This is something that is often expressed in the forums at pclinuxos.com and something anyone associated with this fine distribution is glad to see…that is working wireless. However, as noted above, people often wonder how to control their wireless device and how to move in and out of various different environments. I’d like to share how I do wireless on my Thinkpad a22m.

I have a US Robotics 5411 MaxG PCMCIA card for my laptop. PCLinuxOS 2007 detects it out of the box but doesn’t install it by default. The reason for this is that PCLinuxOS doesn’t assume to know how you want to install it…either using the built into the kernel support for the broadcom wireless chip or ndiswrapper…which is a program that allows Windows drivers for wireless to be used in Linux. I elected to go with Ndiswrapper since I had some problems with the broadcom driver in PCLinuxOS. Ndiswrapper is installed by default in PCLinuxOS which makes this process even easier…but the process still requires some forethought and I’ll share with you what I did to make this process go smoothly and easily.

Don’t Configure Wireless after Install!

I recommend that you allow first boot to happen without setting up networking at all. I like to do things with a clean slate so I removed my wireless device inside the PCLinuxOS Control Center after first boot. Then I did a full update via wired line and then restarted. Once back inside PCLinuxOS, I used the PCLinuxOS Control Center to remove my wired device (it’s simple enough to re-add it later) and install my wireless device. Please note that I downloaded and extracted the Windows ndiswrapper drivers BEFORE doing this…it’s imperative that you have the drivers in a place you can get to them (windows partition, flash drive, floppy, etc) before you try and configure the device. You can elect to skip over this tip…I just like to simplify what I work with.

Download the Windows Drivers for ndiswrapper Before You Start!

First and foremost…download the drivers from the US Robotics 5411 MaxG page linked to above. It’s going to be in exe format for Windows…sometimes this can be a royal PITA because not all manufacturers create their .exe files the same. Some exe files will allow extractions of files from them while others will not. For example, I downloaded my driver and tried to unzip it:

[root@localhost ~]# cd /home/devnet/Desktop
[root@localhost Desktop]# ls
5411a-2.00.004.exe kvirc.desktop trash.desktop
Home.desktop My Computer.desktop
[root@localhost Desktop]# unzip 5411a-2.00.004.exe
Archive: 5411a-2.00.004.exe
End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on the last disk(s) of this archive. unzip: cannot find zipfile directory in one of 5411a-2.00.004.exe or 5411a-2.00.004.exe.zip, and cannot find 5411a-2.00.004.exe.ZIP, period.
[root@localhost Desktop]#

As you can see…it didn’t work. So what is one to do? You have 2 options here…you can use a Windows PC to extract the files OR use Wine in PCLinuxOS to do it. I chose the first option since I have a Windows PC at work. I downloaded the program 7zip and used it to extract the files from the exe into a single directory. Then I transported over this extracted directory to my PCLinuxOS 2007 /home/devnet folder via a flash drive.

To help others out here though, I’m going to walk through the Wine way of doing things. Now it’s important to note that you need a LAN connection to get this installed…and I know in some instances this won’t be possible…however, you’ll need minimal access to be able to get this going. If you are unable to get internet access on this PC…I’m afraid you won’t be able to get the exe extracted.

How to Use Wine to Extract Wireless Drivers

Connect to a wired line. Click on the Synaptic icon in your toolbar or open up the Synaptic Package Manager by clicking on the Kmenu >> System >> Configuration >> Packaging >> Synaptic Package Manager. Once inside Synaptic, do a search for “Wine”. Once you’ve found it, select it and right click on it. Choose to install it and select “Mark” for the extra packages synaptic asks you to install. Now click the apply and apply again and wait for PCLinuxOS to install things.

After Wine has installed, download and install 7zip linked to above. When you double click the .exe it will ask you what program you’d like to use to open it…type “wine” and click ok. 7zip should install no problems. Now you should see a “Wine” menu appear on your Kmenu. Inside should be 7zip. Run 7zip and extract the .exe. You should end up with a folder on your desktop from the extracted driver. You can now choose to remove wine if you’d like or just leave it in place. I copied the drivers to my /home/devnet directory so I could have access to them and always knew where they were. Plus I like to keep my desktop clear of clutter.

Blacklist the BMC43XX drivers!!

