Ath5k/Slackware issues

mjjzf · 08-23-2008, 04:34 PM

Dear all,
I have an odd problem. I am not quite sure where to turn, but it seems that some of the most able network people are here to consult.
On the face of it, my network seems to be running smoothly using the
kernel ath5k driver compiled in.
Now, when I use it for a while, it suddenly seizes up, and the
connection closes - sort of. Data transmission stops. /me is
puzzled; I can't seem to find a trigger for this. Sometimes I get the impression that large (over 40MB) download files make it happen, but sometimes they go through without fail.
No network issues using Arch, which uses the Madwifi driver. Any pointers?
I see more complaints about Ath5k on Slackware, but I suspect that is because Slackers will usually build our own kernel, whereas most other distributions will use a prebuilt kernel with Madwifi. Still, it might be a Slackware thing.
What this means: I would also like feedback from others for whom Ath5k works flawlessly.

Bruce Hill · 08-24-2008, 01:52 AM

I tried Ath5k on a 2.6.26 kernel, iirc, and used rsync to test it.
It locked up my Slackware system, so I quit using it. Instead, I
build the madwifi drivers from svn.

mjjzf · 08-24-2008, 02:11 PM

Hmmm. Maybe I should just wait a couple of versions.

mjjzf · 08-24-2008, 02:21 PM

Dmesg says that I am getting a lot of:

Code:

wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_WEAK_CCK_THRESH default value [found=0x6 (6) expected=0x8 (8)].
              (unknown):0xa208:0x503e4646:.1.1.... ..11111. .1...11. .1...11.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCSIZE_DESIRED default value [found=0xc2 (-62) expected=0xde (-34)].
              (unknown):0x9850:0x0c28b0da:....11.. ..1.1... 1.11.... 11.11.1.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCCOARSE_LO default value [found=0xba (-70) expected=0xcc (-52)].
              (unknown):0x985c:0x313a5d5e:..11...1 ..111.1. .1.111.1 .1.1111.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCCOARSE_HI default value [found=0x74 (-12) expected=0x6e (-18)].
              (unknown):0x985c:0x313a5d5e:..11...1 ..111.1. .1.111.1 .1.1111.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_SIG_FIRPWR default value [found=0xb0 (-80) expected=0xba (-70)].
              (unknown):0x9858:0x7ec00d2e:.111111. 11...... ....11.1 ..1.111.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_WEAK_CCK_THRESH default value [found=0x6 (6) expected=0x8 (8)].
              (unknown):0xa208:0x503e4646:.1.1.... ..11111. .1...11. .1...11.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCSIZE_DESIRED default value [found=0xc2 (-62) expected=0xde (-34)].
              (unknown):0x9850:0x0c28b0e0:....11.. ..1.1... 1.11.... 111.....:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCCOARSE_LO default value [found=0xba (-70) expected=0xcc (-52)].
              (unknown):0x985c:0x31375d5e:..11...1 ..11.111 .1.111.1 .1.1111.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_SIG_FIRPWR default value [found=0xa0 (-96) expected=0xba (-70)].
              (unknown):0x9858:0x7e800d2e:.111111. 1....... ....11.1 ..1.111.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_WEAK_CCK_THRESH default value [found=0x6 (6) expected=0x8 (8)].
              (unknown):0xa208:0x503e4646:.1.1.... ..11111. .1...11. .1...11.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCSIZE_DESIRED default value [found=0xc2 (-62) expected=0xde (-34)].
              (unknown):0x9850:0x0c28b0e0:....11.. ..1.1... 1.11.... 111.....:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCCOARSE_LO default value [found=0xba (-70) expected=0xcc (-52)].
              (unknown):0x985c:0x31375d5e:..11...1 ..11.111 .1.111.1 .1.1111.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_SIG_FIRPWR default value [found=0xa0 (-96) expected=0xba (-70)].
              (unknown):0x9858:0x7e800d2e:.111111. 1....... ....11.1 ..1.111.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_WEAK_CCK_THRESH default value [found=0x6 (6) expected=0x8 (8)].
              (unknown):0xa208:0x503e4646:.1.1.... ..11111. .1...11. .1...11.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCSIZE_DESIRED default value [found=0xc2 (-62) expected=0xde (-34)].
              (unknown):0x9850:0x0c28b0e0:....11.. ..1.1... 1.11.... 111.....:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCCOARSE_LO default value [found=0xba (-70) expected=0xcc (-52)].
              (unknown):0x985c:0x31375d5e:..11...1 ..11.111 .1.111.1 .1.1111.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_SIG_FIRPWR default value [found=0xa0 (-96) expected=0xba (-70)].
              (unknown):0x9858:0x7e800d2e:.111111. 1....... ....11.1 ..1.111.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_WEAK_CCK_THRESH default value [found=0x6 (6) expected=0x8 (8)].
              (unknown):0xa208:0x503e4646:.1.1.... ..11111. .1...11. .1...11.:unknown
wifi0: FAILED verification of AR5K_PHY_AGCSIZE_DESIRED default value [found=0xc2 (-62) expected=0xde (-34)].
              (unknown):0x9850:0x0c28b0da:....11.. ..1.1... 1.11.... 11.11.1.:unknown

ledow · 08-27-2008, 02:32 AM

Dunno what those errors mean but why chase it - you are getting errors about ath5k and yet madwifi works for several people, including other distros. I thought that ath5k was still in the experimental stage and only works with certain hardware anyway at the moment... I know my chipset isn't supported yet, but works fine under madwifi.

Just looking at:

http://madwifi.org/wiki/About/ath5k/Status/MacFunctions
http://madwifi.org/wiki/About/ath5k/Status/PhyFunctions

shows that there's some way to go before you can expect it to "just work" for all the supported chipsets (assuming, of course, that you have a chipset that it supported at all yet).

Basically - it's not finished yet, so it's not surprising at all. Wait or use madwifi in the mean time - yeah, it'll taint your kernel but that's only a problem if you're intending to hack on the kernel anyway and post your bugs - even then, you just reboot without the module.

mjjzf · 12-15-2008, 03:40 PM

It seems we are a step further. Now, Ath5k actually works rather well - but craps up with WPA.