Fedora has a way to keep software updated without having to compile. It uses an rpm file, which apparently stands for Redhat Package Manager. This file is a precompiled binary blob which can be installed on a system with rpm (the application) installed on it.
The major problem that occurred with rpm was that there were often dependencies (for example, an application would require a library to run) that the user then had to go searching around for.
In response to that, an extra layer was added, and a network application was created that would go get rpms, resolve dependencies, and install everything necessary. Yum was born. Debian has much the same with it's apt-get system, and I believe apt-get can be used on Fedora today as well (it was for a while a major competitor to yum). Where does all of the software that is installed come from? Well, the open source community has repositories of rpm files that yum checks to get what it needs. So, for example, if I want to install gramps (some geneology software), I can just type "yum install gramps" and yum will happily go and install what it needs to make things work.
There are still hiccups in this process (yum searching sucks, the GUI tools aren't great yet, yum can flake out occasionally), but for the most part it works. Except....sometimes there are apps that don't work correctly out of the repos. On my laptop, I had to install ndiswrapper to get wireless network running. Once I had it going, everything was fine.
Well, recently, a new kernel version came out, 2.6.20. I updated my laptop, and all hell broke loose. I started getting weird errors at boot where the kernel was complaining about microcode on my wireless card. So, it looks like something changed with the wireless in the 2.6.20 kernel they released.
Now, I've learned to check boards to see what's going on, but many times, unless someone has the same hardware as I do, it can be tricky. After a few hours of searching, I found that there may be an issue. At midnight, though, I wasn't in the mood to chase down the fix, and I'd figure I'd just roll back to 2.6.19. However, the new ndiswrapper version that was installed had uninstalled the version that worked with 2.6.19, and I've never learned how to use yum to roll back. (As an aside, this case is one of my MAJOR complaints about oss...the answers are there, but WHERE do you look for them? Which forum/list do I check? Fedora? Kernel? Ndiswrapper? The repos? Who's domain is this problem in?)
But then, I had the fun...I had done this before, but I didn't document it. I didn't save any links, and I couldn't remember how I had done it. Thus, the major reason for starting this blog was brought to bear. I don't want to fix something to have it break 6 months later, only to not remember how I fixed it in the first place.
A reinstall of ndiswrapper and a following of their docs later, and I seemed to have things going. The *only* hiccup was that despite everything seemingly being installed correctly, the network card didn't wake up until I did an iwspy. I don't know why that is. After doing that, it worked, but also NetworkManager seemingly woke up.
I still have issues with connecting to a network other than my own, but at least **my** wireless is working. Oh well, more searching, I guess.
Posted by flynn at April 9, 2007 3:13 PM