FatDog64-621 vs WG311v3 by NETGEAR. NDIS Wrapper FAIL

Message

H4LF82 · #1 Post by **H4LF82** » Tue 04 Jun 2013, 20:44

At smokey01's recommendation, I have downloaded and burned FatDog64-621. It loads relatively quickly and seems very intuitive. Within a few minutes, I have discovered the control panel and fount the networking setup options, which all seems very familiar. When prompted to load a module (only eth0 is detected and no module is loaded for it, but nevermind that--I want wireless), I click to load a module for the undetected card and use the NDIS Wrapper to "wrap" the windows XP Driver .INF

and this is where things go pear shaped.

I am presented with a tiny dialog box containing no dialog, and only an OK button. nothing else. I clik "OK" which is my only option and I am again presented with the "load modules" page showing eth0. If I try again to load the INF, this process repeats itself.

I remove FatDog, insert Lucid 5.2.8, and the NDIS procedure (at least once presented with the "Load module" page showing eth0 by default) is essentially identical, only instead of the tiny box with "OK" solely as its contents, the NDIS wrapper on Lucid reports that a new device has been detected and I can then connect to the internet unencumbered.

With FatDog64, I am stuck like chuck.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Cheers!

H4LF82 · #2 Post by **H4LF82** » Wed 05 Jun 2013, 00:08

I have burned another FatDog64 disk...

2 of them actually from the source suggested by smokey01 in my other thread.

Same same. Nothing has changed. its obviously not my copy of fatdog--

Keef · #3 Post by **Keef** » Thu 06 Jun 2013, 10:12

Just a wild guess, but it has been known for the ndiswrapper module to be left out of some derivatives, at least until someone points it out. I don't use Fatdog64 (got nothing it would run on) so can't check.
Try

Code: Select all

modprobe ndiswrapper

and see if it tells you anything.

H4LF82 · #4 Post by **H4LF82** » Thu 06 Jun 2013, 17:24

Yeah it does actually. it says..

FATAL: ndiswrapper not found

SO I guess I am the guy pointing it out this time round, eh?

nice!

what can I do about that Keef?

Keef · #5 Post by **Keef** » Thu 06 Jun 2013, 17:34

Well sometimes I surprise myself and make an accurate guess...
The thing to do is to post on the FatDog thread (under Puppy Projects). It will get noticed there. Then hopefully someone will compile it for you. If you want to try yourself, you will need the dexv sfs and the kernel headers, as well as ndiswrapper source. I've managed it myself before (used to use a similar Netgear USB dongle), but as I said, can't run 64bit on any available PCs to do it for FatDog.
Of course, there may be some valid reason why it is not in FatDog, but lets hope it was just overlooked...

H4LF82 · #6 Post by **H4LF82** » Thu 06 Jun 2013, 17:41

thank you Keef!

I may or may not be keeping this fatdog...the jury is still out. if I end up keeping it, I will need the NDIS wrapper, but if I do not, .....

...well then I suppose i am leaving a big hole in fatdog for some other poor schmo like myself to find at their own peril, arent I?

that probably is not the kind of thing a good, responsible forum member would do, huh?

alright then, I guess I am off to repost in another section of the forum...

thanks again!

Cheers!

jamesbond · #7 Post by **jamesbond** » Fri 07 Jun 2013, 08:06

Ndiswrapper isn't included in Fatdog64 because:
1. 64-bit ndiswrapper require 64-bit Windows driver (it doesn't work with 32-bit windows driver).
2. 64-bit Windows drivers were rare when Fatdog64 was first started.
3. Linux support for network and wireless has much improved in recent years, most of the cards are natively supported, even if it still requires proprietary driver like some of broadcom cards.

You are the first one to point it because you are the first one who needs that

If you are still interested to explore Fatdog then I'm happy to build one for you, otherwise let's not waste both my and your time.

smokey01 · #8 Post by **smokey01** » Fri 07 Jun 2013, 12:24

H4LF82, I have attached an ndiswrapper PET for FD621.

Get the driver here:
https://sites.google.com/site/subtlegem ... edirects=0

See if it works.

drongo · #9 Post by **drongo** » Fri 07 Jun 2013, 15:55

I thought ndiswrapper didn't work with Windows 7 and Windows Vista drivers as they use a different format to previous (XP) drivers?

I also thought 64 bit machines were fairly rare before Vista appeared.

So ndiswrapper would only be useful for really old wireless chipsets on 64 bit machines, assuming you had XP drivers.

Or have I got this wrong?

I do apologise, I missed the bit where you said you had an XP driver.

Must learn to read before posting!

As you were.

H4LF82 · #10 Post by **H4LF82** » Fri 07 Jun 2013, 18:33

smokey01 you are awesome! Thank you this will be very helpful

and necessary if I am to get FatDog set up properly. Drivers can be so touchy...

