Atheros AR5006EG in Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)
As I mentioned in a previous post, I have installed Ubuntu 7.10 in my notebook and almost everything has worked «out of the box», except, for example, for the Atheros AR5006EG WiFi card.To configure this network card, we should use MadWifi drivers (one of the most advances drivers that exist actually for cards with Atheros chipset). This drivers depend on a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) that is proprietary and that is only available in binary format. Even though, MadWifi project is working to replace such layer with another one that is completely open source (called ath5k).
Ubuntu by default has installed that driver, but for my network card wasn’t working. I imagine that there still may be some incompatibility, so I decided to try using Windows drivers thanks to ndiswrapper.
For the instalation, I’ve used this post: howto configure wireless network card in Linux Ubuntu / Arch / Others, even though I had to make some changes (I also added a comment to the post for everyone to know).
I will try to summarize the steps that I took.
NOTE: To find out which type of card we have, we have to execute this:
lspci | grep Ethernet
and here is the output for my laptop:
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5006EG 802.11 b/g Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01) 08:07.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
Before we start, we have to make sure that MadWifi drivers don’t get loaded at boot, since we could have a conflict between the two. You can do this typing this:
blacklist ath_pci
in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist file or by using the restricted driver manager:
These are the steps for the installation:
1. Install ndiswrapper. (sudo apt-get install ndiswrapper) You can also use ndisgtk graphical interfase. (sudo apt-get install ndisgtk)
2. Download the correct drivers from Atheros. The problem that I had is that all the explanations refer to version 5.3, but Atheros has another version for such drivers for Windows. With version 5.3 I had the following error:
ndiswrapper (mp_init:216): couldn't initialize device: C0000001
But with version 6.0 everything worked. Here is the link to the version that I downloaded: http://www.atheros.cz/download.php?atheros=AR5006EG&system=1
The name of the driver of the new version is net5416 (instead of net5211 that is mentioned on other instructions)
You only need the .inf file that is contained on the ZIP (although I also copied the .sys file, just in case)
3. Install the .inf file in ndiswrapper, using ndisgtk or the command «sudo ndiswrapper -i net5416.inf»
UPDATE: Here’s the link for the 64 bit version.
4. Save ndiswrapper module configuration files by issuing the command: sudo ndiswrapper -ma && sudo ndiswrapper -mi
5. Reboot and try. At this moment, we should see a wlan0 interfase when we excecute: «sudo ifconfig».
I hope that this helps other people to configure their WiFi network while the MadWifi driver works correctly.
I anyone find out how to make this network card working with the MadWifi drivers, or if you see any error or problem with these instructions, please tell me.
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Quilombo Digital 
great manual but is not working for me. I do exactly what you wrote, but nothing happend. There were no errors, everything was all right, but after reboot and ifconfig I dont have any wlan0 there. Please if you can help, I’ll be very glad
It worked for me!!!
after 2 months trying ndiswrapper, madwifi, several reinstallations of ubuntu 7.10, mandriva and others!!
I installed it in Ubuntu 7.10 (32 bits) following the steps posted here…
big thanks!!!!
Blackbird… I suggest try again and do it exactly as posted here…
in step 3 only install.. dont try to configure…
step 4 this is the one I missed always!!
I didnt do step 6 cause at the reboot time the card worked automatically…
My laptop was working with an external wireless card, the configuration was there… but the internal card was the problem… with this procedure it works!!!
Hi,
I would just like to say a BIG thankyou!
i lost hours and hours trying to get this set up and almost gave up on Ubuntu!
now my wifi works !
Thanks again!
Hey, thanks a lot! Worked like a charm!
Hey thanks so much i have tried hundreds of manuals but yours worked a charm. Thanks so so much!!
Does it works with Ubuntu Gutsy
32 bit
AND
64 bit ?
Please let me know
BIG THANKS
Giobertox,
I’m afraid that I cannot try it on 64 bit architectures… but it would be great if you could try it and let me know, so I can update this post for everyone else.
