Previously had no wireless on current Kubuntu (jaunty). Used madwifi prior to the Gustav power outage and never could get it back under feisty, gutsy or hardy. It had kept losing parts so it was a continuous maintenance problem. Today I installed ath5k. After rebooting, I found that the essid and key were no longer there (I had seen them under wicd earlier today.

Here is the listing of the hardware part of lsdw:

*-network:0
description: Wireless interface
product: AR2413 802.11bg NIC
vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
physical id: 5
bus info: pci@0000:00:05.0
logical name: wmaster0
version: 01
serial: 00:13:46:79:e9:9e
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list logical ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath5k latency=168 maxlatency=28 mingnt=10 module=ath5k multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
*-network:1 DISABLED
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 6
bus info: pci@0000:00:06.0
logical name: eth3
version: 10
serial: 00:1e:2a:47:98:a4
size: 10MB/s
capacity: 100MB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=8139too driverversion=0.9.28 duplex=half latency=32 link=no maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 module=8139too multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
*-network:2
description: Ethernet interface
product: 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado]
vendor: 3Com Corporation
physical id: a
bus info: pci@0000:00:0a.0
logical name: eth2
version: 6c
serial: 00:50:da:5b:84:97
size: 10MB/s
capacity: 100MB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=3c59x duplex=half ip=192.168.0.4 latency=32 link=yes maxlatency=10 mingnt=10 module=3c59x multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
*-network:3
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: b
bus info: pci@0000:00:0b.0
logical name: eth1
version: 10
serial: 00:11:09:c4:05:45
size: 10MB/s
capacity: 1GB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half latency=64 link=no maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 module=r8169 multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
*-network
description: Ethernet interface
physical id: 1
logical name: pan0
serial: a6:a2:f6:ee:6e:fe
capabilities: ethernet physical
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes

Question: Why does network:0 show up as wmaster0 and not wifi0? The linux-compat instructions say to disregard wmaster0; they plan to hide it in future releases.

lspci includes:
00.05.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413 802.11bg NIC rev01

iwconfig wlan0:
wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:"NETGEAR"
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=27 dBm
Retry min limit:7 RTS thrff Fragment thr=2352 B
Encryption key:BDD5-F101-9D7C-43A2-096F-9C38-10 Security modepen
Power Managementff
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

wicd scanned all nearby networks before ath5k but only sees the wired connection now.

try ifconfig and see if it shows wlan0 if not do

and see if ifconfig shows it after you do this!!! ifconfig with NO options shows all devices that are UP.

if it cumes UP do

and see if it shows your net.

After letting synaptic download and intla >200 updates (tde4 daemon and plasma failed to install) and rebooting, I no longer had wlan0. I found ath0 present again, as when using mabwifi. Both iwconfig list and wicd show my network and others (after I entered essid and key using iwconfig. But my wired connection doesn't work now.

My connection failed yesterday before I could include listings; I couln't get back on to LQ though I could get to some other sites. Heavy traffic?

Note that lshw shows wifi0, but iwconfig says only "no wireless extensions" for wifi0 but gives a full listing for ath0. Also, my wired connection is still out, after having been back for a couple of days.

The applicable part of lscpi:
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8385 [K8T800 AGP] Host Bridge (rev 01)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 PCI bridge [K8T800/K8T890 South]
00:05.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413 802.11bg NIC (rev 01)
00:06.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
00:08.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Rage XL (rev 27)
00:0a.0 Ethernet controller: 3Com Corporation 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado] (rev 6c)
00:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)
00:0f.0 RAID bus controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller (rev 80)
...

iwconfig ath0
ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"NETGEAR" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.457 GHz Access Point: 00:22:3F:4B:8F:6A
Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power:18 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
Retryff RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Encryption key:xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xx Security mode:restricted
Power Managementff
Link Quality=31/70 Signal level=-64 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:1267 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

lshw -c network
*-network:0
description: Wireless interface
product: AR2413 802.11bg NIC
vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
physical id: 5
bus info: pci@0000:00:05.0
logical name: wifi0
version: 01
serial: 00:13:46:79:e9:9e
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list logical ethernet physical wireless
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath_pci latency=168 maxlatency=28 mingnt=10 module=ath_pci multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11g
*-network:1
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: 6
bus info: pci@0000:00:06.0
logical name: eth3
version: 10
serial: 00:1e:2a:47:98:a4
size: 10MB/s
capacity: 100MB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=8139too driverversion=0.9.28 duplex=half latency=32 link=no maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 module=8139too multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
*-network:2
description: Ethernet interface
product: 3c905C-TX/TX-M [Tornado]
vendor: 3Com Corporation
physical id: a
bus info: pci@0000:00:0a.0
logical name: eth2
version: 6c
serial: 00:50:da:5b:84:97
size: 10MB/s
capacity: 100MB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=3c59x duplex=half latency=32 link=yes maxlatency=10 mingnt=10 module=3c59x multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
*-network:3
description: Ethernet interface
product: RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
physical id: b
bus info: pci@0000:00:0b.0
logical name: eth1
version: 10
serial: 00:11:09:c4:05:45
size: 10MB/s
capacity: 1GB/s
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=half latency=64 link=no maxlatency=64 mingnt=32 module=r8169 multicast=yes port=MII speed=10MB/s
*-network DISABLED
description: Ethernet interface
physical id: 1
logical name: pan0
serial: 9a:d3:b5:ce:cc:97
capabilities: ethernet physical
configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes

so your wirless is good now rite??

and you have 3 NIC's in your box??

ifconfig should show wats UP you may half to bring up the NIC's IE: eth1,2,or/and3 are you using all 3?? if ifconfig dosent show them do the line I posted ubuv replacing wlan0 with eth1 or eth2 or eth3 just the one you use!

Wireless has been down since Gustav (power out 8 days). The uriginal NIC (built into motherboard) (eth1) has been unreliable for several months. I replaced it with eth2, then after Gustav I got suspicious of eth2 so put in eth3. This morning I took out eth2 and, after running dhclient again, the wired connection is up.

I am showing iwconfig below. Wicd will now show ath0 as connected but the signal strength is shown at 37 to 50$, as opposed to 100% yesterday. But then how could a neighbor's network show up at 250% when it was below 50% yesterday? Also a closer one was showing up > 50% yest. and is about 11% today. If I try to connect wired through wicd, I can't but wireless stays up. If I take ath0 down, it comes back up when I try eth again.

Ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:”NETGEAR” N.....
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.457 GHz Access Point: 00:22:3F:40:8F:6A
bit Rate:6 Mb/s Tx-Power:18 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
Retryff RTS thrff Fragment thrff
Encryption kef:xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xx
Power Managementff
Link Quality=30/70 Signal level=-66 dBm Security mode:restricted
Rx invalid nwid:258 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frai:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

lo, eth3, eth1, wifi0, and pan0 all show “no wireless extensions”