[SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

oddlogic · 2013-03-16 03:01:25

Greetings esteemed users,

I am highly interested in using Arch Linux, but unfortunately, my current system has a network card whose chipset drivers aren't included in the kernel. The device in question is the following ethernet controller: Atheros AR8161 Gigabit Ethernet.

I have determined that the drivers for this device can be found in the package called "alx" in the Arch User Repository. Now, I would attempt to get these files, create a local repository, and use it with archiso to create a new bootable USB drive with an appropriately patched kernel on it, but I don't have an Arch installation to do all this work on. Actually, I don't currently have a working installation of any Linux distribution at all. I would prefer to do it in the method described above, as I believe it would be easier than compiling the kernel myself (something I've never done before).

How do I go about solving this chicken and egg problem?
(I realize this is a bit of a noob question possibly, but I am sure that it fits in "Kernel & Hardware," as the problem pertains directly these topics.)

Thanks.

EDIT: Closed a mismatched parenthesis.

Last edited by oddlogic (2013-03-29 02:41:43)

hadrons123 · 2013-03-16 03:54:23

You can compile it from sources and you can use archboot cd too.
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collabor … orking/alx

oddlogic · 2013-03-16 04:30:43

Will I be able to install the equivalent of the latest kernel with archboot? Also, will I be able to specify an AUR package as a arch-addon parameter to archboot? I don't really understand the process. Excuse my ignorance.

hadrons123 · 2013-03-16 04:37:56

1.First install the archboot version on your system.
2.Reboot
3.Install alx from sources for ethernet.
4. Upgrade to latest packages.

Last edited by hadrons123 (2013-03-16 04:38:23)

oddlogic · 2013-03-16 05:02:45

Thanks for you advice. I'll return after I've tried this. It might be a day or two because of logistical concerns.

hadrons123 · 2013-03-16 05:12:02

I did not try the Official Arch CD on my new Laptop, I guess the CD contains the devel tools so that you can build the alx from sources and do a net install with the live environment. Since I have not tried that, I couldn't recommend that. But if Archboot doesn't work out for you , you can try the monthly net install Arch CD too.

Last edited by hadrons123 (2013-03-29 03:46:58)

aexoxea · 2013-03-18 13:34:39

I had the same issue with my current computer, as it also has an AR8161. Because its only other network controller -- a wireless card -- was also not in the kernel, I ended up setting up the environment in a VM (with the necessary drivers courtesy of AUR -- a big thankyou to the maintainers!) and then cloning it across to the physical hardware. Since then I've been able to keep things happy throughout the 3.7 kernel cycle.

The alx unified driver is not part of the 3.8.3 posted to Core earlier today (per hadron123's link), so you'll still need to install it separately for now. I haven't updated yet from 3.7.10 and so can't report if there are any issues, but when I do, I'll drop a line here.

Finally, welcome to Arch Linux, and I hope you enjoy your stay

oddlogic · 2013-03-29 02:34:11

I've solved this problem in a similar manner. Thanks for the help, both of you, and aexoxea for the welcome. Everything else during installation went surprisingly smoothly, and I now have i3 configured how I like it. Wonderful! Couldn't be more pleased.

aexoxea · 2013-03-29 03:21:08

Glad to hear everything is now up and running for you

As an aside (since I promised to note here when I updated), I've since moved up to 3.8.3 and 3.8.4 (using dkms-alx) and have had some curious behaviour with the link state not being recognised when ethernet is plugged/un-plugged. I'll post a separate thread if needed on that though (I don't want to hijack this one!)

Arch Linux

#1 2013-03-16 03:01:25

[SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

#2 2013-03-16 03:54:23

Re: [SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

#3 2013-03-16 04:30:43

Re: [SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

#4 2013-03-16 04:37:56

Re: [SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

#5 2013-03-16 05:02:45

Re: [SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

#6 2013-03-16 05:12:02

Re: [SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

#7 2013-03-18 13:34:39

Re: [SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

#8 2013-03-29 02:34:11

Re: [SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

#9 2013-03-29 03:21:08

Re: [SOLVED] Atheros AR8161 Ethernet Driver Not In Kernel

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