Thanks.
Rodolfo
I am using a Acer Travelmate 5510. The vista drivers did not work (32/64bit). I got errors in my dmesg.
The steps i performed for my AR5006EG that did work:
> sudo apt-get install ndisgtk
> sudo vim /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
# added ‘blacklist ath_pci’
#Download the WinXP64bit driver from http://www.atheros.cz/. I Used http://www.atheros.cz/download.php?atheros=AR5006EX&system=2
#Unzip the driver file
#In the GUI add the driver by selecting the inf file
> sudo ndiswrapper -ma && sudo ndiswrapper -mi
> sudo reboot
In dmesg I now see:
# ndiswrapper: driver net5211 (,06/21/2007,5.3.0.56) loaded
# ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan0: link becomes ready
# [ 170.707463] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
And I can connect to my secured wifi network
However after my first 32 bit retries I commented the blacklist entry and everything still works.
So I am not sure if that is needed
I Hope this helps everybody. Great howto BTW
this does work on the 64 use the 64 bit driver for windows xp tho
Link: http://www.atheros.cz/download.php?atheros=AR5006EG&system=2
all else is the same
thank u brow, yout method works for me as the only one.
<– Acer Aspire 3105 wlan Atheros like above
I have this working on my compaq presario f700. (specifically f756ca)
Ubuntu 7.10
Linux agrestic 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Tue Dec 18 05:28:27 UTC 2007 x86_64 GNU/Linux
Using the 64 bit xp atheros driver.
03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5006EG 802.11 b/g Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
I had to edit /etc/network/interfaces manually as
the kde network manager gui will not allow me to edit my network interfaces. I’ll look into this next.
Update:
My inability to modify network interfaces using KDE network manager is a known bug:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kde-systemsettings/+bug/175909
I have found that after reboot, I am unable to connect to my wireless router.
I see the following in dmesg
ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
ifconfig shows wlan0 is up configured with it’s static ip. However, iwconfig reveals it’s not associated with an AP. This issue appears to be intermittent.
Once I figure this out, I’ll report back.
I figured out the «ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready» issue.
See my posts here:
http://ndiswrapper.sourceforge.net/joomla/index.php?/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,34/func,view/id,1118/catid,3/
Apparently it is working in my Compaq Presario C700 (64 bit) Atheros AR5006EG
Some of my lspci, lsmod and dmesg output:
# lspci | grep thernet
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications, Inc. AR5006EG 802.11 b/g Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
# lsmod | grep ndis
ndiswrapper 233632 0
usbcore 161584 4 ndiswrapper,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd
# dmesg | grep ndis
[ 34.412101] ndiswrapper version 1.45 loaded (smp=yes)
[ 34.566000] ndiswrapper (link_pe_images:577): fixing KI_USER_SHARED_DATA address in the driver
[ 34.567910] ndiswrapper: driver net5211 (,06/21/2007,5.3.0.56) loaded
[ 34.568291] ndiswrapper (ZwClose:2247): closing handle 0x0 not implemented
[ 34.981736] ndiswrapper: using IRQ 16
[ 35.076086] [] :ndiswrapper:NdisAllocateMemoryWithTag+0xd/0x20
[ 35.076109] [] :ndiswrapper:win2lin3+0x11/0x14
[ 35.076140] [] :ndiswrapper:InterlockedIncrement+0x0/0x20
[ 35.076161] [] :ndiswrapper:InterlockedIncrement+0x0/0x20
[ 35.076182] [] :ndiswrapper:kdpc_worker+0x0/0xd0
[ 35.076203] [] :ndiswrapper:mp_timer_dpc+0x45/0x60
[ 35.076226] [] :ndiswrapper:win2lin4+0x14/0x17
[ 35.076245] [] :ndiswrapper:kdpc_worker+0x2e/0xd0
[ 35.180813] usbcore: registered new interface driver ndiswrapper
Long story made short:
installed ndiswrapper and ndiswrapper-utils
blacklisted ath_pci
rebooted
then the series of ndiswrapper commands (-i -ma -mi)
Finally loaded the module (sudo modprobe ndiswrapper)
rebooted
after issuing
iwlist scanning
i could see some wireless networks that i could connect to.
