AR9485 wireless does not work
 

I have a problem with my wireless on a new laptop. lspci says that a wireless card is present

02:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

In dmesg I see the following:

[ 4.601265] ath9k 0000:02:00.0: can't find IRQ for PCI INT A; probably buggy MP table
[ 4.601284] ath9k 0000:02:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[ 4.601502] ath9k 0000:02:00.0: request_irq failed
[ 4.601660] ath9k: probe of 0000:02:00.0 failed with error -16

After that, the module ath9k is present in lsmod, but there is no wireless interface in ifconfig, and the output of rfkill is empty. How do I get my wireless work?

$ uname -a
Linux asusclient 3.2.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.2.60-1+deb7u3 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Same problem here on Asus X200MA
 

Hi,

I just installed Debian 7.6 on my new ASUS X200MA-CT016H and I ran in exactly the same issue: same AR9485 controller, same error messages, no wi-fi.

$> uname -a
Linux Tournesol 3.2.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.2.57-3 x86_64 GNU/Linux

This error comes from the kernel's irq handler. software/kernel may be a better place to ask.

It means that the kernel can't find an irq free to assign to this device's interrupt pin. If MP table means what it used to, multiprocessor table, then it's technology that acpi replaced, and acpi has been replaced for most kernels. I suspect the error hasn't been updated. The first PC had only 8 interrupts; people sometimes had more than 8 devices that used interrupts. Now computers have many more, and no shortage.

what does return?

Doesn't say much but this is all I could find:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/41986...n-ubuntu-13-10

Problems stacking up...
 

Hi,

@ReaperX7 Thanks for the url. I’m not sure the problem is the same, since myAtheros AR9485 device never worked. I’ve seen a few other identical cases on the web, all with Asus X200MA 11.6" ultrabook (fairly common these days at least in Europe) and Debian.

@RandomTroll Everything looked normal (lspci OK and ath9k module properly loaded after request_irq failed). I can’t check it anymore though since the dual boot got washed up after I made a complete reinstall with net access using a working USB WiFi key. After that the Debian installer identified my other OS (Windows 8.1) as 2 Vista instances and I ran into terrible UEFI/grub issues (GRUB: “invalid arch independent ELF magic”). I downloaded the live CD image to try to fix it along the lines of http://askubuntu.com/questions/72003...lf-magic-error and well such a drag just to get my keyboard layout, and grub-install command not found, etc, etc.. I’ve not been able to boot into the installed Debian 7.6 using the live/install CD/flashdrive like it once was possible.

I’ve been dual booting Windows/Linux for 15 years (I must still use a couple of Windows only apps for my job) but now with UEFI it’s getting too much of a hassle, I just have no time for that game. I might end up using the new laptop for Windows and the old one for Linux, though such an arrangement is not ideally convenient.


Cheers, and thanks again for your help,


Alexandre

What kernel version are you using?

Hello,

$> uname -a
Linux Tournesol 3.2.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.2.57-3 x86_64 GNU/Linux

System rescue on Debian is a nightmare
 

I am trying to rescue my system with the rescue mode of the Debian 7.6 install disk (the live CD is no better and does not start X anyway). I chose the option to enter a shell from within the install environment, with my installed (not booting) Debian root mounted on /target

Now let’s have a glance at the wonders of ergonomy I am enjoying while doing this:
1. I can’t set my French keyboard layout ("loadkeys fr" does not work and I can’t find any fr keymap file). So I have to type virtually all the keys (including +shift and +altgrey) to find the necessary symbols like / $ * - { } (not speaking about the displaced letters).
2. The command history does not work (key up to edit/redo command). A previous command might be displayed but trying to edit it gives a terrible mess. So I have to retype each time a command fails and re-enjoy point 1.
3. The paths used in the grub-install script are hard-coded (i.e. /usr/sbin/grub-setup). So I may well set PATH=${PATH}:/target/usr/sbin, grub-install is then found but grub-setup is not.
4. My laptop does not have the page-up/page-down keys, and Fn+arrow does not work, so I have to pipe to more every command with a lengthy output, but I don’t know if more will work since I still haven’t found the | key on the US keyboard.

Again, this is a very popular laptop. Ain’t it strange that not so many people are using Linux?


Cheers,


Alexandre

Some hints
 

Hello again,

I now have a working dual boot. In case more people run into the same issues, here are some guidelines I can provide for ASUS X200MA laptops (at least X200MA-CT016H)

1. Disable Fast boot and Secure boot in the UEFI bios (F2 upon startup, with administrator rights)
2. If you can’t manage to boot from your USB stick, try CSM (legacy mode) once or twice in order to oil the thing ;-) but DO NOT INSTALL UNDER CSM as Debian is UEFI compatible: ensure you are in UEFI mode before installing. You should have an UEFI partition.

See http://superuser.com/questions/71485...-debian-jessie for more details

To avoid unwanted Windows booting when the dual boot works, you should disable the Windows boot manager entry in the UEFI bios (you will boot Windows from Grub). Also it helps to set a boot password in bios to get more control.

Hope this helps,

Alexandre