Need Windows driver for Atheros 5bmb5 wireless card

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M.Gregg
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Need Windows driver for Atheros 5bmb5 wireless card

#1 Post by M.Gregg »

Hi all,

Does anyone have a windows driver that will run in ndiswrapper for an Atheros 5bmb5 Laptop card i believe the driver is ar5211 but i cannot get the .inf file.

any help would be great!

Kind regards

Michael

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trapster
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#2 Post by trapster »

I think madwifi is what your looking for. I believe it carries the driver you're looking for.

Check here:
http://www.murga.org/~puppy/viewtopic.p ... ht=madwifi
trapster
Maine, USA

Asus eeepc 1005HA PU1X-BK
Frugal install: Slacko
Currently using full install: DebianDog

tempestuous
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Location: Australia

#3 Post by tempestuous »

That previous link was about a success with ndiswrapper, automated with wifi-1.0.4-beta-2.pup.

The true Linux alternative for Atheros is MADWiFi. See here
http://www.murga.org/%7Epuppy/viewtopic.php?t=4628

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M.Gregg
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madwifi

#4 Post by M.Gregg »

Hi all,

I installed mad wifi and and this is what i get:
modprobe ath_pci
this is O.K



/usr/local/bin/wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta

wlanconfig: ioctl: No such device

Any ideas?

Regards
Michael

tempestuous
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#5 Post by tempestuous »

According to this -
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-40 ... dwifi.html
ath0 may somehow have already been created unsuccessfully so you first need to "un-create" it with
"wlanconfig ath0 destroy" before doing "wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta"

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M.Gregg
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Location: UK

#6 Post by M.Gregg »

Hi all,

tempestuous wrote:

ath0 may somehow have already been created unsuccessfully so you first need to "un-create" it with
"wlanconfig ath0 destroy" before doing "wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta"

I still get:
wlanconfig ath0 destroy
wlanconfig: ioctl: No such device

/usr/local/bin/wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta

wlanconfig: ioctl: No such device

The driver unzips and modprobe runs ok
it does say with warnings
but i cannot create ath0

does this mean that the driver will not work on my system?
I would use the driver off the packard bell site but it is only down loadable as a .exe and will not load with ndiswrapper.

Why do atheros not provide a normal driver? at least we could try to install it!
Anyone want to create a dot pup?
It seems that this is a common problem with this pci card so why do we still have a problem?
Thanks to all that try to help, i will monitor this thread for any
further info.
Kind regards
Michael

Guest

#7 Post by Guest »

Hi all,

modprobe ath_pci

seems to work but when i try to create ath0 with wifi0 i cannot create it.

the driver supports 5211 so it should work.

Any ideas?

Kind regards
Michael

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trapster
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#8 Post by trapster »

trapster
Maine, USA

Asus eeepc 1005HA PU1X-BK
Frugal install: Slacko
Currently using full install: DebianDog

tempestuous
Posts: 5464
Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#9 Post by tempestuous »

Did you do the "depmod" step? This is important, because the ath_pci.o module depends on several other modules.

Otherwise, the MADWiFi driver is not "happy" with your adaptor ... maybe Packard Bell has modified it?
There is a slightly newer driver now available at http://madwifi.org/
It doesn't look very different, except that the "wlanconfig" step is redundant. I will compile it shortly.

In the meantime, here's the older MADWiFi driver. Instructions are the same as before, but no "wlanconfig" step.
Attachments
madwifi.tar.gz
(177.96 KiB) Downloaded 703 times

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M.Gregg
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Ath0

#10 Post by M.Gregg »

Hi all,


but i still cannot create ath0 still no such device.

depmod
modprobe ath_pci

/usr/local/bin/wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode sta

wlan config: ioctl: no such device

I hope we can get it working, I noticed the number of people visiting this thread. I wonder how many others need a driver?

