NdisConfig

[easuter]

After a two week plunge into Gambas, this is the result of my attempt to create an NdisWrapper front-end:

http://code.google.com/p/ndisconfig/

Some things like better alias management need addressing, as well as catching modprobe errors and the like.
I'm also pretty sure that the code isn't very "clean" and there will probably be more efficient ways to accomplish some of the tasks it can perform, but as I learn more this will improve.

The source code is available from Google Code's SVN repo and you will need the Gambas IDE to compile it.
VectorLinux and Slackware packages are available on the page too, and I'll probably upload one to the VL repo as well.

Feature requests are welcome

[OU812]

You may want to check out saxenos. They have a front end called ndisgtk. It works very well. Just navigate to the directory of your .inf and .sys files. There is also a button on the app to launch wifi-radar after. I did a quick google for the app believing it was a custom app, but almost everything on the first page was about ubuntu. Anyway, I hope I am not stepping on your toes, just trying to help. (I saw your screenshot; it definately has more to offer.)

john

[easuter]

You may want to check out saxenos. They have a front end called ndisgtk.

Just checked out ndisgtk and it looks interesting. However it seems to revolve mostly around Ubuntu/Debian and is somewhat GNOME-centric (tries to launch the GNOME Network-Admin app).

I know I don't have fancy icons in the list but that doesn't add to functionality 

What I hope to add  to NdisConfig in the near future is the ability to extract the .inf drivers from EXE executables

[OU812]

I didn't think about the gnome part of things, but it makes sense now - saxen is basically zenwalk with a few extras such as the gnome desktop pre-installed.

In the past I have used ndiswrapper to load my driver and wifi-radar to connect to the network, but then I still had to edit wifi-radar and rc.modules by hand (to ensure things would work during boot). A utility like yours would be very handy. If you need testers, let me know. I think I have enough room on the laptop to install zen and I can install your package from source. The only hiccup is that I had to dump zenwalk because wifi-radar kept hanging. And I can't install vector - stalls while booting the disc. Anyway, let me know.

john

[easuter]

You don't have to go out of your way to test it, but if you want to take it for a spin I'd appreciate that

[OU812]

I had to get rid of saxenos because I couldn't get it to print to my wireless printserver. So I installed a new slackware distro called absolute linux. I am going to install ndiswrapper and wifi-radar from linuxpackages (suggested by forums). So maybe I can try your app on the new distro. I saw two files: .tlz and .tgz. Is .tgz. Can I install the .tgz on the absolute or can you provide the source? Thanks.

john

[easuter]

Yeah, the tgz should work on any Slackware based distro. Just remember to get the Gambas runtime installed (1.0.17), which you can probably do on Absolute Linux using Slackware mirrors.

[OU812]

I installed your .tgz package and gambas (from linuxpackages.net). They worked fine, but it take me a little while to figure it out (I thought I had to launch ndisconfig from gambas). Unfortunately, after I got things set up with ndiswrapper,  I did iwconfig but the device wasn't there (distro problem - no wireless tools according to forum, but it still should have worked - also according to forum).

Anyway, here are some suggestions for the package:

Here are the steps I used to get the device working under zenwalk:

1. ndiswrapper -i /usr/local/my_wifi/drivername.inf
2. modprobe ndiswrapper
3. iwconfig
4. add "/sbin/modprobe ndiswrapper" to rc.modules

It would be nice if your utility did steps 2-3 and if successful, based on step 3, do step 4. It would be even nicer if your utility would then allow the launch of wifi-radar and configure it, too. I don't know how much work you're willing to put into thought. At least consider 2-3 from above.

BTW: I like the alias function of your utility since in zenwalk it was wlan0 and in saxenos (based on zw 4.2) it was ath0.

john

[easuter]

Well, step one and two are already in NdisConfig. #3 is probably not going to make its way in since it isn't ndiswrapper related, but I can add a button that will launch WiFi-Radar and allow you to configure the network that way.
#4 is also a good point to add.

Thanks for the feedback 

[OU812]

I agree with you about #3. So maybe include some sort of pop-up confirmation window - such as driver loaded successfully (I guess based on ndiswrapper -l)? (Sorry, I can't remember if I saw any sort of confirmation window after the driver was installed. A new user would probably want something like this.)

If you do include a button for wifi-radar, then /etc/wifi-radar.conf will probably need to be edited so that it points to the device correctly; i.e., adding the alias created by ndisconfig.

Also, how automated do you want to make ndisconfig? How newbie friendly do you want it to be? I ask because I have seen my device show up as ath0, wlan0, and eth1. So a new user may not think to do ndiswrapper -l or iwconfig to see the alias of their device. They may not even know about the alias. So maybe the alias option can have an automatic (ndiswrapper -m) or expert (user decides alias) mode. Or maybe you can include a small help file that details each step. Or maybe present the gui in a way that is more suggestive of a series of steps that is being performed.

Thanks for your feedback. I hope I am helping and not annoying.

john

[easuter]

Well, I think it needs to be nearly completely rewritten...since after learning some more Gambas stuff now, lots of NdisConfig is not by any means efficient in handling data (had been using files for everything   :-[)

I might also move to Gambas2 altogether.....

[Joe1962]

Please consider sticking to gambas 1 for now, as the runtime is an integral part of VL base now. Gambas2 was changing too much, so the compiled bytecode would break from one release to the next, requiring code changes and a recompile. That said, gambas2 is probably close to an RC now, so if you think your project will take a long time, then it might not be a problem.

[easuter]

Please consider sticking to gambas 1 for now, as the runtime is an integral part of VL base now. Gambas2 was changing too much, so the compiled bytecode would break from one release to the next, requiring code changes and a recompile. That said, gambas2 is probably close to an RC now, so if you think your project will take a long time, then it might not be a problem.

Indeed, I have kept it a Gambas1 project.

Anyway, I have rewritten all of the code  to make it cleaner, more modular and efficient, and made some changes to the GUI too (stability warnings, etc).
The alias configuration section has not been redone yet, since I'm waiting to receive information from the Ndiswrapper mailing list about multiple device usage. So the alias configurator may also include creation of UDEV rules in the future (http://www.vectorlinux.com/forum2/index.php?topic=979.0)

Here is a screenshot:



I haven't added this update to the project page since its not finished yet and needs testing, so If you'd like to try it you can grab:

-The binary: http://clientes.netvisao.pt/alynnsut/ndisconfig
Put it in /usr/sbin (you need to be root to run it!)

-The source: http://clientes.netvisao.pt/alynnsut/ndisconfig-0.2-pre1.tar.gz

[easuter]

Well, I've uploaded version 0.2.0 the the project page:

http://code.google.com/p/ndisconfig/

Screenshots and new features are listed there. 
The interface is a little cleaner than before and so is the code.