From owner-freebsd-mobile@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Feb 8 05:38:56 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 55F751065672 for ; Wed, 8 Feb 2012 05:38:56 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from kob6558@gmail.com) Received: from mail-we0-f182.google.com (mail-we0-f182.google.com [74.125.82.182]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D9B2F8FC0C for ; Wed, 8 Feb 2012 05:38:55 +0000 (UTC) Received: by werm13 with SMTP id m13so181117wer.13 for ; Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:38:55 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=qABTcvRCjJh1LPsuGU7A64KI4FgURg0CxNVUR4Q1sT8=; b=jxfpcCHIZtP3fbT1Dm+arohaU3eVu+gQrD2hpdMIr7K9BoX2sziJdBowW1sq5x6VR6 0raQXYNZw5IAVA8QYTnk6kUgun9k8wTcjzv3BFKm1WMzImHpNktu5Kaf1NdctOvoug8D R1VA7JeZ8IoTk/K7dAkh54pKO2Oa9eAeMtnAk= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.180.100.234 with SMTP id fb10mr38338486wib.8.1328679534883; Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:38:54 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.223.158.143 with HTTP; Tue, 7 Feb 2012 21:38:54 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <79A59E77-5AD2-4F98-819F-2F39EFB458B2@mac.com> References: <79A59E77-5AD2-4F98-819F-2F39EFB458B2@mac.com> Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2012 21:38:54 -0800 Message-ID: From: Kevin Oberman To: Richard Morse Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Cc: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org Subject: Re: RealTek 8188CE NDIS panic X-BeenThere: freebsd-mobile@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Mobile computing with FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:38:56 -0000 On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 8:10 PM, Richard Morse wrote: > Hi! I'm trying to install FreeBSD on a Lenovo ThinkPad X120e. The wifi ca= rd is a RealTek 8188CE, which is not supported by any of the standard drive= rs. I have tried to use the `ndisgen` utility with the Windows XP driver fi= les, but whenever I try to `kldload` the generated .ko file, I get a kernel= panic. > > Does anyone have any suggestions for how I should proceed? I'd really lik= e to use FreeBSD for > this, rather than going over to a Linux variant, but I do need the WiFi t= o work... There are a few approaches you can take. 1. Wait an hope someone figures out how to get NDIS to work or writes a driver. Probably not a real viable approach for you unless you can pay someone, do it yourself, or someone else decided to do it now. 2. Replace the card with a supported card. I get a Lenovo labeled Intel Centrino Advance-N card at an exorbitant price, but it works with the iwn driver. I have seen the cards from Lenovo repair places at 100-150 USD while a standard card is about 20 USD. 3. Mod your system to accept a standard WiFi card by: a. Installing a patched BIOS (very risky) b. Get a supported card and re-write the PCIID with the Lenovo ID c. Get a supported card and install it in the other mini-PCIe slot (If you don't have a wireless modem in that slot) (Note, the wireless modem is a full height card and the wireless is half-height, so you will need to adapt it in some way. Adapters are available, but may raise the card too much to fit under the keyboard. I thought about fabbing my own, but I don't have access to the tools I'd need. --=20 R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer E-mail: kob6558@gmail.com