module ndiswrapper not found

[rwarnsholz]

I am running an installed (no other OS on pc) Linux Mint 14, 32bit Nadia version of linux. I am having issues loading a windows driver (an *.inf file) for a Asus USB-N10 wireless adapter. I have looked around on the internet for help. I have tried several solutions, but to no avail. Attempted to install window driver by going to administration - then select Windows wireless drivers (ndiswrapper driver installation tool). First window that pops up requires password for superuser. The next window is a Windows Network Driver window. I select install, choose an inf file off the driver cd that came with the wireless adapter. Select install. I then get an erro msg: error: module could not be loaded. Error: Module ndiswrapper not found. Is the ndiswrapper installed? If Linux mint provides a menu choice to use the ndiswrapper to load window drivers why is it not working? Why provide the choice if the ndiswrapper is not istalled. I did try to terminal install ndiswrapper-dkms, but got nowhere with that. I used sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper-dkms. How and what do I install to get this thing to work (usb wireless adapter)?
Thanks,
Roger

[DrHu]

Mint does support ndiswrapper by default, I believe: so check some other info for help, specifically how to work with ndiswrapper (windows driver) files..
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiD ... diswrapper
--either Ubuntu or mint in these forums..

Linux, ndiswrapper files..
https://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/an ... mate_Guide
http://www.brunolinux.com/08+-WiFi/Ndiswrapper.html

[rwarnsholz]

To: DrHu
Thanks for your response. I have read some of what you referred me to. However it still doesn't answer several questions. Why is the menu option shown if it is not workable? Why after installing thru Synaptic packager the ndiswrapper files, modules, etc. does the error message tell me that the ndiswrapper module is not loaded? Is there a list of files that one must load thru the package install that make the ndiswrapper program complete? I chose ndiswrapper-source, ndiswrapper-dkms, ndiswrapper-utils-1.9, ndiswrapper-common, ndisgtk, nasm, ndisc6. I'm not sure how many other files would make the package complete. Seems to be poor documentation. BTW in all my research online it appears there is no one solution, rather many and varied solutions, nothing as of yet that actually works.

[drrdf]

Hi Roger,

I am having the same difficulty. It seems that there are problems which have been introduced since Mint 9. I was previously using Mint 9 which is supposed to have lost its long term support at the end of April 2013. Mint 9 was probably the best Linux version available, and everything worked out of the box. So I installed Mint 13 to update, but there are some problems, most of all with the ndiswrapper when you attempt to install a wireless card! It seems to be the same for all current versions of Mint 13 (Cinnamon, Mate and KDE) and subsequent versions. It has always been like this with MInt Debian version. I have wasted many hours trying to get Mint 13 to work with a wireless card without success; I have now given up and reverted to Mint 9 for the time being. This is what happens when people change things willy nilly; that is why we have rigorous change control in the industry. (It probably depends upon which particular wireless card you have.)

I am a highly experienced electronic engineer who has worked with software latterly for many years. I have personally used Linux for many years now, but am not a person who likes to play computers or play Linux! I build all my own hardware but want software to work out of the box, because I mainly want just to use computers. That is why I used Linux Mint 9 in the first place. It seems the only way now to get wireless cards to work with MInt 13 and subsequent versions is to play terminals and play Linux; you have to know what they have done and changed to get most wireless cards to work now. They will probably come up with a fix soon, if they have not already done so, but the problem with the LTS version is that once you get this from the server the only way you can update it is with an internet connection. If you cannot get your wireless card to work then you cannot get the update!

I suspect they know there is a problem because support for the previous LTS version (9) does not seem to have been ceased yet, now the 8th May. The fix for those who do not want to play Linux, adventure games and terminals unnecessarily is thus to revert to MInt 9, on which almost all wireless cards install perfectly without any of these problems.

