How to get Atheros AR242x wireless to work. 2
By [mad]Berry at 19 August, 2008, 3:31 pm
**10-23-2008** This how to still uses madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz And has been tested by me and works for (K)Ubuntu 8.0.4.1(both x86-64 and i686) with kernel 2.6.24-21-generic. And once again every one who has problems please re-try the how to.
**09-17-2008** Thanks to Gideon, who told me the links weren’t working any more. This how to now uses madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz As always this revision has been tested by me and works for (K)Ubuntu 8.0.4.1(both x86-64 and i686) with kernel 2.6.24-19-generic. And once again every one who has problems please re-try the how to.
**09-03-2008** This How to now uses the newest snapshot madwifi-hal-2008-08-15-r3862-20080903.tar.gz. As always this revision has been tested by me and works for (K)Ubuntu 8.0.4.1(both x86-64 and i686) with kernel 2.6.24-19-generic.
**09-01-2008** This How to now uses the newest snapshot madwifi-hal-2008-08-15-r3851-20080829.tar.gz. If you posted a comment to say it isn’t working then please re-run everything. And report back to verify that the solution is now working for you. As always this revision has been tested by me and works for (K)Ubuntu 8.0.4.1 with kernel 2.6.24-19-generic.
This is a revision of my original post using the solution provided by Madwifi it’s been tested by me and it works.
Windows drivers are here
If you own the same laptop as I do, a Toshiba A205-S5825, then you probably have the same problem, if you are using Hardy or Gutsy with the newest Kernel(2.6.24-19-generic) or older, the wireless doesn’t work out of the box.
It cost me about an hour to solve this mainly because no one knew anything about this particular chipset.
So here is the solution for the AR242x. If you have a chipset in the A5700 series then this could work for you too.
The solution is quite simple and only takes you a couple of minutes to apply and then you can use your wireless.
For this How to you do need wired internet to the computer.
Disclaimer:
The Package we’re about to use is as far as I know in beta. Installing this package might make your installation of Kubuntu(or Ubuntu) unstable. I am not responsible for any problems that arise after installing this package. But do feel free to post a comment for help if something doesn’t work right I will respond back and try to work with you to fix it. I am NOT responsible for damage to hardware as a result of applying anything you find on this website.
First let’s make sure your computer uses the same chipset(or something similar) run in terminal:
lspci | grep Atheros
If the result is as follows or something similar then you are able to use this fix.
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
If the result of the command ran is nothing the you don’t have an Atheros chipset and your read on this page stops here. Please go to the forums on Ubuntu and Kubuntu there is a big community there to help you solve your problem or try Google.
Before we start we need to make sure that already installed modules are not “in use”. Click on the Kubuntu start button go to system and click on the “Hardware Drivers Manager” this is where you will find all proprietary drivers. But we’re looking for everything that has Atheros in it. Tick the box behind of “Atheros Hardware Access Layer(HAL)” and “Support for Atheros 802.11 wireless LAN cards” and restart the computer.
In Terminal go to your desktop:
cd ~/Desktop
Then download the Madwifi driver needed for this How to:
wget -c http://snapshots.madwifi-project.org/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz
Untar the Image file(don’t worry it will create a new folder):
tar xvf madwifi*.tar.gz
Go into the just created folder:
cd madwifi*r*
Because we are going to compile from source code we need to make sure the essentials to do so are installed.
sudo apt-get update && sudo aptitude install build-essential
Now run:
make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe ath_pci
sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta
If you get any errors running the modprobe commands you probably forgot to switch off the modules in the first place go back to this and then try modprobe again.
As noted by “TheGreatGonzo” you might have to restart here. Before you can enable the proprietary drivers again.
As noted by “Choval” in case it doesn’t work after a restart:
blacklist ath_hal
(on /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist)
Reboot, and voila… works like a charm =)
Now the same as we did before:
Click on the Kubuntu start button go to system and click on the “Hardware Drivers Manager” this is where you will find all proprietary drivers. But we’re looking for everything that has Atheros in it. Tick the box in behind of “Atheros Hardware Access Layer(HAL)” and “Support for Atheros 802.11 wireless LAN cards” and restart the computer.
Now you have wireless.
Keep in mind that every time the Kernel gets updated you have to run these commands again:
sudo apt-get update && sudo aptitude install build-essential
Now run:
make clean
make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe ath_pci
sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta
Off course in the madwifi folder. You might want to move the folder to your home folder because we’ll need it again after a Kernel update.
To get your wireless back up that is until they fix the problem in the Kernel and wireless works after restarting with the new Kernel.
Don’t be shy let us know in the comments below if the solution worked or not(in that case I can assist you and get it to work) .
If this page helped you out at all then please donate below. Donations will go towards the hosting cost for this website.
Thanks for donating.
Tags: a205, atheros communications inc, beta, boxes, command, computer disclaimer, couple of minutes, folders, geek, google, gutsy, hardware drivers, images, k, kernel, kernel 2, Kubuntu, laptop, madwifi, pci, pci express, proprietary drivers, start button, sudo, Terminal, toshiba, ubuntu, update, wget, windows drivers, wireless pci
Related Posts
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- Pingback by Kismet+AR2413 ajuda!! - Under-Linux.org F on September 20, 2008 @ 5:01 pm
- Pingback by Sorry Guys « Ponderings of Chris on October 6, 2008 @ 5:03 am
- Pingback by Ubuntu 8.04新手入门指南（Hardy） : Linuxer Home on November 10, 2008 @ 10:51 pm
JHJ August 22, 2008
Hi, Thanks for the howto, it did the trick for me perfectly. I linked to your article from http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Hardy#Wireless_adapters
Hope you’re ok with that and can check validity of my text.
