Re: Installing a Netgear WG111 v2 USB 2.0 wireless card

From: linuxvinh (linuxvinh_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 02/07/05 

Date: 6 Feb 2005 23:51:37 -0800

Success! (Well, almost since I think I'll need to update my
kernel first to declare a total victory!)

I was using ndiswrapper 0.8, which doesn't have USB support
in the user ndiswrapper program. I modified the script
to work with USB, but was getting "Unknown symbol" errors
when I modprobed the driver.

I'm using ndiswrapper 1.1rc1, which has support for USB
devices! 1.1rc1 is the latest and greatest, which requires
compiling... but it was easy, thankfully!

1. make sure you have these two packages installed in
your system:

kernel-source (these sources need to make the kernel you're
                running)
cvs (a revision control system, needed to get the latest
      ndiswrapper version)

2. Follow the instructions on this page:

http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/phpwiki/index.php/Installation

Basically, it amounts to having the kernel sources and
compiling the latest ndiswrapper.

This grabs the latest and greatest:

cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/ndiswrapper
co ndiswrapper

3. cd into the ndiswrapper directory

4. Build ndiswrapper

(as root)
# make distclean (removes all previously installed versions)
# make (builds ndiswrapper)
# make install (copies the files to the proper places)

5. Use the ndiswrapper user program to install the Netgear WG111v2
driver. (If you don't have the driver yet, download it from
Netgear's site, www.netgear.com.)

# ndiswrapper -i <path to>/netwg111.inf

Check to see if it worked:

# ls /etc/ndiswrapper/netwg111/
. .. 0846:4220.0.conf 0846:4240.0.conf netwg111.inf wg111nd5.sys

# ndiswrapper -l
Installed ndis drivers:
netwg111 driver present, hardware present

6. Load the kernel module

# modprobe ndiswrapper
# dmesg
...
ndiswrapper: unsupported module, tainting kernel.
ndiswrapper version 1.1rc1 loaded (preempt=no,smp=yes)
        ndiswrapper: driver netwg111 (NETGEAR, Inc.,06/04/2004,
3.0.18.201) loaded
wlan0: ndiswrapper ethernet device 00:0f:b5:02:f2:5b using driver
netwg111, configuration file 0846:4240.0.conf
wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP, WPA with TKIP, WPA with
AES/CCMP
usbcore: registered new driver ndiswrapper

The blue light on your Netgear WG111v2 should start blinking.

7. Now you can use commands like iwconfig, iwlist, etc...
    (See the Installation guide webpage listed above, 4. Configure
     interface)

-----

CAVEATS:

When I compiled ndiswrapper, I got the following error:

*** WARNING: Kernel seems to have 4K size stack option
(CONFIG_4KSTACKS) removed; many Windows drivers will need at least 8K
size stacks. You should read wiki about 4K size stack issue. Don't
complain about crashes until you resolve this.

And of course my system crashed after a little while after
the modprobe. :( Looking at the Ndiswrapper FAQ page:

If you are using 2.6 kernels, make sure 4K stacks are not used (i.e.,
disable CONFIG_4KSTACKS). (Q: Is this a cause of system freezes? A: On
the Webpage of the commercial Linuxant Driverloader I found the
information that even with 8kb (=4k off) the system may freeze because
some Windows-Drivers (in particular for the Intel BG 2200) needs 12kb.
On their Webpage they are offering a 12k patch for the 2.6.7-kernel.)
Note that Fedora kernels actually disable this option, so you won't see
it in kernel configuration, so if you are using Fedora kernel, you
should either get the patch from Linuxant or compile a vanilla kernel
without 4K stacks.

My next goal is to resolve this issue... If your kernel doesn't have
this problem, you should be good to go.

Vinh

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