[SOLVED] Qualcomm Atheros AR5005GS on PowerSpec system

I have not pulled my wireless card to get the manufacturer but Windows XP Pro identifies it as a Qualcomm Atheros AR5005GS.

I just created a dual boot with XP Pro and Slackware 14.2.

The wireless is not working. I know from past experience with a Dell and a Broadcom card that sometimes Slackbuilds has a workaround available but I could not find one.

I am a relative newbie so tolerance would be appreciated.

Do I have to find a way to disable the firmware like I did on the Dell project (used b43-fwcutter) and then install the correct firmware in the Dell project that was b43-firmware (note I did not include the entire file names).

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Make sure the correct kernel module is loaded. (If you run

lspci -v

as root, you'll be able to see what kernel module should be loaded to make the device operational.)

I've read one person's account where he ended up using the windows XP driver in order to get any power out of the chip since the ath5k module did not work all that well. The article dated over 5 years ago, so maybe linux support is better now.

I ran iwconfig and no wireless is detected. I will try your suggestion.

Originally Posted by Richard Cranium Make sure the correct kernel module is loaded. (If you run lspci -v as root, you'll be able to see what kernel module should be loaded to make the device operational.) I've read one person's account where he ended up using the windows XP driver in order to get any power out of the chip since the ath5k module did not work all that well. The article dated over 5 years ago, so maybe linux support is better now.

After running the command the display showed:

Ethernet controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR5212/5213/2414 wireless network adapter (rev. 01)
Subsystem Qualcomm Atheros TRENDnet TEW-443PI wireless PCI adapter
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 168, IRQ 18, NUMA node 0
Kernal driver in use ath5k
Kernal driver modules: ath5k


Does this mean I have to load the ath5k or that it is loaded and not the proper module? The display does not reference an Atheros AR5005GS just the AR5212/5213/2414.

I would suggest that you check the logs (/var/log/syslog and /var/log/messages) for lines containing ath5k.

The line

Kernal driver in use ath5k

means that if you ran the command (as root)

lsmod | grep ath5k

it will return a match.

Are you using the huge kernel or the generic one?

I have a fresh install of Slackware 14.2 I accepted all the defaults until I got to the setup menu.

I have found some sites that offer downloads of ath5k drivers but am leery about trusting all I encounter via an internet search.

Anyway I will check the logs.

Thank you.

I'd use the Windows XP drivers only as a last resort.

If this is on a laptop, you may have to turn the wireless card on.

It is a desktop machine with an Intel D945GCNL motherboard

Checked the syslog file and there was no reference to ath5k

Checked messages and there were two lines referencing ath5k for each time I booted:

ath5k 0000:06:04.0: registered as 'phy0'

ath5k: phy0: Atheros AR2414 chip found (MAC: 0x79, PHY: 0x45)

lsmod | grep ath5k returned:

ath5k 130797 0
ath 18006 1 ath5k
mac 80211 549406 1 ath5k
cfg 80211 464211 3 ath,ath5k,mac80211

Not sure why the messages file displayed the card as Atheros AR2414 when it is an Atheros AR5005GS perhaps they contain the same chip.

I feel like an idiot. It was so blasted simple and I couldn't figure it out until a few minutes ago.

I went to the extra folder on my installation DVD and installed wicd problem solved.

As a precaution before rebooting I went into the /etc/rc.d/rc.inet1.conf as instructed in the readme file and removed the "yes" from DHCP (I think that how the line read).

I also ran chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.wicd

Not sure if all these steps were necessary but I now have wireless. It is not showing a connected in the monitor icon at the bottom of the screen, but the wicd icon is showing the connection strength.


Thank you for all your help Mr. Cranium sorry I wasted your time on something this simple. I am going to go kick myself now.

Don't beat yourself up.

BTW, you *should* be able to use /etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager instead of wicd. If you've gotten wicd to work for you, there's no reason to go back.

Originally Posted by Richard Cranium Don't beat yourself up. BTW, you *should* be able to use /etc/rc.d/rc.networkmanager instead of wicd. If you've gotten wicd to work for you, there's no reason to go back.

I guess I will have to do a little more studying.