Ubuntu

Wireless trouble Atheros AR5212

Asked by Kẏra on 2007-10-01

I have tried everything to get my wireless card working. Please help. Let me know what else i can try and what information would be helpful to look at in the terminal

root@danny-laptop:~# ifconfig -a
ath0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:F5:83:CA:E4
          inet6 addr: fe80::211:f5ff:fe83:cae4/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0F:B0:90:24:46
          inet addr:192.168.15.102 Bcast:192.168.15.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::20f:b0ff:fe90:2446/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:6262 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:4693 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:6633308 (6.3 MB) TX bytes:936264 (914.3 KB)
          Interrupt:18 Base address:0x8000

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:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:28 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:1400 (1.3 KB) TX bytes:1400 (1.3 KB)

wifi0 Link encap:UNSPEC HWaddr 00-11-F5-83-CA-E4-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:408 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:199
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:18768 (18.3 KB)
          Interrupt:19

root@danny-laptop:~# ifconfig
ath0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:F5:83:CA:E4
          inet6 addr: fe80::211:f5ff:fe83:cae4/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)

root@danny-laptop:~# iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wifi0 no wireless extensions.

ath0 IEEE 802.11g ESSID:"" Nickname:""
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.437 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
          Bit Rate:0 kb/s Tx-Power:16 dBm Sensitivity=1/1
          Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality=0/70 Signal level=-256 dBm Noise level=-256 dBm
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

root@danny-laptop:~# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS300 Host Bridge (rev 02)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon 9100 IGP AGP Bridge
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc OHCI USB Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc OHCI USB Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc EHCI USB Controller (rev 01)
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SMBus (rev 18)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc Dual Channel Bus Master PCI IDE Controller
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc Unknown device 434c
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc Unknown device 4342
00:14.5 Multimedia audio controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP150 AC'97 Audio Controller
00:14.6 Modem: ATI Technologies Inc IXP AC'97 Modem (rev 01)
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RS300M AGP [Radeon Mobility 9100IGP]
02:02.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5212/AR5213 Multiprotocol MAC/baseband processor (rev 01)
02:03.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
02:04.0 CardBus bridge: ENE Technology Inc CB1410 Cardbus Controller (rev 01)

Question information

Language:: English Edit question

Status:: Answered

For:: Ubuntu Edit question

Assignee:: No assignee Edit question

Last query:: 2007-10-07

Last reply:: 2008-09-05

Link existing bug

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-01:

that output you posted seems to indicate that the card is working and set up correctly although not connected to any network. have you tried setting up the interface in the network-admin program?

press alt F2 and in the box that pops up type "gksudo network-admin"

Alan

Kẏra (thekyriarchy) said on 2007-10-02:

Yes i have tried that. I can't pick up any wireless networks for some reason. No matter where i am, how many there are, how strong they are, or what security they use.

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-03:

in the terminal type "sudo iwlist scanning" and it will test all your network interfaces for wifi support and will list any wireless nets that are detected.

Alan

Kẏra (thekyriarchy) said on 2007-10-03:

danny@danny-laptop:~$ sudo iwlist scanning
[sudo] password for [SUPREME OVERLORD]:
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wifi0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

ath0 Interface doesn't support scanning : Network is down

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-03:

Thanks for the extra information! In a terminal enter:

sudo ifconfig ath0 up

Then run:

iwlist ath0 scanning

If it lists anything then you should be able to use the network-admin to configure the network.

Alan

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-03:

incidentally, make sure the wifi card is actually switched "on". this is generally a dedicated switch on the laptop or a command associated with the FN key on the keyboard and one of the function keys (f1, f2, f3 etc)

Alan

Kẏra (thekyriarchy) said on 2007-10-03:

Um is there a way i can determine what the command is to switch it on or off? Is there a command to find out if it is on or off? I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a physical switch because it's inside of my laptop. Wouldn't most of the thing i have done not even work if it was switched off right now?

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-03:

Do you have an acer laptop? In general there is still a switch or the fn key as I said as for laptop users it is useful to be able to disable the wifi card in order to save battery power. And no, if the wireless chip was in the off state then it wouldn't work with those commands.

If it is an acer laptop then there are a few more steps we have to go through so let me know.

Alan

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-03:

I will have to pick up tomorrow evening. Goodnight.

Kẏra (thekyriarchy) said on 2007-10-03:

#10

Thanks so much for you help so far. I have a Satellite A75-S1253 (Toshiba)

So don't we already know that the chip is on since those commands worked?

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-04:

#11

Did you try to do what I asked you to before?

>In a terminal enter:
>
>sudo ifconfig ath0 up
>
>Then run:
>
>iwlist ath0 scanning

Kẏra (thekyriarchy) said on 2007-10-05:

#12

Yeah, now it just says no scan results instead of the network is down.

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-07:

#13

it might just be a bug in network manager that shiops with your version of ubuntu. There is a very detailed guide here for slackware that has that wifi card and laptop working which you can follow but if you are not experienced then you will probably not like it. you could also try upgrading to gutsy gibbon (7.10) as that has better general hardware support.

Alan

Kẏra (thekyriarchy) said on 2007-10-07:

#14

I am in Gutsy Gibbon

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-07:

#15

In that case it's more likely a bug with gutsy gibbon.. seeing as it's a beta release and is not supported! this forum is for questions relating to the *supported* versions only.

Kẏra (thekyriarchy) said on 2007-10-07:

#16

This was a problem i was having in Feisty. The whole story is that i had wireless working in Feisty but then i reinstalled Feisty and my wireless didn't work anymore. I reinstalled Feisty multiple times because of other issues and then i installed the Gutsy beta when that came out and i am still having the problem

Alan (mrintegrity) said on 2007-10-08:

#17

Sorry but I don't think I can help with this question. I suggest you re-ask it including the output from all the various commands we have run so far. Apologies but it's got me beat!

Alan

penguianandub (jmgarrard) said on 2008-09-05:

#18

My experience with this chipset is that the best method for connecting is this:

assuming you're logged in as root as in your code:

ifup ath0 (it may already be up)
iwlist scan (this works when the network-manager thinks it's up or card is powered on ? Find the MAC address you want to connect to - <<copy>>)
ifdown ath0
iwconfig ath0 ap <<paste>>
ifup ath0

Works like a charm for me, you can also try setting the card to the channel of your wireless network by using:
iwconfig ath0 channel 6 (for instance).

This can also be helpful. Just remember iwlist scan won't work with this card unless the card is in "up" mode. Good luck!

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