iB::Topic::Device ath0 (atheros wireless)

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Topic: Device ath0 (atheros wireless), How does DSL recognize this device?

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pharina

Group: Members
Posts: 3
Joined: April 2005

Posted: April 05 2005,18:22

So I've got this pretty beefy laptop (compaq/HP nw8000), and it's got wireless built into it. When DSL comes up and I execute iwconfig, ath0 is a device which shows up as 802.11 (but it's not configured yet) Super!!

Then I go through the ndiswrapper dialog and configure it up and all is good, and I can network wirelessly!!! FANTASTIC!!!!

But I really want to run Knoppix on my laptop, and keep DSL on my other 200Mhz type PC's (I've got 4 of those). And Knoppix does not recognize this ath0 device, and I cannot get it configured at all.

So what I really want to know is what DSL is doing the RIGHT way, so that I can then duplicate this on Knoppix?

What part of DSL is recognizing this ath0 device, and then when I figure that out......I'll add it to knoppix. Can someone provide me with a general direction and then I'll take it from there.

DSL running on 4 older PC's, one new laptop running Knoppix, and one wireless router......pretty nice home network!! If I could just get wireless working on Knoppix!!!!!

BTW, DSL rules!!

pharina

pharina

Group: Members
Posts: 3
Joined: April 2005

Posted: April 08 2005,21:01

Nothing like answering your own question. Hope this will help somebody out.

One thing I alluded to in my original post was that once DSL booted up, and I saw ath0 in the iwconfig command......then I would execute the ndiswrapper to bring it up.

I discovered that I don't need the ndiswrapper stuff at all (Duhhhhh!). It works natively: it's just a matter of configuring it properly:

iwconfig ath0 essid <whatever> enc <whatever>
ifconfig ath0 up
pump -i ath0

And it works!!

I found an answer to my problem on the knoppix board:

Post #1:

up to Knoppix 3.7 (runnning Kernel 2.4) the madwifi drivers were included and so my atheros based WLAN card was fully functional without problems.

Now we have Knoppix 3.8 and the card does not work any longer. Is there a different driver now for Kernel 2.6?

What do I have to do to get my card running again?

Post #2:

Funny you should mention that - I just started running 3.8 CeBit and have the same problem. 3.8 doesn't recognize my card (wlcardconfig) says that there's no wireless card ... now I'm booting off of the 3.7 CD to surf the net again - still trying to figure out the answer.

Post #3: (the real answer)

well, it appears that there are none of the madwifi drivers in the 3.8 /lib/modules/2.6.9/net
directory, specifically, ath.hal.o, ath_pci.o, and wlan.o

Looking in the 3.7 /lib/modules/2.4.27/net directory, you find those files as above (which, I believe that insmod loads upon boot of my 3.7)

So the next question is whether one should be able to remedy the problem by installing madwifi. Any takers out there?

So that's it.

A forewarning to all the atheros wireless users in DSL land....when DSL goes to the 2.6.x kernel, ath0 will no longer work.

JR

pharina

Group: Members
Posts: 3
Joined: April 2005

Posted: April 08 2005,21:04

One more quick followup note:

I've got knoppix version 3.7, and with that release you can boot up with either the 2.4 kernel or the 2.6 kernel.

The ath0 device works with 2.4, but does not work in 2.6. This further verifies the conclusion reached by the above poster.

JR

SaidinUnleashed Offline

Group: Members
Posts: 1428
Joined: Mar. 2004

Posted: April 08 2005,22:20

The 2.6 kernel drops a lot of support for legacy technologies.

Perhaps the Atheros drivers fell victim to the headsman's axe, so to speak?

XD

That's why the 2.4 backport team is so fast. They usually have the new 2.6 kernel features backported to 2.4 within a week or two.

-J.P.

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