Wireless Atheros AR5BXB63 or AR5006EG 802.11 b/g in fedora 8
Monday, February 4, 2008
(some screenshot of wicd & network applet from my desktop , yes, it come from acer aspire 4520)
this tutorial intend to fedora 8 (acer aspire 4520) with some info about setup wireless connection for atheros AR5BXB63
What you need ?
- ndiswrapper 1.52
- kernel with CONFIG_4KSTACKS disabled
- Windows XP atheros driver from acer.com.cn , pick Wireless Atheros driver
ndiswrapper
1. Download latest ndiswrapper from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=93482
2. extract ndiswrapper-1.52.tar.gz
3. use terminal & enter to the following directory
[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.52]# make
...
[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.52]# make install
IF you get message like this
'*** WARNING: This kernel seems to use 4K stack size option (CONFIG_4KSTACKS); many Windows drivers will not work with this option enabled. Disable CONFIG_4KSTACKS option, recompile and install kernel' , you need to compile your own kernel or try using my own kernel in following post
[root@localhost ndiswrapper-1.52]# rm -r /etc/ndiswrapper
(this will remove any previous installation by ndiswrapper)
Wireless Atheros driver
1. download above link, extract and open terminal into the extracted folder
[root@localhost Atheros]# /usr/bin/ndiswrapper -i net5211.inf
installing net5211 ...
forcing parameter MapRegisters from 256 to 64
........
2. this will list installed driver.
[root@localhost Atheros]# /usr/sbin/ndiswrapper -l
net5211 : driver installed
device (168C:001C) present (alternate driver: ath5k)
[root@localhost Atheros]#modprobe ndiswrapper
3. try dmesg for kernel module log or ipconfig.
[root@localhost Atheros]# dmesg | grep ndiswrapper
ndiswrapper version 1.52 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
ndiswrapper: driver net5211 (,11/15/2006,5.1.1.9) loaded
ndiswrapper (ZwClose:2227): closing handle 0xf66ad928 not implemented
ndiswrapper: using IRQ 18
usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
ndiswrapper (iw_set_bitrate:442): setting bit rate failed (C0010017)
[root@localhost Atheros]#dmesg
.......
ndiswrapper version 1.52 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
ndiswrapper: driver net5211 (,11/15/2006,5.1.1.9) loaded
ACPI: PCI Interrupt Link [LK3E] enabled at IRQ 18
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:07:00.0[A] -> Link [LK3E] -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
ndiswrapper (ZwClose:2227): closing handle 0xeaa4c928 not implemented
PCI: Setting latency timer of device 0000:07:00.0 to 64
ndiswrapper: using IRQ 18
wlan0: ethernet device 00:19:7e:c3:94:fb using serialized NDIS driver: net5211, version: 0x50001, NDIS version: 0x501, vendor: 'NDIS Network Adapter', 168C:001C.5.conf
wlan0: encryption modes supported: WEP; TKIP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK; AES/CCMP with WPA, WPA2, WPA2PSK
usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
[root@localhost Atheros]# ifconfig
eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:19:24:09:34:11
inet addr:10.0.0.7 Bcast:255.255.255.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:2039 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:2272 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:1300812 (1.2 MiB) TX bytes:358189 (349.7 KiB)
Interrupt:220 Base address:0xe000
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:1255 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1255 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:40675 (39.7 KiB) TX bytes:40675 (39.7 KiB)
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:12:7E:D3:84:FB
UP BROADCAST 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:1000
RX bytes:0 (0.0 b) TX bytes:0 (0.0 b)
Interrupt:18 Memory:f4000000-f4010000
[root@localhost Atheros]#
Wireless
i use WPA2 encryption for home networking, so Network Manager can take care all of it, there might be some problem for first time connection, so to solved it, i just need to restart wpa_supplicant via terminal
[root@localhost Atheros]# /etc/init.d/wpa_supplicant restart
hope thats help.. : )
7 comments:
try to install kernel-header, kernel-devel to solved it.
worked beautifully until I got to this part:
dmesg | grep ndis
ndiswrapper version 1.52 loaded (smp=yes, preempt=no)
ndiswrapper (check_nt_hdr:150): kernel is 64-bit, but Windows driver is not 64-bit;bad magic: 010B
ndiswrapper (load_sys_files:210): couldn't prepare driver 'net5211'
ndiswrapper (load_wrap_driver:112): couldn't load driver net5211; check system log for messages from 'loadndisdriver'
usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
I have the same issue as colin and I guess I 've got to download a 64bit version of the windows driver for XP. The question is where do I get it?
it worked for me on an aspire 2920z running fedora 9, but I have issues with my old OTE router, a SAGEM 1500, which with this particular setup fails to make a connection most of the time.
If it does, it is ROCK solid, but it might take 10 minutes rmmod ndiswrapper and modprobe ndiswrapper until I get there.
Have the same issue with vista, so it's not a linux thing. It seems the chip is too new, or the router too old. Switching channels or b/g does not seem to affect the situation.
Cheers
Pelasgian
colin, u might using kernel 64bit.... that cause the problem.
guys the 5211 driver for windows is apparently crap, it makes time outs in windows vista and when used in fedora has the same effect. I.e. you set up the driver with ndiswrapper, it sees the wlan ap's but it cannot connect due to timeouts or issues with WPA.
Let's hope the madwifi driver for fedora 64 will come with the next kernel, or else we're toast. This atheros chip's a bitch as far as support is concerned and unless you read on the net that it was fixed as part of the ath5k driver, avoid any laptop bearing it, opting for an intel chipset.
I recieve the following error with my new Fedora 8 install. ***kernal tree not found - please set KBUILD to configured kernal.
Stop
I am using kernal 2.6.24.4-64.fc8