Thanks for the guide
I used the 64 version for Xp and
This is not working and I’m not sure why not.
When I look in dmesg I see that ndiswrapper could not prepare driver netath’ (this is the Vista 32/64 driver for AR5006EG) although the driver appears to have installed correctly and I have followed all other steps. Here is the report from dmesg:
[ 14.428000] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: ntoskrnl.exe:’KeInitializeGuardedMutex’
[ 14.428000] ndiswrapper (import:242): unknown symbol: ntoskrnl.exe:’KeReleaseGuardedMutex’
… more unknown symbol messages here…
[ 14.428000] ndiswrapper (load_sys_files:216): couldn’t prepare driver ‘netathr’
Any ideas (I’m a noobie)?
Hello Mike,
The windows driver for this network card is called net5416.
Make sure that you have dowloaded the right file indicated in the post.
Good luck!!
Rodolfo
Hello Mike,
I think the unknown symbol thingy error occurs when u try to install vista drivers. Try installing XP drivers
Regards,
Deepak
Thank you so much!
You helped me out immensely. I’ve been working on this all day, and finally it works.
Cheers.
Ok. I don’t get it. The links you posted lead to the net5211 I have already tried. I checked the links for the 32bit driver and the 64bit driver – both pull up a net5211 driver. It seems that Atheros has changed the file linked from net5416 back to point to 5211. Any other ideas?
Scroll down on the Atheros link page – net5416 appears lower down!!!
Peachy. There is no XP 64 bit version. I guess we try the Vista version and cross fingers.
Hey man, thanks. It worked great for me after googling for hours.
Hi,
5211 does not work with WEP keys. It works on APs with no authentications.
Are there any workarounds?
-Raman
[…] Altogether with the Livebox, Orange includes a USB WiFi Thomson TG123G card. As I’m getting used to setting up wireless cards in Linux, I have decided to configure it for my Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) using ndiswrapper (taking into account that I’m already using ndiswrapper for my other wireless nic). […]
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great, 64bit version of the drivers on hardy heron works for me now 🙂
must have been the 4th step in your howto i missed, ‘cause that was the only thing i didn’t do yet.
thanx and greetz,
moony
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I search several places to get my wireless up, your post was the BEST! You rock.
T
Thank you very much. I’m just trying to give something back to the open source community that gav me so much.
THE BEST HOW TO EVER MADE IN THE WIFI WORLD
MAN YOU ARE UNBELIVEABLE!!!!!!!!!!
I’m not special at all.
Newton once said: «If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.»
This is what I like about open source. I’m just adding my 2 cents to a lot of great work that has been done previously.
Thank you very much!!!!
finnaly… i was almost giving up and now it works… great post!!!
worked perfectly on my acer 5715z. first time i forgot your point 4, forget this and nothing will work. well done. thanks
Thank you!
Finally I’ve got working wi-fi at my new notebook with Ubuntu.
I entered ‘sudo ndiswrapper -i net5416.inf’
ndis complained about missing the .sys file and the installation failed. I think that the .sys file may be important in some cases. (Like mine.)
Hope this helps someone else. Great walk through, first one that has worked for me!
Man, this was EXACTLY what I have been looking for. Thanks.
This is EXACTLY what I have been looking for. Thanks.
Great help!
Now if only MicroShaft will acknowledge there is a problem with their implentation of the drivers for this chipset with Vista. Odd how the OS thats supposed to be hard, tricky and painful to setup is actually up and running smoothly compared to the awful new and improved OS that shipped onboard this thing.
Choose wisely 🙂
Mick.
