download" link. Save the download to your desktop. This is a patch that you need to make ndiswrapper compile properly on Ubuntu 10.10.

Next, run these commands (you will need an Internet connection available for these to work; if that is impossible, let me know):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential patch
cd ~/Desktop
wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/ndiswrapper/files/stable/1.56/ndiswrapper-1.56.tar.gz/download
tar -xzvf download
cd ndiswrapper*
patch -p0 < ndiswrapper-2.6.35.patch 
make
sudo make install

If you receive any error messages, please post all of the output from the commands above. Otherwise, you should now be able to insert the ndiswrapper module by typing:

sudo modprobe ndiswrapper

If that command still produces are error, please post the output of:

sudo updatedb
locate ndiswrapper.ko
uname -a