Install wireless card on Ubuntu

Question

Disclaimer: I am a complete Ubuntu noob, so there is probably something simple I am overlooking, but I can't figure it out.

I have a brand new install of Ubuntu 9.10. Where I live the ONLY internet access is wireless. (I am using a different computer to type this.) I have an Encore Electronics wireless card, ENLWI-G2. I found my way here:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported

... which led me to here: http://linux-wless.passys.nl/

.. which led to me to here: http://linux-wless.passys.nl/query_part.php?brandname=Encore

... which says that my card will work with Linux. (Yea!)

I downloaded the driver from here.

And now I'm not sure what to do. I saved the file to my Ubuntu machine and extracted the files to my desktop. Then I read the ReadMe, which says to run some commands like "make" and "make install", etc. When I do that, however, I get errors. For example, when running "make" it says,

error: 'struct_net_device' has no member named 'hard_start_xmit'

...among other things.

What do I do?

EDIT: here is the output of the make command, if that is of any help:

mateer@mateer-desktop:~/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release$ make
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.31-14-generic'
  CC [M]  /home/mateer/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release/ieee80211/ieee80211_softmac.o
  CC [M]  /home/mateer/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release/ieee80211/ieee80211_rx.o
  CC [M]  /home/mateer/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release/ieee80211/ieee80211_tx.o
  CC [M]  /home/mateer/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release/ieee80211/ieee80211_wx.o
  CC [M]  /home/mateer/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release/ieee80211/ieee80211_module.o
/home/mateer/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release/ieee80211/ieee80211_module.c: In function ‘alloc_ieee80211_rtl’:
/home/mateer/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release/ieee80211/ieee80211_module.c:123: error: ‘struct net_device’ has no member named ‘hard_start_xmit’
make[2]: *** [/home/mateer/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release/ieee80211/ieee80211_module.o] Error 1
make[1]: *** [_module_/home/mateer/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release/ieee80211] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.31-14-generic'
make: *** [all] Error 2
mateer@mateer-desktop:~/Desktop/rtl8185_linux_26.1030.0625.2009.release$

Answer 1

Looks like the kernel interface has changed in 2.6.31 (see this related issue reported for Virtual Box), this means the driver won't compile with the standard kernel in 9.10. You have a number of options:

1. You can try installing an older kernel and then compiling against that. The disadvantage here is you can't be sure if it won't break anything else.
2. You can wait for Realtek to upgrade their drivers for 2.6.31 compatibility, (or try to find a patch for the driver).
3. Try using the Windows driver with NDIS wrapper instead.