– JHJ
[Reply]
[mad]Berry August 22, 2008
Hey JHJ,
Your welcome and thanks for the link-up in ubuntuguide.org. Text looks totally valid to me =).
–[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Sam Reid August 22, 2008
Your solution worked for me. I have the same wireless card as you, and an Acer Aspire 5520-5912. I tried many other forums regarding how to set up madwifi and ndiswrapper with no success. I tried to use WEP 64 bit hex, but Ubuntu couldn’t make that work, but when I switched my router to WEP 128 passphrase that worked fine. Thanks for your great help and explanation.
Sam
[Reply]
TheGreatGonzo August 22, 2008
-[mad]Berry
This is a fantasic article and worked a treat for me. Thanks very much for detailing how to get around this.
One thing to note, I found I had to reboot between the installation of the kernel modules and enabling the drivers again in the Hardware applet.
Hope you don’t mind but I will link to this from my blogs?
Many thanks once again.
Gonzo
[Reply]
[mad]Berry August 22, 2008
Sam Reid wrote:
I have this working with WPA personally. It’s said that WPA is better than WEP as you might know.
TheGreatGonzo wrote:
No problem Gonzo…
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Tom August 23, 2008
Cheers man,
This sorted out the Atheros card in my Macbook Pro C2Duo
many thanks
[Reply]
Bob Gotthardt August 25, 2008
Thanks much. I’ve Ubuntu 8.04 [AMD64] on an HP DV6809 laptop w/this card and your procedure works fine.
Incidently, both apt-get and modprobe cmds generated errors “unable to resolve host dv6809″ but they still worked. Go figure and that is my valid hostname! Since I can’t understand errors, this may present problem re-installing. Thanks again. Bob
[Reply]
mk August 27, 2008
Hi [mad]Berry
Thanks for this article, i have been looking a long time on google, and try lot of things that did not work. I have ubuntu 8.04 on acer extensa 5620Z.
The wireless worked fine with the kernel 2.6.24-19, but then i updated ubuntu with 2.6.24-21 and retry (as you said we should do it after a kernel upgrade) and know it is not working and i have 3 new hardware in “Hardware Drivers Manager”…..
Any ideas
[Reply]
[mad]Berry August 27, 2008
mk wrote:
Did you run the modprobe commands?
And did you mark everything in “Hardware Drivers Manager” so everything is marked as in use?
Just used the same instructions as in this post and worked just fine.
Let me know if you still have any problems you could send me an e-mail if you want too.
[Reply]
Quasar August 28, 2008
I was trying for many hours to setup my new HP g7060ev laptop using the steps you describe but it somehow couldn’t work out for me. It looked like it was installing the driver but it could not connect to any AP.
Finally I tried out what “genewitch” proposes here: http://madwifi.org/ticket/1192#comment:306 , on a clean installed Ubuntu 8.04 system. I’m guessing it’s got something to do with the choice to disable ONLY the Atheros HAL driver installed by Ubuntu and NOT disable the driver “support for 802.11 wireless…”.
So to sum up, what worked for me was:
- disabled atheros hal
- restart
- wget madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3835-20080801.tar.gz + untar/unzip
- apt-get update && aptitude install build-essential
- make
- make install
- rmmod ath_pci
- rmmod ath_hal
- restart
[Reply]
JP August 28, 2008
Works like a breeze on my parent’s new Sony Vaio VGN-NR38M. Now they can choose between using Vista and using Kubuntu. I’ll make sure to point their noses the right way ;o)
I am just puzzled how I can disable the use of KWallet for the WPA key.
[Reply]
[mad]Berry August 28, 2008
Quasar wrote:
That’s why in the post I say:
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
[mad]Berry August 28, 2008
JP wrote:
I’ll be writing a post about how to setup wpa_supplicant so you don’t have to use KWallet anymore for the WPA key. It will be going up some time tomorrow or Saturday.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Tom Stoddart August 29, 2008
I’ve followed the instructions, without error, but when I restart after marking the drivers as ‘in use’ they show as ‘enabled’ but ‘not in use’, and I have no wireless connection. Any advice?
Thanks
[Reply]
[mad]Berry August 29, 2008
Tom Stoddart wrote:
Did you run the modprobe commands?
What is the result of:
lspci | grep Atheros?
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Lorenzo August 30, 2008
Great! Thank you!
[Reply]
Amy August 31, 2008
We’ve followed your instructions to install the madberry update, after which the drivers appear enabled, however no wireless network appear in the manual network configuration. We’ve also tried enabling the drivers using the hardware drivers GUI but encountered the same problem. Also, the system asks for a reboot and then we encounter the same problem as Tom Stoddart: when we restart, the drivers appear as ‘enabled’ but ‘not in use’.
Any ideas?
[Reply]
[mad]Berry August 31, 2008
Amy wrote:
Please post the result of:
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
salwator August 31, 2008
This guide didn’t work on my computer.
