loadndisdriver

loadndisdriver driver.inf

driver.inf
    The path to the INF file for the Windows NDIS driver that you want to load.

The loadndisdriver command is used to load and run Windows NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) drivers in a Linux environment using the ndiswrapper module. This allows users to utilize Windows-specific network drivers on Linux, primarily for wireless network adapters that may not have native Linux drivers available.

It simplifies the process of installing NDIS drivers by automatically copying the necessary INF and SYS files to the appropriate location within the ndiswrapper file system, updating module dependencies, and loading the driver into the kernel. This enables the associated network interface to be configured and used as a regular Linux network interface. Proper execution of this command is contingent on having ndiswrapper module already installed in the system.

The success of this command depends on the compatibility of the NDIS driver with ndiswrapper and the Linux kernel. Not all Windows NDIS drivers will work correctly. ndiswrapper module must be properly installed and configured for loadndisdriver to work. Driver might be unstable or not offer same performance compared to native linux driver.

The typical usage involves providing the INF file path as an argument to loadndisdriver. For example: loadndisdriver path/to/driver.inf. This command should be executed with root privileges (using sudo, for example) to ensure the correct permissions for copying files and loading the kernel module.

If the command fails, check the output for error messages. Common issues include missing or incorrect INF files, driver incompatibility, or problems with the ndiswrapper installation. Use the ndiswrapper -l command to list installed drivers and check their status. Review system logs for related error messages.

ndiswrapper(8), ndiswrapper -i(8), ndiswrapper -l(8), ndiswrapper -m(8), ndiswrapper -r(8)