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⇤ ← Revision 25 as of 2011-10-13 00:59:56 →
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Editor: GeoffSimmons
Comment: Fix git.kernel.org link, update supported devices.
← Revision 26 as of 2011-11-30 10:16:56 → ⇥
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Editor: GeoffSimmons
Comment: Drop ifconfig command, madwifi-project.org links and page merge ToDo; add CategoryWireless and update supported devices.
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= Atheros AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5213, AR5414, AR2413, AR242x wireless devices (ath5k) = = Atheros 802.11a/bg PCI/PCI-E devices (ath5k) =
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This page describes how to enable support for Atheros AR5xxx wireless chipsets using the ath5k driver on Debian systems. This page describes how to enable support for !WiFi devices based on Atheros 802.11a/bg PCI/PCI-E chipsets, using the ath5k driver on Debian systems.
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ath5k is a module for Atheros AR5xxx PCI wireless LAN chipsets. ath5k is a driver supporting Atheros 802.11a/bg PCI/PCI-E chipsets, included in the mainline Linux kernel since version 2.6.25.
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Unlike the [[WiFi/ath_pci|MadWifi]] driver, ath5k does not require a binary HAL (hardware abstraction layer) for its use. No firmware is required to be loaded from userspace. It is a completely free and open-source driver. [[#supported|Supported devices]] are listed at the end of this page. Unlike the [[WiFi/ath_pci|MadWifi]] driver, ath5k does not require a binary HAL (hardware abstraction layer). No firmware is required to be loaded from userspace. [[#supported|Supported devices]] are listed at the end of this page.
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{i} Atheros 802.11n PCI devices are supported by the [[ath9k]] driver. {i} Atheros 802.11a/bg USB devices are supported by the [[zd1211rw]] and [[ar5523]] drivers.

{i} Atheros 802.11n PCI/PCI-E devices are supported by the [[ath9k]] driver.
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ath5k is included in the mainline Linux kernel since 2.6.25. It is present in Debian kernel images since 2.6.24 and included in the Squeeze and Lenny releases. The ath5k driver is present in Debian Linux kernel images since version 2.6.24.
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aptitude update
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 1. If not already performed, physically connect the device to your system.
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 1. Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example: {{{
ifconfig wlan0 up
}}}
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Devices containing Atheros AR5210, AR5211, AR5212, AR5213, AR5414, AR2413 or AR242x chipsets are supported by ath5k.
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PCI: 168C:0007 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5000 802.11a Wireless Adapter
PCI: 168C:0011 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5210 802.11a NIC
PCI: 168C:0012 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5211 802.11ab NIC
PCI: 168C:0013 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212/AR5213 Multiprotocol MAC/baseband processor		 PCI: 168C:0007 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5210 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5000 802.11a]
PCI: 168C:0011 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5211 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5001A 802.11a]
PCI: 168C:0012 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5211 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5001X 802.11ab]
PCI: 168C:0013 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212/AR5213 Wireless Network Adapter
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PCI: 168C:001A Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413 802.11bg NIC
PCI: 168C:001B Atheros Communications Inc. AR5413 802.11abg NIC		 PCI: 168C:001A Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413/AR2414 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5002G(S) 802.11bg]
PCI: 168C:001B Atheros Communications Inc. AR5413/AR5414 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5006X(S) 802.11abg]
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PCI: 168C:001D Atheros Communications Inc. AR5007G Wireless Network Adapter
PCI: 168C:0207 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5210		 PCI: 168C:001D Atheros Communications Inc. AR2417 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5007G 802.11bg]
PCI: 168C:0207 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5210 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5000 802.11a]
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 * All Atheros-based USB devices:
   * For Atheros AR9170 (802.11n), see [[ar9170usb]].
   * For Atheros AR5007UG (802.11g), see [[zd1211rw]].
   * For Atheros AR5005UG (802.11b/g) and AR5005UX (802.11a/b/g), see [[ar5523]].		 Devices with an Atheros AR5005VL (AR5513) chipset (PCI ID 168c:0020):
 * D-Link DWL-G520M (PCI)
 * D-Link DWL-G650M (Cardbus)
 * ZyXEL Zyair M-102 (Cardbus)
 * ZyXEL Zyair M-302 (PCI)
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 * Devices with an Atheros AR5005VL (AR5513) chipset (PCI-ID 168c:0020):
  * D-Link DWL-G520M (PCI)
  * D-Link DWL-G650M (Cardbus)
  * ZyXEL Zyair M-102 (Cardbus)
  * ZyXEL Zyair M-302 (PCI)

Use of [[NdisWrapper|NDISwrapper]] may be possible for support of your device.		 Use of [[NdisWrapper|NDISwrapper]] may be possible for device support.
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 * http://madwifi-project.org/ - project homepage;
  * http://madwifi-project.org/wiki/About/ath5k - more information on ath5k
 * http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/ath5k - driver page on Linux Wireless		  * http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/ath5k
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 * [[ath9k]] - Help page for Atheros 802.11n PCI devices  * [[ath9k]] - Atheros 802.11n PCI/PCI-E devices
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CategoryHardware

--------
ToDo: Move ath5k-specific content from [[DebianEeePC/HowTo/UseUpstreamAtherosModules]] to here?		 CategoryHardware | CategoryWireless

Translation(s): none

Atheros 802.11a/bg PCI/PCI-E devices (ath5k)

This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on Atheros 802.11a/bg PCI/PCI-E chipsets, using the ath5k driver on Debian systems.

