Linux Lite Forums
Hardware - Support => Network => Topic started by: Miker107 on May 30, 2014, 02:05:00 PM
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Good afternoon linux guru's,
I'm a brand new 2 week old babe to linux, so i need some guidance please. About 2 weeks ago I installed Mint 16 cinnamon on an old Dell Dimension-8300 I had laying around the house that had XP on it. I was experiencing some hang ups and freezes with that system so after doing a little research and decided to give linux lite a try. I love this OS to death and will keep it, but I'm having trouble configuring my wireless USB adapter. I managed to get it working on Mint 16 after some trial and error, but I can't seem to get it to work in LL.
I installed ndiswapper through synaptic (think that's what its called) and was able to get the driver installed, but I'm getting Fatal, module not found error after install, and I can't seem to get it configured to even view wireless networks available to select my router. All this worked just fine in Mint, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.
The wireless adapter I'm using is a Netgear N600, model WMDA3100v2. Any help would be appreciated.
Mike
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Welcome Mike, this could turn out to be a good coincidence, I battled with this module for days before getting it to work.
Try this link here from one of my github accounts - https://github.com/valtam/netgear_wnda4100_ubuntu
It looks like module is the same. Start at the second line of those instructions.
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Thanks Valtam, I will check that link out as soon as I get home from work this afternoon. I would like to get this resolved so I can keep this wonderful OS going. Out of all the distro's I've tried in the last couple of weeks, including Ubuntu and mint, LL is my favorite. Thanks for the help and I'll be back.
OK, so I checked out that link real quick. So you are saying I should start by inserting the line "sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential" into the terminal and go from there correct? I'm obviously new to all this so I just want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly.
Oh, by the way, do I even need ndiswrapper at all for this? I did a complete uninstall of it last night, thinking I will start with a fresh install if needed.
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So you are saying I should start by inserting the line "sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential" into the terminal and go from there correct? I'm obviously new to all this so I just want to make sure I'm understanding you correctly.
Yes, that is correct. Make the first line: sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential git
I missed out the git part since it is not shipped with Linux Lite.
Oh, by the way, do I even need ndiswrapper at all for this? I did a complete uninstall of it last night, thinking I will start with a fresh install if needed.
You won't need ndiswrapper, just the instructions in the link. There is no guarantee this will work, I noticed that the module had the same name, so thought it would be worth a shot. Cheers.
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OK, just tried it and rebooted several times, but still nothing. Now I notice that you are using a WNDA4100 where as I'm using a 3100, and I was also using a Broadcom driver as well. Maybe it's a driver compatibility issue here.
I don't know what else to try. I tried reinstalling ndiswrapper and installing the broadcom driver again to no avail. I still get the message "Module could not be loaded. Error was: FATAL: Module ndiswrapper not found. Is the ndiswrapper module installed?
Well, I hate to do it, but I'm currently installing Elementary over linux lite to see if I can get that to work. That was my next choice, if it doesn't work I'll probably put LL back on and keep it hard wired.
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Miker107,
I've got no experience with using ndiswrapper myself, but found this link that might help you: http://faq.apollo3.com/ljames/ubuntu/networksupport/ (http://faq.apollo3.com/ljames/ubuntu/networksupport/).
The link says person used WINE to get at the drivers. I also have zero experience with WINE, so can't help with that either. My thought is that if you have a Windows computer handy, maybe you can run the setup it talks about on that instead of installing WINE to Linux. Then, just copy the file you need from there to a USB stick and transfer it to LL. Then continue on with instructions. But, I'm only guessing that you can do that -- I have zero experience with any of this.
Maybe someone else with experience can look at procedure and offer more pointers.
If all else fails, you could get a different USB wifi stick that does work. Here are a few of models that should work fine:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166056 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166056)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166068 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166068)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166055 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166055)
You can check out other models on the site, click the customer reviews tab, then filter results for keyword "linux" to see what people say about them. You can use this info to buy one wherever you want -- not trying to push Newegg. I have used similar models of brand I pointed out in links above and had no problems with them. (I think mine are older models of the second link.)
