How to install a Dell 1390 wifi card in linux

It's a pretty simple procedure, but I haven't been able to find a thread about it so I figured I'd make one. The problem I have with linux is that half the guides out there are so vague that it's hard to figure out what is going on sometimes. I hope this helps someone out.

I used openSuse 11 to do this, but the method should be more or less the same for most other linux distributions.

To start off you will want to download the windows xp drivers for the card. Thanks to “alienmeatsack” of these very forums they can be found here: http://idisk.mac.com/flow-Public?view=web

Extract these to a folder on your desktop.

Now you will want the ndiswrapper package installed in your distro. This can be done through the package manager of your distro. In openSuse it is done through “Software Management” in the YaST Control Center.

Now open up that folder on the desktop where the drivers are located. Go to file -> terminal and enter the following:

Code:

su
(enter your password)
ndiswrapper -i bcmwl5.inf
ndiswrapper -ma
ndiswrapper –mi

This will install the drivers with ndiswrapper.

Now you will want to blacklist the broken drivers installed by default:

Code:

echo blacklist ssb >> /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper
echo blacklist b43 >> /etc/modprobe.d/ndiswrapper

Once this is done you will want to reboot. After the reboot you should be ready to go. Easy.

All this info was taken from this excellent guide by “tomdwright”:
http://opensuse1501.wordpress.com/2008/ ... iswrapper/

 

Hi,
thanks for linking to my tutorial; I wish everyone good luck in setting up their WIFI cards