You should blacklist the bcm43xx drivers by default. Remember this is for TR4 or before only…I’m pretty sure Tex and the gang have got this sorted out for final so no worries there…but you should make sure to add “blacklist bcm43xx” to your blacklist. To do this, go to your Kmenu and choose “Run Command”. Enter the command “kdesu kate /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist” and enter your root password when prompted. If asked about a session…choose default session. Now enter “blacklist bcm43xx” inside this file on its own separate line and save. That’s it! Now you shouldn’t get prompted to reinstall drivers each time you open up the network interface in the PCC. What causes this? Well, the PCC is a separate entity from the linux kernel and even the OS iteself. It operates autonomously and therefore doesn’t communicate its intentions nor does the OS or kernel report its intentions. Therefore, they ofen get crossed on some things. By keeping vigilent on things such as blacklisting, you can stay ahead of the curve for using the PCC

Installing with Ndiswrapper

So now we have the drivers ready to install. What next? Well, the PCLinuxOS Control Center never lets you down. If you’ve removed the interface like I did previously, you’ll have to install it again. Go to the PCLinuxOS Control Center and choose Network and Internet >> Set up a New Network Interface. When choosing wireless you’ll be prompted to install drivers using native kernel support (if your card is supported) or ndiswrapper. I’ve found that ndiswrapper works better for this particular card of mine…so I chose ndiswrapper when the time for choice came. I then browsed to the /home/devnet directory and selected the usrmaxg.inf file located inside the extracted directory. After that, I select the general settings for wireless that I desired…for example, open and managed, which is what my connection is. I didn’t input the key yet though…I’ll input the key and SSID with NetApplet later so for now, that’s all I setup.

Setting NetApplet to Start at Boot

To start NetApplet on boot, simply start it up from the Kmenu and then when it runs inside the tray, choose Settings >> Always Launch on Startup. This should make it so NetApplet will start right away for you.

If it still isn’t starting for you, you may need to force it to start anyway. To force Netapplet to start, open up the filemanager with kmenu >> run command >> “konqueror –profile filemanager”. Then I make that window small and push it over to the right side of my screen. I then browse to /home/devnet/.kde/autostart. Then I open up the Kmenu and find Netapplet (should be in System >> Monitoring) and I drag and drop it from the Kmenu into the autostart directory. When it asks if I want to copy, move, or link here…I choose link here. That’s it! Now netapplet will start when you login to your desktop. You can place just about any program in this directory to achieve the same results.

Connecting/Switching Networks

So, now that we’ve got things installed, how do we connect? Right click on NetApplet running in your tray. If it hasn’t started, go back into the Kmenu and start it. Then when it appears in the tray, right click on it and hover over “Wireless Networks”. Choose your network to connect to and enter the Key if prompted. You can switch back and forth between any of the networks that your card picks up and you can do so quite easily with NetApplet.

That’s about it…NetApplet plugs nicely in to PCLinuxOS’s already fantastic Control Center so you should be on your way to operating your wireless connection with ease. One thing I’ve found to be kind of a hassle with PCLinuxOS is that it keeps trying to reconfigure my connection for me. For example, every time I open up the wireless settings portion of the PCLinuxOS Control Center, it prompts me to install drivers even though I’ve already got them installed and running on my system. This is easily cancelled out manually but it is a hassle nonetheless.

All in all, it’s quite nice to have an older laptop hum along with PCLinuxOS and a wireless card. Since I’ve only added wireless to my network in the past year I haven’t ever had the need to do this previously. I hope that this primer serves as a way for all of you to manage your wirless interface with NetApplet…which I’ve found to be the easiest and most friendly way to manage things. If you have any questions or further tips on this subject, please drop me a line in the comments below

PCLinuxOS 2007, USR5411 MaxG Wireless Primer originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on May 19, 2007.

So…today I’ll be looking at Fedora Core 4. We’ll begin by assuming I’m a new user and new to Fedora in General.

The Quick Look

First things first. Fedora offers hands down the easiest install of any distro out there. Anaconda is like a betty crocker oven…even a kid could bake with it. For some people, this doesn’t cut it because they may or may not need to feel ‘old skewl’ or ‘l33t’ by keeping things text based or even similar to an Ubuntu/Debian installer feel. For new users though, the Fedora Anaconda install is stellar. Fedora really shines in this area.