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Hey gold finger, thanks for the info my friend. I'll have to get back on this tomorrow morning, getting tired now. I had just installed elementary over LL and updated the Nvidia driver. When I tried to reboot it booted to a text screen. Now I can't get to elementary's desktop. ;D I found out that it's due to 2 Nvidia drivers installed over one another or some such thing. Now I need to start over.
I have several computers here, 2 laptops with windows 7, and a brand new all in one with windows 8.1 on it. I just wanted to keep this old desktop I had because it's still in good shape, so decided to try linux on it. Mint worked pretty well, and I got the wireless usb to work on it. I sure like LL though, so I might try a fresh install of it in the am. I hate to give up on it. I would like to set it up in my home theater connected to my big screen tv so the kids can play some games on it, and maybe do a bit of video editing. I'll get back on this in the am.
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Hi Miker107. What version of LL are you using? If you have the time/desire maybe give the LL 2.0 beta a try? Here's a link to all the info, system requirements, and download links.
https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/index.php?topic=343.0
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Good morning Scott, I'm currently in the process of installing the very latest version I downloaded from the LL site:
Linux Lite 1.0.8 'Amethyst' 32bit - 16th January, 2014
32bit_linux_lite
FILENAME:linux-lite-1.0.8-32bit.iso
I'm installing from a usb stick. I will give ndiswrapper one more shot using the instructions from the link in gold finger's post. I'll see if that works then jump over to 2.0 beta if it doesn't work.
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OK, so I've tried various distributions over the last couple of weeks and can't seem to get things going. I've just downloaded LL 2.0 and will give it a shot this evening when I get home. Haven't given up yet. I had installed crunchbang to give it a try, and although I liked it very much, just couldn't get it connected either. Played around with Elementary os, but I prefer to be able to scroll through a menu being a windows guy. Anyway, I'll give LL another shot, but may end up going back to mint if it doesn't work with my wireless, or bring this usb adapter back to best buy and try another one.
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Just did quick look at Best Buys website. If store has this one in stock, it should work in Linux without issue from what I've read: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-ieee-802-11n-usb-wi-fi-adapter/2432682.p (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-ieee-802-11n-usb-wi-fi-adapter/2432682.p).
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Just did quick look at Best Buys website. If store has this one in stock, it should work in Linux without issue from what I've read: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-ieee-802-11n-usb-wi-fi-adapter/2432682.p (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-ieee-802-11n-usb-wi-fi-adapter/2432682.p).
Thanks gold finger, you've been most helpful to me my friend. I will check that out for sure. I'm currently writing this from the Linux Lite 2.0 DVD image I just burned. It works beautifully on my HP Envy laptop (from the DVD image). This new version is gorgeous, very nice work guys. I'm getting ready to run over and install this on my old Dell. If I can't get it to work I'll run over to Best Buy and trade this wireless adapter in for another. It's a shame because it worked so well with Mint, good signal strength. Anyway, I'll keep you informed. Signing off now. ire
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So, I have a fresh install of LL 2.0, connected via Ethernet and ran post updates. i also installed the Broadcom packages from synaptic, but now I don't know how to use the installer to get drivers. LOL
I have the driver files that I used to get this thing working in Mint, but I had used ndiswrapper for this. Is there a procedure that I can use in terminal to get the driver installed? Total newb here. lol
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Hello!
Looking briefly on the Web, it would seem that the WMDA3100 uses the wl driver. However, the procedure *I* saw was written four years ago. A lot has changed for the better in the world of Ubuntu since then.
These days, ndiswrapper should only be used as an absolute last resort. Besides, the Broadcom drivers are now quite well supported in Ubuntu.
Try removing any previous Broadcom drivers you may have installed before now, as trying to use more than one at a time will DEFINITELY cause problems for you!
In a terminal window, try this:
sudo apt-get remove firmware-b43-installer firmware-b43legacy-installer bcmwl-kernel-source
And then this:
sudo apt-get install linux-firmware-nonfree bcmwl-kernel-source
Reboot, and your adapter should now be recognized. If not, we'll get some specifics about exactly what chipset your wireless dongle is using, and go from there...