[rwarnsholz]

Thanks drrdf:
My experience, so far, has been too much "playing at Linux" to get some things to work. Simple, basic things. Such as setting up usb wireless adapter and black screen (no gui) upon installing Ubuntu12.10 or 13.04. I think I figured out the black screen was because of the Unity desktop. I installed an older version of Ubuntu (10.04) which uses the gnome desktop and it worked fine. So too does Linux Mint 14. I'm sure I will anger the linux world when I say that I have new found respect for MS Windows. It seems they have a better handle on drivers and such for hardware. No real problems loading printers, monitors, usb wireless adapters, etc. Stuff seems to just work. I also have observed rather poor feedback and advice from forums and support columns. There appears to be a lot of misinformation. Someone posts a solution and when you follow their script it seldom works. When one reads replies you see a lot of "didn't work". I've noticed non-existent websites listed, incorrect commads, etc. Oh well, I'm a newbie and still trying to learn a new way of doing things, terminology, and processes. I'm taking a linux class starting Wednesday, on-line, should help with my immersion into a different world. Thanks for your response.

[drrdf]

Hi Roger,

Thanks for your reply. However, I am a little puzzled that you seem to imply that Linux Mint 14 worked fine, because that is the issue here - that the new LTS does not work fine, but various things have been changed since Linux Mint 9 including of course the move away from Gnome, resulting in failures. I repeat; Linux Mint 9 was probably the best Linux version ever produced; everything works out of the box including setting up wireless cards. Linux MInt 13 and subsequent versions do not, and wireless cards are the key example; also there are other problems such as with Root access being denied on the previous basis in version 9. For some reason the support for Linux MInt 9 has not yet stopped, so go back to version 9.

I cannot agree though with your statements concerning Windows. I had the misfortune to use Windows professionally through many years and it was nothing but continual trouble. The main weakness is that the atittude of MS has always been never to fix the problems in any version, but to generate a supposed new version which just moves the GUI around, changes the icons, introduces new functionality and avoids facing and fixing the bugs! It then just becomes Bloatware which still never works reliably. I do agree however that Windows in general does not have the problem with wireless cards which many Linux versions have (and now Mint has), but to be fair that is largely due to manufacturer's failure to provide Linux drivers. I do agree entirely with your comment regarding forums and duff advice. That is largely due to the failure of forum administrators to determine the technical qualifications of those posting supposed solutions. Cowboys can only offer Cowboy advice, just as Cowboy contractors will give you only grief and sequester your money!

Don't be discouraged with Linux. It is a far better and more secure OS than Windows will ever be, because it is based on Unix, and it is less expensive. Linux MInt 9 was probably the best Linux so far; but even if they do not fix the present problems and go back to the standards which exemplfied Linux MInt 9, that does not write off all Linux flavours. There are still others like PClinuxOS which is now available in a 64 bit version also and works straight from the box with all codecs, and of course there is BSD based on Unix, although that is more problematic and does not have well-designed GUI. So even with the present problems with MInt, if they do not fix them look around and find another Linux version rather than reverting to Windows.

[drrdf]

Hi Roger,

I have just discovered today that these problems have still not been fixed in the latest updates to the LTS version. After having wasted a great deal of time downloading and installing almost 580 update files via an external link things are still the same in the LTS version and the absurd ndiswrapper not present message still persists. I have also discovered with horror that today support for the previous Mint LTS version 9 has finally been withdrawn. So there is now no solution in sight. I am therefore now migrating to another version of Linux as the only solution until Mint sort out these problems, if they ever do now. They seem to have lost the plot and that is a great pity because as I previously observed Linux Mint 9 was exemplary as probably the best version of Linux so far produced.

