AR242x wireless chipset not working in Ubuntu

Hi,

Please follow this procedure:

Step 1: Open Terminal from "Applications->Accessories->
Terminal"

Step 2: Run the following commands (type each then hit <enter>)

sudo iwlist scanning
nm-tool
iwconfig
ifconfig
sudo lshw -C network
lspci
lsusb
uname -a
dmesg|grep ound
dmesg|grep etect

Step 3: Post results (cut/paste terminal output from each command) here

Regards,

Mark

Dear Mark, thank you very much for your suggestion. Here follows the terminal answers:

lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ sudo iwlist scanning
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

pan0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ nm-tool

NetworkManager Tool

State: connected

- Device: eth0 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  Type: Wired
  Driver: r8169
  State: connected
  Default: yes
  HW Address: 00:1D:72:78:75:38

  Capabilities:
    Supported: yes
    Carrier Detect: yes
    Speed: 100 Mb/s

  Wired Settings

  IPv4 Settings:
    Address: 192.168.1.92
    Prefix: 24 (255.255.255.0)
    Gateway: 192.168.1.1

    DNS: 192.168.1.1

lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

pan0 no wireless extensions.

lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1d:72:78:75:38
          inet addr:192.168.1.92 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::21d:72ff:fe78:7538/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:2631 errors:0 dropped:1980383546 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:959 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:898322 (898.3 KB) TX bytes:111729 (111.7 KB)
          Interrupt:220 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:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:6 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:376 (376.0 B) TX bytes:376 (376.0 B)

lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ sudo lshw -C network
  *-network
       description: Ethernet interface
       product: RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: eth0
       version: 02
       serial: 00:1d:72:78:75:38
       size: 100MB/s
       capacity: 1GB/s
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix vpd bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
       configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=2.3LK-NAPI duplex=full ip=192.168.1.92 latency=0 link=yes module=r8169 multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100MB/s
  *-network UNCLAIMED
       description: Ethernet controller
       product: AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter
       vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       version: 01
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list
       configuration: latency=0
  *-network DISABLED
       description: Ethernet interface
       physical id: 1
       logical name: pan0
       serial: 66:98:d2:00:27:1e
       capabilities: ethernet physical
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=bridge driverversion=2.3 firmware=N/A link=yes multicast=yes
lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Graphics Port (rev 07)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
00:1a.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.6 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) Thermal Subsystem (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 9200M GS (rev a1)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8101E/RTL8102E PCI Express Fast Ethernet controller (rev 02)
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ lsusb
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 04f2:b091 Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 0bda:0158 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Mass Stroage Device
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 002: ID 13ee:0003
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ uname -a
Linux lisa-laptop 2.6.27-9-generic #1 SMP Thu Nov 20 21:57:00 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux
lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ dmesg|grep ound
[ 0.576702] pnp: PnP ACPI: found 9 devices
[ 1.329074] pcieport-driver 0000:00:01.0: found MSI capability
[ 1.329335] pcieport-driver 0000:00:1c.0: found MSI capability
[ 1.329630] pcieport-driver 0000:00:1c.1: found MSI capability
[ 1.685927] isapnp: No Plug & Play device found
[ 1.752799] BIOS EDD facility v0.16 2004-Jun-25, 0 devices found
[ 2.589457] hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 2.692546] hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 2.697593] No dock devices found.
[ 2.797369] hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 2.920197] hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 3.241254] hub 5-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 3.344877] hub 6-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 3.552483] hub 7-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 3.680284] hub 8-0:1.0: USB hub found
[ 4.565365] usb-storage: device found at 2
[ 14.062171] uvcvideo: Found UVC 1.00 device CNF7047 (04f2:b091)
[ 15.884893] lp: driver loaded but no devices found
[ 19.721617] apm: BIOS not found.
lisa@lisa-laptop:~$ dmesg|grep etect
[ 0.000000] ACPI: DMI detected: Hewlett-Packard
[ 0.000000] Detected 1994.951 MHz processor.
[ 1.739140] i8042.c: Detected active multiplexing controller, rev 1.1.
[ 1.751783] EISA: Detected 0 cards.
[ 2.589464] hub 1-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 2.692553] hub 2-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 2.797377] hub 3-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 2.920205] hub 4-0:1.0: 6 ports detected
[ 3.241261] hub 5-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 3.344884] hub 6-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 3.552490] hub 7-0:1.0: 2 ports detected
[ 3.680295] hub 8-0:1.0: 6 ports detected
lisa@lisa-laptop:~$

Hi,

Please follow the instructions from forumuser "reasoner" at this
location:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=902860&highlight=AR242x

This wireless problem has been discussed on
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/52089 and on
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/46457

Hope it helps,

Regards,

Mark

dear mark, thank you for your reply.

Just one more question before I try to follow the instructions you told me about at http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=902860&highlight=AR242x: do I risk to "damage" the system following those instructions (they look quite complicated to an ubuntu rookie like me) or is it, anyway, a safe and harmless sequence of commands? My fear is to make the system unstable and not to be able to restore it to the actual state.

Hi,

No risk in damaging the system. It is a guide for installing wireless drivers and the procedure does not modify the Linux kernel (= the heart of Linux)

Regards,

Mark

I tried to follow the instructions from post http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=902860&highlight=AR242x written by poster Reasoner, but the following step is quite unclear to me:

**********************
CANT FIND svn.madwifi.org
If subversion has a hard time finding svn.madwifi.org then add it's IP address to your hosts file. I found this page http://madwifi.org/ticket/1982 at madwifi.org that gives the IP address 217.24.1.142 of svn.madwifi.org in one of the last messages. I tried just giving subversion the command to connect to the IP address instead of the domain name, but it failed before finishing the checkout. Edit the file /etc/hosts and add "217.24.1.142 svn.madwifi.org" (without the quotes). I added it just after the 127.0.1.1 line
Code:

sudo gedit /etc/hosts

Now you can continue with the subversion checkout. You should probably remove this line from your hosts file when you're done with this so that if you want to go back there some day and they've moved it then DNS will give the most recent IP address.
**********************

I do not understand what i should do when it says "add it's IP address to your hosts file" and when it says "Edit the file /etc/hosts and add "217.24.1.142 svn.madwifi.org" (without the quotes). I added it just after the 127.0.1.1 line".

Anyone can help in driving me step by step in following this instruction? Thank you

Hi,

You can skip that last part of the instructions.

Have you added "ath_pci" (without the quotes) to the end of the /etc/modules file, as explained in the instructions?

Please use the command

sudo gedit /etc/modules

to edit the /etc/modules file and add ath_pci at the end.

After editing /etc/modules, please reboot and then wireless should normally work.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Mark

Yes! It now works! Thank so much for your patience!

I paste here a simple list of the steps to follow for future users who might have the same problem:

First under System/Administration/HarwareDrivers disable both the Atheros HAL and the Atheros wireless thing and then reboot.

Then from a terminal type (press enter after each line)

sudo apt-get install build-essential

sudo apt-get install subversion

cd ~

mkdir madwifi

cd madwifi

svn co https://svn.madwifi.org/madwifi/branches/madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6

cd madwifi-hal-0.10.5.6

make

sudo make install

sudo gedit /etc/modules

Now add the Atheros kernel module to the list of modules to be automatically loaded at boot by adding "ath_pci" (without the quotes) to the end of the /etc/modules file. (Gedit editor automatically opens)

Now you can reboot and it should work