How to add dell 640m wireless enable in ubuntu

This HOWTO had been tested on ubuntu 8.10. 9.04


STEP 1: CLEAN YOUR SYSTEM

remove any and all versions of Ndiswrapper that come installed by default on your system:

Code:

sudo rmmod ndiswrapper
sudo ndiswrapper -e bcmwl5
sudo apt-get remove ndiswrapper-utils

Don't worry if you get errors about not being able to find or remove these -- we're just making sure they're not present before we get started.

STEP 2: GET NEEDED PACKAGES

We'll need to install compiling tools (don't panic when you read that, just bear with me), the latest kernel headers, and then the source code for the latest ndiswrapper (seriously, don't panic. This will be very simple), and the wireless drivers from Dell.com.

Code:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-`uname -r`
wget http://ftp.us.dell.com/network/R134881.exe

NOTE: The characters around `uname -r` are BACK TICS, NOT apostrophes. A back tic is usually located at the top left of your keyboard, to the left of the 1 key. The command WILL NOT WORK if you use apostrophes. Just copy/paste the commands from this how-to in to your terminal to avoid making typos.

At this point, you need to go to the ndiswrapper sourceforge site and get the latest version of the Ndiswrapper program.

Code:

wget http://superb-east.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/ndiswrapper/ndiswrapper-1.54.tar.gz

If that wget doesn't work, just go here: http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...group_id=93482

Uncompress the ndiswrapper source (in my example, the file name is ndiswrapper-1.51.tar.gz):

Code:

tar -xzvf ndiswrapper-1.54.tar.gz

Finally, we need to blacklist the broken and useless bcm43xx firmware drivers that try to load in a default ubuntu install:

Code:

sudo echo blacklist bcm43xx >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

NOTE: If the above command gives you a permission denied error, try this code instead:

Code:

sudo -s
echo blacklist bcm43xx >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
exit

YOU MUST REBOOT NOW!

STEP 3: COMPILE PROGRAM

Now we'll complile the Ndiswrapper program. In a terminal, go to the directory where you extracted ndiswrapper and execute the following:

Code:

cd YOUR-NDISWRAPPER-DIRECTORY
sudo make uninstall

IMPORTANT: Do the above command multiple times. You can stop when you get the message that says something about no files or directories found. This usually means running the command 2 or 3 times, but not more than about a dozen.

Code:

sudo make distclean
sudo make
sudo make install

STEP 4: INSTALL DRIVERS

If that worked, then you now have Ndiswrapper installed. Now we need to install the drivers. In a terminal, go to the directory where you have the R151517.EXE file:

Code:

unzip -a R134881.EXE

Now change directories to the DRIVER directory that was just extracted.

Code:

cd YOUR-DRIVER-DIRECTORY
sudo ndiswrapper -i w29n51.inf
sudo ndiswrapper -l

you should see a message that says driver present, hardware detected

Code:

sudo ndiswrapper -m
sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
sudo echo ndiswrapper >> /etc/modules

NOTE: If the above echo command gives you a permission denied error, try this code instead:

Code:

sudo -s
echo ndiswrapper >> /etc/modules
exit

STEP 5: TEST WIRELESS

Your wifi light on your laptop should be illuminated, and you're all set! Try running this to see if your wireless card is functioning properly:

Code:

sudo iwlist scanning

Even if it doesn't detect any wireless networks in range, it will still tell you if linux is recognizing your wireless card properly. If you'd like a better way to scan for wireless networks, I'd suggest installing/using network-manager or wifi-radar.

STEP 6: Add wireless connection
Go to System-> Preference -> Network Configuration
In the Wireless tab add a new wireless connection.

This help is refer from
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=297092