Atheros madwifi driver

Forum: Networking
Topic: Atheros madwifi driver
started by: lub997

Posted by lub997 on Sep. 17 2005,19:31

I finally got the MadWiFi driver to compile and install for my D-Link DWL-G630 wireless card, but got some strange messages at the end of <<make install>>. Though <<make install>> did not show what command it ran on the command line, it appeared to have run <<depmod -ae>> and most of the modules looked fine, but it gave me some strange messages for some of the modules:

depmod: *** unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/drivers/usb/auerswald.o

depmod: *** unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/drivers/usb/speedtch.o

depmod: *** unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/net/bridge/bridge.o

depmod: *** unresolved symbols in /lib/modules/2.4.26/kernel/net/sctp/sctp.o

All the other modules didn't show any strange messages.

Then, I tried <<depmod -ae>> after rebooting without my wirless card plugged into my laptop, and still got the exact same unresolved symbols messages. What do these messages mean? Do they have any effect on me using my wireless card? Wireless card uses ath_hal and ath_pci modules and once loaded creates a device called ath0 which can be accessed by ifconfig and iwconfig.

If these unresolved symbols messages have nothing to do with the use or functionality of ath0, then what do I need to do to connect to my wireless network using ath0 now that I have it? Under ndiswrapper I always used the inf file net5211.inf My SID under ndiswrapper was <<belkin54g>> and I always just left the WEP blank because I don't know what a WEP is. I'm not a newbie to linux, but I am definately a newbie to wireless networking. This configuration always worked fine with ndiswrapper, but so far I can't figure out how to connect to my wireless network using ath0. I never used ndiswrapper from the command line as I couldn't figure out how, and always used it from the graphical user interface provided by DSL which only asked me for an inf file, SID, and WEP, so my knowledge of what I would need to do to use my network with ath0 instead of net5211.inf via ndiswrapper is extremely limted. Also, using ndiswrapper my card would never connect to my network the first time I ran the ndiswraper GUI; I would always have to run it a second time, and on the second try it would always connect to my wireless network; not sure why this is. Now I can't even use ndiswrapper because as soon as I plug in my wireless card ath0 and its related modules all run automatically and block my wireless card from being accessed by ndiswrapper. I would much rather use ath0 than ndiswrapper anyway though, and would just like to know in idiot-proof instructions how to connect to my wireless network using ath0 now that I finally have ath0. I am aware that DSL already had ath_hal and ath_pci modules and that an average person would say why did you bother to recompile them and install new modules of them, but the reason is very simple. The madwifi driver provided by DSL is out of date and did not support my card. It supported an older version of my card, but mine is revison C and was not supported by the madwifi driver until recently thus my recompilaton and reinstallation of the madwifi driver. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Posted by tempestuous on Sep. 18 2005,00:37

Don't worry about those "*** Unresolved symbols" errors - they don't relate to your modules.
If your MADWiFi compilation worked you didn't just create two new modules, you should have created nine -
ath_hal.o
ath_pci.o
ath_rate_sample.o
wlan.o
wlan_acl.o
wlan_ccmp.o
wlan_tkip.o
wlan_wep.o
wlan_xauth.o

Hopefully these new modules will have overwritten the old ones ... I would check this first -

cd /lib/modules/2.4.26
find -name ath_pci.o

If you do find double instances of the modules, delete or hide the old ones. Then run "depmod" again.
Now you're ready to load the driver and configure the wireless settings -

sudo su
modprobe ath_pci
## if no error messages, this should create a network interface, ath0
## can check this by running ifconfig -a
## now set up the wireless network
iwconfig ath0 essid MY_ESSID key 1234567890 mode Managed
## for automatic IP
pump -i wlan0
## or for static IP
## modify /etc/resolv.conf to include your nameservers, then -
ifconfig wlan0 192.168.0.xx broadcast 192.168.0.255 netmask 255.255.255.0
route add default gw 192.168.0.1 wlan0 # or whatever your router's IP is

Obviously, replace "MY_ESSID" with "belkin54g" or whatever. This is a setting in your router, which you should probably check. You should also check your router's settings to find what the WEP key is (if any).
If your router has WEP encryption turned off, omit the "key ....." in the commands above.

Posted by lub997 on Sep. 18 2005,06:47

Tempestuous, you are a lifesaver!!!!!!!!!!! I defined the problem earlier chained to my bedroom by an ethernet cord, but I now write that the problem is solved using my DWL-G630 wireless card. I think the fact that I am using my wireless card now to write this pretty much says it. I had already tried using iwconfig and ifconfig, much like what you described, but was still unable to pull anything up in Firefox. It turned out that what I was missing was the command <<pump -i>>. <<pump -i>> was the problem solver for me. I made a script that I follow now to connect to my wireless network that goes as follows, and it works every time the first time:

sudo su
modprobe ath_pci
iwconfig ath0 essid belkin54g mode Managed
pump -i ath0

Thanks for the help. I never would have figured it out on my own. I never would have thought to use the pump command because being new to wirless neworking I have never heard of it. It works great though.