73 DE N4RPS
Rob
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Thank you Rob for your assistance. I tried your suggestion this morning real quick just before I left for work, however upon reboot nothing has changed. It is a fresh install so I haven't installed the driver yet, just the broadcom package (b43 installer and all that stuff) from the synaptic software manager. If we can't get it to work in the next day or 2 I will return this adapter and replace it with something that will hopefully work. I see from searching around that a lot of people are having trouble with bcm4323. As I say, it's strange that I got it working in linux mint. Don't ask me how, i just got it working with ndiswrapper. But last few distros I've tried hasn't worked with ndiswrapper and I keep getting the module not found error message when I try to use it, that's why I'm trying to keep from using it.
lsusb command comes up with:
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0846:9011 NetGear, Inc. WNDA3100v2 802.11abgn [Broadcom BCM4323]
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I have both WNDA3100 and a WNDA4100, the WNDA4100 only needs new kernel to work correctly I think it was kernel 3.12 or 3.13 and should work out of the box, the WNDA3100 you need to use the wrapper in linux with the windows XP driver .ini file for WNDA3100 making sure you use the correct architecture e.g 32bit or 64bit drivers needs to be the same on your linux system, There is also a firmware and driver called "ar9170" but has since been merged with "carl9170" if you decide the wrapper isn't working for you then take a look here http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/carl9170 the driver already comes with linux kernel 2.6 and higher, but you will need to install the carl9170 firmware to get your device working
//Edit
I just realized you are using version 2 of the device, this means wrapper is your only solution, here is the drivers you need http://av3ngr.wikispaces.com/file/view/0846_9011.tar.gz install the one corresponding to the architecture of your linux system eg. 32bit or 64bit
here is a tutorial for ndiswrapper incase you have problems, use this tutorial with the drivers in the link above and you should be good to go.
P.s
If you get it working to that stage and see your network but can not connect you need to change the WPA2 login encryption on your router to something else e.g WPA, I noticed on my WNDA3100 I needed to do this to get it working on my router
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Hello!
From what I've seen, the BCM4323 is, indeed, a 'strange animal' - one that requires ndiswrapper to work. It's a pretty safe bet that you will have to uninstall any other Broadcom drivers you may have installed first, before using ndiswrapper to install the windows driver for this dongle.
Thanks to all of you for your input!
73 DE N4RPS
Rob
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I have both WNDA3100 and a WNDA4100, the WNDA4100 only needs new kernel to work correctly I think it was kernel 3.12 or 3.13 and should work out of the box, the WNDA3100 you need to use the wrapper in linux with the windows XP driver .ini file for WNDA3100 making sure you use the correct architecture e.g 32bit or 64bit drivers needs to be the same on your linux system, There is also a firmware and driver called "ar9170" but has since been merged with "carl9170" if you decide the wrapper isn't working for you then take a look here http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/carl9170 the driver already comes with linux kernel 2.6 and higher, but you will need to install the carl9170 firmware to get your device working
//Edit
I just realized you are using version 2 of the device, this means wrapper is your only solution, here is the drivers you need http://av3ngr.wikispaces.com/file/view/0846_9011.tar.gz install the one corresponding to the architecture of your linux system eg. 32bit or 64bit
here is a tutorial for ndiswrapper incase you have problems, use this tutorial with the drivers in the link above and you should be good to go.
P.s
If you get it working to that stage and see your network but can not connect you need to change the WPA2 login encryption on your router to something else e.g WPA, I noticed on my WNDA3100 I needed to do this to get it working on my router
Departure, thank you my friend, and to all of you who contributed to this thank you all, I'm currently on line using my wireless connection. I installed ndiswrapper using the terminal with the command "sudo apt-get install ndisgtk" and proceeded to install the drivers with the ndiswrapper tool and it finally worked. Now I can begin to use and learn this wonderful OS. Thanks again everyone.
Mike
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Hello!
I'm glad you finally got it to work for you. If you could describe what you had to do in detail, it could perhaps help the next person who comes along with a similar issue...
73 DE N4RPS
Rob
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Hello!
