Atheros Wireless Network Chip AR5212 not detected

[Martin Konecny]

Karmic removed the madwifi driver, and now ships only the ath5k and ath9k drivers for Atheros chipsets. However, users who used Jockey to select the madwifi driver on Jaunty will still have ath5k listed as blacklisted in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-ath_pci.conf, which prevents wireless from working by default on laptops with AR5xxx chipsets.

[Martin Konecny (martin-konecny)]

I downloaded the nightly build (Sept 14th, 2009) and created a fresh bootable usb image. The chip is now being detected correctly and working fine.

This suggests there is some problem with the upgrade routine from Jaunty.

[Nelson Elhage (nelhage)]

I have the exact same card and symptoms. I did a do-release-upgrade to the Karmic beta last night, and it is not detecting my AR5212 chipset wireless card.

[Mark Renouf (mark-renouf)]

+1 "Me too"

"update-manager -d" from Jaunty. Same chip, same results.

I'd like to point out that the chip is detected, but something is definitely not working properly.

Consider this output:

$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID:""
          Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
          Tx-Power=off
          Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

AND:

$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 up
SIOCSIFFLAGS: Unknown error 132

[Leann Ogasawara (leannogasawara)]

Is this still an issue for anyone with the final Karmic 9.10 release? If so, can you run the following after attempting to enable/use wifi:

apport-collect -p linux 429595

[M. Reuter (petersteiner)]

Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: mr 2241 F.... pulseaudio
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'I82801DBICH4'/'Intel 82801DB-ICH4 with AD1981B at irq 11'
   Mixer name : 'Analog Devices AD1981B'
   Components : 'AC97a:41445374'
   Controls : 26
   Simple ctrls : 18
CheckboxSubmission: 3d29b20dd8fe903737b8a4712f70fb9a
CheckboxSystem: b1cca5f799a911bbb44e7180c2fd235d
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=593c50c5-97aa-4853-8c0e-827af714e33c
MachineType: IBM 2373CG6
Package: linux (not installed)
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
 Socket 1:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
 Socket 1:
   no card
ProcCmdLine: root=UUID=26fe4aeb-d7e8-4926-9629-d3ec356a7785 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
 LANGUAGE=de_DE.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-14-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.24
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic i686
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare
dmi.bios.date: 06/18/2007
dmi.bios.vendor: IBM
dmi.bios.version: 1RETDRWW (3.23 )
dmi.board.name: 2373CG6
dmi.board.vendor: IBM
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: IBM
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1RETDRWW(3.23):bd06/18/2007:svnIBM:pn2373CG6:pvrThinkPadT40p:rvnIBM:rn2373CG6:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 2373CG6
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T40p
dmi.sys.vendor: IBM

[manojav (manojav)]

Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: manojav 2043 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'I82801DBICH4'/'Intel 82801DB-ICH4 with AD1981B at irq 11'
   Mixer name : 'Analog Devices AD1981B'
   Components : 'AC97a:41445374'
   Controls : 26
   Simple ctrls : 18
Card1.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:1 'Modem'/'Intel 82801DB-ICH4 Modem at irq 11'
   Mixer name : 'Silicon Laboratory Si3036,8 rev 7'
   Components : 'AC97m:53494c27'
   Controls : 3
   Simple ctrls : 3
Card1.Codecs.codec97.0.mc97.1.1:
 1-1/0: Silicon Laboratory Si3036,8 rev 7

 Extended modem ID: codec=1 LIN1
 Modem status : GPIO MREF ADC1 DAC1 PRE(ADC2) PRF(DAC2) PRG(HADC) PRH(HDAC)
 Line1 rate : 8000Hz
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=2543220e-fa86-4fb2-8f98-b24a88effb39
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eth0 no wireless extensions.

 pan0 no wireless extensions.
Lsusb:
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
 Bus 004 Device 003: ID 1668:0441 Actiontec Electronics, Inc. [hex] IBM Integrated Bluetooth II
 Bus 004 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
MachineType: IBM 2373W41
Package: linux (not installed)
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
 Socket 1:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
 Socket 1:
   no card
ProcCmdLine: root=UUID=10248c73-ab54-43ca-9086-875fe10067a1 ro quiet splash vga=788
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_CA.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-14-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.24
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic i686
UserGroups: adm admin audio cdrom dialout dip floppy fuse lpadmin netdev plugdev video
WpaSupplicantLog:

