I wanted to run KNOPPIX, which is a Linux distro that runs from CD.

Normally I run Windows XP on my laptop but I wanted to be able to boot into Linux, without partitioning up my harddrive, for an extra layer of security when connecting to a public wireless network. At home I have an older Linksys wireless router and I am running WAP encryption. The wireless card in my laptop is a Dell 1370 WLAN card, under XP no problem, I set up my passphrase and SSID and it connects and off I go.

With KNOPPIX I had to do a little work.

I booted up into KNOPPIX from the CD.

I had to configure ndiswrapper to load the drivers for the WLAN card. The driver .inf files were already on my harddrive. I mounted my harddrive to /mnt/sda2 and ran the KNOPPIX Menu->Network/Internet->ndiswrapper utility GUI. Browsed to the directory the driver .inf file was located in, selected it and let the ndiswrapper think about it for a minute. Once it is done a message is displayed letting you know the driver has been loaded and you have to configure the card.

I am using WAP for the encryption on my home network so I have to configure my SSID and passphrase. To do this run:
wpa_passphrase [ssid] [passphrase] > /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

This creates your preshared key for the SSID.

Then run:
wpa_supplicant -i [wlan interface] -D ndiswrapper -B

If you run wpa_supplicant with a -d option instead of the -B option you will see the debug information. The -B option causes wpa_supplicant to run as a daemon.

Verify that the wireless connection is up by running:
iwconfig [wlan interface]

If all is well and you are connected to the ESSID you want you then have to get the interface to broadcast for DHCP. Just run:
pump -i [wlan interface]

I then save my KNOPPIX configuration to a thumb drive and the next time I boot into KNOPPIX I use knoppix myconfig=/mnt/sdb1 this brings in the config changes I made and away I go.

If you are connecting to a wireless network without any encryption (like in most hotels and other public access points) it is pretty simple you just have to set up the driver using ndiswrapper and pump the interface. You will not need to run wpa_supplicant.