New to Linux/Ubuntu, trying to get my wlan to work

[surfer]

Hi,

After many years stuck with Windows, I've decided to give Linux a go. I've just installed Ubuntu 8.10 and everything works fine except I can't get my wlan to work properly.
I'm runnig Linux on a new Acer TravelMate laptop with an Atheros AR5B91 chipset.
Is there any easy way to get the proper drivers installed and make it work?
The wlan is using WPA2 and AES. Does that present a problem?
Would the above be easier on a 64-bit Ubuntu?

A lot of questions from a newcomer, I know, but I'm grateful for all the help I can get! Apart from the wireless problem I'm finding Ubuntu and Linux really user friendly.

All the best,
Surfer

[jayd512]

Hi, surfer! Welcome to LinuxForums!

Check out this thread for some good info on getting wireless going in Linux.
http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/wir...tart-here.html

If you still have problems, you might wanna start a thread in the wirless section of the Forums.

[D-cat]

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wi...Driver/Atheros

[surfer]

Hi jayd512!

Thanks for the tip. I have gone throough the advice in your link, which has shed some light on the problem. The Atheros chipset is found, but denoted as an "unknown device". My interpretation is that it means working drivers are missing. Correct?
I've checked out Atheros homepage, without much luck so far. Do they only have drivers for Winows and if so why?

Regards from surfer

[surfer]

Hi D-Cat!

Checked out your link as well. It contains a lot of info! I tried the backports-link and installed some packages usin Synaptic. So far so good. Unfortunately I couldn't find any ath5k module in any of the packages.
With everything else working so smoothly in Linux, I'm surprised by the hazzle with getting a WLAN connection to work....

All the best,
surfer

[jayd512]

What wireless card is it exactly? Post the output of

lspci

[surfer]

Hi jayd512,

Output posted below. As far as I can tell it's not properly identified ("unknown device").

ola@ola-laptop:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Unknown device 9602
00:02.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (ext gfx port 0)
00:05.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 1)
00:06.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 2)
00:07.0 PCI bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] RS780 PCI to PCI bridge (PCIE port 3)
00:11.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
00:12.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:12.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI1 Controller
00:12.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB OHCI0 Controller
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 USB EHCI Controller
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 3a)
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB700/SB800 LPC host controller
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h HyperTransport Configuration (rev 40)
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h Miscellaneous Control
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 11h Link Control
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RS780M/RS780MN [Radeon HD 3200 Graphics]
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Mobilitiy Radeon HD 3400 Series
02:00.1 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc RV620 Audio device [Radeon HD 34xx Series]
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5764M Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 10)
06:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Unknown device 002a (rev 01)
0c:06.0 CardBus bridge: O2 Micro, Inc. Cardbus bridge (rev 01)
0c:06.2 SD Host controller: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MMC/SD Controller (rev 02)
0c:06.3 Mass storage controller: O2 Micro, Inc. Integrated MS/xD Controller (rev 03)
ola@ola-laptop:~$

Any clues from this?

Ola

[D-cat]

06:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Unknown device 002a (rev 01)

Did a search for 168C:002A

Ahh. Apparently, your card uses the module ath9k ...

I found some info here:
Ubuntu Forums - View Single Post - [all variants] ath9k

[waterhead]

Ubuntu does not include the open source ath5k and ath9k drivers in their kernel. Apparently they consider them to be "experimental". They use the Madwifi drivers instead, and they would be installed afterwards, as they are not installed by default. It may not support all Atheros wireless chips, though.

If you want to use the ath9k driver, a good source is to just install the latest compat-wireless package.

Download - Linux Wireless