Networking with Linux

Here goes...

I've got an old dell optiplex GX1 running SuSE Linux 9.1. Before, it had WinXP Pro SP2 on it, so I bought a Belkin USB Network Adapter (Model #F5D7050) so I could go on the internet. But, now, I took out the windows and added suse. I want to use that belkin network adapter I bought for windows. Is there any place where I can find a driver or something compatible with Linux?

I hopped over to http://www.linuxcompatible.org/ and did not find that specific model, however another Belkin USB adapter *does* function, using the Pegasus driver. (The F5D5050).

Of course, the older model is wired, and there are fewer drivers available for *nix systems with regard to wireless -- which is what your model is.

Luckily, there's NDIS Wrapper. NDIS is the Windows network driver API -- used in cardbus and some usb adapters. If you browse over to;
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ndiswrapper/
You will find the wrapper; compile and install that and I believe your Belkin is listed as a recent addition.

Good luck.

yeah, ive heard about ndiswrapper before, but i saw it, got confused, and left. do you think you could guide me through the steps if it isnt a hassle for you?

Well, I would say first, try to read the online docs and follow those steps.

Good luck.

Cheers.

whoah, i dont know any of the vocab their talking about in the documentation

im 13, cut me some slack =]

The ndiswrapper is included with Suse 9.1. Make sure it's enabled with Yast and then install the drivers from the manufacturer.

This link has some good tips:
http://portal.suse.com/sdb/en/2004/04/pohletz_ndiswrapper.html

Hope this helps.

I will do just that; I will endeavor to ensure not only your eventual success but increase your knowledge on this very subject.

Therefore I will step back, and let you read the docs, install, configure and learn from doing.

*sniff* They grow up so fast....

Cheers.

yay. ive got suse 9.1...lets see....once im done ill tell you guys

YO IM ALMOST THERE...
However http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/phpw ... x.php/List, the site to tell you where to get the drivers, tells me to fetch for the .inf and .sys files from the cd, but there are no .inf and .sys files in any directory. I've got a Belkin F5D7050. Now I'm gonna go to the Belkin Website to get a windows xp driver and see if that helps...one problem...its a .exe file, which linux doesnt support......o well, its worth a try

okay, something went wrong...can someone help me...lol...ive asked 3 times to no avail, and ive looked at the instructions 4 times to no avail...the instructions that xel02 gave me (the link)....please?


one other thing. it also tells me to install the windows drivers...but theres a thing about that...the windows driver is a .exe file

The exe is a self-extracting file so try the command in a console:
wine [driver.exe]
where [driver.exe] is obviously the driver. If that doesn't work try using the program "ark" to open the archive and just extract it.

Either way should get you the drivers.

Note. Wine is a windows emulator for linux and it comes installed with SuSe 9.1 and it allows you to run some windows programs.

Just a recap. I downloaded the driver myself to test it out. Ark doesn't work in this case because inside the exe is just the setup program.

So you can try and install the drivers...I have no idea what's going to happen though. The command is still:

wine [driver.exe]

Good luck.

Note. You can try using ark, and try to find the inf file but my cursory glance didn't show anything of value.

i tried using wine to install, however, it didnt work, nor did ark

i used the installation disk, though, not the driver from belkin.com

i will try that next

nothing is working, please help

The best answer I can offer is to install the exe file on a windows machine. Prior to that, you could do a search of all *.inf files. Copy the contents of the search to a text file.
Iinstall the exe, which will insert the drivers into the required location.
Do another search, find the new inf files by diffing the two text files.
Then use those inf files for ndiswrapper.

Good luck.

Cheers.