Mandriva 2007.1 on HP nx7300

hi,

i'm a newbie in linux and am having several problems with mandriva spring 2007.1 installed on my hp nx7300 laptop.

can someone help me via icq?

thanks.

igor.msk //a// gmail.com

 

Why not ask your questions here in the forums, so everyone can benefit from the answers?

 

sure.

here is the list of problems:

1) the main one is that i can't get my wi-fi card working. as i understand, ndis-wrapper package is needed but as i try to "make" this program, i get errors. the same is with other applications installation, e.g. xmms.
below is a log. i did everything according to the INSTALL instruction inside the ndis-wrapper folder. bold are commands i wrote in the terminal:
[root@localhost Desktop]# ls /lib/modules/`uname -r`/build
ls: /lib/modules/2.6.17-15mdv/build: No such file or directory
[root@localhost Desktop]# cd /root/Desktop/ndiswrapper-1.47
[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.47]# make uninstall
which: no loadndisdriver in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/lib/qt3//bin)
which: no loadndisdriver in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/lib/qt3//bin)
which: no loadndisdriver in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/lib/qt3//bin)
which: no ndiswrapper in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/lib/qt3//bin)
which: no ndiswrapper in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/lib/qt3//bin)
which: no ndiswrapper in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/lib/qt3//bin)
which: no ndiswrapper-buginfo in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/lib/qt3//bin)
which: no ndiswrapper-buginfo in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/lib/qt3//bin)
which: no ndiswrapper-buginfo in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/lib/qt3//bin)
NOTE: Not all installed files are removed, as different distributions install ndiswrapper files at different places.
Run uninstall as many times as necessary until no "removing" messages appear below.
removing /lib/modules/2.6.17-15mdv/kernel/3rdparty/ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper.ko.gz
[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.47]# make
make -C driver
make[1]: Entering directory `/root/Desktop/ndiswrapper-1.47/driver'
Can't find kernel build files in /lib/modules/2.6.17-15mdv/build;
give the path to kernel build directory with
KBUILD=<path> argument to make
make[1]: *** [prereq_check] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/root/Desktop/ndiswrapper-1.47/driver'
make: *** [all] Error 2
[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.47]# make install
make -C driver install
make[1]: Entering directory `/root/Desktop/ndiswrapper-1.47/driver'
Can't find kernel build files in /lib/modules/2.6.17-15mdv/build;
give the path to kernel build directory with
KBUILD=<path> argument to make
make[1]: *** [prereq_check] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/root/Desktop/ndiswrapper-1.47/driver'
make: *** [install] Error 2
[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.47]#

2) i can't bind windows-key to the system menu.

3) i can't create shortcuts

4) as i open folders, i don't see the navigation panel (back/forward etc.) i can't find linux analogue of windows' "settings-control panel-folder options." (did i say i'm using gnome?)

5) another problem is the way the icons look in windows: i can make them align to grid in one folder but not in ALL folders. the same with the desktop.

6) i can't save data on ntfs-partitions.

thanks in advance!

 

Step one: read this link. And throw out all your Windows assumptions. You do NOT have to go download everything from the Internet and install it from source. It's in fact a bad idea to do so, unless you want to start learning more about the system.

1) Look here to learn how to install ndiswrapper for Mandriva. It should come with your system, you shouldn't need to install it from source. You may also consider using a distro more like ubuntu or SuSE that is more network-based.

2) Not sure about that. I'm not a gnome user... maybe someone else can help you. Gnome tends to not be very... configurable. They set things up for you the way they think is best, which is why I tend to not like it.

3) Create shortcuts for what? You don't do them quite the same way as you do in Windows. You can use symbolic links, or there are things like desktop shortcuts. Again, I'm not a gnome user, so I don't know the exact steps.

4) Yet again, gnome isn't designed with configurability in mind. You may be more happy with a KDE based distro.

5) I can't find another way to say I'm not a gnome user

6) That is because the in-kernel driver cannot safely write to NTFS drives. At least you can read from them You will need to use FUSE to actually be able to write to NTFS drives.

 

Pitabred,
thank you for the answer! before installing mandriva with gnome, i tried it with kde. but 1) kde seemed to me really ugly and not very configurable and 2) i couldn't update my linux in kde, nor could i install new packages from dvd. the following error occured every time: http://forum.ixbt.com/post.cgi?id=attach:76:7274:4:3 (the setup dvd wasn't corrupt -- it works ok with gnome -- and it was in the drive.)

ok, how can i install kde instead of/along with gnome? i probably have to do it first and then the rest.

 

ok, i've installed kde and ndiswrapper too

now i follow "configure wireless support in mandriva..." instructions (the article is great by the way) -- the problem is there is no bcmwl6.inf file on my harddrive.
the driver file is bcmwl 5.sys but bcmwl5.inf is missing too.

what should i do?

thanks.

 

Use those files then. ndiswrapper uses the files from the same driver you'd use for Windows, so if those are the drivers for Windows for your hardware, use those.

 

i've found the file i need on disk c: but as i suggest drakconnect this driver i get another error message: "unable to find ndiswrapper interface."
what am i doing wrong now?

 

I still need help with this.

As I install drivers via control center - networking - add new..., i have two options. Both of them don't seem to be working:

1) Broadcom Corporation|Dell Wireless 1390 WLAN Mini-PCI Card
At this point, I find bcmwl5.sys in windows/system32/drivers – but the program says: “Unable to find network interface for selected device (using bcm43xx driver)”

2) Use a Windows driver (with ndiswrapper)
I find file bcmwl5.inf (also in the windows folder) and the program says: “Unable to find the ndiswrapper interface!”

Win XP (after installing drivers from HP website) detects network devices as:
- 1394 Net Adapter
- Broadcom 440x 10/100 Integrated Controller
- Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN

Thanks in advance!

 

Sorry, I don't use Mandriva, so I have no idea how it's ndiswrapper config tool works, or why you aren't able to get it running. I've only ever used the ndiswrapper command line tools, and that was years ago. Anyone else using Mandrake and ndiswrapper that can help?