NDISwrapper for RTL8180 mini-HOWTO

If you're tired of working on getting any wireless card based on theRTL8180 chipset, and don't want to downgrade to use the official linuxdrivers from Realtek or paying money for the LinuxAnt DriverLoader,then use Ndiswrapper. Getting Ndiswrapper to work is so much easierthan the Realtek drivers! This is how I got my setup working on distrosranging from Debian, Knoppix, Slackware, and Gentoo:

Note: These are all console commands (for those VERY new to this!)

First you must download the newest version at
ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net

If you want to be on the edge, you can download the CVS by using:

Code:

cvs -d:pserver:[email protected]:/cvsroot/ndiswrapper login

Code:

cvs -z3 -d:pserver:[email protected]:/cvsroot/ndiswrapper co ndiswrapper

Untar the ndiswrapper file and go to http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads/...x?Keyword=8180
and downloaded the latest Windows XP drivers.

I unzipped the drivers into my ndiswrapper directory (/home/user_name/ndiswrapper/), and per the INSTALL text, I typed

Code:

make install

then

Code:

ndiswrapper -i NET8180.INF

to install the driver. Typing

Code:

ndiswrapper -l

will tell you if the driver is present, and for good measure I typed

Code:

dmesg | grep "wlan0"

and looked at the last line to see if it mentioned wlan0.

After all that I did

Code:

modprobe ndiswrapper

to install the module, then proceeded to setup my card using iwconfig:

Code:

iwconfig wlan0 mode Managed
iwconfig wlan0 key YOUR_KEY  //if you use a key use this!
iwconfig wlan0 essid YOUR_ESSID
iwconfig wlan0 channel YOUR_CHANNEL
/sbin/ifconfig wlan0 192.168.0.10  up  //an unused ip within your network!

/sbin/route add default gw 192.168.0.1 wlan0  //once again this is the AP ip
OR
dhcpcd wlan0

Test out the connection by doing a quick 'ping google.com' tomake sure you are connected and the DHCP settings are all correct. Ifeverything works, then congratulations and have fun with your newwireless setup!

To save the "modprobe" settings, use:

Code:

ndiswrapper -m

Knoppix (and other Knoppix-based distros, or those with netcardconfig):
You can omit the last three lines (only configure with iwconfig up tosetting the essid) and run "netcardconfig", either from the Knoppixmenu under Network, where it is called "Network Card Configuration",and select "yes" in the "Use DHCP broadcast" window. Now you are allset!

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