Kind regards
Michael

tempestuous
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Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#11 Post by tempestuous »

Remember, the old MADWiFi does not need, or recognise, the "wlanconfig" step.
So after loading the ath_pci module, run "ifconfig -a" to see if a network interface has been created. If so -
iwconfig ath0 essid MYESSID key 1234567890 mode managed
dhcpcd ath0

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M.Gregg
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After loadingthe old madwifi driver:

#12 Post by M.Gregg »

#modprobe ath_pci
warning: loading /lib/modules/2.4.29/wireless/madwifi/ath_hal.o will taint the kernel: non-GPL licence - Proprietary
See http://www.tux.org/lkml/#export-tainted for info

Module ath_hal loaded with warnings
Module wlan loaded with warnings
Module ath_rate sample loaded, with warnings
Module ath_pci loaded, with warnings
iwconfig
lo no wireless extentions
eth0 no wireless extentions

Kind regards
Michael

tempestuous
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Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#13 Post by tempestuous »

OK, something's wrong.
I have a sneaking suspicion that your laptop (Packard Bell, right?) may employ an RF switch, so that wifi is enabled only when you switch it on. I suggest you check your Window$ documentation to see if I am right about this.
If you have a hardware switch you should just be able to press the correct button (probably one of the Function keys) and then load your Linux driver.

But if you have a software switch then you will need a Linux software solution such as "RFSwitch" http://rfswitch.sourceforge.net/
This utility is known to work on Packard Bell EasyNote E5's. I have attached the README file which includes a simple command to test for compatibility.

There is also a possibility that an RF switch could be disabled in BIOS.

I could make a few suggestions about ndiswrapper, but if you have an RF switch (which is turned off) this obviously won't work either.
Attachments
rfswitch_README.gz
(951 Bytes) Downloaded 577 times

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M.Gregg
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Packard bell soft switch

#14 Post by M.Gregg »

Hi,

I think you are correct the Lap Top is a packard bell Easy Note R...I have down loaded the switch but i do not know how to install or make the file. (I am not a programer).

I have unzipped the file and now have access to the readme and the folder containing the drivers. The packard bell file is pbe5.c as used on the "easy note". I have had a look at the makefile but i am not sure how to begin.

Kind regards
Michael

tempestuous
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Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#15 Post by tempestuous »

I attached the README file so you could check RFSwitch's compatibility with your laptop. This is the suggested command -

dd if=/dev/mem bs=1 skip=983040 count=65535 2>/dev/null | strings | egrep "NEW-PC|Insyde Software MobilePRO BIOS"

I think the idea is that if this command returns anything at the prompt, then your device is compatible.
But let's assume yes, so here is the RFSwitch module which I just compiled. This module would normally be located in /lib/modules/2.4.29/... but this location is not persistent, and since the module has no dependencies I suggest you just copy it to /root. The README suggests loading this module with the radio disabled at boot, then enable it like this -

insmod /root/pbe5.o.gz radio=0
echo 1 > /proc/pbe5/radio

... but I would just load the module with the radio enabled -

insmod /root/pbe5.o.gz radio=1

Hopefully, now the MADWiFi driver will work.
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pbe5.o.gz
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M.Gregg
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Switch

#16 Post by M.Gregg »

Hi,

dd if=/dev/mem bs=1 skip=983040 count=65535 2>/dev/null | strings | egrep "NEW-PC|Insyde Software MobilePRO BIOS"
Insyde Software MobilePRO BIOS Version 4.20.10
#
insmod /root/pbe5.o.gz radio=0
echo 1 > /proc/pbe5/radio
#
#modprobe ath_pci
warning: loading /lib/modules/2.4.29/wireless/madwifi/ath_hal.o will taint the kernel: non-GPL licence - Proprietary
See http://www.tux.org/lkml/#export-tainted for info

Module ath_hal loaded with warnings
Module wlan loaded with warnings
Module ath_rate sample loaded, with warnings
Module ath_pci loaded, with warnings
iwconfig
lo no wireless extentions
eth0 no wireless extentions

Any thoughts?

Kind regards
Michael

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M.Gregg
Posts: 125
Joined: Sun 01 Jan 2006, 14:54
Location: UK

Just for info

#17 Post by M.Gregg »

Hi,

modprobe pbe5 radio=1
modprobe can't locate module pbe5
#

What am i doing wrong?

Kind regards
Michael

tempestuous
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Joined: Fri 10 Jun 2005, 05:12
Location: Australia

#18 Post by tempestuous »

"modprobe" only works for modules located in /lib/modules/2.4.29/... after "depmod" has been run to update the modules dependency file.
You can put the pbe5.o.gz module here if you prefer, but it won't survive reboots.
So "insmod" is a perfectly suitable alternative.

It looks like the driver is not working ... although I would really like to know what "ifconfig -a" reports after you load the ath_pci module.
At this stage I can only suggest some low-level troubleshooting.
1. Make sure your bios is set for "PnP OS = NO" This is important for all Linux installations.
2. Does "dmesg" or "lspci" show the card?
3. Does "cat /proc/interrupts" show an irq conflict?

