Damn Small Linux (DSL) Forums

I tried dsl in acer aspire one, everything works except wlan (atheros  AR242X / AR542X).
I'm not a linux expert but I want it to work.
please tell me how I can do.

THANKS.

I take it you have tried the iwconfig GUI in the DSL menu under "Setup>Net Setup" and changed "device" from "eth0" to "ath0" before entering your network details. In that case, what error message did you get?

Many Atheros chipset devices are supported by drivers included in DSL, but if your one isn't detected, you may have to track down and configure another driver.

Error message from net setup>iwconfig = "connection failed"
Error message from control panel>wlanconfig= "no wireless network card found"

IWCONFIG SETUP
device       ath0        (also tray eth0)
channel    6
sid            wlan-ap   (name of my router)
wep          *******     (wep password)

This link:
http://linux-wless.passys.nl/query_chipset.php?chipset=Atheros
Lists a card with the ID AR242x, probably a similar card to the one in your laptop, as requiring the ath5k driver. This is an expansion of the MadWifi drivers that are included in DSL but there is no extension for ath5k in the DSL repository. In fact it might not even be compatible with the kernel version used in DSL (2.4.31).

However if it is, you will have to either copy the modules that make up the driver from the internet or other distributions making sure they are for the same kernel version, or compile the driver from the source code.

To confirm that the built in drivers aren't working, you can open a terminal and type "lsmod", if "ath_pci" isn't listed in the output, then the built-in MadWifi drivers haven't loaded.