ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

ralvez · 2007-12-09 05:31:52

I just purchased an Acer Aspire 7720. Mostly everything works except for some of the "special" keys are not part of the keyboard.
I'm however having problems setting up the wireless in this machine.
Running lspci I get:

Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5787M Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express (rev 02)
Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5006EG 802.11 b/g Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

Now, the wired connection works but the wireless does not.

After some investigating I noticed that running hwd -e would report :

Ethernet controller module: tg3
          Broadcom Corporation: NetLink BCM5787M Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express
Ethernet controller module:
          Atheros Communications, Inc.: AR5006EG 802.11 b/g Wireless PCI Express Adapter

So it would be apparent that no module is loaded for Atheros.

Google "says" that my driver: AR5006EG is not supported in Linux (driver is too new) so I decided to use ndiswrapper.
I installed it as per the wiki's directions but no joy.

In /var/log/messages.log I fund:

predator ndiswrapper version 1.50 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=yes)
predator loadndisdriver: loadndisdriver: load_driver(337): coudln't find valid drivers files for driver netathr
predator loadndisdriver: loadndisdriver: load_driver(358): couldn't load driver netathr <14>Dec  9 00:04:45 loadndisdriver: loadndisdriver: load_driver(358): couldn't load driver netathr
predator usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
predator dhcpcd[7836]: wlan0: dhcpcd 3.1.7 starting
predator dhcpcd[7836]: wlan0: exiting

So, it seems that the driver installed by ndisrwapper fails, but is is the driver given to me by Acer.(?!!)

Am I doing something wrong?
I have no experience with wireless, so any help will be much appreciated ... I'm lost

R.

Last edited by ralvez (2007-12-28 05:00:02)

ralvez · 2007-12-10 00:43:02

Come on ... I cannot believe that no one in this forums has any idea as to what could be done.
Helloooo guys .... heeeeelp I'm sinking

ralvez · 2007-12-11 12:24:00

This is most disappointing ... not one single answer.
I'm closing this thread.

tositstill · 2007-12-11 15:44:27

Hi!

I have the same laptop as you...maybe we could talk and try to solve its problems together, although I am just starting to work with it...Im way behind you and I am just a newbie.

But maybe I could try to configure the wireless network and tell you how it goes...I cant do it right now, I have some work to do. But tomorrow I was planning on trying...

well...thats it..

rasat · 2007-12-11 18:02:08

I did a brief search for "AR5006EG 802.11 b/g Wireless PCI Express Adapter", not easy to get Atheros working but possible. Check here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=563587

In this forum, says it is not AR5006EG but AR5007EG. And give netcfg2 a try.
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=304105

ralvez · 2007-12-11 19:11:50

@tositstill,

Hi, thanks for posting. Yes, I'll be happy to work together on this problem.

@rasat,

Thanks for taking the time to post. I've seen the same postings but I understand after a lot of googling that the problem with this laptop is related not the the interface (which is obviously found by lspci and hwd -e ) but rather to the fact that the key that turns it on is a "software" activated key and only runs on Windows Vista (which lasted in the machine until I got home so I could install Arch ).
I traced a project "AcerHK" that has an actual package in the repos ("acerhk") that should allow the "turning on" of the interface but it does not work for this model because it is too new.

So far the only thing I cannot claim to have tried is netcfg2 but if I cannot turn on the device is it even worth to try? Or will netcfg2 "turn on" the interface?
Or does it mean that if the device is found by lspci and hwd the interface is "ON" by default? Then again ... the recurring question: if it is ON why ndiswrapper installs but fails to see it?

At this point in time I'm almost willing to go and buy an USB WiFi and try for better luck.

R.

jamep · 2007-12-12 05:46:08

ralvez, give a try madwifi driver follows with this patch at the ticket http://madwifi.org/ticket/1679
gluck!

rasat · 2007-12-12 14:27:56

ralvez wrote:

Or does it mean that if the device is found by lspci and hwd the interface is "ON" by default?

Not by default. In general, to activate a device is to run it's module (modprobe <module>). If I am not wrong, Madwifi, netcfg2, and other utilities activate the device and create the interface.

ralvez · 2007-12-28 04:45:33

After much struggle I got my Acer 7720 WiFi working.
Perhaps someone else will benefit one day if I publish here how I did it.

1. I decided to use ndiswrapper. I do not know if this is the best choice but is the one that worked for me
2. pacman -Sy ndiswrapper ndiswrapper-utils
3. Then got the Windows XP drivers from here: http://www.atheros.cz/
4. Extracted the zip to /home/myuid/atheros (Note: It seems that this process will require that this directory remain where it is, so a better choice may be to make it a hidden directory like: /home/myuid/.atheros)
5. At a console and as root, issue: ndiswrapper -i /home/myuid/atheros/net5416.inf
6. Now issue ndiswrapper -l (to be sure the hardware was found)
7. Followed by modprobe ndiswrapper
8. Edit /etc/rc.conf and in the modules line add ndiswrapper
9. Then I restated the network.
10. iwconfig (doing ifconfig will not find the new interface, so use iwconfig)
and you should see wlan0.

BTW, pressing the "Wireless communication button/indicator", as referred in pg. 27 of the manual now will activate the LED indicating that the WiFi is ON.

phew!!

Arch Linux

#1 2007-12-09 05:31:52

ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

#2 2007-12-10 00:43:02

Re: ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

#3 2007-12-11 12:24:00

Re: ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

#4 2007-12-11 15:44:27

Re: ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

#5 2007-12-11 18:02:08

Re: ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

#6 2007-12-11 19:11:50

Re: ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

#7 2007-12-12 05:46:08

Re: ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

#8 2007-12-12 14:27:56

Re: ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

#9 2007-12-28 04:45:33

Re: ndiswrapper not working (Acer 7720) [SOLVED]

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