can't compile madwifi

[jobo1313]

Last week I installed Ubuntu 8.04 on my Sony vaio VGN-NR220E. But the wireless didn't work:cry:. The driver didn't show up. I read that I needed to install madwifi. I downloaded it and tried to compile it. Then a bunch of errors came up saying that it couldn't find the c headers. I tried multiple codes such as:
gksudo aptitude install build-essential
gksudo apt-get install gcc
None of these worked.
HELP!!!!

[zvacet]

sudo aptitude install build-essential

[Pumalite]

Post:
lshw -C network

[jobo1313]

Here it is:
~$ lshw -C network
WARNING: you should run this program as super-user.
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
product: 88E8039 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
vendor: Marvell Technology Group Ltd.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
logical name: eth0
version: 15
serial: 00:1a:80:25:a4:a0
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: bus_master cap_list ethernet physical
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=sky2 driverversion=1.20 firmware=N/A ip=192.168.0.3 latency=0 module=sky2 multicast=yes
*-network UNCLAIMED
description: Ethernet controller
product: AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter
vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:06:00.0
version: 01
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: cap_list
configuration: latency=0




Thanks



PS:
zvacet sudo doesn't work because there is no password so you put gksudo which does the same thing.

[zvacet]

sudo doesn't work because there is no password

How do you login without password?When sudo ask for password use same one you use for login in Ubuntu.

[Pumalite]

Open up all your repos; including partner, updates, proposed, backports, etc
Then sudo apt-get upgrade
Report back

[jobo1313]

How do you login without password?When sudo ask for password use same one you use for login in Ubuntu.

This is for zvacet:
There is noooo password for the root, su, sudo. This is a security measure so someone can't get into it. You just use gksudo in front of the code and there is no need to login or put in a password. Read the ubuntu book dude. I might be a noob, but I'm not stupid.

[jobo1313]

Thanks Pumalite for responding so quick.
I did what you said, it upgraded my ubuntu installation was that what it was suppose to do.
Thanks

[Pumalite]

How is your wireless now?

[zvacet]

So this is outdated


In Linux (and Unix in general), there is a superuser named root. The Windows analog of root is Administrator. The superuser can do anything and everything, and thus doing daily work as the superuser can be dangerous. You could type a command incorrectly and destroy the system. Ideally, you run as a user that has only the privileges needed for the task at hand. In some cases, this is necessarily root, but most of the time it is a regular user.

By default, the root account password is locked in Ubuntu. This means that you cannot login as root directly or use the su command to become the root user, however, since the root account physically exists it is still possible to run programs with root-level privileges. This is where sudo comes in; it allows authorized users (normally "Administrative" users; for further information please refer to AddUsersHowto) to run certain programs as root without having to know the root password.

This means that in the terminal you should use sudo for commands that require root privileges; simply prepend "sudo" to all the commands you would normally run as root. For more extensive usage examples, please see below. Similarly, when you run GUI programs that require root privileges (e.g. the network configuration applet), you will also be prompted for a password. Just remember, when sudo asks for a password, it needs YOUR USER Password, and not the root account password.

[daRealScanMan]

So this is outdated
No, they're both means to an end.

Root Access with sudo and gksudo
ubuntu unlike many distributions does not normally have a user accessible root account. You are supposed to use one of these two commands when you need root access. sudo is for when you are in the terminal and need root access and gksudo is when you are in the GUI and need root access, for example you can press alt+f2 and type "gksudo appname".

[zvacet]

@ daRealScanMan

I know that,but if I understood jobo1313 correctly he is using gksudo in command line without password.I never tried that but if he is right that make me feel less secure.

[jobo1313]

I still can't compile madwifi even though the c headers were upgraded. I don't get how if the atheros driver is detected and can't be installed.

[Pumalite]

I don't know if this might help you:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/196843

[jobo1313]

No man I tried that ndiswrapper I get the same errors can't find c header files. The headers it is looking for don't exist. If there is some website I can get them from it would be great.

[jobo1313]

zvacet someone can't login to the computer with your username and password. If they try sudo, root, su, gksudo, or super user they need a password that does not exist. I'm just saying when logged in I use gksudo and it works. When ever I tried just sudo it gives me an error. Just use what ever works for you.

[zvacet]

When ever I tried just sudo it gives me an error.

What kind of error?Maybe we can help you solve it.

[jobo1313]

The whole sudo thing doesn't matter right now. I found a way to compile and install madwifi but I can't load the module.