Loading modules on boot?

Forum: HD Install
Topic: Loading modules on boot?
started by: jmethodius

Posted by jmethodius on Jan. 02 2007,05:57

Thanks to anyone who lends a hand with this. I have looked and keep seeing conflicting methods on how to load a module on boot and my attempts have not worked.

How do I load ndiswrapper on boot?

Posted by roberts on Jan. 02 2007,06:04

ndiswrapper is a special case, as it requires and '-i' option to specify the .inf and .sys files before you do a modpobe. In all installation types of dsl this can be achieved by placing all your ndiswrapper commands and other wireless related commands in /opt/bootlocal.sh.

Posted by jmethodius on Jan. 03 2007,05:42

roberts,

Thanks for helping. I am now able to get my wireless up at boot but I am having a few anomolies. The lines I added to bootlocal.sh are:

modprobe ndiswrapper
iwconfig wlan0 essid d1l05i9n6k23
ifconfig wlan0 192.168.0.105
ifconfig wlan0 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 192.168.0.255
route add default gw 192.168.0.1

The boot screen throws an error when trying to set the ESSID, saying that wlan0 doesn't exist. However, I am connected when logged in. If I comment out the line setting the essid, I'm not connected after logging in. Also, the connection has the correct ESSID set, even after the error is thrown.

The other issue is packet loss. I am losing between 20% to 50% of packets when pinging the AP. The stack seems fine because I have no packet loss to loopback or local IP(127.0.0.1, 192.168.0.105). I don't believe it's the AP because tests with other computers are reporting no loss.

If you are able to further assist, I really appreciate it. If not, thanks for pointing me in the right direction. If I would've checked the WIKI, I wouldn't have had to ask in the first place(guess I'm too used to Google when trying to find solutions).

P.S. Don't know if this means anything, but the System Information on the desktop is not reporting any IP, but was when I was connected with enet. Is the information captured only in the boot process?

Posted by roberts on Jan. 03 2007,06:13

If you are going to use a static ip, you should boot DSL with the nodhcp boot option.

In your /opt/bootlocal.sh where is/what is your ndiswrapper -i xxxx.inf command?
After you issue that command you should use an:

ndiswrapper -l

which reports if driver is installed and present

after you issue the

modprobe ndiswrapper

command you should do a

iwconfig

to see that you indeed have a wlan0 device. Then you can proceed to configure the card.

When you are done configuring the card do an

ifconfig wlan0

and you should see your ip assigned to wlan0

HTH

Posted by jmethodius on Jan. 04 2007,02:05

Thanks for the no DHCP option, I'll try that out.

You're mentioning something again, that you mentioned in your first response "-i". The driver ( lispnds for my card ) has stuck ( listed in modprobe -l after reboot) since I installed it. That's why i didn't include it in my bootlocal.sh file. It's the 'moprobe nsdniswrapper' and the following commands that I needed to insert into the boot process.

The weird thing is that if I comment out all wireless commands from bootlocal.sh and then run a modprobe ndiswrapper, after boot in the shell, the system pauses for a moment, returns to prompt. I do iwconfig, wlan0 is listed. When I do the same commands in the script, the first reference to wlan0 after 'modprobe ndiswrapper', states that the wlan0 interface doesn't exist. It's almost as though the command in the script after 'modprobe ndiswrapper' is executing before 'modprobe ndiwswrapper' is finished executing, which shouldn't happen.

Thanks again.

Posted by roberts on Jan. 04 2007,02:09

YES! Many times I have to insert a sleep command

Posted by jmethodius on Jan. 04 2007,02:16

Cool, that's kinda what I was thinking, but it got late last night. BTW, you're super quick to reply. I've never gotten help this fast anywhere else