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this worked for me, had to download the ndiswrapper deb files onto my windows drives since i had no connection to download them with.
also i had to use net5211 in step 2, net5416 was not in the zip file i downloaded.
also, sorry i forgot to mention this, i am using hp pavilion dv6000 series notebook. dv6736nr to be exact. so if youre having this problem this is the tutorial to use.
Thanks Man!
I can confirm it working on an ACER ASPIRE 5315 with atheros AR5006EG WLan chip.
I followed the steps in this tutorial and when I was done I could see that there was a new connection in my network section called wireless. Unfortunately I cant find any connections though.
Followed the steps in this tutorial and it works like a charm. Asus X51RL here with AR5006EG wlan chip.
Many thanks!
For people that are using 64bits SO. I used the 5.3.0.56 version driver and it worked like a charm.
I swear I would kiss you if I could. I’ve had my laptop for almost a year, and have never stopped being angry that I got stuck with the ONLY Atheros card that was not supported by madwifi at the time. Over the months, I’ve tried countless different Atheros drivers with ndiswrapper, and after giving ~50 different drivers a try I had pretty much given up on ever getting wireless working under linux (though it has always worked fine on the Windows installation that is also on the same machine). Seeing this article motivated me to try again (though my expectations, truth be told, were not high). And that’s why I feel like i have a new lease on life now!
I really do love you.
P.S.
I can confirm, as well, by the way, that on Ubuntu 7.10 64bit, the 64bit 5.3.0.56 driver from the above site works wonderfully (net5211.inf).
Have you tried in Ubuntu 8.04? I have an Acer laptop (5520) and I tried the solution, but for some reason I do not know, it did not work.
P.D. The same solution for this atheros driver worked in ubuntu 7.10.
Also, I am not 100% sure, but I think it worked for a while after making an upgrade from Kubuntu 7.10 to 8.04, but I can not confirm because the computer crashed while configuring X and I needed to reinstall everything again.
Thanks.
By following these instructions and later doing this:
In at least 64-bit Ubuntu 8.04, with the ndiswrapper package (version 1.50 at the time of this writing), using the XP x64 5.3.0.56 driver, it is absolutely necessary to put this line into /etc/network/interfaces under iface wlan0 with your AR5007EG’s hardware ethernet address where 00:00:00:00:00:00 is:
pre-up /sbin/ifconfig wlan0 hw ether 00:00:00:00:00:00
With that line in place, things will work they way they should in 64-bit. I didn’t need that line in 32-bit Ubuntu 7.10 with ndiswrapper, but I needed it in 64-bit.»
The computer seems to see networks around but get stuck connecting to wireless network connection at 57%.
thanks, thanks, you are the man
[…] Настройка Atheros AR5006EG Wi-Fi Источник […]
First of all, thank you! This guide is fantastic. It helped to get the Atheros wifi chipset working on my Toshiba Satellite U305-S7448.
Perhaps my blog will help you find something you’re looking for.
Namaste
Hi,
Everything works fine and I’ve added ndiswrapper to /etc/modules to load at init time. But, avec the driver is loaded and the interface is up, it doesn’t get a dhcp lease automatically from dhclient. I have to run the following command : dhclient3 ath0.
Any info about this ?
Regards,
Spiroid
Many thanks.
I’ve done everything you posted. But it’s seem to be doesn’t work. Nothing is changed in the wireless led. When i follow your step there is not error is showed.
And I use Compag C767 TU, if anything you can help, i’ll be pleasant.
Thanks for your sharing.
really after 3 days i got it with this tutorial.
before i tried with madwifi, but i erease modules and uninstall things that it was hard recover it cos i am not expert in linux. if you come from trying with madwifi, try to reinstall: modprobe ath_hal
thanks a lot for this page !
david – webmaster
http://www.digitaltechonline.com.ar
Fantastic! Thank you very much for this tutorial; I had my wifi running in a few minutes on my brand new Compaq C700. Much appreciated!
You’re wellcome. I’m glad that it worked for you.
It is in point of fact a nice and helpful piece of information. I am glad that you shared this useful info with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
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