Atheros AR5BXB63 on Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 with madwifi
Hi again!
I finally got time to upgrade my personal laptop (Acer 3050 series) to Ubuntu Hardy (was Edgy). On Edgy I was using ndiswrapper in union with Atheros AR5BXB63 Windows XP driver in order to get wi-fi working.
Now, on Ubuntu Hardy, I've found a way to get it running using madwifi! By default, Ubuntu Hardy recognizes the wi-fi card but it doesn't get it working, so we need to compile and install a modified madwifi snapshot containing AR5007 models support.
Procedures are below:
I finally got time to upgrade my personal laptop (Acer 3050 series) to Ubuntu Hardy (was Edgy). On Edgy I was using ndiswrapper in union with Atheros AR5BXB63 Windows XP driver in order to get wi-fi working.
Now, on Ubuntu Hardy, I've found a way to get it running using madwifi! By default, Ubuntu Hardy recognizes the wi-fi card but it doesn't get it working, so we need to compile and install a modified madwifi snapshot containing AR5007 models support.
Procedures are below:
1. Go to System > Administration > Hardware Drivers
2. Disable the following options:
- Atheros Hardware Access Layer (HAL)
- Support for Atheros 802.11 wireless LAN cards.
4. After reboot, open a terminal and issue the following:
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential5. Done! If everything went well, your wi-fi is ready to use! In order to verify it, you can issue the following:
$ wget http://snapshots.madwifi.org/special/madwifi-ng-r3366+ar5007.tar.gz
$ tar xfz madwifi-ng-r3366+ar5007.tar.gz
$ cd madwifi-ng-r2756+ar5007
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo modprobe ath_pci
Update: For updated releases please visit http://snapshots.madwifi.org/special
$ ifconfig wifi0See you on next tutorial! Thanks to UbuntuGeek for helping me out with this!
wifi0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-19-7E-3F-59-55-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:12151 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:1786
TX packets:2676 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:199
RX bytes:3036377 (2.8 MB) TX bytes:407225 (397.6 KB)
Interrupt:18
21 comments:
I'm running Hardy on my LG E510 and the wifi didn't work. But your solution was easy and workt. !!Thanks!!
Thanks :) Additionally, you can put it inside your /etc/modules file so everytime you boot up your laptop it will automatically call the ath_pci module!
As root:
$ echo ath_pci >> /etc/modules
[]s!
Hi Bruno
I tried your solution and everything looked just the way you posted it here. My wireless signal strength indicator showed up giving me 100 %. So I thought everything is fine. All I have to do is to assign an IP adress and the default gateway to get things going. But that's exactly when things started to become strange. Whenever I chose static IP and assign an IP address (within the allowed range of course) and enter the default gateway my signal bar disappears and I can't browse the internet. I checked my DNS servers and everything is fine. I checked my wired ethernet connection and it works fine. So I don't know why this doesn't work. When I chose "enable roaming" and save settings the signal bar appears again. And even then I can't browse the net. Can you help me?
I am using the exact chipset on an Acer extensa 5220.
Thanks
Looks like this only works for 32bit systems. The same procedure applied on x86_64 (on a few different distros) isn't successful.
Not for 32bit only. Works on Kubuntu 7.04 x86_64 on ASUS X51RL. I used http://snapshots.madwifi.org/special/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3698-20080604.tar.gz
Thanks for your efforts Bruno. I was really happy with the solution and then I ran Ubuntu's latest update. I installed your solution on version 2.6.24.18 and it worked. Now I have version 2.6.24.19 and I can't get it to work. I have gone thru and executed all of your instructions over again and I cannot connect to the same router where I was connected for the update from 2.6.24.18 to 2.6.24.19 Do you have any suggestions for how to get my wireless back?
Again thanks for the help. I don't know why but my wifi is now working after updatind to 2.6.24.19. It must be magic!
Anyone know if this fix can be done while running a liveCD of 8.04?
Thanks Bruno for the great tip on what is proving to be a troublesome wi-fi chipset for many linux users.
VM
Hi Bruno, i tried and failed, hope you can help a newbee. I'm so happy to be rid of microsoft vista just need the wifi. OK i have the Atheros AR5BXB63 on my Acer Aspire 3684. I disabled the two check boxes HAl and Support, rebooted then ran the code via the terminal. but the network does not see my wifi . I notice on madwifi it mentions the r2756 + patch? The patch is madwifi-ng-0933.ar2425.20071130.i386 should i use this?