The Puppy 1.0.7 liveCD allows the option of booting with ACPI on (1 default) or off (2), you could try reversing your original choice.

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M.Gregg
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Location: UK

#19 Post by M.Gregg »

Hi,

Here are some results that may help:
The tulip driver is the eth0


hci_hcd 00:10.3: irq 10, pci mem dc869000
usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
ehci_hcd 00:10.3: USB 2.0 enabled, EHCI 1.00, driver 2003-Dec-29/2.4
hub.c: USB hub found
hub.c: 6 ports detected
usb-uhci.c: $Revision: 1.275 $ time 10:58:54 Jun 17 2005
usb-uhci.c: High bandwidth mode enabled
usb-uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0x1200, IRQ 11
usb-uhci.c: Detected 2 ports
usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2
hub.c: USB hub found
hub.c: 2 ports detected
usb-uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0x1220, IRQ 7
usb-uhci.c: Detected 2 ports
usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3
hub.c: USB hub found
hub.c: 2 ports detected
usb-uhci.c: USB UHCI at I/O 0x1240, IRQ 5
usb-uhci.c: Detected 2 ports
usb.c: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4
hub.c: USB hub found
hub.c: 2 ports detected
usb-uhci.c: v1.275:USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver
Registering unionfs 1.0.14
hdc: attached ide-cdrom driver.
hdc: ATAPI 24X DVD-ROM DVD-R CD-R/RW drive, 2048kB Cache, UDMA(33)
Uniform CD-ROM driver Revision: 3.12
Linux Tulip driver version 0.9.15-pre12 (Aug 9, 2002)
ndiswrapper version 1.1 loaded (preempt=no,smp=no)
ndiswrapper: driver neta3ab (D-Link,09/03/2004,3.3.0.1571) loaded
PCI: Enabling device 00:06.0 (0000 -> 0002)
PCI: No IRQ known for interrupt pin A of device 00:06.0
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 00:06.0 to 64
ndiswrapper: request for irq 0 failed
ndiswrapper (NdisWriteErrorLogEntry:273): log: C000009A, count: 4 (db8ee160), re turn address: dc91ba46, entry: dc91c180 offset: 4294965446
ndiswrapper (ndiswrapper_add_one_pci_dev:188): Windows driver couldn't initializ e the device (C0000001)
ip_tables: (C) 2000-2002 Netfilter core team
ip_conntrack version 2.1 (3583 buckets, 28664 max) - 288 bytes per conntrack
eth0: Setting full-duplex based on MII #1 link partner capability of 41e1.
pbe5: Radio turned ON
ath_hal: 0.9.14.9 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413)
wlan: 0.8.6.0 (EXPERIMENTAL)
ath_rate_sample: 1.2
ath_pci: 0.9.6.0 (EXPERIMENTAL)
PCI: No IRQ known for interrupt pin A of device 00:06.0
ath%d: request_irq failed
#

Kind regards
Michael

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M.Gregg
Posts: 125
Joined: Sun 01 Jan 2006, 14:54
Location: UK

Fault finding

#20 Post by M.Gregg »

Hi,

# lspci
0:0.0 1106:0259
0:0.1 1106:1259
0:0.2 1106:2259
0:0.3 1106:3259
0:0.4 1106:4259
0:0.7 1106:7259
0:1.0 1106:b198
0:6.0 168c:0013 (rev 01)
0:16.0 1106:3038 (rev 80)
0:16.1 1106:3038 (rev 80)
0:16.2 1106:3038 (rev 80)
0:16.3 1106:3104 (rev 82)
0:17.0 1106:3177
0:17.1 1106:0571 (rev 06)
0:17.5 1106:3059 (rev 50)
0:17.6 1106:3068 (rev 80)
0:18.0 1106:3065 (rev 74)
1:0.0 1106:3118 (rev 02)
# cat /proc/interrupts
CPU0
0: 115796 XT-PIC timer
1: 291 XT-PIC keyboard
2: 0 XT-PIC cascade
5: 0 XT-PIC viaudio, usb-uhci
7: 0 XT-PIC usb-uhci
8: 0 XT-PIC rtc
9: 0 XT-PIC acpi
10: 0 XT-PIC ehci_hcd
11: 4064 XT-PIC usb-uhci, eth0
12: 33510 XT-PIC PS/2 Mouse
14: 3213 XT-PIC ide0
15: 19 XT-PIC ide1
NMI: 0
ERR: 0
#
Kind regards
Michael

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