Atheros ar8121 pci-e unrecognized

[testps]

I installed Debian 64bit and I am having some problems the Atheros ar8121 pci-e onboard net work to function. I went through the forum and read all the postings I could find but found no answer to:
$ insmod arl1e
insmod : can't read arl1e: No such file or directory

I tried moving the .ko file up one directory but to no avail.
In which directory should I be running insmod for it to find the arl1e file?

[waterhead]

Please read the thread linked to below, and provide the information that it explains hoe to find.

Wireless Setup - Start Here

I don't know where you got the info about a arl1e module, but you shouldn't just move modules around.

[waterhead]

I researched this a little, and I found the Linux driver that you referred to here:

Atheros Communications

It is the AR81Family driver. I got errors when extracting it, but I was able to compile it anyway. I have Ubuntu, which is based on Debian, so it should work for you too. These are the commands I used:

sudo make install

sudo modprobe atl1e

The instructions say to use insmod, but that method in no longer used. I checked for the module with this command. It should be at the top of the list.

lsmod

If you cannot load the new module, you may need to run this command first.

sudo depmod -a

[testps]

Here are the results of the instructions above:


test@newpc:~/atl1e$ tar -zxf AR81Family-linux-v1[1].0.1.0.tar.gz

gzip: stdin: decompression OK, trailing garbage ignored
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors
test@newpc:~/atl1e$ cd src

test@newpc:~/atl1e/src$ su
Password:
newpc:/home/test/atl1e/src# sudo make install
make -C /lib/modules/2.6.26-2-amd64/build SUBDIRS=/home/test/atl1e/src modules
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.26-2-amd64'
CC [M] /home/test/atl1e/src/at_main.o
CC [M] /home/test/atl1e/src/at_hw.o
CC [M] /home/test/atl1e/src/at_param.o
CC [M] /home/test/atl1e/src/at_ethtool.o
CC [M] /home/test/atl1e/src/kcompat.o
LD [M] /home/test/atl1e/src/atl1e.o
Building modules, stage 2.
MODPOST 1 modules
CC /home/test/atl1e/src/atl1e.mod.o
LD [M] /home/test/atl1e/src/atl1e.ko
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.26-2-amd64'
gzip -c ../atl1e.7 > atl1e.7.gz
# remove all old versions of the driver
find /lib/modules/2.6.26-2-amd64 -name atl1e.ko -exec rm -f {} \; || true
find /lib/modules/2.6.26-2-amd64 -name atl1e.ko.gz -exec rm -f {} \; || true
install -D -m 644 atl1e.ko /lib/modules/2.6.26-2-amd64/kernel/drivers/net/atl1e/atl1e.ko
/sbin/depmod -a || true
install -D -m 644 atl1e.7.gz /usr/share/man/man7/atl1e.7.gz
man -c -P'cat > /dev/null' atl1e || true
man:
cannot write to /var/cache/man/cat7/atl1e.7.gz in catman mode
atl1e.
newpc:/home/test/atl1e/src# sudo modprobe atl1e
newpc:/home/test/atl1e/src# lsmod
Module Size Used by
ppdev 11656 0
parport_pc 31016 0
lp 14724 0
parport 41776 3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
ipv6 288328 20
powernow_k8 17156 0
cpufreq_stats 9120 0
cpufreq_ondemand 11792 4
freq_table 9344 3 powernow_k8,cpufreq_stats,cpufreq_ondemand
cpufreq_conservative 11784 0
cpufreq_powersave 6400 0
cpufreq_userspace 8452 0
nls_utf8 6272 1
nls_cp437 11136 1
vfat 14976 1
fat 51128 1 vfat
nls_base 12932 4 nls_utf8,nls_cp437,vfat,fat
loop 19468 0
snd_hda_intel 436440 0
snd_pcm_oss 41760 0
snd_mixer_oss 18816 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 81672 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss
snd_seq_dummy 7428 0
snd_seq_oss 33280 0
snd_seq_midi 11072 0
snd_rawmidi 26784 1 snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 11904 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 54304 6 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
snd_timer 25744 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 11668 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
serio_raw 9860 0
snd 63688 9 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_pcm,sn d_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_de vice
psmouse 42268 0
pcspkr 7040 0
soundcore 12064 1 snd
snd_page_alloc 13072 2 snd_hda_intel,snd_pcm
i2c_piix4 13072 0
i2c_core 27936 1 i2c_piix4
wmi 11712 0
button 11680 0
shpchp 34208 0
pci_hotplug 32056 1 shpchp
evdev 14208 3
ext3 124944 2
jbd 51240 1 ext3
mbcache 12804 1 ext3
ide_pci_generic 9220 0 [permanent]
usb_storage 95680 0
sg 36576 0
atiixp 8324 0 [permanent]
ide_core 128284 2 ide_pci_generic,atiixp
sr_mod 19652 0
cdrom 37928 1 sr_mod
sd_mod 29376 5
floppy 61672 0
ata_generic 10116 0
ehci_hcd 35980 0
ohci_hcd 25092 0
atl1e 36116 0
ahci 33036 4
libata 165600 2 ata_generic,ahci
scsi_mod 160760 5 usb_storage,sg,sr_mod,sd_mod,libata
dock 14112 1 libata
thermal 22816 0
processor 42304 2 powernow_k8,thermal
fan 9352 0
thermal_sys 17728 3 thermal,processor,fan
newpc:/home/test/atl1e/src# sudo depmod -a
newpc:/home/test/atl1e/src# sudo modprobe atl1e
newpc:/home/test/atl1e/src#

ferron@newpc:/home$ su
Password:
newpc:/home# dmesg|grep Atheros
newpc:/home# dmesg|grep atheros
newpc:/home# cd test/atl1e/src
newpc:/home/test/atl1e/src# dmesg|grep Atheros
newpc:/home/test/atl1e/src#


Still no positive results.
As for the "arl1e". That was the specific name in the readme file.

[waterhead]

It doesn't appear that the module has loaded. Did you check for it again after you did the depmod command?

When I installed it, it created a folder where it installed the module. Look for it, to see if you have it.

/lib/modules/2.6.28-13-generic/kernel/drivers/net/atl1e/atl1e.ko

Your kernel version may be different.

[testps]

It is in the list I just didn't notice it before because I was expecting it to be at the top like you said.
If you look at the 9th line from the bottom of the actual "lsmod" list above you will notice it. "atl1e 36116 0"


there is also a file in this directory:
/lib/modules/2.6.26-2-amd64/kernel/drivers/net/atl1e/atl1e.ko

[waterhead]

That means the module was most likely already loaded. It has been my experience, when manually loading modules, they are always at the top of the list.

Since it appears to load the driver, have you had any success in getting it to work? What are the outputs of these commands.

ifconfig

iwconfig

iwlist scan

[testps]

There are no network devices in NETWORK TOOLS

newpc:/home# ifconfig
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:94 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:94 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:6444 (6.2 KiB) TX bytes:6444 (6.2 KiB)

newpc:/home# iwconfig
bash: iwconfig: command not found
newpc:/home# iwlist scan
bash: iwlist: command not found
newpc:/home#

[waterhead]

Install the wireless-tools package, or whatever Debian calls it. If NetworkManager isn't installed either, then install that too.

This is an example of why I don't use Debian.

[testps]

Which 64bit linux works the best for you?