Results:
lspci | grep Atheros
17:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
uname -a
Linux salwator-laptop 2.6.24-22-generic #1 SMP Fri Aug 22 15:39:59 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux
I can see the network where I want to connect in network manager (and in wifi-radar too), but nothing works- for example ping. In hardware drivers all things are tick and “in use”.
Any advice?
Thanks
[Reply]
[mad]Berry August 31, 2008
salwator wrote:
I need to reproduce what is happening please run this so I can see what version of (K)Ubuntu you’re running. I will install the same version for testing and see what is going on.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
salwator August 31, 2008
title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-22-generic
title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-22-generic (recovery mode)
title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic
title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-21-generic (recovery mode)
title Ubuntu 8.04.1, memtest86+
I’m running on 2.6.24-22-generic.
And another info: I use MAC filtering on that router. Is that OK?
[Reply]
[mad]Berry August 31, 2008
salwator,
Did you install the linux-meta package to get 2.6.24-22-generic kernel installed?
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
salwator August 31, 2008
No. When I run update manager, the new kernel will add himselve to grub list…
I’m newbie on Linux, I was 11 years on windows. :-!
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 1, 2008
salwator,
Please run:
please report back if this works I’m currentlly testing to see if this works with my kernel as well.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
salwator September 1, 2008
so, all of this looks fine (sudo modprobe ath_pci and sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta didn’t write anything- ??), but now after restart and enabling HAL and support for… in hardware drivers (and next restart), HAL and support… are enabled, but not in use…
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 1, 2008
salwater,
This is after using the new instructions? From the wget part?
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
salwator September 1, 2008
yes
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 1, 2008
salwater,
OK right now it’s bedtime over here I’ll work on it tomorrow(even though it’s a holiday lol) I’m kinda working in the dark here because I need to install the same Kernel and I can’t figure out how you are using kernel 2.6.24-22 and I’m on 2.6.24-19. I need to be using the same kernel in order for me to reproduce what you are experiencing.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Mike September 1, 2008
This solution is great and works for a day or two, but then suddenly I’m back to no wireless. Not sure why it happens considering I’m not updating the kernel. I basically have to start all over again with these instructions and it will be fine. I have the atheros 242x card and a toshiba satellite p205. Anyone else seeing this problem?
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 1, 2008
Mike wrote:
What kernel are you using? please post the result of:
Did you check if the driver is still enabled?
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 1, 2008
salwater,
Spend almost the entire day trying to recreate what you are experiencing. Couldn’t get the kernel version installed you have and don’t understand how you got that version I’m geussing that it is because of some other how to that you tried.
After installing a fresh x86-64(the 64 bit version of Kubuntu) and restarting after doing everything as described above, I noticed that KNetworkManager displays an error during boot concerning the libhal being used, and as you described after restarting and enabling the hardware drivers it still didn’t work. As this was a fresh install I decided to try wpasupplicant so I didn’t have to rely on KNetworkManager.
This worked after doing so I had network.
Please try the following go to my post “Wireless with wpasupplicant easier then you think” and report back if that works or not.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
salwator September 3, 2008
OK, I’ve done it, but no response…
here is result: http://www.salwator.szm.sk/network.jpg
I’m desperate.
[Reply]
Alex (Russia) September 3, 2008
It is wery wery grate !!! Super working How to !!! It is so cool especially your explanation what is “compile”, “sourse” and so on. It is so attentive from your. Thank you.
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 3, 2008
salwator,
Please post the contents of /etc/network/interfaces
Don’t get desperate we’ll get it sorted.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
salwator September 3, 2008
here it is:
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
iface eth1 inet dhcp
auto eth1
auto ath0
iface ath0 inet dhcp
wpa-driver madwifi
wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 3, 2008
salwator,
Is wpasupplicant running?
Try disabling KNetworkManager.
Do you get any problems on boot(alt->f1)
Please run:
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Galttar September 5, 2008
Hi everybody.
I had the same problem yesterday and this tutorial not worked for me… today I disabled the ATI restricted driver and the athero wireless come work again. I’m using ndiswrapper now.
I don’t know why, but with ATI restricted driver the atheros show all wireless network but can’t connect using WPA. After ATI restricted driver disable the atheros connect well.
Cya.
[Reply]
salwator September 5, 2008
ehm, where can I find it? :-[
iwconfig:
lo no wireless extensions.
eth0 no wireless extensions.
I think that I must reinstall OS…
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 6, 2008
salwator,
Darn I forgot to put the command in my last comment for checking if wpasupplicant is running. Here it is:
You could just install the 2.6.24-19-generic kernel and see if you can get it to work with the same kernel I am using.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 6, 2008
galttar wrote:
Maybe you should try this how to again with the ATI off. Maybe that was what caused the problem in the first place.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Tim September 7, 2008
I have similar problems to salwator. I proceed without error through the entire instruction, re-enable the devices in the hardware manager, and upon reboot, the same boxes I just checked (and were labeled “in use”) are now checked but labeled “not in use”.
I tried various times going through the instructions from the very beginning for more than a week now. Some setting is disabling the driver. I can’t even verify that these instructions even work (for me), if only for a one-time use…and then resolve the reboot issue later.
The card works flawlessly in windows, so its not bad hardware. I haven’t used linux in 6 months due to this issue. I don’t want to have to go back to Ubuntu with ndiswrapper.
