wlan with ath chipset not working with new puppy

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gschl · #1 Post by **gschl** » Tue 07 Oct 2008, 19:48

as opposed to puppy 4.0 my D-Link-wlan-card with an atheros chip is not working in puppy 4.1 - but using the "retro"-version it does work. Why?

on a msi-laptop with Intersil 2.5-wavelan chipset neither version of puppy 4.1 is working

tempestuous · #2 Post by **tempestuous** » Tue 07 Oct 2008, 21:14

gschl wrote: my D-Link-wlan-card with an atheros chip is not working in puppy 4.1

Puppy 4.1 gives preference to the new ath5k driver over the ath_pci driver, but ath5k is unreliable. You can reverse these preferences in boot options so that ath_pci will load.

jonlowe · #3 Post by **jonlowe** » Wed 08 Oct 2008, 03:54

Confirm the bug with my Netgear PCMCIA WG511T card with the Atheros chipset. The ath5k driver gets reloaded after a reboot, even if the ath_pci driver is selected and saved. I finally deleted the entire ath5k driver to keep from having to reload the ath_pci driver after each reboot. Do a search for ath5k and delete whatever you find in the way of files.

Why they would include this admittedly development driver (look at its description in Pupscan) to a stable release of Puppy, I have no clue. The ath5k driver recognizes the card, but doesn't work at all. Yeah, the ath_pci is proprietary, but it works.

Jon

tempestuous · #4 Post by **tempestuous** » Wed 08 Oct 2008, 04:12

jonlowe wrote:I finally deleted the entire ath5k driver to keep from having to reload the ath_pci driver after each reboot.

The correct process, as I said, is to set preference for ath_pci in the boot manager wizard.

jonlowe · #5 Post by **jonlowe** » Wed 08 Oct 2008, 04:42

tempestuous wrote:
jonlowe wrote:I finally deleted the entire ath5k driver to keep from having to reload the ath_pci driver after each reboot.
The correct process, as I said, is to set preference for ath_pci in the boot manager wizard.

Took me awhile to find it, as it isn't under the Wizards area in the menu. Now that I know it is there, I will use it next time. Sometimes it was loading both of ath_pci and the ath5k drivers.

mawebb88 · #6 Post by **mawebb88** » Wed 08 Oct 2008, 14:05

See my comments also in thread:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=34159

Cannot get a stable wireless network using Puppy 4.1 (great pity).

So have reverted to 4.00.

Mike

gschl · #7 Post by **gschl** » Wed 08 Oct 2008, 14:46

@tempestuous: thank you - ath0 now working.....

and also the chip in eeepc 701 after downloading and installing madwifi...*.pet

#8 Post by **BÃ©Ã¨m** » Wed 08 Oct 2008, 18:25

Maybe not very well known, but the bootmanager config in the System menu is a powerfull tool.

Taking this case, blacklisting the ath5k module would have solved the problem.
Advantage, you can always come back on the blacklist approach.

Another advantage, if for some reason a module isn't loaded, you can force loading it with the button 'click here to add new module'

mawebb88 · #9 Post by **mawebb88** » Thu 09 Oct 2008, 14:13

Decide to give 4.1 another shot but this time I did a fresh install to a USB stick rather than an upgrade from 4.0. Changed in the BootManager the preference from ath5k to ath_pci. Gave up using either the new Network Wizard (could never get it to scan for networks) or Pwireless (could never get it to show saved profiles in the GUI) as a way of getting my wireless to work.

Just created a file with:

iwconfig ath0 mode managed essid XXXXX key YYYYYYYY ap ZZZZZ channel AA
dhcpcd ath0

Made this executable and then created a Sym link to this in the Startup folder. Now works perfectly every boot!

Pity not to used the hard work of the developer on the Network Wizard and Pwireless but I think my solution is much easier.

Now have Seamonkey email working, midi files playing from a Samba LADdisk attached to my router (using Audacious+plugin's+extra libs).

Don't like the new Pmusic player. You cannot drag/drop files to it. Stick with BMP for mp3 playing (at least on older hardware).

My photos from my Samba LANdisk are displayed like lightning using GQview.

Very pleased with 4.1 now!

-----
Mike

James186282 · #10 Post by **James186282** » Thu 29 Oct 2009, 04:49

I'm using 4.3 and can't seem to properly blacklist ath5k. It keeps showing up along with ath_pci as well as cfg80211, mac80211 led_class. I've used the bootmanager to blacklist them all yet they still load. Is there not some way to avoid them loading in the first place? I would rather not search and delete out these drivers but.... Truly confused.