XsessionErrors:
 (gnome-settings-daemon:2058): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1:2123): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_once_init_leave: assertion `initialization_value != 0' failed
 (nautilus:2086): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed
 (Do:2119): Wnck-CRITICAL **: wnck_set_client_type got called multiple times.
 (gnome-panel:2084): Gdk-WARNING **: /build/buildd/gtk+2.0-2.18.3/gdk/x11/gdkdrawable-x11.c:952 drawable is not a pixmap or window
dmi.bios.date: 10/13/2005
dmi.bios.vendor: IBM
dmi.bios.version: 1RETDNWW (3.19 )
dmi.board.name: 2373W41
dmi.board.vendor: IBM
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: IBM
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1RETDNWW(3.19):bd10/13/2005:svnIBM:pn2373W41:pvrThinkPadT41:rvnIBM:rn2373W41:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 2373W41
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T41
dmi.sys.vendor: IBM

[Charles Ulrich (charles-bityard)]

Disregard my contributions to this bug. I turns out my Thinkpad has a little on/off switch for the bluetooth and wifi radios and Karmic is the first ever Linux distribution that actually pays attention to it.

[MediaStormer (mediastormer)]

Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: mediastormer 3655 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/seq: timidity 2320 F.... timidity
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'I82801DBICH4'/'Intel 82801DB-ICH4 with AD1981B at irq 11'
   Mixer name : 'Analog Devices AD1981B'
   Components : 'AC97a:41445374'
   Controls : 26
   Simple ctrls : 18
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=40655639-12dc-491a-aefc-5e56377d2220
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eth0 no wireless extensions.

 irda0 no wireless extensions.
Lsusb:
 Bus 002 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 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
MachineType: IBM 2373S12
Package: linux (not installed)
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
 Socket 1:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
 Socket 1:
   no card
ProcCmdLine: root=UUID=679eb184-8796-4bc5-a931-239fa122c3bc ro quiet splash vga=771
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-14-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.24
RfKill:

Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic i686
UserGroups:

WpaSupplicantLog:

dmi.bios.date: 06/18/2007
dmi.bios.vendor: IBM
dmi.bios.version: 1RETDRWW (3.23 )
dmi.board.name: 2373S12
dmi.board.vendor: IBM
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: IBM
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1RETDRWW(3.23):bd06/18/2007:svnIBM:pn2373S12:pvrThinkPadT41:rvnIBM:rn2373S12:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 2373S12
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T41
dmi.sys.vendor: IBM

[MediaStormer (mediastormer)]

Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: mediastormer 3655 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/seq: timidity 2320 F.... timidity
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'I82801DBICH4'/'Intel 82801DB-ICH4 with AD1981B at irq 11'
   Mixer name : 'Analog Devices AD1981B'
   Components : 'AC97a:41445374'
   Controls : 26
   Simple ctrls : 18
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=40655639-12dc-491a-aefc-5e56377d2220
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eth0 no wireless extensions.

 irda0 no wireless extensions.
Lsusb:
 Bus 002 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 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
MachineType: IBM 2373S12
Package: linux (not installed)
PccardctlIdent:
 Socket 0:
   no product info available
 Socket 1:
   no product info available
PccardctlStatus:
 Socket 0:
   no card
 Socket 1:
   no card
ProcCmdLine: root=UUID=679eb184-8796-4bc5-a931-239fa122c3bc ro quiet splash vga=771
ProcEnviron:
 SHELL=/bin/bash
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-14-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.24
RfKill:

Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic i686
UserGroups:

WpaSupplicantLog:

dmi.bios.date: 06/18/2007
dmi.bios.vendor: IBM
dmi.bios.version: 1RETDRWW (3.23 )
dmi.board.name: 2373S12
dmi.board.vendor: IBM
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: IBM
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIBM:bvr1RETDRWW(3.23):bd06/18/2007:svnIBM:pn2373S12:pvrThinkPadT41:rvnIBM:rn2373S12:rvrNotAvailable:cvnIBM:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 2373S12
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T41
dmi.sys.vendor: IBM

[Martin Konecny (martin-konecny)]

I am the original submitter of this bug. How is it that it takes 2 months to confirm a problem (and a pretty big one IMO). Ubuntu 9.10 has being bad mouthed by a lot of users, and this is the reason why. On top of it all, it turns out this isnt even a bug, the driver was just blacklisted and its just a quick 2 second fix by a developer.

Makes me wonder whether my contributions as a beta tester really mean anything.

[dino99 (9d9)]

Jockey has been superseded by software-properties, which now handles
third-party driver configuration.