how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

kcy29581 · 2006-03-18 18:21:09

Hi all,

I'm a bit of a situation here: I have installed Arch, but my only means of going online in via my Netgear WG311T which uses madwifi modules. It works absolutely fine on other distros so I know it can work.

I cannot connect my pc via ethernet as I have bunnies that will chew the hell out of the cable, and I cannot physically keep my eye on the cable at all times. (So please do NOT tell me to use the ethernet right now)

I know there is the madwifi-ng in unsupported in Arch, I downloaded the pkg file and all the dependancies, but when I installed it I got a "missing" directory" error...

The command I used was:
pacman -A pkgname

I would prefer using the Arch pkg rather than downloading madwifi from their site, if possible.

Help please!

Dusty · 2006-03-18 18:35:09

I'm not sure I got this straight, did you download .pkg.tar.gz files, or did you download a .tar.gz from unsupported? .tar.gz files do not contain package data; you'd want to untar it first, and then use makepkg to build the package from the PKGBUILD, as described in the wiki.

If you have a *.pkg.tar.gz file, then pacman -A should work. :-S

Dusty

tomk · 2006-03-18 18:52:03

There are now official madwifi packages - that is, compiled, ready-to-install packages - in the [unstable] repo, and I think iphitus is getting a bit p***ed off that nobody's using them!

Seriously, download them the same way you downloaded the AUR stuff, along with any dependencies, and install them with pacman -A - that will sort you out.

Cerebral · 2006-03-18 19:32:56

tomk wrote:

There are now official madwifi packages - that is, compiled, ready-to-install packages - in the [unstable] repo, and I think iphitus is getting a bit p***ed off that nobody's using them!
Seriously, download them the same way you downloaded the AUR stuff, along with any dependencies, and install them with pacman -A - that will sort you out.

Apparently you didn't read his post at all. He did exactly that, and is getting errors.

Cerebral · 2006-03-18 19:35:31

kcy29581 wrote:

The command I used was:
pacman -A pkgname

One important thing to note: pacman -A doesn't do automatic dependency resolving with downloaded packages. Install the dependencies first with pacman -A, then try installing madwifi-ng-utils, then finally madwifi-ng

If that doesn't work, then perhaps a more detailed error message would help us figure out the problem.

tomk · 2006-03-18 21:58:50

Cerebral wrote:

Apparently you didn't read his post at all. He did exactly that, and is getting errors.

OK - if that's true, apologies for any confusion. I didn't see any mention of unstable by the OP, but I did see this:

kcy29581 wrote:

I know there is the madwifi-ng in unsupported in Arch, I downloaded the pkg file and all the dependancies

(The emphasis is mine).

Cerebral · 2006-03-18 22:35:14

tomk wrote:

kcy29581 wrote:
I know there is the madwifi-ng in unsupported in Arch, I downloaded the pkg file and all the dependancies
(The emphasis is mine).

Yikes, I completely missed that... when I read his post, my brain substituted 'unstable' for 'unsupported'. Apologies, tomk.

kcy29581 · 2006-03-19 08:44:16

Hi all, thanks for the replies.

Yep, I downloaded the pkg.tar.gz file, and pacman -A gave me errors... I cant check right now, I'll try it again when I get home tonight, and post the exact error I get.

I remember seeing 2 pkg files for madwifi-ng: one had a 1 in the filename, and the other had a 2. I tried them both, but which is the best one?

I'll also try the suggestion of installing all dependancies first, then madwifi-ng.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

tomk · 2006-03-19 09:24:43

You need the madwifi-ng package for the kernel your running - if you're using the stock kernel (kernel26), it's madwifi-ng; if you've got kernel26archck, it's madwifi-ng-archck. You also need madwifi-ng-utils and wireless_tools, and you install them in the following order:

1. wireless_tools
2. madwifi-ng-utils
3. madwifi-ng(-archck)

kcy29581 · 2006-03-19 20:35:14

I've got everything installed now! I was quite a noob... thought I gave the right path to the command for the pkg; oh well, working at 3am is not healthy.

So all I need to do now is figure out how to get this thing working. I read the wiki and the forums, and it seems I have to "create" the ath0 interface. Is this right?

I'll get there in the end...

kcy29581 · 2006-03-19 20:36:03

and could someone tell iphitus that someone is using his packages? Might make him happy!

iphitus · 2006-03-20 02:09:43

kcy29581 wrote:

and could someone tell iphitus that someone is using his packages? Might make him happy!

I'm watching

scrawler · 2006-03-20 02:19:07

I've been happily using the madwifi PKGBUILD I got from the AUR. I've been keeping it updated--works great.

I don't believe I have madwifi-ng-utils or madwifi-ng(-archck), at least I didn't install the packages--what am I missing, anything?

Oh, and, maybe this belongs in its own thread, but is there a nice fancy-pants frontend I can use with the madwifi stuff under xfce4? It just looks better when I'm showing off...
:-)

Cerebral · 2006-03-20 02:23:48

iphitus wrote:

I'm watching

You can't get away... he's watching you... he's always there... aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

tomk · 2006-03-20 11:55:04

scrawler wrote:

I've been happily using the madwifi PKGBUILD I got from the AUR. I've been keeping it updated--works great.
I don't believe I have madwifi-ng-utils or madwifi-ng(-archck), at least I didn't install the packages--what am I missing, anything?

The convenience and security of using a package from the official Arch repos. If you're happy building/maintaining your own, keep doing it.

scrawler wrote:

Oh, and, maybe this belongs in its own thread, but is there a nice fancy-pants frontend I can use with the madwifi stuff under xfce4?

Someone has a madwif-enabled, guified, wpa-supplicant package in the AUR - it might do.

Arch Linux

#1 2006-03-18 18:21:09

how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#2 2006-03-18 18:35:09

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#3 2006-03-18 18:52:03

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#4 2006-03-18 19:32:56

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#5 2006-03-18 19:35:31

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#6 2006-03-18 21:58:50

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#7 2006-03-18 22:35:14

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#8 2006-03-19 08:44:16

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#9 2006-03-19 09:24:43

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#10 2006-03-19 20:35:14

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#11 2006-03-19 20:36:03

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#12 2006-03-20 02:09:43

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#13 2006-03-20 02:19:07

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#14 2006-03-20 02:23:48

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

#15 2006-03-20 11:55:04

Re: how can I MANUALLY install madwifi?

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