Any ideas?
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 7, 2008
Tim wrote:
Please run:
and
and
and
And post the results please.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
salwator September 8, 2008
ok, result:
salwator 6894 0.0 0.0 5164 828 pts/0 R+ 18:32 0:00 grep wpa
I installed it, but nothing happened. In hardware drivers is still “not in use”…
[Reply]
Marcos Euzebio September 8, 2008
Well, done with ndiswrapper… Let’s see for how long…
[Reply]
Amy September 8, 2008
Have re-run everything using the updated snapshot. Still having the same problem. Wireless will work: by disabling then enabling drivers in Hardware Drivers and ignoring the requested system restart. But everytime the computer is restarted, the drivers are “enabled” but “not in use” and have to be disabled and enabled again before the wireless will work. Workable, but kind of annoying.
Results of: lspci | grep Atheros
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
Results of: uname -a
Linux amy-laptop 2.6.24-19-generic #1 SMP Wed Aug 20 22:56:21 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux
amy@amy-laptop:~$
[Reply]
Bobarkinator September 15, 2008
I love this guide, but for me it seems to be hit and miss. I’ve it three times. First time it worked perfectly. Then I reinstalled Ubuntu, followed the same guide on a clean install and it didn’t work, reinstalled again same thing, clean install and it worked. It’s weird, but I still love this guide.
[Reply]
Gideon September 17, 2008
Thanks a million for these simple to follow instructions. After spending hours trying to solve my problem, I really appreciate the easy instructions which makes the whole process easier and take a few minutes.
I have not read all the comments and so maybe someone else has pointed this out. First, the link to the wget command is not working. After going to the website, the I could not find the exact file you referenced. I then downloaded madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz
Second, making the installed modules not in use actually made modprobe produce some errors which I thought was strange. Having the boxes checked did the trick.
Anyway this is a great how-to and it saved me my time. I will try and make a donation when i can.
[Reply]
Courtney September 18, 2008
Thanks! This worked perfectly on my ThinkPad R500 which also has the Atheros AR242x.
[Reply]
Brian September 20, 2008
Thanks, this got the wireless card on my Thinkpad SL500 working when the ndiswrapper failed. I ran into the same problem of my drivers being ‘not in use’ after rebooting and needed to run
sudo modprobe ath_pci
sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta
to bring the wireless back up. Is there a way to automate these two commands on boot up so my wireless is automatically enabled?
Thanks again!
[Reply]
RoosT September 21, 2008
Thanxs a lot!!!!
Whith Ubuntu I had the wifi working with madwifi, but now I’ve moved to linuxmint Elissa. There’s a bunch of forums talking about it, that way worked for me after many failed intents.
Keep going….
[Reply]
zuhri September 22, 2008
I had the problem today and this tutorial not worked for me when i try sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta:
and this is error output:
WARNING: Not loading blacklisted module rt73
FATAL: Module wlan_scan_sta not found.
[Reply]
[mad]Berry September 22, 2008
zuhri wrote:
Zuhri,
Try removing rt73 from your blacklist restart and run the modprobe command again.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
zuhri September 23, 2008
how to uninstall rt73 driver? because now i am using ndiswrapper
[Reply]
robert September 23, 2008
hi, i am having the same problems as described above, i am able to enable my my wireless card using your steps, then i reboot and it is as if ubuntu has forgotten to enable the drivers for my wireless card, HELP!!! please
[Reply]
Riddick September 25, 2008
Thanks for this useful how-to!Works great…until the next restart,when it switches back to wired network connection
and it’s pretty boring to always type the “sudo modprobe ath_pci” and “sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta”.Is the a solution to solve this problem?
[Reply]
Choval September 28, 2008
@Riddick
@robert
@Brian
@salwator
blacklist ath_hal
(on /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist)
Reboot, and voila… works like a charm =)
[Reply]
Brian September 29, 2008
Ok, only blacklisting the ath_hal did not work for me. I did so more searching and found this post http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=772164 and it worked for me. If anyone is willing to teach me something and explain what the changes in this post do, I would be grateful.
[Reply]
tuliom September 30, 2008
Hello [mad]Berry,
Firstly, thanks for your HowTo, but it seems that it didn’t work for me.
Could you help me?