I will give this a shot and report back on my results. thank you again:D!

Cheers! Nice one!

smokey01 · #11 Post by **smokey01** » Fri 07 Jun 2013, 20:32

drongo, the link to the driver I provided is 64 bit not 32. I don't have the same wifi adapter as H4LF82 so I can't test it.

I'm interested to see if it works. Compiling ndiswrapper for Fatdog was straight forward.

Cheers

H4LF82 · #12 Post by **H4LF82** » Sat 08 Jun 2013, 03:21

smokey01, maybe I did it wrong (I do not believe I did--I have used ndis wrapper many times in the past) but it still does the very same thing.

I load the (new 64bit thank you!) INF driver and i get the same, unhelpful little box which tells me nothing as before. The operation is identical even after installing the .pet

thank you again for the attention paid! Perhaps I am doing it wrong?

Tell me what to do differently and I will do it!

Cheers!

smokey01 · #13 Post by **smokey01** » Sat 08 Jun 2013, 04:17

I'm no expert with ndiswrapper, in fact I have never needed to use it so compared to me you're probably an expert.

My understanding is, once you've installed the Pet and extracted the wifi driver, open a terminal window and type ndiswrapper -i /path/to/infile.inf and the driver should load.

Is this what you did?

OK, I just tested it. After installing the ndiswrapper.pet I extracted the driver files to the /root directory. I then entered the directory where the driver files were extracted. In that same directory I typed:
ndiswrapper -i WG311v3.INF
It appeared to install ok. When I type it a second time I got:

ndiswrapper -i WG311v3.INF
driver wg311v3 is already installed

I assume you know UPPER and lower case is different in Linux.

Unfortunately I can't test any further as I do not have the same adapter as you.

H4LF82 · #14 Post by **H4LF82** » Sat 08 Jun 2013, 04:34

No sir, that is NOT what I did.

I right clicked on the swirly looking B&W networking icon on the taskbar by the clock and I used the networking wizard with the X-dialog-ish prompts.

I shall now try typing ndiswrapper -i /path/to/infile.inf in the command line!

Thank you very much! I will be back shortly with an answer

Cheers!

smokey01 · #15 Post by **smokey01** » Sat 08 Jun 2013, 04:39

The swirly bit comes after the driver is installed.

H4LF82 · #16 Post by **H4LF82** » Sat 08 Jun 2013, 05:08

Is it not swirly?...i really cannot see and am switching back and forth across the vast expanses of the house between 2 different computers--one runs Lucid on a hard LAN wire and the other runs Fatdog wirelessly-someday on the other side of the house.

For reference I was of course referring to memory since I cannot post on this forum without being online. I did as you suggested and typed ndiswrapper -i /root/path/to/WG311v3.INF and I get the following error message.

sh: /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper: /usr/bin/perl: bad interpreter
no such file or directory

...which I found odd since I know I had just installed the ndiswrapper.

So i typed

sh# ndiswrapper -h

and then

sh# ndiswrapper --help

and each time I got the same message...

sh: /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper: /usr/bin/perl: bad interpreter
no such file or directory

I am guessing that I also need perl now too, huh?

smokey01 · #17 Post by **smokey01** » Sat 08 Jun 2013, 05:14

Ah, yes. I always have the Devx loaded which contains Perl.

Download: http://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/fatd ... vx_620.sfs

Load it with System SFS Loader which can be found under Control Panel then the system tab.

H4LF82 · #18 Post by **H4LF82** » Sat 08 Jun 2013, 05:19

and to answer your question, YES SIR I DO understand the difference between wg311v3 and WG311v3 in LINUX. I may have typed it wrong, but if I did, I am more likely to have typed QF2``c2 than I am to have mistakenly substituted wg311v3 for WG311v3.

I have already learned THAT lesson, and how!

I will do as you say. bear with me...i must write it all down then make the trip across the desert of the real...wish me luck!

And thanks again smokey01. again again again. You used to be (or still are) a firefighter, aren't you?

smokey01 · #19 Post by **smokey01** » Sat 08 Jun 2013, 05:24

Haven't been a firefighter for 20 years but I was for 25 years before that. It was a memorable part of my life.

I don't think you will need the kernel sources but if you do, you can get them here:
http://ftp.nluug.nl/os/Linux/distr/fatd ... -3.8.7.sfs

H4LF82 · #20 Post by **H4LF82** » Sat 08 Jun 2013, 05:43

perhaps that is what I am missing eh? Kernel source? Let me try that--still not having tons of luck.

BRB!

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

FatDog64-621 vs WG311v3 by NETGEAR. NDIS Wrapper FAIL

FatDog64-621 vs WG311v3 by NETGEAR. NDIS Wrapper FAIL

ndiswrapper