Arch Linux

lightspeed3e8

Member

Registered: 2008-12-16

Posts: 11

Help to configure my wireless network

Hello,

I am in the process of installing Arch on my laptop. I am at the point where I am supposed to get the network to work before using Pacman.
I want to setup a wireless connection.

I have followed the beginners guide, and looked for help in the network setup and wireless setup wikis.

Here is what happens :

lspci | grep -i net informs me that my device is an Atheros AR5212/AR5213
After the fresh install, a few modules (I only put those related to wireless) were loaded : ath_pci, ath_hal, wlan, ath5k. I got 3 messages during the startup saying :
Fatal module ath_pci not found
Fatal module ath_hal not found
Fatal module wlan not found
I did some research and found that those 3 modules are from the Madwifi package which is a driver for Atheros chipset. Ath5k is a newer package from the same team doing the same job.
My deduction is that the Madwifi package is not part of my kernel (2.6.25), but the ath5k is part of it (or is it possible that I messed up during the install ?).
So I put a ! in front of the 3 modules in my /etc/rc.conf file in order to use only the ath5k module, and get rid of the error messages.

I continued the guide to setup the network :

Ensure that the driver has created a usable interface iwconfig
I got a response, and an interface named wlan0

Bring the interface up ifconfig wlan0 up

Scan for access points iwlist wlan0 scan | less
Here I find my router, ESSID, MAC, encryption on, and some other data.

Specify the id of the network iwconfig wlan0 essid "wifihouse" key 0011223344

Request an IP address dhcpcd wlan0
And here is the problem :
err, wlan0 : timed out
warn, wlan0 : using IPV4LL address 169.xxx.xxx.xxx

Any help would be great. thanks.

smurnjiff

Member

Registered: 2007-06-25

Posts: 211

Re: Help to configure my wireless network

Does iwlist wlan0 scan detect any other routers in the vincinity?

lightspeed3e8

Member

Registered: 2008-12-16

Posts: 11

Re: Help to configure my wireless network

Yes there are 6 or 7 routers around.

syntaxerrormmm

Member

From: Italy

Registered: 2008-10-22

Posts: 80

Website

Re: Help to configure my wireless network

What's the purpose in opening another thread if there is already one discussing your problem?

I suspect there are probably problems with the driver. I would try to use a different wlan card, if possible. Try upgrading to a new version both of madwifi/ath5k, use svn versions or ask developers of these drivers. Finally, use google to see if someone succeeded in configuring your card.

[Edit] fixed typos.

Last edited by syntaxerrormmm (2008-12-17 09:04:57)

---

syntaxerrormmm - Homepage