I’m not sure about the chipset of my card, but it looks like the same of the article:
[quote]
06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
Subsystem: AMBIT Microsystem Corp. Device 0428
Control: I/O- Mem+ BusMaster- SpecCycle- MemWINV- VGASnoop- ParErr- Stepping- SERR- FastB2B- DisINTx-
Status: Cap+ 66MHz- UDF- FastB2B- ParErr- DEVSEL=fast >TAbort- <TAbort- SERR- <PERR- INTx-
Interrupt: pin A routed to IRQ 19
Region 0: Memory at 94100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 2
Flags: PMEClk- DSI- D1- D2- AuxCurrent=375mA PME(D0-,D1-,D2-,D3hot-,D3cold-)
Status: D0 PME-Enable- DSel=0 DScale=0 PME-
Capabilities: [50] Message Signalled Interrupts: Mask- 64bit- Queue=0/0 Enable-
Address: 00000000 Data: 0000
Capabilities: [60] Express (v1) Legacy Endpoint, MSI 00
DevCap: MaxPayload 128 bytes, PhantFunc 0, Latency L0s <512ns, L1 <64us
ExtTag- AttnBtn- AttnInd- PwrInd- RBE- FLReset-
DevCtl: Report errors: Correctable- Non-Fatal- Fatal- Unsupported-
RlxdOrd+ ExtTag- PhantFunc- AuxPwr- NoSnoop-
MaxPayload 128 bytes, MaxReadReq 512 bytes
DevSta: CorrErr- UncorrErr+ FatalErr- UnsuppReq+ AuxPwr- TransPend-
LnkCap: Port #0, Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, ASPM L0s L1, Latency L0 <512ns, L1 <64us
ClockPM- Suprise- LLActRep- BwNot-
LnkCtl: ASPM Disabled; RCB 128 bytes Disabled- Retrain- CommClk-
ExtSynch- ClockPM- AutWidDis- BWInt- AutBWInt-
LnkSta: Speed 2.5GT/s, Width x1, TrErr- Train- SlotClk+ DLActive- BWMgmt- ABWMgmt-
Capabilities: [90] MSI-X: Enable- Mask- TabSize=1
Vector table: BAR=0 offset=00000000
PBA: BAR=0 offset=00000000
Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting
Capabilities: [140] Virtual Channel
Kernel modules: ath_pci, ath5k
[/quote]
I’m running OpenSUSE 11.0, with the kernel 2.6.25.16.
Everytime I try to modprobe the modules, I get this from dmesg:
[quote]
AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5416, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413, RF2133, RF2425, RF2417)
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:06:00.0[A] -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:06:00.0 to 64
MadWifi: unable to attach hardware: ‘Hardware didn’t respond as expected’ (HAL status 3)
ACPI: PCI interrupt for device 0000:06:00.0 disabled
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:06:00.0[A] -> GSI 19 (level, low) -> IRQ 19
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:06:00.0 to 64
MadWifi: unable to attach hardware: ‘Hardware didn’t respond as expected’ (HAL status 3)
ACPI: PCI interrupt for device 0000:06:00.0 disabled
[/quote]
Thanks in advance!
[Reply]
tuliom September 30, 2008
sorry, I forgot to say that after modprobing or rebooting, there is nothing new in ifconfig.
[Reply]
tuliom September 30, 2008
I’ve worked a little bit more and everything is ok now.
After following all steps described in here, blacklisting ath_hal included, I’ve found another step related to OpenSuse.
I’ve just added a new device as explained in http://en.opensuse.org/Ndiswrapper#Configuring_your_card_in_YaST but changing the device to ath_pci.
After restarting the system, everything is ok.
So, it’s possible to make the same thing in OpenSuse 11.0.
Thank you all for the tips!
[Reply]
prince October 3, 2008
Very useful topic
Kudos
[Reply]
Alvaro October 3, 2008
Your solution worked for me, thanks a lot.
I have an HP Pavilion dv6921la laptop with this card and Ubuntu 8.04.
Regards
[Reply]
vlady October 7, 2008
Hey, I had the wifi workin on linux mint Elyssa with that way. But like tow days ago I had to reinstall again and I loosed my wifi configuration again. Now when I try to install madwifi at the same form I did before with you guide it shows:
After typing the command “make”:
Checking requirements… ok.
Checking kernel configuration… ok.
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.24-16-generic/build SUBDIRS=/home/vlady/Programas instalados/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3861-20080903/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3861-20080903 modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.24-16-generic’
make[1]: *** No rule to make target `instalados/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3861-20080903/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3861-20080903′. Stop.
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.24-16-generic’
make: *** [modules] Error 2
Please help, I’m new. Sorry for my english. I’m from Dominican Republic. Thanks.
[Reply]
Adam October 7, 2008
Hi, I hope you can help.
I’m trying to get PG6000 laptop with an Atheros AR5007. Dual booting with Visda 32bit.
Firsltly I’ll just say that I have disabled the HAL… and Support for Atheros…drivers,(unticked and rebooted) BUT on restart they are still showing as in use.
I’ve been through the guide above and managed to get to the end with the following problem:
…..
make -C $d install || exit 1; \
done
make[2]: Entering directory `/home/adam/Desktop/madwifi*r3862*/tools/ath_info’
install -d /usr/local/bin
install -m 755 ath_info /usr/local/bin
install -d /usr/local/share/man/man8
install -m 644 ath_info.8 /usr/local/share/man/man8
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/adam/Desktop/madwifi*r3862*/tools/ath_info’
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/adam/Desktop/madwifi*r3862*/tools’
adam@adam-laptop:~/Desktop/madwifi*r3862*$ sudo modprobe ath_pci
adam@adam-laptop:~/Desktop/madwifi*r3862*$ sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta
FATAL: Error inserting wlan_scan_sta (/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/net/wlan_scan_sta.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
adam@adam-laptop:~/Desktop/madwifi*r3862*$ sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta
(I have the rest saved)
Also once I downloaded the file onto my desktop, I extracted it to the desktop into another folder which it named itself - This wasn’t recognised so I renamed this folder ” madwifi*r3862* ” which enabled me to continue.
I believe you also need the following information:
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
Linux adam-laptop 2.6.24-19-generic #1 SMP Wed Aug 20 17:53:40 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux
title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic
title Ubuntu 8.04.1, kernel 2.6.24-19-generic (recovery mode)
title Ubuntu 8.04.1, memtest86+
Thank you so much for your help.