Contents

  1. Atheros 802.11a/bg PCI/PCI-E devices (ath5k)
    1. Missing Features
    2. Known Issues
    3. Installation
      1. Switching from MadWifi to ath5k
      2. Configuration
    4. Supported Devices
      1. Unsupported
    5. External Links
    6. See Also

ath5k is a driver supporting Atheros 802.11a/bg PCI/PCI-E chipsets, included in the mainline Linux kernel since version 2.6.25.

Unlike the MadWifi driver, ath5k does not require a binary HAL (hardware abstraction layer). No firmware is required to be loaded from userspace. Supported devices are listed at the end of this page.

{i} Atheros 802.11a/bg USB devices are supported by the zd1211rw and ar5523 drivers.

{i} Atheros 802.11n PCI/PCI-E devices are supported by the ath9k driver.

Missing Features

As stated1 on the Linux Wireless ath5k driver page:

  • XR (eXtended Range)

If required, the above feature is available in the MadWifi driver.

Known Issues

The ath5k driver is in a constant state of development, with varying levels of support for chipsets depending on their age.

AR242x chipset

Found in the Acer eMachines D620 laptop, among others. This suffers from a "noise floor calibration timeout" bug, which means the wireless may not function after installing Lenny. The bug is fixed since Linux 2.6.28.1.

Lenny users: install a backported kernel image package from Debian Backports.

Installation

The ath5k driver is present in Debian Linux kernel images since version 2.6.24.

Switching from MadWifi to ath5k

The following section can be skipped if MadWifi was not previously used.

  • Installation of madwifi-tools (version 1:0.9.4~rc2+dfsg-1 and later) installs /etc/modprobe.d/madwifi, which blacklists the ath5k driver.

    • Purge the madwifi-tools package (aptitude purge madwifi-tools) and run update-initramfs -u -k all to also remove this blacklist from initramfs.

  • Amend /etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules and change 'ath0' to 'wlan0'.

  • Amend /etc/network/interfaces, changing all references of 'ath0' to 'wlan0'.

  • Restart your system.
  • Verify that wireless networking is functional.

    • If you can connect but not send/receive anything, you might need to adjust your firewall configuration. For example, if you have configured your firewall using shorewall, find and replace all occurrences of 'ath0' with 'wlan0' in files within /etc/shorewall.

    • squeeze/hostapd users: the ath5k driver implements access point functionality as of Squeeze. You are required to amend any existing hostapd configuration (driver=madwifi → driver=nl80211). See the hostapd Linux documentation page for more information.

Configuration

  1. Install the wireless-tools package: 

    aptitude install wireless-tools
  2. If not already performed, physically connect the device to your system.

  3. The necessary kernel module should be automatically loaded. If necessary, it can be manually loaded via: 

    modprobe ath5k

  4. Verify your device has an available interface: 

    iwconfig

  5. Configure your wireless interface as appropriate.

Supported Devices

The page HowToIdentifyADevice/PCI explains how to identify a PCI device.

The following list is based on the alias fields of modinfo ath5k in Debian 2.6.32 (2.6.32-38) kernel images. 

  • PCI: 10B7:0013 3Com Corporation AR5212 802.11abg NIC (3CRDAG675)
PCI: 168C:0007 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5210 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5000 802.11a]
PCI: 168C:0011 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5211 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5001A 802.11a]
PCI: 168C:0012 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5211 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5001X 802.11ab]
PCI: 168C:0013 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212/AR5213 Wireless Network Adapter
PCI: 168C:0014 Atheros Communications Inc. (Device name unknown)
PCI: 168C:0015 Atheros Communications Inc. (Device name unknown)
PCI: 168C:0016 Atheros Communications Inc. (Device name unknown)
PCI: 168C:0017 Atheros Communications Inc. (Device name unknown)
PCI: 168C:0018 Atheros Communications Inc. (Device name unknown)
PCI: 168C:0019 Atheros Communications Inc. (Device name unknown)
PCI: 168C:001A Atheros Communications Inc. AR2413/AR2414 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5002G(S) 802.11bg]
PCI: 168C:001B Atheros Communications Inc. AR5413/AR5414 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5006X(S) 802.11abg]
PCI: 168C:001C Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
PCI: 168C:001D Atheros Communications Inc. AR2417 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5007G 802.11bg]
PCI: 168C:0207 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5210 Wireless Network Adapter [AR5000 802.11a]
PCI: 168C:1014 Atheros Communications Inc. AR5212 802.11abg NIC
PCI: A727:0013 3Com Corporation 3CRPAG175 Wireless PC Card

Unsupported

Devices with an Atheros AR5005VL (AR5513) chipset (PCI ID 168c:0020):

  • D-Link DWL-G520M (PCI)
  • D-Link DWL-G650M (Cardbus)
  • ZyXEL Zyair M-102 (Cardbus)
  • ZyXEL Zyair M-302 (PCI)

Use of NDISwrapper may be possible for device support.

See Also

CategoryHardware | CategoryWireless

  1. http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Drivers/ath5k#Features (1)