atheros wireless device

baronobeefdip · Apr 21, 2011

I have another box Dell XPS Studio 8100, It has an atheros chipset wlan adapter.
I have done the following

/etc/rc.conf

Code:

wlans_ath0="wlan0"

/boot/loader.conf

Code:

if_ath_load="YES"
wlan_wep_load="YES"
wlan_ccmp_load="YES"
wlan_tkip_load="YES"

Then rebooted (I guess so far so good)
I issued the following commands

Code:

# ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0
# ifconfig wlan0 up scan

After I run the scan, I'm left with a blinking block and nothing happens, Am I being impatient or does it take a little longer than a few seconds?

wblock@ · Apr 21, 2011

For a generic kernel, the wlan_ modules are already loaded. And please, stop using WEP.

It may help to see the output of ifconfig. See this thread.

Some of the newer Atheros chipsets aren't fully supported. If it's internal, show the output of
% pciconf -lv | grep -B3 network

If it's USB, show the output like in the other thread.

baronobeefdip · Apr 21, 2011

Alright, I took all of the wlan modules out of the /boot/loader.conf file so i am left with just

Code:

if_ath_load="YES"

and I took out some things from the /etc/rc.conf to avoid contamination I removed the following but you tell me if it was necessary to keep it in there:

Code:

wlans_ath0="wlan0"

When I ran ifconfig this is what came up:

Code:

fwe0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
	options=8<VLAN_MTU>
	ether a6:ba:db:e7:1b:92
	ch 1 dma -1
fwip0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
	lladdr a4.ba.db.80.0.e7.1b.92.a.2.ff.fe.0.0.0.0
ath0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 2290
	ether c4:17:fe:80:f4:53
	media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (autoselect)
	status: no carrier
bge0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
	options=c019b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_MTU,VLAN_HWTAGGING,VLAN_HWCSUM,TSO4,VLAN_HWTSO,LINKSTATE>
	ether a4:ba:db:e7:1b:92
	media: Ethernet autoselect (none)
	status: no carrier
lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 16384
	options=3<RXCSUM,TXCSUM>
	inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x5 
	inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128 
	inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000 
	nd6 options=3<PERFORMNUD,ACCEPT_RTADV>

In the pciconf command I came back with this:

Code:

ath0@pci0:4:0:0:	class=0x028000 card=0x0203168c chip=0x002a168c rev=0x01 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Atheros Communications Inc.'
    device     = 'Atheros AR5B91 Wireless Network Adapter (0001)'
    class      = network

wblock@ · Apr 21, 2011

baronobeefdip said:
and i took out some things from the etc/rc.conf to avoid contamination i removed the following but you tell me if it was necessary to keep it in there

Code:

wlans_ath0="wlan0"

Yes, you need that to create the wlan0 device.

Code:

ath0: flags=8802<BROADCAST,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 2290
	ether c4:17:fe:80:f4:53
	media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (autoselect)
	status: no carrier

Looks okay at first glance. Put back the code to create the wlan0 device and show the output from ath0 and wlan0. Also look in /var/log/messages for errors.

baronobeefdip · Apr 21, 2011

Alright so the

Code:

wlans_ath0="wlan0"

is back in the configuration. All that's left is to issue these commands

Code:

#ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0
#ifconfig wlan0 up scan

But what do you mean check the output of ath0 and wlan0? Which commands were you talking about? And I don't think I will stop using wep. My entire AP runs on wep, but if changing it is a wise decision then so be it.

wblock@ · Apr 21, 2011

baronobeefdip said:
Alright so the

Code:

wlans_ath0="wlan0"

is back in the configuration. All that's left is to issue these commands

Code:

#ifconfig wlan0 create wlandev ath0

No, that is what the

Code:

wlans_ath0="wlan0"

does already.

But what do you mean check the output of ath0 and wlan0, Which command were you talking about

Sorry, I skipped the word "ifconfig".

baronobeefdip · Apr 24, 2011

Alright this is what I did so far.

My network information:
ssid - linksys
wep - d7b338d13d

/etc/rc.conf

Code:

wlans_ath0="wlan0"
ifconfig_wlan0="ssid linksys DHCP"

/boot/loader.conf

Code:

if_ath_load="YES"

I put this in the wpa_supplicant.conf file.

Code:

network={
	ssid="linksys"
	scan_ssid=1
	priority=5
	keymgmt=NONE
	wep_key0=d7b338d13d
	wep_tx_keyidx=0
}

I rebooted the system and issued this command to bring up the interface.

Code:

#/etc/rc.d/netif start

No errors so I thought everything went fine, So I ran this next command.

Code:

#wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf

And I got this.

Code:

# wpa_supplicant -i wlan0 -c /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf
Line 5: unknown network field 'keymgmt'.
Line 8: WPA-PSK accepted for key management, but no PSK configured.
Line 8: failed to parse network block.
Failed to read or parse configuration '/etc/wpa_supplicant.conf'.

What did I have to put in there? What did I do wrong? Am I even doing it right?

wblock@ · Apr 24, 2011

The system already runs netif on startup. Likewise with wpa_supplicant(8) if it's set in rc.conf:

Code:

wlans_ath0="wlan0"
ifconfig_wlan0="WPA SYNCDHCP"

If you insist on using WEP, you'll have to figure out what to put in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf. But the above lines would be the same.

baronobeefdip · Apr 24, 2011

I'm afraid not, I don't own the router thats transmitting the AP, Therefore I have no control over what type of encryption the administrator uses.

gpw928 · Apr 29, 2011

Hi,

In a Generic kernel, you need:

1. in /etc/rc.conf (change the IP address and netmask to suit)

Code:

vaps_ath0="wlan0"
wlans_ath0="wlan0"
ifconfig_wlan0="WPA inet 192.168.1.123  netmask 255.255.255.0"

2. in /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf (change the ssid and wep_key0 to yours)

Code:

network={
    ssid="linksys"
    key_mgmt=NONE
    wep_key0=0123456789A
    wep_tx_keyidx=0
}

HTH,

--
Phil

gpw928 · Apr 29, 2011

Hi again,

I should add that the above is all you need in a Generic kernel.

The interface will be automatically plumbed and ifconfig'd on boot.

Cheers,

--
Phil