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Ndiswrapper vs linuxant

post #1 of 8
4/21/04 at 1:07am
Thread Starter 
I can pickup a Linksys wpc11 v2.7, the icky broadcom chipset, for next to nothing. I can rip out the minipci card for the lappy. The only problem is there is no native Linux drivers for it. So I will have to choose between linuxant's driver loader or ndiswrapper, of the, two aside from the free vs the not free what are some real world differences between the two. Ease of use feature sets etc. I've been reading about both of them they seem to be ok but I want your opinions on then from use. Thanks guys.
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post #2 of 8
4/21/04 at 2:17am
Well, we could start with ndiswrapper by speculating about the merits and disadvantages of binary-only drivers. Truthfully, I don't see many benefits left. The drivers are highly version-dependent, extremely fragile, and have been generating massive numbers of bugreports nonstop on a daily basis since their inception. I thought I was getting something that's supported by Linux, but instead, I ended up with something highly problematic, that ties me to specific kernel versions and cuts off most, if not all, avenues of support available.

There are alternatives in the works, for example, a free Centrino WiFi driver (written by Intel): http://ipw2100.sf.net , but unfortunately it doesn't work with WEP.

Although sad, the truth is that the retail package is quite more solid than the Open Source, and in my book it also wins in the ease of use department.
Hope I've been of some help.
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post #3 of 8
4/21/04 at 10:44am
I have been using NDISWrapper as a cost-effective option. I will agree with leeach that it is fragile, but if you get it running, its fine. The ESSID setting (I use WEP) is flaky (eg. you have to try and try and try until it gets set) so I've written bash scripts to take care of wireless initialization (sets all the required parameters, pausing for safety, and then sets the ESSID in a loop until it is reported as set by iwconfig). I've even made them flexible so I could pass in ESSIDs and encryption keys as parameters. I think I've posted bits of the scripts at the very least somewhere around these forums but I can post my latest version (for ndiswrapper 0.5; have bothered with 0.6 yet) if you need it.

Mikhail
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post #4 of 8
4/21/04 at 11:34am
Mikhail,

Just a question as to why you dont use the prism54.org drivers for the G card in the 5680. For me they are rock solid and easy to setup. Unless of course you dont have the Sager G card - in which case I will STFU now
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post #5 of 8
4/21/04 at 11:43am
Oops! Sorry, Bratag, I never said I had the Linksys PCMCIA card (WPC54G).

Mikhail
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post #6 of 8
4/21/04 at 12:02pm
Ahh - well that explains that then eh
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post #7 of 8
4/21/04 at 12:08pm
Thread Starter 
This would be somuch easier if it were a v2.5 card as it's prism based. As this is for my work machine I think I'll hold off as yet on the new card. What I have works albeit it's a pcmcia setup and I need that for my soon to arrive pcmcia/serial card. Thanks again guys. You have been most helpful.
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post #8 of 8
4/21/04 at 9:04pm
If you guys need it, I've posted my NDISWrapper script: http://experimental.mikhailmarkin.co...diswrapper.txt . (The txt extention is just for convenience.) I'll keep updating it whenever I update it locally. Let me know if it works for you if you decide to use it.

Mikhail
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