[drrdf]

I have just discovered that this problem seems, according to some, to be due to a change in the Linux kernel, the consequences of which had not been foreseen by many Linux version developers. It seems that although this error message states that ndiswrapper is not found what it really means is that dkms-ndiswrapper has not been found because the new kernel is now demanding that instead of ndiswrapper! The Mint developers it seems may not have realised that and so did not include dkms-ndiswrapper within the new file set. That is why wireless cards which need translated Windows drivers will not now work with Mint. The same is true with most other Linux versions using the new kernel since their developers did not realise that this change had been made and what the result would be. This is a good example of the failure to control change and the consequential chaos which can result. Proper Configuration Control prevents this type of chaos. There needs to be more coordination between those developing the kernel and those using it. Change for the sake of change is never good and never produces beneficial outcomes. There needs to be more objective analysis of what real benefits these increasingly frequent changes to the Linux kernel bring in reality against the chaos and hardware obsolescence which they cause!

So it seems that the best Linux version (Mint) has now been mutilated by yet another change to the kernel, and inevitably as others are bemoaning relative to other Linux versions affected as a result disillusioned users will move away from those versions of Linux which have this problem. Users do not want a system which will not install their existing wireless cards in a straightforward manner, since the main use of computers now involves the Internet. They might even move back to Windows - God forbid!

It seems the solution for this at present is to download and install dkms-ndiswrapper from one of a number of sources. Rumour has it that when you have that installed your wireless card installation process will no longer produce the absurd ndiswrapper not found message because the kernel has then found what it really wanted, and your Internet will then work again.

[drrdf]

I can confirm to anyone having the same problem that the solution is to download the whole new ndiswrapper file set using the Package Manager. All the necessary new files are there including ndiswrapper-dkms. If you download and install those via the Package Manager after a clean installation of Linux Mint 13 and then install your wireless drivers in the normal way you no longer get the error message ndiswrapper not found, and your card installs properly with the Windows drivers. The problem of course is that you need access to the Internet to be able to download these files, and if your wireless card is not working that gives you some difficulty. You thus must do this either via a usb wireless dongle as I did or via a wired Lan connection before you can get your wireless card working. My new LTS version 13 (Maya) is now working perfectly with my Marvel chip set wireless card.

So it is true that this problem is due to these files not being included on the DVD file set for installation, and that is a serious weakness which the developers should consider and correct soon. They will be able to do this only by substituting an updated file set to download as an ISO on the servers for the LTS version. I somehow doubt whether this will happen, and at best the necessary correction will only appear in a later version, which means the LTS version will remain with this serious deficiency and the problem will still occur with new downloads and installations of the LTS version.

[drrdf]

It occurs to me that anyone looking at this topic for a solution to their wireless problems may find a clearer explanation to the problem with wireless adapters needing Windows drivers to be helpful. I posted this in response to another similar topic, and thus feel that it may be helpful to include it here also.

To explain more fully: firstly make a clean installation of Mint 13 or later. Then you must arrange a connection to the interent via a different route than your wireless card. So you must either use a wireless dongle recognised by Mint directly without needing Windows drivers, or you must connect directly to your modem-router via a LAN connection on the PC which you wish to set up with the Windows drivers. Once you have an interent connection then access the Package Manager and locate the ndiswrapper file set listed therein. Install all of those files. Once this is done disconnect the temporary internet connection. Now get the disc with your Windows drivers and install the XP inf file from that. You will then not get the "ndiswrapper not found" message, and the card will install properly. You may then set up your security parameters and hey presto your wireless card will be connected with the Windows drivers. Hope that explains it clearly.

[drrdf]

Since posting this I have discovered that the latest version of Puppy Linux deals with older wireless cards seamlessly. I could not believe it, with all the difficulty which exists with most Linux distros. With the latest version your wireless card is detected automatically and it is not necessary to install any Windows drivers or any thing at all, other than to select the network and enter any security password for your router. Absolutely amazing; it shows that it can be done with an effectively-designed version of Linux !

[JeremyB]

Post the results of

Code: Select all

lsusb

and I think I can find a fix that works in LM17

And I think https://github.com/pvaret/rtl8192cu-fixes is the best current fix.

What kernel does Puppy currently use?

Code: Select all

uname -a