12.04 no support for atheros ar8162

[Chris Hermansen]

We have two new Dell Inspiron 14z laptops which need a working Atheros AR8162 driver for wired ethernet in order to have a working eth0 interface.

Neither 12.04 nor 12.04.1 provide this driver.

We have a workaround which is also discussed on

http://askubuntu.com/questions/157223/12-04-does-not-detect-eth0atheros-ar8162

The above question is somewhat out of date; we have had success using compat-wireless-2012-09-01-pc.tar.bz2

It seems to me that this chipset is now fairly common and this driver should be included in the main Ubuntu release.

[Mathieu Trudel-Lapierre (cyphermox)]

Reassigning to linux.

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem. From a terminal window please run:

apport-collect 1046435

and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.

If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change the bug status to 'Confirmed'.

This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the Ubuntu Kernel Team.

[Chris Hermansen (c-hermansen)]

We can run apport but the new drivers are installed from the non ubuntu
source.

Is that ok?

Chris Hermansen · <email address hidden>

C'est ma façon de parler.
On Sep 5, 2012 2:10 PM, "Brad Figg" <email address hidden> wrote:

> This bug is missing log files that will aid in diagnosing the problem.
> >From a terminal window please run:
>
> apport-collect 1046435
>
> and then change the status of the bug to 'Confirmed'.
>
> If, due to the nature of the issue you have encountered, you are unable
> to run this command, please add a comment stating that fact and change
> the bug status to 'Confirmed'.
>
> This change has been made by an automated script, maintained by the
> Ubuntu Kernel Team.
>
> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1046435
>
> Title:
> 12.04 no support for atheros ar8162
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1046435/+subscriptions
>

[Joseph Salisbury (jsalisbury)]

We generally ask bug reporters to first request that the driver be added to the upstream kernel. This can be done by mailing the Linux Kernel Mailing List or opening a bug at bugzilla.kernel.org.

People affected by this bug are probably wondering why the kernel team doesn't just add the driver. The reason is that the kernel team is reluctant (not opposed) to apply any patch/driver to a kernel that is not from upstream. Applying patches and adding drivers that don't come from upstream add greatly to the support of the kernel as other upstream patches/drivers may touch the same area as the non-upstream patch and may prevent them from applying cleanly.