Package selection during the install is all graphical, clear and concise. Adding visuals to any presentation or process will make it more efficient and easier to understand. After the install, you are greeted to a KDE or Gnome session depending on what you choose. I chose KDE since I’m more fond of it than Gnome.

During the experiment, Mrs.Devnet experienced problems with an extremely slow booting Fedora on our test computer. I chalk this up to it being a test release. There were no problems with it during this time. In fact, Fedora has increased its boot speed considerably with FC4. It’s one of the fastest booting distros I’ve dealt with. What makes it even better is that it is fully graphical. Though most people want a text boot, I like the fact that you’re given an option.

The Quick Look Continued…

So, let’s pretend I’m a new user and just finished installing Fedora Core 4. What’s the first thing I need to do? Browse the internet of course. So, opening up the web browser is the first thing I’ll do. Of course I’ll stop by Yet Another Linux Blog which is one of everyone’s first stops right? Perhaps I’d navigate over to hotmail and check the old email. After that’s through, maybe I’ll navigate over to amazon and check out a few books/CD’s. Wait a second. There’s something wrong on the web page. Something isn’t displaying right. It wants me to click here. Easy. Installation of flash is a snap. So Firefox and Macromedia save the day in this case. But there are other plugins that aren’t so easy to install.

Java Java Java. Why has Sun not learned? They try to show open source software just how open source they are and they can’t even get a Java installer right for Linux? I honestly think that all Linux devs should get together and re-evaluate using Sun Java plugins for web browsing at all. We need an alternative. Afterall, it’s a crock right now. By not having a precompiled Java install in your distribution, you are alienating practically any new user that isn’t tech savvy. No getting around it. This is why distros such as SimplyMEPIS and PCLinuxOS are popular…because they cater to the new user and the end user. Fedora Core 4 can tout license all they want in this case until they turn blue in the face…but the bottom line is that Java is difficult to install for a new user and 9 times out of 10 they’ll give up before they get it.

Perhaps Fedora might provide an installer for it…perhaps a nice script to create an rpm for it…something that can help. At least something better than the crap-tastic stuff that Sun provides on their website for Linux…with instructions valid for 4 releases ago. As stated previously, most users would bail…especially after seeing that screenshot above which shows that I have java installed (after following a how-to guide on how to do things and yet java still doesn’t work). I had to re-download and install from scratch and then track down why the symbolic link before I could get it to work. After a few hours of repeated headbutting of the wall, I finally got things working. How many new users are going to put that much work into their distro? That’s right…about NONE. Of course, it took me that long because its been forever since I compiled java myself having used precompiled distros for over a year.

[soapbox]Why do I tout the new user? Because the new user is the key for Linux. If Linux is to even begin to put a dent in the desktop market it needs to accomplish two things…first, to become a viable business alternative to M$ (which has begun) and secondly, to win over new users. By accomplishing the first, it will get support from businesses in the form of driver support and larger usage. By accomplishing the second, Linux can grow and become even more great than it already is. The new user is key.[/soapbox]

So, back to the assessment. Next, I decided to listen to some streaming music from a website. I listen to online radio stations because I feel that pop music should be popped into the toilet and flushed…no offense to those of you who like it. It’s just not for me. Online radio gives me a choice to listen to whatever I want. I’m sure there are others who share this idea and also listen to online radio stations. So, I decided to see what Fedora Core 4 could do for me.

Wouldn’t you know it…they lost me again. No streaming music…and what is worse, there is no information provided on how to resolve the problem. So finally after cycling through about 5 different music players and attempting to play music streams with each, I find that I need codecs…and then I’m back to square one as a new user. Being Linux savvy means I know right where to go for these codecs…but would a new user? Not a chance unless they had their hand held. So, yet again something that could be taken care of with more attention to detail (perhaps a quick script with disclaimer…Kanotix anyone?). And people actually recommend this distro for new users? Come on!

Ok…so perhaps I’m giving Fedora some extra criticism because of third party applications installed on it. But honestly, I thought most of these programs would work better on it like they do on other distros that I use. Will a new user be as understanding as I am? Most likely not. Hence, the reasons I pull no punches. I’m sure most die hard FC4 users think I’m nuts…but if you’re a new user or a recent convert with minimal experience, you’re probably silently cheering.