- James186282

rjbrewer · #11 Post by **rjbrewer** » Thu 29 Oct 2009, 05:16

James186282 wrote:I'm using 4.3 and can't seem to properly blacklist ath5k. It keeps showing up along with ath_pci as well as cfg80211, mac80211 led_class. I've used the bootmanager to blacklist them all yet they still load. Is there not some way to avoid them loading in the first place? I would rather not search and delete out these drivers but.... Truly confused.

- James186282

This thread is a year old, things have changed a little.

If you're using 4.3 with the latest kernel, ath pci is superceded
by ath5k.
4.3 is also available (special puppies) with 2 earlier kernels
that still use ath pci.

scabz · #12 Post by **scabz** » Thu 29 Oct 2009, 05:26

James186282 wrote:I'm using 4.3 and can't seem to properly blacklist ath5k. It keeps showing up along with ath_pci as well as cfg80211, mac80211 led_class. I've used the bootmanager to blacklist them all yet they still load. Is there not some way to avoid them loading in the first place? I would rather not search and delete out these drivers but.... Truly confused.

- James186282

this is what i do dont know if it is the right way.
go to /etc/rc.d/MODULESCONFIG
open in text editor in SKIPLIST add ath5k and or whatever you want to blacklist.
in PREFLIST add ath5k:ath_pci if you want to have ath_pci take preference.

edit this works for me in 4.2 dont know about 4.3

James186282 · #13 Post by **James186282** » Thu 29 Oct 2009, 15:57

Thats the problem. ath5k is already in SKIPLIST and its still loading. This is really frustraiting. Should I seek out ath5k and delete it? I don't know what to do next? All I want is madwifi.

James186282 · #14 Post by **James186282** » Thu 29 Oct 2009, 16:11

I still see it if i
lsmod | grep ath

It shows...
ath5k 117296 0
mac80211 166056 | ath5k
led_class 4112 | ath5k
cfg80211 64972 2 ath5k, mac80211
ath_pci 233988 0
ath_hal 351392 | ath_pci
wlan 228048 | ath_pci

Its like some perverse combo of ath5k and madwifi SIGH... btw I have all the other ath5k modules such as mac80211 in the skiplist as well.

rjbrewer · #15 Post by **rjbrewer** » Fri 30 Oct 2009, 02:19

If you're using 4.3.. with the latest kernel, ath pci is not even
listed.
If you have an earlier kernel;

Go to setup>configure startup>load kernel modules.
Check "give preference to one module......"
If both ath mods are there, switch the order.
You can also black list.

Run connection wizard.

James186282 · #16 Post by **James186282** » Fri 30 Oct 2009, 02:58

I compiled ath_pci (madwifi) from source to get it. I tried blacklisting. No effect. I tried the order thing but I'm not sure I understand it.
Wouldn't it be ath_pci:ath5k to say load ath_pci first? And not the other way around "ath5k:ath_pci"???

n fact thats my real question. Is there not some point that the driver is "loaded" where I can change a script and have it NOT even try to load ath5k in the first place? Blacklist does not seem to make sense to me but I'm a total Noob...

rjbrewer · #17 Post by **rjbrewer** » Fri 30 Oct 2009, 03:18

James186282 wrote:I compiled ath_pci (madwifi) from source to get it. I tried blacklisting. No effect. I tried the order thing but I'm not sure I understand it.
Wouldn't it be ath_pci:ath5k to say load ath_pci first? And not the other way around "ath5k:ath_pci"???

n fact thats my real question. Is there not some point that the driver is "loaded" where I can change a script and have it NOT even try to load ath5k in the first place? Blacklist does not seem to make sense to me but I'm a total Noob...

If you want ath_pci the order is ath5k:ath_pci.

Blacklist by moving modules from left to right column.

James186282 · #18 Post by **James186282** » Fri 30 Oct 2009, 03:29

I may have found a bug then. I've done both yet ath5k still shows up. Is it a once loaded no way to unload it thing? I'm pondering backing up and starting from scratch.

rjbrewer · #19 Post by **rjbrewer** » Fri 30 Oct 2009, 03:42

type "uname -r" in console ( no quotes),
what's the kernel number?

What kind of card is this?

James186282 · #20 Post by **James186282** » Fri 30 Oct 2009, 04:40

2.6.30.5
the card is atheros (netgear Wag511)

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