Ubuntu 8.04 x86 + ThinkPad Atheros issue

[Marin85]

Hi all,
I still have a major problem with making my ThinkPad Atheros a/b/g (part # 40Y7026) connect to my router in Ubuntu 8.04 x86. I´m totally clueless since the card supports roaming without problems but as soon as I try to connect to a network, it simply doesn´t happen I´m almost sure it´s not the router since I can observe the same behavior when trying to connect to other networks available to me. I also have tried out different encryptions, respectively no encryption, but to no avail either. Manually setting up a connection doesn´t help either. Ethernet is working fine though. For the record my Intel Pro 3945 card works out of the box with Hardy.
Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Marin

[gongo2k1]

are you using madwifi or ndiswrapper?

[Marin85]

Tried ndiswrapper with the driver provided by Lenovo (unpacked and inf file selected in the x86 folder), but it didn´t work either

Marin

[Volker]

There are two native drivers, atk5k (http://wireless.kernel.org) and http://madwifi.org. I'd recommend trying the first one, it is newer but open source and will eventually be the one that everybody is using. Download the compat-wireless-2.6.tar.bz2 and give it a try.

Oh, and post the relevant parts of /var/log/messages when you want to get help.

[mikeh]

Different problem, same heading.
X40 with IBM/Atheros b/g, Ubuntu 8.04., madwifi. (automatically configured)
The wifi mostly works OK for web browsing, and I can upload big files well.
But larger downloads stall , after maybe a few hundred KB. Sometimes have
trouble with SSH.
Encryption is on. Anybody else had this?

Edit: not a linux problem, same in windows. OK with different WAP.

[Dead1nside]

Dont't use ath5k for the moment, it doesn't currently have the features that Madwifi driver has. It is the better option for the future, as ath5k is open source whereas Madwifi uses a so called 'binary blob'.

Upgrade to the latest Madwifi 0.9.4(?), are you using NetworkManager to make your wireless connections? If so, upgrade that to the latest stable if not test release. You want a 0.7 pre-release.

[tarvoke]

I use ath5k in ubuntu, both on my x31 and on my desktop at home. (refuse to use blobs or other proprietary stuff whenever possible)

it does tend to get upset when pushing lots of data through it constantly, and it doesn't always play well with my landlord's apple airport.

it seemed to be much more stable in the version that ships with the 2.6.24 kernel and earlier -- on my desktop sometimes the network connection will die and the only way to reconnect is unload+reload the module. sometimes it will oops and freeze the machine. before 2.6.26 this did not happen. not so sure on the x31, I don't use it heavily enough to know.

I did add an analog 4 port telephony card recently, that sucks a lot of power and quite possibly emits some noise; I need to remove that, it may be the cause rather than latest kernel/modules...

[Marin85]

From the /var/log/messages:

Code: Select all

 
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.127968] ath_rate_sample: 1.2 (0.9.4)
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129286] wifi0: 11a rates: 6Mbps 9Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129292] wifi0: 11b rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129296] wifi0: 11g rates: 1Mbps 2Mbps 5.5Mbps 11Mbps 6Mbps 9Mbps 12Mbps 18Mbps 24Mbps 36Mbps 48Mbps 54Mbps
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129303] wifi0: H/W encryption support: WEP AES AES_CCM TKIP
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129306] wifi0: mac 10.3 phy 6.1 radio 10.2
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129309] wifi0: Use hw queue 1 for WME_AC_BE traffic
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129311] wifi0: Use hw queue 0 for WME_AC_BK traffic
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129312] wifi0: Use hw queue 2 for WME_AC_VI traffic
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129314] wifi0: Use hw queue 3 for WME_AC_VO traffic
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129315] wifi0: Use hw queue 8 for CAB traffic
Aug 12 18:51:32 marin‐laptop kernel: [ 27.129317] wifi0: Use hw queue 9 for beacons 

Since it´s the same for each logon I post here only the latest I have. I hope that´s the entire part of it that might be relevant.

Thanks in advance!

Marin

[tarvoke]

usually around the time mine dies, I get a ton of

Code: Select all

[865947.867490] wlan0: CTS protection enabled (BSSID=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx)
[865956.470368] wlan0: CTS protection disabled (BSSID=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx)
[866173.811756] wlan0: switched to short barker preamble (BSSID=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx)
[866185.386458] wlan0: switched to long barker preamble (BSSID=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx)
[866425.842214] wlan0: switched to short barker preamble (BSSID=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx)
[866447.551515] wlan0: switched to long barker preamble (BSSID=xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx)
[867232.112076] ath5k phy1: noise floor calibration timeout (2412MHz)
[867663.149260] ath5k phy1: noise floor calibration timeout (2412MHz)

especially the ones about the noise floor calibration timeout. that's generally a sign I will have to reload ath5k. sometimes it means the machine is about to oops and possibly hang ^_^

the cts and preamble switches going on and off, I get at other times and at worst have to reassociate.

[mrsquirrel]

What adapter do you have?

I gave up with Ubuntu because of the Broadcom fitted to my R60. It drove me mad trying to get it to work.

I read a link the other day saying that there was a work around for it but I am happy with SuSE so will leave it at that.

[jglen490]

The Atheros chip that the OP started the discussion with, is much different than your Broadcom beast.

I am using a Broadcom BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g that works quite well under Kubuntu 8.04 using the b43-fwcutter package and the firmware that it provided.

There has been a lot of discussion on the merits of the open source ath* drivers vs. the madwifi "blob". While there is a lot of effort being put into the ath* drivers, madwifi is still better, at least in terms of functionality. Open source is always a better target to shoot for, but sometimes it falls a little short.