trying to install Netgear usb wireless adapter

[mervbit]

I need help installing a usb wireless adapter onto a Natty system.

Details:
Wireless device is a Netgear WNA1000M-100ENS new from box with mini-CD that contains windows drivers
Computer: HP Compaq dc7600 (minitower) that is connected to internet through cable until I get the wireless working.

Environment: Natty Narwhal (11.04) (completely updated) on one partition, and Windows XP on another partition. USB device is installed and working great on the Windows partition. Now I just need to get it working on Natty.

What I've done so far... Installed ndisgtk in Natty to use as a windows driver "wrapper". But the thread that led me to do this gives command examples that require a windows driver file of the "*.inf" type. I can't find any .inf files in my working windows directory. They are all *.exe or dll files. Can anybody help me with the next step? As far as the linux command line goes, I'm a newbie. Thanks in advance for any help.

[chili555]

I'm glad you didn't find the .inf files; we probably don't need them. Please open a terminal and run and post:

lsusb

If you find out that the usb.id is like this:

ID 0846:9040 NetGear, Inc.

Then your device is driven by the built-in driver ar9170usb AND carl9170. We will need to blacklist one and load the other and see which one does the job. Both require firmware. Back in the terminal and with the ethernet connected, please do:

sudo apt-get install linux-firmware

Finally, it could be that both drivers are loaded already and conflicting; let's check:

lsmod | grep 917

Thanks.

[mervbit]

Below are the dumps for the first two commands you suggested. It looks like the two built-in drivers you anticipated are there.
If I have conflicting drivers, I'll need help knowing how to 'black-list' one of them.

The last one, lsmod..., didn't give any text output back to terminal.

As always--thanks for your patience.


mmc@mmc-HP-Compaq-dc7600-Convertible-Minitower:~$ lsusb
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 093a:2510 Pixart Imaging, Inc. Optical Mouse
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0846:9041 NetGear, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
mmc@mmc-HP-Compaq-dc7600-Convertible-Minitower:~$ sudo apt-get install linux-firmware[sudo] password for mmc:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
linux-firmware is already the newest version.
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libkcmutils4 qapt-batch libclucene0ldbl kubuntu-debug-installer libqca2 libqt4-opengl libqt4-declarative libilmbase6
libkjsembed4 oxygen-icon-theme kdebase-runtime libqt4-sql-mysql libqt4-dbus libkemoticons4 libkdecore5 phonon
libkidletime4 libqtwebkit4 docbook-xsl shared-desktop-ontologies mysql-common odbcinst libntrack-qt4-1
libkatepartinterfaces4 libsolid4 virtuoso-minimal libnepomuk4 appmenu-qt libkdewebkit5 libqt4-xmlpatterns libsoprano4
libpolkit-qt-1-1 libkdnssd4 libkparts4 plasma-scriptengine-declarative libqapt1 kdelibs5-data kdoctools libvirtodbc0
libdbusmenu-qt2 odbcinst1debian2 libqtcore4 libgif4 libopenexr6 icoutils libthreadweaver4 libnepomukutils4
libkmediaplayer4 libntrack0 libqt4-sql libkfile4 libknewstuff3-4 libqapt-runtime libqt4-svg phonon-backend-gstreamer
libkpty4 libstreamanalyzer0 libphonon4 libqt4-xml libknotifyconfig4 libkntlm4 libplasma3 libqt4-network libmysqlclient16
kdelibs-bin libqtgui4 libktexteditor4 libattica0 libkio5 libkjsapi4 libstreams0 virtuoso-opensource-6.1-common
libqt4-script plasma-scriptengine-javascript libssh-4 libaudio2 soprano-daemon kdebase-runtime-data libreadline5 libiodbc2
libkhtml5 libkdeui5 libkdesu5 kdelibs5-plugins libmng1 virtuoso-opensource-6.1-bin ntrack-module-libnl-0 libkrosscore4
libnepomukquery4a
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

[chili555]

You have:

ID 0846:9041 NetGear, Inc.

I thought it was:

ID 0846:9040 NetGear, Inc.

Hey, I was just off by one! Please run:

modinfo 8192cu | grep 9041

We will see if the correct module is already installed.


----------------

hint to chili: compat-wireless
$ modinfo rtl8192cu | grep 9041
alias: usb:v0846p9041d*dc*dsc*dp*ic*isc*ip*

[mervbit]

Okay, did that with this result.

mmc@mmc-HP-Compaq-dc7600-Convertible-Minitower:~$ modinfo 8192cu | grep 9041
ERROR: modinfo: could not find module 8192cu

[chili555]

Alrighty then. Time to get our inner geek on. Please go here: http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/...ng_the_tarball

Download the file to your desktop. Right-click it and select Extract Here. Now open a terminal and do:

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential
cd Desktop/compat

Press Tab and the remainder will fill in. Press Enter. Now do:

./scripts/driver-select rtlwifi
make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe rtl8192cu

If your wireless doesn't start right up, please post:

ls /lib/firmware/rtlwifi

Thanks.

[mervbit]

It's working! My inner geek is just a smidge brighter now. Thanks Chili555 --you're the best! If I need to go somewhere now to declare this successfully resolved or give you positive feedback, just let me know. I'm new to using this forum and don't want to step on toes.

Thank you.
--Merv

[chili555]

Just before you leave in a haze of euphoria, when Update Manager installs a new kernel version or linux-image as it's known in Ubuntu World, you must rebuild for the later kernel:

cd Desktop/compat

Press Tab and the remainder will fill in. Now do:

./scripts/driver-select restore
./scripts/driver-select rtlwifi
make clean
make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe rtl8192cu

Please use thread tools at the top and Mark Solved.

Glad it's working. Have fun!

[mervbit]

Thanks for the heads-up and parting instructions. I'll keep the extracted files around for that day.

--Merv

[pruitthall]

Chili555,

Those were the best instructions I've seen on *any* Linux forum! Many thanks from all of us using Netgear's little micro adapter. I'm running the latest Mint and applied it. Unlike every other suggestion offered anywhere, yours got my adapter's light to power on. And everything shows it's up and working. But it will *not* connect to my Linksys router for anything. It shows the broadcast SSID, but it refuses to connect for anything!

I know I'm close to getting connection but cannot get the thing to hookup. When it's running in Win7 on this same laptop, no issues. I'd be happy to post all of my LSUSB, etc. and MintWiFi outputs.

You really seem to have an understanding of this stuff....any ideas on this one?

Many thanks in advance.