I'm glad you finally got it to work for you. If you could describe what you had to do in detail, it could perhaps help the next person who comes along with a similar issue...
73 DE N4RPS
Rob
Excellent Rob, you are so right, I'm at work now, but when I get home this afternoon I will come back in to this post and give that information. I'll be back later today.
Ok guys I'm back, so here it is in a nutshell, I'll try to be concise here. It was very quick and only took a couple of minutes, so here are the steps I took:
1. Downloaded the drivers from the link provided by Departure in his post above (Thanks again Departure). Here is the link again just in case: http://av3ngr.wikispaces.com/file/view/0846_9011.tar.gz I left them in my downloads folder by default, I was too much in a rush to create one in my home folder. Impatient I guess.
2. Open the terminal and type the following command, then hit enter to install the ndiswrapper package: sudo apt-get install ndisgtk This will install everything needed for ndiswrapper to run.
3. Open ndiswrapper by clicking on Menu/System/Windows Wireless Drivers. This will open the tool that will install the driver. Click on the "Install New Driver" tab and browse to your folder where the driver is located. Select the 32bit or 64bit driver depending upon your system architecture, and click on the "Install" tab. This took only a second or two, it was installed quickly without any problems.
4. At this point, although the driver was installed, my device was not plugged in yet, so the status in the window read, Hardware present: No. So I plugged it in once and I noticed the yellow indicator light on my adapter didn't come on, so I removed it and plugged it in a second time. Not only did the light come on, I noticed my wired connection symbol on the panel in the bottom right corner suddenly change from a wired symbol to wireless symbol. I clicked on it and there were my list of networks to choose from.
5. I selected my router from the list, typed in the password to my router and there you have it, connection established.
That was it, worked like a charm, hope this helps someone.
Mike
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Although connection has been established, I have been experiencing problems with this adapter. After a few minutes of being online, I will suddenly lose connectivity, even though the status shows connected, and the bars show I'm receiving signal, I still can't access the web. I will be returning this adapter and replacing it with another.
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Hello!
When you get a replacement dongle, you may want to do some checking online first to find out which ones work the best with Linux.
You may also want to install LinSSID. This will give you a picture of the wireless environment around you, which will also allow you to pick the channel to use with your wireless router that will work the best for you...
73 DE N4RPS
Rob
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Hey Rob, I tried a little experiment yesterday afternoon and it seems as though when I have a few tabs open, or streaming a YouTube video for a few minutes, that's when it cuts out. I wonder if there is an adjustment I need to make somewhere. I will follow your advise. Thanks again.
Mike
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Try opening up a terminal and typing in:
sudo su
echo ndiswrapper >> /etc/modules
exit
Reboot you computer.
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I returned the USB adapter to the store yesterday. I'm thinking of picking this up instead:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sabrent-pci-802n-wireless-802-11n-b-g-pci-network-card-300mbps-64-128bit-wep-wpa-encryption-pc-mac-linux/5790207.p?id=1219158034926&skuId=5790207&st=categoryid$pcmcat252800050013&cp=1&lp=3
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What about the Belkin N300 micro? Works great and is capable of WPA2 security. Unless your running short on USB ports.
Mine connects up with every distro I have tried. No extra effort involved, it just works.
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What about the Belkin N300 micro? Works great and is capable of WPA2 security. Unless your running short on USB ports.
Mine connects up with every distro I have tried. No extra effort involved, it just works.
I might try a usb device again. I've just had such bad luck with the first 2 I tried I had all but swore off on them. I haven't tried Belkin yet so I may give that a shot. I'm trying to get something from my local store, I wonder if this Belkin N300 would work? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/belkin-n300-wireless-n-usb-adapter/2089219.p?id=1218308705040&skuId=2089219&st=categoryid$abcat0503007&cp=1&lp=5
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It should. I like the micro version because it's less obtrusive. I got mine at Staples but I know BestBuy has them as well.
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Hello!
Scratch what I said about LinSSID. Something Canonical did to the 14.04 kernel has broken it...
73 DE N4RPS
Rob
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OK, thanks Rob. Still have not made a decision on an adapter yet. Still in research mode, but I'll report back here if I try something that actually works.