Adam
[Reply]
Adam October 7, 2008
*** Update ***
After a reboot I now have wifi access, im not sure how but Im now getting to grips with ubuntu.
Thanks anyway!!!
Adam
[Reply]
dave2k77 October 11, 2008
Thanks a million, using the instructions you posted to install my Atheros Wireless Card was successful. It works for me.
[Reply]
`abdu'l-karim October 18, 2008
Thanks. I’m trying to move my elementary school to Ubuntu/Edubuntu and the wireless card not working would have been a deal killer.
[Reply]
Keith October 20, 2008
Thanks a whole bunch! I have been trying to fix this problem for a couple of weeks now and tried so many different options until I finally came across your fix. Again, thank you!
[Reply]
Bob Gotthardt October 21, 2008
Madberry, re-install works fine on recent kernel upgrades including 21-generic.
Thanks again, Bob
[Reply]
Echo October 22, 2008
How to configure it in Opensuse 11?
Since we can’t use apt-get command..
[Reply]
[mad]Berry October 23, 2008
Echo: try this Forum post:
http://forums.opensuse.org/network-internet/wireless/387551-atheros-ar242x-wireless-chip-opensuse-11-a.htm
—[mad]Berry–
[Reply]
fragualazzi October 27, 2008
many thanks to madberry, thegreatgonzo and choval for the huge help you’re giving! works easily on asus x86_64 laptop without wpa_supplicant stuff! is there a similar guide to fix realtek sound cards? thanks again
[Reply]
Francisco Velea October 29, 2008
Thank. This information help me a lot.
[Reply]
tim October 30, 2008
This worked fine for me for a week, then stopped right out of the blue. Tried to start over agin, but using “make install” returns something about “no rule to make….”
Cannot even start over from scratch…What do i do?
[Reply]
Seth Allen November 1, 2008
How do I blacklist something? I keep trying this and it never works. I think it may have something to do with the fact that in the step that says “cd madwifi*r3862*” I have to change the “2″ to a “1″ because that’s what shows up on my Desktop. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
[Reply]
Cameron November 4, 2008
This worked brilliantly for my computer, but then.. I stupidly updated to Intrepid Ibex.. It is beautiful, but now I am restricted to a wire, making this OS very inconvenient.
Any chance some already has this solution in Ibex form?
I already tried this edition, but sadly, “make” references a folder that doesn’t exist in this version (/lib/modules/2.6.24-19-generic/build), and even if I install the headers for 2.6.24-19 I don’t get the needed file. Even then I am not confidant it would work. So anyone figured it out yet? (lol)
[Reply]
[mad]Berry November 4, 2008
Seth Allen:
You blacklist by doing the following:
now add
Cameron:
I will be installing 8.10 on Thursday and will report back with how to get our AR242X to work in a post.
–[mad]Berry–
[Reply]
Cameron November 5, 2008
Excellent, I eagerly await your discoveries. Thank you so much for all the help you give us Atheros/linux users!
[Reply]
jordan November 5, 2008
tar xvf madwifi*.tar.gz
tar: madwifi*.tar.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
this is what happens when i untar it please help me
[Reply]
Jagger November 6, 2008
Hi, I cannot dowload anything because my laptop is incompatible with linux in wifi and ethernet, so I have no internet connection via linux, only through windows. Your instructions are all counting on having internet connection.
What can I do?
[Reply]
[mad]Berry November 6, 2008
Jordan:
Did you download the file?
Are you in the right directory? You should be on the desktop.
Jagger:
Do you have another computer that is connected? If so copy the URL and download the tar on that computer. Burn on CD or put on a USB stick. Copy the file to your laptop and follow the how to from the untar part.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Vinny (from Brazil) November 7, 2008
I just wanted to thank you for this how to. I searched a lot on the internet, and I can say this one was not one the best I found, but the one that actually got my wireless back on.
One suggestion: how to put those files on the directory that loads the modules on startup, so they could get initialized when the system starts, and the users wouldn’t have to load the modules everytime the system is restarted.
Again, thanks a lot for this how to!
Vinny
[Reply]
[mad]Berry November 7, 2008
Cameron and everybody else looking for 8.10 Intrepid Ibex instructions:
[Reply]
[mad]Berry November 7, 2008
Vinny:
Are you using 8.10?
If so try the link in the post above this one.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Vinny (from Brazil) November 9, 2008
Hey [mad]Berry,
I am using Intrepid (8.10). I looked at the link, but following this how to, I got my wireless working… what I was looking for, was a way to set up the wireless, so the modules would load automatically.
Thanks for the attention.
Vinny
[Reply]
[mad]Berry November 9, 2008
Vinny:
Use the 8.10 how to thios will load the module on boot:
http://madberry.org/2008/11/how-to-get-atheros-ar242x-to-work-on-810-intrepid-ibex/
[Reply]
adi kurniawan December 2, 2008
I have dell vostro A840 notebook with debian 4.0_r5 installed. When i used Ubuntu 8.04 it detected the wireless as Atheros 242x.
