[SOLVED] Can't configure wireless card Atheros on Acer Aspire 5750G

usr345 · 01-06-2012, 03:43 PM

I am using Linux Slackware. Downloaded and installed the new kernel: 3.1.6. Checked, that the appropriate drivers are compiled.

Quote:

#lspci
...
03:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9287 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)

So, the device is there. I loaded the module ath9k, that must support my card:

http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k

Quote:

# lsmod | grep ath
ath9k 70605 0
mac80211 197073 1 ath9k
ath9k_common 1350 1 ath9k
ath9k_hw 297231 2 ath9k,ath9k_common
ath 11953 2 ath9k,ath9k_hw
cfg80211 139926 3 ath9k,mac80211,ath

But still, I don't see anything in the interfaces list:

Quote:

# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

eth0 works fine: I am writing this message, using this connection.

What should I do? Under Win 7 the device works.

camorri · 01-06-2012, 06:35 PM

Go here -->http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/...ckware:network

These are the best set of instructions I have found. They worked for me. The file

Quote:

/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf

needs to be edited. There is an entire section on wireless. Follow the examples, you should have success.

usr345 · 01-06-2012, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Follow the examples, you should have success.

I tried, no success. The wlan0 interface doesn't appear when I start the driver. So, I suspect, it's the driver problem.

How to debug it? Cause I don't get any errors.

My card is supported. And the kernel automatically loads the modules for the supported devices. But for this card it didn't.

camorri · 01-07-2012, 08:54 AM

Post the contents of your rc.inet1.conf file.

usr345 · 01-07-2012, 09:28 AM

I was right - it was a kernel module problem. The solution is given in the last post here:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ar9287-918831/

But the guy, who wrote it, didn't follow the ergonomic rules and I missed his solution, when read it for the first time. So I am duplicating the solution more ergonomically.

To solve the problem in make menuconfig enable Atheros ath9k PCI/PCIe bus support:

Quote:

-> Device Drivers
-> Network device support (NETDEVICES [=y])
-> Wireless LAN (WLAN [=y])
-> Atheros Wireless Cards (ATH_COMMON [=y])
-> Atheros 802.11n wireless cards support (ATH9K [=y])
-> Atheros ath9k PCI/PCIe bus support. ATH9K_PCI [=y]

Then rebuild the kernel modules.

Quote:

Post the contents of your rc.inet1.conf file.

After some struggling with the configs I enabled the network and it works. But I can't use DHCP. In Win 7 it works. I don't know, what to write in

DHCP_HOSTNAME

in rc.inet1.conf. Cause I don't have any hostname for the router. I tried DHCP_IPADDR, but no luck.

camorri · 01-07-2012, 10:02 AM

Quote:

DHCP_HOSTNAME[0]="mybox" # Tell the DHCP server what hostname to register

Looks like this parameter is your systems Hostname.

usr345 · 01-07-2012, 05:15 PM

I made it last. Posting my errors: I entered the string of the pass instead of the hex value into /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf

That's why I couldn't connect. Check wi-fi router for hex or string. Usually, it's hex. Here are my working configs:

Quote:

IFNAME[4]="wlan0"
IPADDR[4]="4"
NETMASK[4]=""
USE_DHCP[4]="yes"
DHCP_HOSTNAME[4]="asus"
WLAN_ESSID[4]="#60"
WLAN_MODE[4]=Managed
WLAN_KEY[4]="7b1ce52e3gjk35fghj67467je727ab945sbe992912"
WLAN_WPA[4]="wpa_supplicant"
WLAN_WPADRIVER[4]="wext"

camorri · 01-07-2012, 06:37 PM

You might want to edit the post and xxxx out your wan key; jsut in case...

Other than that, great, glad you got it going.

usr345 · 01-07-2012, 07:40 PM

Quote:

You might want to edit the post and xxxx out your wan key; jsut in case

I changed it to crap. But I needed to tell, that it's not the pass itself, but the hexadecimal representation of the pass.