What’s next? Well, we’ve surfed the internet. We’ve checked the webmail. We could use Kmail or Evolution or Thunderbird to get mail but I’m not overly concerned with these applications as they are all pretty good and not really needing a testing. Nay, we’ll do what just about every other user might decide to do. Plug in a thumb drive with some mp3′s to play. In this case, I’m using my Cruzer Micro 512MB Thumbdrive…you might have some sort of mp3 player. Since these devices are relatively similar, this should give good indication on how FC4 handles pluggin devices. Not bad! It detected my Cruzer Micro straight away and placed a desktop shortcut! Let’s see if this is a fluke or if Fedora Can actually detect this thumbdrive each time…and Fedora scores in this area. The only problem is that it creates an icon for each time you plugin the device but this is just a small nucense. In no time, I’m browsing files and looking for a tune to play. Very nice indeed. This is one of the first distros that actually detects and installs my thumbdrive.

What happened next is something that happened during our previous look as well. Fedora Core does not come with mp3 support. As stated in our previous review, this is always chalked up to license. This is a major kink in Linux being able to appeal to new users. In this case, Fedora, as expected, takes a nose dive. Many users have run across this mp3 issue and Red Hat/Fedora pulls up the patent issue. To me, this is a huge cop out. How so many other distros can have mp3 support out of the box is a mystery. Many of you are probably thinking, “well, Fedora and Red Hat are larger targets because they’re a bigger business.” Agreed. Perhaps they should approach RCA who holds the patent and find out what they can do to reach an agreement? Perhaps they should include an mp3-to-ogg vorbis converter with a nice little how-to included with a link to it on the desktop? There are many avenues that they could take…but instead, they’ve left it well enough alone through 4 releases. It is my personal opinion that this area is also holding Linux back as well. Linux cannot appeal to the masses if it can’t play DVD’s and mp3′s.

Of Lacking and Improvements

So we found quite a few areas where new users would trip up and most likely give up on right away. Being that Mrs.Devnet, a new Linux user, took a look at Fedora Core 4 Test 1 a while back…I decided to take a look back to see what her major gripe about Fedora Core 4 was. She stated that overall it was a lack of knowing what to do with Fedora. There were minimal programs installed on her Gnome desktop and she didn’t know how to download the ones she wanted nor had any means to find the program she might. There was no documentation readily available on how to get to the things she needed.

In cases like this, distros such as Xandros with Xandros Network and Linspire with CNR might be a better alternative for new users since they offer graphical explanations of what each program is. But the silly thing about all this is that they charge for this software. What I’m amazed at is that someone hasn’t done this for Red Hat or Debian already and made a distro have something like CNR and Xandros Network only an open source derrivative where one isn’t charged for freely downloadable software. Fedora strikes me as the prime candidate to come up with something like this to revolutionize the desktop. They’ve got excellent support via Red Hat and fantastic community members. They’ve als go tons of documentation if you know where to look. This is one area I think ALL distros can improve in…

I thought about the lack of direction Mrs.Devnet had right away out of the box on this distro. One way to improve this would be to place a document on FC4′s desktop that points users in the right direction for getting started. Perhaps another improvment might be to include a link on the desktop to a tutorial for getting started. If it were my Linux distro…I’d include a link to a Wink Flash tutorial geared toward new users. This would physically show new users how to get started using their brand new Linux desktop. Visually seeing a desktop in action would benefit a new user greatly.

Conclusion

It’s obvious from my quick look above that I’m quite unimpressed with Fedora…mainly because of its inability to provide easy solutions to java and mp3 issues. There are ways to circumvent patent infringement with disclaimers or with third party scripts. Hopefully, Fedora will cater to the user instead of requiring them to become well versed in compiling code within the first 10 minutes of using…because I know the average user isn’t going to want to drop to CLI anytime.

I’m very happy that Fedora Core 4 offers a great distro for those of us that have some Linux knowledge and that boot speeds are quite impressive. However, for new users, I will continue to recommend against it. Overall, after getting a fully configured FC4 box…I was riding high on the hog. I’ve had it on my test computer now for about 2 weeks and it has been stable and fast. Hopefully, some of the recommendations for this great distro won’t fall on deaf ears. That way, new users can enjoy what I’m enjoying right now with minimal effort. That’s the key…simplifying our lives with computers and Linux…not complicating them. Thanks for reading!

Experiment Revisited: Fedora Core 4 originally appeared on Yet Another Linux Blog on July 23, 2005.