Then i follow like your guide using madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r3875-20081105 and compile it. It finnish succesfully and wifi0 & ath0 show on the system. When i try to connect to my access point, nothing happen. If i try to type iwlist ath0 scanning, there’s no result. Did i miss something ?? Thx
[Reply]
[mad]Berry Reply:
December 4th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Please post the output of:
to pastebin
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Mark December 6, 2008
Hey this is a great fix, worked perfectly until i got to mod probe.
I went to the hardware drivers and unclicked the enable boxes for both of the Atheros drivers supposedly disabling them. However, when i did a restart and checked them again, the box is unchecked yet it still says they are in use :/. How might i fix that?….
Any help would be appreciated.
[Reply]
Kelly December 13, 2008
I’m new and trying to follow your instructions. It seemed like everything was working fine, but I get these messages when I do the Modprobe commands? Should I see some results or is my problem still somewhere else?
kelly@kelly-laptop:~$ make
make: *** No targets specified and no makefile found. Stop.
kelly@kelly-laptop:~$ sudo make install
make: *** No rule to make target `install’. Stop.
kelly@kelly-laptop:~$ sudo modprobe ath_pci
kelly@kelly-laptop:~$ sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta
kelly@kelly-laptop:~$
Thanks for the help in advance. These instructions seemed the easiest and clearest to follow I have found. I have the 2.6.24-22 kernel also from an update. Its the only thing I’ve updated from my original start up from a cd from kernel 16. Toshiba 205D-S7802
[Reply]
[mad]Berry Reply:
December 13th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
You forgot one step you have to cd into the directory of the tar file you untarred. Please follow the directions step by step.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Kelly December 14, 2008
Okay, I thought something was wrong when I did that step. I redid the following and here are my results. It tells me there is no such file or directory. I can see the madwifi file and folder on my desktop which I think has the following file path: home/kelly/Desktop
I tried variations of changing the directory, but keep getting the same result. Obviously this newbie is missing something probably very basic to you. Thank you for looking.
http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/85327/
[Reply]
[mad]Berry Reply:
December 14th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Okay after checking the result in the pastebin (which is where you should post results like that :-D) your cd command should be:
and then run the rest of the commands in the how To.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
Kelly December 14, 2008
@[mad]Berry - Okay! Hooray! It works now. I am sending this connected to someone’s unsecured network. I still haven’t figured out how to connect to my own encrypted network. Everything I’ve tried has failed, but I’ll figure it out eventually. Thanks so much for the help.
[Reply]
[mad]Berry Reply:
December 15th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Try this post to get you hooked up to your encrypted network.
[mad]Berry
[Reply]
sam cope December 15, 2008
Well done- got my Acer Aspire working- sweet
[Reply]
Andy January 3, 2009
Worked like a charm.
I just bought a Emachine D620 and now have Ubnutu 8.10 on a external USB hard drive and wireless connection to my network!!!!
[Reply]
hoyaroonie January 17, 2009
The solution(s) above worked for my compaq presario, even when I unplug my lan cable the wifi immediately kicks in and everything works….BUT….now I have a new problem to post!
The wifi doesn’t work on my daughters (or any other) non-admin user accounts, even after a reboot, how is this resolved, suggestions?
[Reply]
Kevin D January 21, 2009
THANKS! This worked on try #3. Not sure what happened the first time, but 2nd time worked and I have updated my kernel since.
Acer Aspire 5315
Ubuntu 8.04
Not that it is really that big of a deal, do you know how to get the light on?
[Reply]
mark January 22, 2009
Dear Madberry, Thank you tons for posting this fix, my wireless works perfectly now. However i am dealing with the problem of keeping it to stay on. I saw the blacklist tip, but and a little confused. Could you please explain to me in simple terms how exactly one would “blacklist” to ensure that the connection works everytime?…thanks i would greatly appreciate it
[Reply]
Mom Bakkesz February 2, 2009
@[mad]Berry -
OK, I got it running thanks to your instructions above and the following from Lucio (http://www.lucioalbenga.com/2008/06/11/asus-f5-laptop-with-ubuntu/):
# First disable the ath9k driver. Open a terminal and type the following: sudo modprobe -r ath9k
# Then run synaptic. In the same terminal type: sudo synaptic Once synaptic is loaded search the package linux-backports-modules-kernel.version where kernel version matches your currently installed kernel. At the time of this writing it should be: linux-backports-modules-2.6.27-7-generic
Let’s see if I have to to do every time the kernel changes.
[Reply]
Alex February 3, 2009
I’ve tried going through the step in this how to, but when I got to cd madwifi*r* I got
alex@alex-laptop:~/Desktop$ cd madwifi*r*
bash: cd: madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-current.tar.gz: Not a directory
I’m very new to Ubuntu and have no idea why this has occurred. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
[Reply]
Adam February 6, 2009
I’m getting the same thing as Alex.
[Reply]
dimitar February 10, 2009
Hi, everything works fine for me on my asus F5N with mint felicia (based on ubuntu 8.10) with the lastest updates, only after restart i have to run the last 2 comands, to get everything i shaape. Can u tell me how to fix this?
sudo modprobe ath_pci
sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta
[Reply]
jois February 16, 2009
Thank you for this site, but everything I’ve tried has not worked. I have an HP g6–235Dx. I have followed the instructions you’ve offered, have not gotten any errors, blacklisted ath_pci, ath_hal, and although ath0 registers on KNetworkManager, it is shown as disconnected. My physical wireless button does not seem to work and I think that might have something to do with this. Is there a software solution to this problem? Thank you very much.
