The following article is about using a HP-530 laptop with Slackware-12.1 and Lantech wireless router with WEP encryption. It can be used as a general tutorial for configuring your WiFi manually in Linux.

The wireless network can be also configured using Windows XP drivers, using ndiswrapper. It can be installed and configured as follows :

• Download the ndiswrapper program as .tgz package, or compile it yourself. After installing in /etc directory we get entries as follows :





The /etc/ndiswrapper directory is empty and we need to place XP drivers there.

• Download the Intel Wireless 3945ABG drivers from Intel’s website – they are distributed in 11.5.1.2_X_DRIVERS.zip file. After unpacking, we can choose 32 or 64 bit version. Choose the one that matches your kernel (mine was 32 bit). As root, enter a command :

# ndiswrapper -i /path_to_file/NETw4x32.INF

this will install the drivers in :



and check if we’ve done it correctly with :

#ndiswrapper -l
#iwconfig



• Next, we need to create the /etc/rc.d/rc.wifi file, set its executable bit :



and add it to startup scripts :



After reboot, the wireless network starts up with no problems. The wireless LED is alight same way as under Windows. Restart after disabling the wireless with the RF-kill switch is automatic, without problems and without the need to execute the rc.wifi script. The ndiswrapper program has no immediately visible performance impact on the laptop.



Command #iwlist auth yields:



Command #iwlist encryption yields :

Skład: oZz
Translated-by : el_es