Configure Atheros AR9285 wireless in Gentoo
Solution 1
I got the solution on Gentoo Forums. It turned out to be a mis-configured kernel.
Here is the kernel configuration that works (from the post that I linked to above):
[*] Networking support --->
-*- Wireless --->
<*> cfg80211 - wireless configuration API
[*] enable powersave by default
[*] cfg80211 wireless extensions compatibility
[*] Wireless extensions sysfs files
<*> Common routines for IEEE802.11 drivers
<*> Generic IEEE 802.11 Networking Stack (mac80211)
Default rate control algorithm (Minstrel) --->
-*- Enable LED triggers
Device Drivers --->
[*] Network device support --->
[*] Wireless LAN --->
<*> Atheros Wireless Cards --->
<*> Atheros 802.11n wireless cards support
Solution 2
If you use DE, it's better to use NetworkManager (description of configuring NM on Gentoo).
Otherwise, you need to edit the net configuration file(/etc/conf.d/net
):
config_wlan0=("dhcp")
modules=("iwconfig")
preferred_aps=("WI-FI_NAME")
config_WI-FI_NAME=("dhcp")
and then run /etc/init.d/net.wlan0 start
to start it.
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phunehehe
Updated on September 17, 2022Comments
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phunehehe over 1 year
My laptop has an Atheros AR9285 wireless card. By following the "Network Configuration" section in the Gentoo handbook I chose the ath9k module. The modules seem to be loaded correctly:
# lsmod | grep ath ath9k 72172 0 ath9k_common 2345 1 ath9k mac80211 146807 2 ath9k,ath9k_common ath9k_hw 213153 2 ath9k,ath9k_common ath 8652 2 ath9k,ath9k_hw cfg80211 112782 4 ath9k,ath9k_common,mac80211,ath
And the interface also shows up in ifconfig:
wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:22:43:61:a2:f0 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)
However, I cannot do a network scan:
# iwlist wlan0 scanning wlan0 Interface doesn't support scanning.
And the interface doesn't seem to be recognized:
# iwconfig wlan0 wlan0 no wireless extensions.
What can I try to make it work?
PS: I also have Ubuntu on this laptop and wireless is working fine.
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phunehehe over 13 yearsI don't have a file named
/etc/init.d/net.wlan0
. I guess that's the problem -
Ferruccio over 13 yearsTry this: cd /etc/init.d ln -s net.lo net.wlan0
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phunehehe over 13 yearsIt tries to work like an Ethernet interface (wait for carrier and time out). Still I am unable to do any scanning.
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tshepang over 13 yearsYou wanna add exactly which config options you changed?
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phunehehe about 13 years@Tshepang the config options is in the post I linked to, do I really have to duplicate it here?
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tshepang about 13 yearsI'm interested only in the ones you changed --> "when I set this and that option to that and this, the problem got fixed". Don't make me read the whole thread :)
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phunehehe about 13 years@Tshepang The working configuration is already on the post I linked to (it is an anchor that links exactly to where the configuration is). Anyway I included that in the answer.
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tshepang about 13 yearsI'm aware of the anchor. The point is, what were your initial settings? Did you lose them?