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Mandriva 2006 on an HP SE L2000

M

MangoTBG

Diamond Member
I'm a complete linux noob. I don't mind if you guys just point me in the right direction, but I'm totally lost with how to properly set up my wifi card. I've messed wround with some ndiswrapper but with no luck...I'm not even sure what I'm doing. Anyone wanna help? Thanks!
 
We've had absolute MURDER getting our wifi card to play ball with Mandriva (a Broadcom card) Broadcom won't release info on how to make Linux drivers etc and Nidiswrapping the driver doesn't seem to work for us.
 
Try going to linuxant.com and get the trial version of their wrapper. they also have extensive docs on how to set it up. Very simple.
 
We need the make/model of your WiFi card and/or the name of its chipset. ndiswrapper is a sloppy hack for Linux and you should always use direct Linux drivers if you can find them.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I figured it might take a bit to get a reply...

Alright, so I'm not totally sure which wireless card I have. I THOUGHT I had the broadcom but my recent investigations have let me to believe it may be something else. Let me explain with links.

Purchased from CompUSA a couple months back Their specs say nothing about Broadcom.
Customizing one brings up the SPeedBooster one, nothing about broadcom Link
Again, nothing about broadcom
The only reason why I think it MIGHT be Broadcom is that it is listed under the drivers. The one thing is the version differences, one is 4.0 e one is 4.0 c. No clue how to tell which one is mine. I remember installing the broadcom driver in xp before, though. Dunno if it worked or not...figure it did.

Also, I came across this in my previous searches (hopefully these links prove I've done some searching on my own before asking here 🙂 )

Wireless

To get wireless working, you need to do a few things:

1. Install ndiswrapper and its kernel module. You can do it with "yum install ndiswrapper kernel-module-ndiswrapper". When you update the kernel, you will need to do something like "yum install kernel-module-ndiswrapper-2.6.12-1.1447_FC4" with your kernel version there.
2. Download the windows XP64 driver from here, or try to find other drivers here. My card number is 14e4:4318. "lspci -n" will help you.
3. Extract the files and run "/usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf". If "/usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -l" outputs "bcmwl5 driver present, hardware present", you are good to do "/usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -m".
4. Edit the file /etc/ndiswrapper/bcmwl5/14E4:4318.5.conf to set EnableAutoConnect|1 and RadioState|1 (maybe just one of these two is enough). My file is here.
5. Restart your computer. (Or load the module yourself and restart network.)
Click to expand...

This is from this link dealing with FC4 installing on a similar laptop. (another reason why I thought it was broadcom)

I think this is the most detailed specs sheet because this is THE EXACT model# my laptop is (L2005CU). Again, nothing stating it's the broadcom?


Again, thanks to everyone! Btw, I'm loving Mandriva. I've gotten EVERYTHING else set up how I want it. Mozilla FF, GAIM, I've networked in to my main rig, and I've got MP3 playback along with divx and dvd playback.

The wireless card and my video drivers are the only things keeping me from a PERFECT switch from Xp to linux!!! Thanks again guys!


Edit: Horrible linkage on my behalf!! Sorry
 
lspci might give us more clues to work with. If it is broadcom, the only advice I can give you is to get a better adapter.
 
lspci gave me bad news, I guess:

Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (Rev 02)
 
🙁 I hope "get a better adapter" isn't my only option. I'd be willing to try anything if anyone has any advice to offer.

Really, I might be forced with the decision to go back to XP. I mean, I can't justify spending money (any amount) on a wifi card when the built-in card should work fine (I do realize this may be the manufacturer's fault and not linux's).
 
Originally posted by: MangoTBG
🙁 I hope "get a better adapter" isn't my only option. I'd be willing to try anything if anyone has any advice to offer.

Really, I might be forced with the decision to go back to XP. I mean, I can't justify spending money (any amount) on a wifi card when the built-in card should work fine (I do realize this may be the manufacturer's fault and not linux's).
Click to expand...

It's not your only option. You can get Broadcom to open specs or write a driver. 😉
 
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