Cheers
Rob
Hi all,
Sorry for being off from blog for some time now! I have read all your comments and I have a few things to say:
1. Yes, this patch works with latest ubuntu kernel (2.6.24.19). Try recompiling the package (make clean, make, sudo make install, etc) and see what happens :)
2. If you're having problems with this patch, try using a newer one (from snapshots.madwifi.or) r3366+ar5007:
http://snapshots.madwifi.org/special/madwifi-nr-r3366+ar5007.tar.gz
[]s!
I followed your steps along with some from madwifi to remove the old modules, worked on the first try.. Thanks alot!
they took the link down and sent me to another corner of madwifi. what a run-around. why did'nt canonical just test the bloody wifi before they shipped ? its like win95 all over again. and i been on linux since redhat 5.1 .. crikey.
Good Job! :)
The link madwifi-ng-r2756+ar5007.tar.gz is dead and obsolete so you have to change with: madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3835-20080801.tar.gz
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential
$ wget http://snapshots.madwifi.org/special/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3835-20080801.tar.gz
$ tar xfz madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3835-20080801.tar.gz
$ cd madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3835-20080801
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo modprobe ath_pci
the make clean command cleared things up for me! thanks a bunch as wireless is vital!!!
I have this chipset on an Acer Extensa 5620z, using Ubuntu 8.04, 2.6.24-19-generic kernel and used your solution.
I can connect to WPA networks but can't get into WPA2 networks.
Anyone can offer a clue?
Thanks
"I have this chipset on an Acer Extensa 5620z, using Ubuntu 8.04, 2.6.24-19-generic kernel and used your solution.
I can connect to WPA networks but can't get into WPA2 networks.
Anyone can offer a clue?"
Jap I can probly ur using nm-applet which sucks witsome wifi questions like static ips n stuff ... try wicd.sourceforge.net
I have the same notebook+kernel and for me its not working o0 ?! i compilled on a newly installed system and when i try to load i only get
"# modprobe ath_pci
FATAL: Error inserting ath_pci (/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/net/ath_pci.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
"
hm ok modprobe works now but i still dont get a wifi connection...
ifconfig shwos somthing similar like urs at wifi0
but iwconfig just prompts wifi0 no wireless extensions.
but for ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:0 kb/s Tx-Power:17 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=0/70 Signal level=-96 dBm Noise level=-96 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
??!
Thanks Bruno worked perfectly. I very much appreciate your post. I am a newbie and no wifi has been driving me crazy!!
I have the Atheros: AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter running on an Acer Aspire 5315 and Hardy - everything works just fine now :)
*just a note for some who are still trying to get wifi up ..
1. in system/admin/hardware drivers, make sure that both Atheros Hardware Access Layer (HAL) and Support for Atheros 802.11 wireless LAN cards are unticked and "not in use" (which will require a reboot) then after reboot check that they are still unchecked and "not in use"
In my case I had to enable/disable a couple of times to get this right - both entries needed to have "this will require a computer restart" written alongside each of them before the reboot and unticked "not in use" after reboot. By the way after a successful install and wifi running properly, these show unticked but "in use" on my machine.
Importantly, as one reply post has already suggested - the driver in Brunos script is dead and you must use madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3861-20080903 ..
ie wget http://snapshots.madwifi.org/special/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3861-20080903
tar xfz madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3861-20080903
cd madwifi-madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3861-20080903
then the normal make and install ie
make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe ath_pci (this loads driver)
If like me you have had numerous attempts at getting wifi to work it may pay to "make clean" before the make command to ensure you are starting with a clean slate.
What is important assuming: $ ifconfig wifi0 now displays something like this:
wifi0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-19-7E-3F-59-55-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:12151 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:1786
TX packets:2676 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:199
RX bytes:3036377 (2.8 MB) TX bytes:407225 (397.6 KB)
Interrupt:18
is to setup 'properties' in network manager eg WPA and password - in my case I couldn't get WPA2 to work so used WPA and password (make sure your modem has the same settings)
You also need to load from applications/internet "network selector" .. this will put a small square icon in the top right task bar.
When you select the dropdown menu from this square icon, you see the networks available - click eg 'wireless ath0' and wait a couple of seconds for an orange bar to appear indicating you are connected to your modem/router.
And use Brunos code to install driver automatically on reboot ie As root:
$ echo ath_pci >> /etc/modules
*I needed to use synaptic to install network selector by the way.
Hope this helps someone with hardy wifi craziness!
Muitissimo obrigado! I didn't realize the latest madwifi atheros implementation supported my card on the Aspire 5520-5912. I will link your blog on the Ubuntu Forums where there is a discussion on the Aspire laptops. Atê mais.
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