Linux using windows drivers.

A few days ago, I saw a Buffalo WLI-CB-G54A on a website, along
with other stuff I was buying.
I looked for linux support, and saw that there existed a project
to run netbios (?) drivers on linux, and that it did indeed work.

I now cannot locate the page I thought I found, can anyone point
me at a project name?

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 00:48:50 +0000, Ian Stirling wrote:

> A few days ago, I saw a Buffalo WLI-CB-G54A on a website, along
> with other stuff I was buying.
> I looked for linux support, and saw that there existed a project
> to run netbios (?) drivers on linux, and that it did indeed work.
>
> I now cannot locate the page I thought I found, can anyone point
> me at a project name?

What I think you might be referring to are two projects which allow the
some newer Buffalo cards (Broadcom chipset), along with many other WiFi
cards, under GNU/Linux, by using NOT netbios drivers, but rather the
standardized NDIS ethernet drivers which are available for these devices,
which were written for OS/2--windozXP.

There are two projects, one is an open source project--found here:
http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net

And the other is a commercial firm which offers a for-pay driver, found
here: http://www.linuxant.com/driverloader

Be aware of two very important considerations: Network Driver Interface
Specification or NDIS drivers are strictly *ETHERNET* drivers, and if/when
used under Linux for WiFi usage, they will NOT display any RF signal
information!!!! They will however, allow you to connect via WiFi in a
pinch.....;-) The second important consideration is the fact that the
Linuxant driverloader is a commercial driver, and as such, must be
purchased. The driver costs $19.99 for a perpetual license after a free
30 day trial period. You need a valid email address to obtain the free
trial.

For the Buffalo card usage under Driverloader, you'll need two XP driver
files, available from many places on the web, or from the CD which
accompanies the device: netbwc2k and bcm43xx Additionally, when
the Buffalo is used under Driverloader, the driver will ask for a Win9x
file, netbwc98. From these files, the Driverloader will extract functions
which allow for the display of *very important info* like signal strength,
noise values, signal-to-noise ratio, etc.

There are some very useful programs in Linux which require this info to
run at all, like the very useful diagnostic called Wavemon. This program
will not run while using NDISwrapper, but WILL run while using the
Linuxant Driverloader.

Regards,

vg

Valent?n Guill?n <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 00:48:50 +0000, Ian Stirling wrote:
>
>> A few days ago, I saw a Buffalo WLI-CB-G54A on a website, along
>> with other stuff I was buying.
>> I looked for linux support, and saw that there existed a project
>> to run netbios (?) drivers on linux, and that it did indeed work.
>>
>> I now cannot locate the page I thought I found, can anyone point
>> me at a project name?
>
> What I think you might be referring to are two projects which allow the
> some newer Buffalo cards (Broadcom chipset), along with many other WiFi
> cards, under GNU/Linux, by using NOT netbios drivers, but rather the
> standardized NDIS ethernet drivers which are available for these devices,
> which were written for OS/2--windozXP.

Ah, that would explain why
linux buffalo netbios
is not finding anything.
>
> There are two projects, one is an open source project--found here:
> http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net
>
> And the other is a commercial firm which offers a for-pay driver, found
> here: http://www.linuxant.com/driverloader

Many thanks, I think ndiswrapper was what I was thinking of.

Lack of signal-noise is moderately annoying, but can be overcome
somewhat simply by running a monitor on the other end.

Anyway, it'll certainly work a lot better on the external antenna
(still trying to find somewhere that does cheap connectors, so I can
make one.) than the existing atmel 802.11b card.

On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 13:28:25 +0000, Ian Stirling wrote:


> Lack of signal-noise is moderately annoying, but can be overcome
> somewhat simply by running a monitor on the other end.

I feel that it's imperative to be able to monitor these crucial
performance parameters while using WiFi. Here's what some of these tools
allow:
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm5.png
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm6.png
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm7.png
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm8.png
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm9.png
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm10.png
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm1.png
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm2.png
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm3.png
http://www.thuntek.net/~vguillen/art/wm4.png

> Anyway, it'll certainly work a lot better on the external antenna
> (still trying to find somewhere that does cheap connectors, so I can
> make one.) than the existing atmel 802.11b card.

Good luck!

vg

Valent?n Guill?n <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 13:28:25 +0000, Ian Stirling wrote:
>
>
>> Lack of signal-noise is moderately annoying, but can be overcome
>> somewhat simply by running a monitor on the other end.
>
> I feel that it's imperative to be able to monitor these crucial
> performance parameters while using WiFi. Here's what some of these tools
> allow:

I know.

I'm using similar ones for my existing card.

It's vital if you'r planning a link.
It's quite a lot less vital if you'r just using it to watch movies.

And if you've got access to the other end, then monitoring the signal
level from that end is quite adequate.