Here are my stats:
http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/119486/
Thanks again!
[Reply]
Arnold-WGC March 2, 2009
I followed your instructions as illustrated on url:
http://madberry.org/2008/11/how-to-get-atheros-ar242x-to-work-on-810-intrepid-ibex/
but my wireless still did not work. The explanation was however quite explicit,
I am brand new to Linux as such this might be a case of user ignorence but I
would like to think I did everything the instructions specified. See the
requested details below the line.
http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/136958/
Regards
Arnold
edit: Arnold please post the pastebin URL not the text you posted to the pastebin thanks. [mad]Berry
[Reply]
[mad]Berry Reply:
March 24th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Arnold please use this post to “go from here”:
http://madberry.org/2008/08/wireless-with-wpa_supplicant-easier-then-you-think/
When you scan for networks you can “see” them. So all you have to do now is connect use the link above for this. Or use Kubuntu’s Networkmanager.
[Reply]
rayne March 9, 2009
Works on HP G60-214EM running intrepid
Thanks very much!
[Reply]
azry March 22, 2009
aii i have laptop benq r45 but wireless not running with ubuntu how to sovle
[Reply]
Jason March 26, 2009
Berry man U rock. I’ve been a dos, windows man since my 8086. 1 month ago I got my hands on a ubuntu live cd. Thanks to people like you, people like me will convert more people like me. “How to” worked great on Compaq f700 . Many thanks.
[Reply]
Karl Alexander April 1, 2009
this worked perfectly, tankyou
acer aspire one ssd
[Reply]
peter April 18, 2009
Works fine on Acer Extensa5220-200508Mi
running Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy)
Kernel 2.6.4.24-23-generic
Gnome 2.22.3
thank you
[Reply]
MikeC May 1, 2009
I’ve got a Toshiba Satellite L305D That was nearly returned to the dealer for the lack of native Atheros AR242x support from Ubuntu. I do not like messing with dependencies etc, synaptic support for them is one big reason I switched to Ubuntu - I ain’t no sys admin!
But then I found your package and instructions and gave it a go.
They are the best! 4 different Kernel upgrades and every time: It Just Works!
Thank You.
[Reply]
Kartik May 19, 2009
Hi!
Thanks for the detailed instructions on enabling wifi.
I am using ubuntu 8.04, kernel .6.24-24-generic. My wifi was not working after one of the routine updates.
I tried your steps but after running make I get the following error:
kartik@kartik-laptop:~/Desktop/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r4016-20090429$ make
cd: 1: can’t cd to /lib/modules/2.6.24-24-generic/build
Makefile.inc:66: *** /lib/modules/2.6.24-24-generic/build is missing, please set KERNELPATH. Stop.
How to proceed further.
I had switched over to ubuntu completely since past 4 months and it is the only OS i am using.
regards
Kartik
[Reply]
[mad]Berry Reply:
May 21st, 2009 at 4:00 pm
@Kartik, You need to update the build-essential as well…. As well as the new Kernel headers. Run all commands from the top.
[Reply]
Kartik May 21, 2009
Thanks for your reply, i rerun all the commands once again now I am getting stuck at the next step: this is the error which i get:
kartik@kartik-laptop:~/Desktop/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r4016-20090429$ sudo modprobe ath_pci
FATAL: Error inserting ath_pci (/lib/modules/2.6.24-24-generic/net/ath_pci.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
kartik@kartik-laptop:~/Desktop/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r4016-20090429$ sudo modprobe wlan_scan_sta
FATAL: Error inserting wlan_scan_sta (/lib/modules/2.6.24-24-generic/net/wlan_scan_sta.ko): Unknown symbol in module, or unknown parameter (see dmesg)
kartik@kartik-laptop:~/Desktop/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6-r4016-20090429$
I ran demsg, this is the output: http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/177562/
Thanks for your reply in advance
Hope it will giv
[Reply]
wefgef May 24, 2009
I can’t tell you how much this helped. You’re a life saviour!
[Reply]
Deependra Solanky May 26, 2009
Thanks a lot for this nice post. It solved the same problem on Dell Vostro A840 with Ubuntu 8.04.
[Reply]
Kevin May 28, 2009
Hello,
I have a Dell Vostro A840 which has had wireless problems, and I have tried the excellent suggestions in your post, but have been unable to complete them due to error messages such as the wrong kernel version etc…
I was afraid that I had made such a mess of the operating system that I decided to download the latest version of Ubuntu 9.04 and try that…
Everything works great except the wireless!
Do you have any experience with it?
I will enclose the specific information about my system in case it will help you, and I want to thank you in advance for any help to can give!
Sincerely,
Kevin
My chipset is
kevin@kevin:~$ lspci | grep Atheros
0c:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
My kernel is
kevin@kevin:~$ cat /boot/grub/menu.lst | grep Ubuntu
title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic
title Ubuntu 9.04, kernel 2.6.28-11-generic (recovery mode)
title Ubuntu 9.04, memtest86+
More info:
http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/183901/
After all that has been tried in the past week os so… I am unsure/unwilling to do any more experimenting on my own now without some coaching. This installation is fairly clean with the exception that I have installed the backports for this version of Linux.
[mad]Berry says: Please use http://paste.ubuntu.com
[Reply]