Atheros 802.11 a+b+g installation tutorial...

[flipjargendy]

i just wrote a tutorial and have placed meta tags in it, hopefully it will get spidered. i just wanted to post it here as well so that someone can tell me if anything is missing or anything wrong with it or so you can use it (mostly so you can use it). i hope it helps someone.

Atheros Wireless Card Installation

[joex]

thx for your tutorial. I suspect it works for most since all other tut's get me the same doggone error. running mandrake 10.1 on a toshiba A75. Atheros wifi a+b+g card installed.
any suggestions would be welcome. Whne I make I ger the following code with the smp errors

/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/linux/smp.h:29: error: conflicting types for 'smp_send_reschedule'
/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/asm/smp.h:41: error: previous declaration of 'smp_send_reschedule' was here
/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/linux/smp.h:29: error: conflicting types for 'smp_send_reschedule'
/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/asm/smp.h:41: error: previous declaration of 'smp_send_reschedule' was here
make[3]: *** [ah_osdep.o] Error 1

[AlexK]

One question, why are you using the 2.4 kernel? I thought that the Madwifi drivers need the newer 2.6 kernels?

those errors look like basic C errors dealing with various functions which have definitions in those header files. I am guessing they stem from the fact you are using a 2.4 kernel.

The only Suggestion I can think of is this: Get a new distro, that is if you are not too fond of Mandrake. i would suggest that you try SuSE 9.3, It worked on my Toshiba Satellite P30 which has a Atheros 5004GS a+b+g card. If you do go for SuSE, be sure to install the firmware and drivers during the install. Then when you get to the network setup, everything will be setup and mostly configured (except for the ssid and wep/wpa key).

[joex]

I'm definitley using 2.6 but like a total n00b I dunno why the driver is compiling from the 2.4.
help?!I'm using a fairly late distro of Mandrake (10.1) and Kernelversion comfirms that 2.6 is in use.
How can I mod the drivers install to use 2.6? Why is the diver seeking the 2.6?
thx

[AlexK]

oh, then it seems that the kernel sources you are using are for the 2.4 series of kernels. I would suggest you either upgrade the kernel using urpmi kernel-source or go for SuSE 9.3 which works out of the box with that particular card.

[joex]

THX for your prompt reply

hmmm
when I urpmi kernel-version i get
The package(s) are already installed
Am I Don Quiote for trying to figure this out?! I really wanna make this work before I bail.
Other suggestions?!

[AlexK]

what about urpmi kernel and then select the latest one from that list?

The A75 is a P4 based laptop right? that is if toshiba continued its naming scheme (I used to own an A60, no wireless card on that). If it is so, what about trying to disable hyper-threading in the bios and seeing if that makes a difference

those smp errors you are getting seem to stem from the use of a multi-core processor and the functions and header files are inconsistent and hence the error is generated.

[joex]

I turned off the multithread switch and got the same error. When I urpmi kernel I get the same as I did for kernel version (everything installed).
Below is the output fro the Kernel-release command that shoud make the install file.
Thx so much for your advice! I'm sorry we haven't stumbled across the problem yet. Read on if you still have some tech left in you !

root@192 madwifi]# KERNELRELEASE=`uname -r` make
Checking if all requirements are met... ok.
mkdir -p ./symbols
for i in ./ath_hal ath_rate/sample ./net80211 ./ath; do \
make -C $i || exit 1; \
done
make[1]: Entering directory `/root/madwifi/ath_hal'
make -C /usr/src/linux SUBDIRS=/root/madwifi/ath_hal MODVERDIR=/root/madwifi/ath
_hal/../symbols modules
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk'
make -C /root/madwifi/ath_hal CFLAGS="-D__KERNEL__ -I/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pr
e2.1mdk/include -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -Wno-trigraphs -O2 -fno-strict-aliasin
g -fno-common -pipe -mpreferred-stack-boundary=2 -march=i586 -DMODULE -DMODVERSI
ONS -include /usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/linux/modversions.h" MAKI
NG_MODULES=1 modules
make[3]: Entering directory `/root/madwifi/ath_hal'
gcc -D__KERNEL__ -I/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include -Wall -Wstrict-prot
otypes -Wno-trigraphs -O2 -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -pipe -mpreferred-sta
ck-boundary=2 -march=i586 -DMODULE -DMODVERSIONS -include /usr/src/linux-2.4.27-
0.pre2.1mdk/include/linux/modversions.h -include ./../include/compat.h -I./../in
clude -I./../hal -I./../hal/linux -I./../hal/public -I./../ath_hal -I./.. -DAH_BYTE_ORDER=AH_LITTLE_ENDIAN -nostdinc -iwithprefix include -DKBUILD_BASENAME=ah_osdep -DEXPORT_SYMTAB -c ah_osdep.c -o ah_osdep.o
In file included from /usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/linux/sched.h:24,
from /usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/linux/mm.h:4,
from /usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/linux/slab.h:14,
from ah_osdep.c:50:

!! this is where it goes BOOM!

/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/linux/smp.h:29: error: conflicting types for 'smp_send_reschedule'
/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/asm/smp.h:41: error: previous declaration of 'smp_send_reschedule' was here
/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/linux/smp.h:29: error: conflicting types for 'smp_send_reschedule'
/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk/include/asm/smp.h:41: error: previous declaration of 'smp_send_reschedule' was here
make[3]: *** [ah_osdep.o] Error 1
make[3]: Leaving directory `/root/madwifi/ath_hal'
make[2]: *** [_mod_/root/madwifi/ath_hal] Error 2
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.4.27-0.pre2.1mdk'
make[1]: *** [all] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/root/madwifi/ath_hal'
make: *** [all] Error 1
[root@192 madwifi]#

[AlexK]

Hmmm, how about trying to get the latest cvs snapshot of the driver, assuming you have a wired lan or dialup connection to internet.

enter this command into the terminal:

cvs -z3 -d:pserver:anonymous@cvs.sourceforge.net:/cvsroot/madwifi \
co madwifi

also see the madwifi page for more instructions on getting a cvs snapshot.

[joex]

no luck. same error


so what do you think is the issue? Is it my install or madwifi? I dunno why I can have kernelversion 2.6 and I still see all of those 2.4 references in the compile error.
Any thoughts?