This is the procedure for enable the wireless access for a Compaq Presario V2617LA running Fedora 8

All the following steps must be executed as root

Open a terminal
Install ndiswrapper. This will install the Kernel module as well (kmod-ndiswrapper)
```
yum -y install ndiswrapper
```
Download/get the driver. In this case I'm using the one provided by HP, which comes in an .exe, use wine to decompress it
```
 
wget ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp33501-34000/sp33636.exe
```
Unpack the driver. If you have a .zip or similar use unzip
```
wine sp33636.exe
```
The driver should be located in:
```
/root/.wine/drive_c/SWSetup/SP33636A/
```

Install the driver. Look for the .inf file

 
ndiswrapper -i /root/.wine/drive_c/SWSetup/SP33636A/w29n51.inf

Verify that the driver is correctly loaded

 
ndiswrapper -l

Something like this should appears

bcmwl5 : driver installed
        device (14E4:4318) present (alternate driver: ssb)

Load the ndiswrapper module
```
 
modprobe ndiswrapper
```
Check for errors
```
dmesg | grep ndiswrapper
```
To ensure the automatic load of the drivers
```
 
ndiswrapper -m
```
Check the module in /etc/modprobe.conf, something like this should appears, if it's not add it
```
 
alias wlan0 ndiswrapper
```
Reboot! Remember to turn on the wifi. Network Manager should now be fully functional