madwifi not working on macbook core duo (Broadcom chip)

[pigi.monaco]

After installing ubuntu 8.04 on my new macbook core duo, I installed madwifi following the instructions here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBook

I obtained:
> wget http://snapshots.madwifi.org/madwifi-trunk-current.tar.gz
...
> tar -zxvf madwifi-trunk-current.tar.gz
...
> cd madwifi-trunk-r3573-20080425/
> make
...
> make install-modules
...
> echo -e '#!/bin/sh\n/sbin/iwpriv ath0 bgscan 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/acpi/resume.d/99-madwifi-bgscan.sh
...
> chmod 755 /etc/acpi/resume.d/99-madwifi-bgscan.sh
> modprobe ath_pci
> lsmod | grep ath
ath_pci 239928 0
wlan 236272 1 ath_pci
ath_hal 253920 1 ath_pci

> iwpriv ath0 bgscan 0
ath0 no private ioctls.

> ifconfig
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1f:5b:f5:2e:f8
          inet addr:192.168.1.100 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::21f:5bff:fef5:2ef8/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
          RX packets:3969 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2833 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
          RX bytes:5558180 (5.3 MB) TX bytes:248961 (243.1 KB)
          Interrupt:17

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:3020 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:3020 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
          RX bytes:151000 (147.4 KB) TX bytes:151000 (147.4 KB)

...so the ath0 and wifi0 devices are not there. These are the last four lines of dmesg output:

[ 233.654814] ath_hal: module license 'Proprietary' taints kernel.
[ 233.657570] ath_hal: 0.9.30.13 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5416, RF5111, RF5112, RF2413, RF5413, RF2133)
[ 233.679532] wlan: svn r3573
[ 233.690538] ath_pci: svn r3573

Any help most welcome, a laptop without wireless is not much use!
Pierluigi Monaco

PS:
> lsb_release -rd
Description: Ubuntu 8.04
Release: 8.04

[marktraceur (marktraceur)]

Confirmed. I have the same problem but I think it has to do with the new version of the Linux kernel and how it interacts with Madwifi.

[pigi.monaco (monaco)]

I have tried both 2.6.24-16 and 2.6.22-12 kernels, obtaining the same result.

Pierluigi

[marktraceur (marktraceur)]

OK, I found a fix. Instead of using network-manager, use wicd. You can find it at http://wicd.net. Follow their instructions to install, and MAKE SURE to put the startup item in your "Sessions" preferences (or it won't start up at login) and it should configure your driver to wext and then you'll be in business.

If this doesn't work, try switching to WPA supplicant first, then installing wicd.

[pigi.monaco (monaco)]

I've installed Wicd. It works nicely as far as wired connection is concerned, but it does not see any wireless connection. In the Preferences window, after the WPA Supplicant Driver (I've selected wext, but also tried madwifi and ndiswrapper) the Wired interface is eth0, the Wireless interface is None.
Also, I'm confused because I can't see eth0 with ifconfig any more...

> If this doesn't work, try switching to WPA supplicant first, then installing wicd.

What does it mean exactly?

Pierluigi

[marktraceur (marktraceur)]

Change the Wireless Interface to ath0, then it should work. The driver is
Wext.

On Tue, Apr 29, 2008 at 11:18 AM, pigi.monaco <email address hidden> wrote:

> I've installed Wicd. It works nicely as far as wired connection is
> concerned, but it does not see any wireless connection. In the Preferences
> window, after the WPA Supplicant Driver (I've selected wext, but also tried
> madwifi and ndiswrapper) the Wired interface is eth0, the Wireless interface
> is None.
> Also, I'm confused because I can't see eth0 with ifconfig any more...
>
> > If this doesn't work, try switching to WPA supplicant first, then
> installing wicd.
>
> What does it mean exactly?
>
> Pierluigi
>
> --
> madwifi not working on macbook core duo with hardy
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/221837
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Ubuntu: Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> After installing ubuntu 8.04 on my new macbook core duo, I installed
> madwifi following the instructions here:
> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MacBook
>
> I obtained:
> > wget http://snapshots.madwifi.org/madwifi-trunk-current.tar.gz
> ...
> > tar -zxvf madwifi-trunk-current.tar.gz
> ...
> > cd madwifi-trunk-r3573-20080425/
> > make
> ...
> > make install-modules
> ...
> > echo -e '#!/bin/sh\n/sbin/iwpriv ath0 bgscan 0' | sudo tee -a
> /etc/acpi/resume.d/99-madwifi-bgscan.sh
> ...
> > chmod 755 /etc/acpi/resume.d/99-madwifi-bgscan.sh
> > modprobe ath_pci
> > lsmod | grep ath
> ath_pci 239928 0
> wlan 236272 1 ath_pci
> ath_hal 253920 1 ath_pci
>
> > iwpriv ath0 bgscan 0
> ath0 no private ioctls.
>
> > ifconfig
> eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:1f:5b:f5:2e:f8
> inet addr:192.168.1.100 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
> inet6 addr: fe80::21f:5bff:fef5:2ef8/64 Scope:Link
> UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
> RX packets:3969 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
> TX packets:2833 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
> collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
> RX bytes:5558180 (5.3 MB) TX bytes:248961 (243.1 KB)
> Interrupt:17
>
> 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:3020 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
> TX packets:3020 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
> collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
> RX bytes:151000 (147.4 KB) TX bytes:151000 (147.4 KB)
>
>
> ...so the ath0 and wifi0 devices are not there. These are the last four
> lines of dmesg output:
>
> [ 233.654814] ath_hal: module license 'Proprietary' taints kernel.
> [ 233.657570] ath_hal: 0.9.30.13 (AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5416, RF5111,
> RF5112, RF2413, RF5413, RF2133)
> [ 233.679532] wlan: svn r3573
> [ 233.690538] ath_pci: svn r3573
>
> Any help most welcome, a laptop without wireless is not much use!
> Pierluigi Monaco
>
> PS:
> > lsb_release -rd
> Description: Ubuntu 8.04
> Release: 8.04
>

[pigi.monaco (monaco)]

No, I'm sorry, it doesn't work yet. :(

P.

[marktraceur (marktraceur)]

That is very strange. Make sure you have wpa_supplicant installed, then try again. This is just ridiculous, the Madwifi team needs to get on this.

[pigi.monaco (monaco)]

OK, I've solved the problem!
after checking carefully the hardware, I noticed that the wireless card of my macbook is not atheros but broadcom. Installing the correct driver the card is working correctly.
Sorry for this wrong report, but there is really no simple way to understand exactly which kind of hardware you have in your hand!

Pierluigi

[oss_test_launchpad (oss-test-launchpad)]

I found out what hardware I have by clicking System -> System Preferences -> Hardware Testing. Maybe not the most elegant way to do it, but it worked.

On a MacBook Pro rev. 3, testing with Ubuntu 8.10 Alpha 4+, there is no Wi-Fi usuable. The hardware testing software told me that this notebook has a Atheros Communications Inc. AR5418 802.11abgn Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01) in it.

[oss_test_launchpad (oss-test-launchpad)]

There is a different discussion for Atheros chips on https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux-source-2.6.22/+bug/172705, so I will write no more here. Added reference to Broadcom to this post's description.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

pigi.monaco, thank you for reporting this bug to Ubuntu. Hardy Desktop reached EOL on May 12, 2011.
See this document for currently supported Ubuntu releases: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

Is this an issue in a supported release? If so, could you please execute the following command, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect 221837

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for linux (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]