Ath5k driver in Linux 3.2.0 not working.

prushik · 12-02-2011, 11:27 AM

My atheros wireless cards worked great until around the time I started using linux 3.x.x. I didn't notice exactly when because I was still at home and I use a wired connection there since I sit right next to my router. Now I am in Korea and not having wireless working is becoming an issue.
My machine detects the cards correctly and loads the proper drivers (ath, ath5k, mac80211), and NetworkManager seems to indicate that everything is OK, except it says wireless is disabled. Previously, I would just press Fn+F11 to turn them on, since around kernel version 3.0.0, pressing those keys has no effect, the light on the front of the machine stays dark and the cards stay disabled.
I know they worked with linux version 2.6.34. I tried installing compat-wireless drivers (from source), but that changed nothing, they load properly, but don't fix the problem.

Any ideas? Is there another driver that handles laptop hardware switches that I am missing or something?

here is my lspci info:

Code:

00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Graphics Port (rev 07)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
00:1a.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G98M [GeForce G 105M] (rev a1)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02)
07:00.0 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller
07:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technology Corp. Standard SD Host Controller
07:00.3 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. MS Host Controller

lsmod:

Code:

Module                  Size  Used by
ath5k                 135404  0 
ath                    14420  1 ath5k
mac80211              231266  1 ath5k
cfg80211              172606  3 ath5k,ath,mac80211
ipmi_msghandler        30146  0 
nvidia              11484421  32 
speedstep_lib           3455  0 
kvm_intel             120221  0 
parport_pc             25436  0 
ppdev                   5630  0 
nfsd                  247670  13 
exportfs                3450  1 nfsd
nfs                   288834  0 
lockd                  69313  2 nfsd,nfs
auth_rpcgss            39514  2 nfsd,nfs
nfs_acl                 2247  2 nfsd,nfs
sunrpc                189486  14 nfsd,nfs,lockd,auth_rpcgss,nfs_acl
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     22424  1 
snd_hda_codec_realtek   192608  1 
snd_hda_intel          22271  2 
snd_hda_codec          63851  3 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel
snd_pcm_oss            37240  0 
snd_mixer_oss          14628  1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm                71242  4 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy           1287  0 
snd_seq_oss            26560  0 
joydev                  9575  0 
snd_seq_midi            4720  0 
psmouse                52871  0 
snd_rawmidi            17989  1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event      5260  2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq                47426  6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_midi_event
snd_timer              18016  2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device          4889  5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq
video                  10871  0 
r8169                  46566  0 
intel_agp              10664  0 
lp                      8544  0 
serio_raw               4157  0 
intel_gtt              14313  1 intel_agp
parport                28079  3 parport_pc,ppdev,lp
mii                     3787  1 r8169
snd                    55086  16 snd_hda_codec_hdmi,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
sdhci_pci               9343  0 
sdhci                  20944  1 sdhci_pci
snd_page_alloc          6753  2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm

I have to recompile my nvidia driver every time I change kernels, so its not really practical for me back up my kernel version. Well, not "convenient" anyway.

Brains · 12-02-2011, 07:32 PM

This would probably be hardware related, not the ath5 module.

In the BIOS (settings) for my Dell XPS, I can change the way the wireless devices are controlled, the default that it is set with is using the FN/F2/app. Which is: The wireless devices can be turned on and off by an application such as Quickset or by using the <FN+F2> hotkey.

There are two other settings, one is off, the other is "application", which is through software like Quickset but not via the hotkeys.
I have not found any software for Linux equivalent to Quickset through Google.

So...check your BIOS, you may have the option to have the wireless devices on all the time.
Also, my laptop wireless devices stay up till I turn them off in the BIOS or by using the FN+F2 hotkeys, it don't matter how many times I reboot and which operating systems I bootup, the wireless cards stay up. If yours is similar, maybe a live Linux with older kernel will enable you to turn them on and off using the hotkeys. You may also just need to configure the hotkeys within the distribution where they don't work.

prushik · 12-02-2011, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brains

This would probably be hardware related, not the ath5 module.

In the BIOS (settings) for my Dell XPS, I can change the way the wireless devices are controlled, the default that it is set with is using the FN/F2/app. Which is: The wireless devices can be turned on and off by an application such as Quickset or by using the <FN+F2> hotkey.

There are two other settings, one is off, the other is "application", which is through software like Quickset but not via the hotkeys.
I have not found any software for Linux equivalent to Quickset through Google.

So...check your BIOS, you may have the option to have the wireless devices on all the time.
Also, my laptop wireless devices stay up till I turn them off in the BIOS or by using the FN+F2 hotkeys, it don't matter how many times I reboot and which operating systems I bootup, the wireless cards stay up. If yours is similar, maybe a live Linux with older kernel will enable you to turn them on and off using the hotkeys. You may also just need to configure the hotkeys within the distribution where they don't work.

I will check out my bios, this is a system 76 machine by the way, I didn't mention that before.
I know for a fact that switching it on in another OS won't work. I can boot into an older kernel and turn it on still, but as soon as I shut down and boot my newest kernel, its off again. I'll check my bios and let you know.

prushik · 12-02-2011, 10:53 PM

Ok, there was nothing about my wireless card in the BIOS. Not much in there really.
I read a few articles that said I could disable to hardware switch by putting some Kapton tape over pin 20 (or pin 13) on the card itself. Do you think this might help the problem?

Something software related is going on here because it works with older kernel and stopped later on.

prushik · 12-03-2011, 02:11 AM

Tape on pin 20, works like a charm. Now I just have to get DD-WRT on the router and my new home in Korea will have a better network than I had in the US.

And I think the only thing left to say is ... Boom.

prushik · 12-03-2011, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prushik

Tape on pin 20, works like a charm. Now I just have to get DD-WRT on the router and my new home in Korea will have a better network than I had in the US.

And I think the only thing left to say is ... Boom.

Even though I have it working now, I am not going to mark it as solved because I am still curious as to why the kernel change made this stop working.