[:fr/DebianWiki/EditorGuide#traduction:Traduction(s)]: [:WiFi/ath_pci:English], [:DebFrWifi/ath_pci:Français]

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Atheros AR5xxx devices (MadWifi)

This page describes how to enable support for WiFi devices based on Atheros AR5xxx chipsets, using the MadWifi driver on Debian systems.

?TableOfContents(2)

ath_pci is one of the MadWifi (Multiband Atheros Driver for Wireless Fidelity) modules, developed by the [http://madwifi-project.org/ ?MadWifi project]. Due to its use of a proprietary [wiki:Hardware_abstraction_layer hardware abstraction layer], MadWifi is not included in the mainline Linux kernel.

Driver source is packaged for Debian as madwifi-source. [#supported Supported devices] are listed at the end of this page.

<!> Atheros-based USB devices are [#unsupported not supported] by this driver (for Atheros AR5007UG, see ["zd1211rw"]).

Installation

The driver is required to be compiled and installed, which can be automated via [:ModuleAssistant:module-assistant].

{i} If you have a Cardbus device, physically connect it to your system before continuing.

  1. Add "contrib" and "non-free" components to /etc/apt/sources.list for your Debian version. For example:

    # Debian Etch/4.0
    deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free

    or

    # Debian Lenny/5.0
    deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian lenny main contrib non-free
  2. Update the list of available packages and install the module-assistant and wireless-tools packages:

    aptitude update
    aptitude install module-assistant wireless-tools
  3. Build and install a madwifi-modules-* package within your system:

    m-a prepare
    m-a a-i madwifi
  4. [:DebianEtch:Etch] (with ["EtchAndAHalf"] kernel) and [:DebianLenny:Lenny] users: Unload the ["ath5k"] module:

    modprobe -r ath5k

    This module is automatically [:KernelModuleBlacklisting:blacklisted] during installation of madwifi-modules-* (via madwifi-tools).

  5. Load the ath_pci module:

    modprobe ath_pci
    This module will be automatically loaded when your system is restarted and the device is connected.
  6. Verify your device has an available interface:

    iwconfig
  7. Raise the interface to activate the radio, for example:

    ifconfig ath0 up
  8. [:WiFi/HowToUse:Configure] your wireless interface as appropriate.

Troubleshooting

When using iwconfig, I receieve the following error message: "Warning: Driver for device ath0 has been compiled with version 22 of Wireless Extension, while this program supports up to version 20. Some things may be broken..."

For Debian Etch/4.0, this was an inaccurate incompatibility warning (see the [http://packages.debian.org/changelogs/pool/main/w/wireless-tools/wireless-tools_28-1+etchnhalf.1/changelog#versionversion28-1_etchnhalf.1 package changelog]), corrected in etch/wireless-tools 28-1+etchnhalf.1 (available since the Etch 4.0r4 [:DebianReleases/PointReleases:point release]).

I am unable to configure my device to operate in Ad-Hoc mode. I receive the following error: "Error for wireless request "Set Mode" (8B06) : SET failed on device ath0 ; Invalid argument."

The MadWifi driver creates a VAP (Virtual Access Point) in station mode by default?FootNote(http://madwifi-project.org/wiki/UserDocs/autocreate), which cannot be changed using ["iwconfig"]. Either:

  • Destroy the existing VAP and recreate it in adhoc mode:

    wlanconfig ath0 destroy
    wlanconfig ath0 create wlandev wifi0 wlanmode adhoc
  • Include madwifi-base and madwifi-mode options in /etc/network/interfaces (which will execute wlanconfig as described above). For example:

    iface ath0 inet static
        address 192.168.1.1
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        wireless-essid MYNETWORK
        madwifi-base wifi0
        madwifi-mode ad-hoc
  • Provide autocreate=adhoc as a module option to ath_pci, which will always create a VAP in adhoc mode:

    ifconfig ath0 down
    modprobe -r ath_pci ath_rate_sample ath_hal wlan_ccmp wlan_scan_sta
    echo options ath_pci autocreate=adhoc >> /etc/modprobe.d/local
    modprobe ath_pci

    Note: Additional connected devices supported by MadWifi will also have adhoc VAPs created.

  • See also [http://madwifi-project.org/wiki/Support].

    ?Anchor(supported)

    Supported Devices

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

    The following list is based on the alias fields of  modinfo ath_pci.

    ?Anchor(unsupported)

    Unsupported

    Use of [:NdisWrapper:NDISwrapper] may be possible for support of your device.

    Voir Aussi


    CategoryHardware


    ToDo: Complete translation.