Slackware 14.1 doesn't appear to detect the wifi card on my shiny new laptop - an Intel AC7265.

Web searching suggests I need a kernel version >=3.13.
Is there some way I can install support against the 3.10 kernel of slack 14.1, or do I have to move to -current?

(A similar problem with ethernet interface/controller was easily solved by building the module from the source on the intel site (a more recent version of e1000e.ko).
But my quick reading around the wifi modules left me confused: while the relevant module is iwlwifi there appear to be a separate bunch of firmware files too. Not sure where they come from!
Presumably I want iwlwifi-7265-xx.ucode, but does that also require a different version of iwlwifi? And do either of those really necessitate a new kernel?)

regards,
g.

You don't have move to -current to use a new kernel.

You can *try* the kernel directly from -current - use installpkg instead of upgradepkg to install the kernel and kernel-modules packages, create an initrd for it (if needed), create a lilo stanza for it, and see if it boots. It should (in which case you see if the wifi works), but if not, then no big deal. Install the kernel-source package from -current and go (re)build it yourself. Even if the stock -current kernel boots and works, you'll still want to rebuild it and the modules with 14.1's compiler, or else you won't be able to build any out-of-tree kernel modules. Of course, if that's not an issue, then you can keep using the stock -current kernel and modules.

If the kernel boots but wifi doesn't work, and you see log messages about missing firmware, then upgrade (yes, upgradepkg this time) the kernel-firmware package in -current and try again.

^ what Robby said. I use kernel 3.18.* and 4.1.* with iwlwifi and an Intel AC7260. Works great, once I disable power management.

There is some good info on docs.slackware.com about compiling a newer kernel on Slackware 14.1 - I would recommend any of the longterm versions from https://www.kernel.org/.

You can grab the .config from your currently running instance with;Or save that file as '.config' in the directory where you are going to compile your new kernel, such as /usr/src/linux-3.18.25/.config
When you run 'make oldconfig' from that directory, you will be prompted for any shiny new options/settings that are not in your old config.

Regarding the firmware, once you're on a kernel >=3.13, check the output of dmesg ... grep for any iwlwifi or firmware keywords. You can see if it's trying to load a firmware file, which one is missing, and which one it ends up using.

You can obtain the latest iwlwifi*.ucode file for the kernel version you intend to use from https://wireless.wiki.kernel.org/en/...rivers/iwlwifi
Extract the files, and place the iwlwifi*.ucode in to /lib/firmware/ - you can have multiple iwlwifi*.ucode files in there if needed.

This may not apply to you, but power management on my AC7260 causes the connection to 'pause' far too aggressively for my liking. To disable power management on the wifi card I use something like;

OK, so a new kernel is the way to go, plus relevant firmware for the device.
I'll give it a try at the next opportunity, a pre-built one first a la Robby's suggestion, then all being well I'll build a minimal one. 'make oldconfig' is good to know - I'd assumed I was going to have to trawl through all the options again, and I forget them in between very infrequent kernel builds

Thanks chaps.


Out of curiosity, how does the firmware change relate to requiring driver/module changes & kernel changes itself?
I'm /guessing/ that the firmware from intel involves an interface or functionality change that in turn requires a change in the driver module. And then either the driver in turn changed its interface to the kernel, or maybe it was just coincidence that 3.13 was the current kernel when intel released the firmware? But there seems to be some reference to a kernel map, which I think relates a hardware identifier to a required firmware etc. Hmmm.

g.

Check also out this recent thread:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...-a-4175562645/

Thanks all, rebuilding the -current kernel (4.1.15) on 14.1 and adding the kernel-firmware package pretty much worked.
X hasn't been entirely happy: a more recent xf86-video-intel got the HD5500 gpu to be used, but video rendering isn't working properly.
Not a huge problem for me and I'll probably wait until 14.2.

thanks again.
g.

Small plug for my kernel building script, usage instructions are at the top of it:

https://github.com/ryanpcmcquen/linu...re/kernelMe.sh