Acer Ferrari 5000 wireless configuration openSUSE 11.0 - howto solve the Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x problems ath5k phy0: failed to wakeup the MAC Chip

Initial condition of my configuration problems:

A complete system upgrade from openSUSE 10.2 to openSUSE11.0 using DVD. Before update ALL worked perfectly, after update NO wireless HW recognized.

ath5k with a persistent "failed to wakeup the MAC Chip" vs ath_pci with full AR242x support

Good news first:

1. it's working without recompiling, without special patches - just a little creative thinking
2. The same solution below may also work for others

Error messages experienced directly after system update from openSUSE n10.2 to 11.0

lspci shows:

07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)

Error messages have been

• kernel: ath5k phy0: failed to wakeup the MAC Chip
• kernel: ath5k_pci: probe of 0000:07:00.0 failed with error -5
• ath5k_pci 0000:07:00.0: registered as 'phy0'
• kernel: wifi%d: unable to attach hardware: 'Hardware didn't respond as expected' (HAL status 3)

Long search with Google thru various forums, blogs and howtos shows that many others have exactly same problem using SuSE 11.0 and their old good working wireless chip after the update. My update was from openSUSE 10.2 to 11.0. Before with 10.2, I was using the kernel module ath_pci with zero problems for approximately one full year. By default the new openSUSE 11.0 always wants to use ath5k which fails to support the Atheros AR242x chip. Some have found a working solution with patching or recompiling,, others still are desperate. Here my contribution of one among many possible solutions.

I have repeatedly tested below method, rebooted this ending night about half a dozen time to assure the wireless chip works dependable after every reboot. It appears to me that the new drivers NOW in use provide a faster connection, better/stronger signal than the earlier madwifi version I used under openSUSE 10.2!

Original situation after the complete system UPGRADE from suse 10.2 to 11.0

After the update to openSUSE 11.0 using newest kernel Linux 2.6.25.16-0.1-default #1 SMP 2008-08-21 00:34:25 +0200 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux, updated just minutes before the final successful repeated testing, The hardware was NOT connected and a configuration impossible.

Various solutions offered had little attraction to me, I wanted an out of the box working wifi connection !

Here a few steps I FIRST went thru - without success:

Repeated times the ath5k always was loaded first in addition to ath_pci. An often recommended blacklist in /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist failed to work. repeated times despite the blacklist entry blacklist ath5k, the kernel module ath5k with all its "sister" modules were all present !

A removal of:

rmmod ath5k
rmmod mac80211
rmmod cfg80211

still gave NO success.!

Even a complete removal of ALL wireless relevant modules and modeprobe of ath_pci brought NO success.!

Of course AFTER every major configuration change a REBOOT ..... still the entire configuration in

Network --- Networksetting --- AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter showed NO hardware information and thus was NOT free for edit to finalize the wifi setup.

Hence I use ADD in Network --- Networksetting to add a wireless device and entered ath_pci as the module. Then I rebooted and the wifi was working ONCE - after the next reboot it all was like before - a.m.- i.e. failed to wakeup the MAC Chip !

kernel module ath5k still loaded despite blacklist entry!

After the reboot however - using ath_pci in the added 3rd network device the AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter device was free to edit !! Hence I changed the default module ath5k to ath_pci, then removed my added 3rd device, blacklisted again - then REBOOT again. finally the wireless worked!

Hence the important steps for your AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter configuration on Acer Ferrari 5000:

REMOVE any other packages you might have from earlier OLD Linux version. I had driverloader and ndiswrapper present and uninstalled any wireless relevant package except the newest madwifi packages !

The madwifi I installed are official openSUSE packages for x86_64 architecture. My laptop runs on dual 64 bit CPUs. The madwifi packages installed are the newest official packages as of the date of this writing:

1. madwifi-0.9.4-1.x86_64.rpm
2. madwifi-kmp-default-0.9.4_2.6.25.5_2-1.x86_64.rpm

After install of a.m. packages, a few steps below:

• rmmod ath5k + rmmod mac80211 + rmmod cfg80211
• in Network --- Networksetting ADD NEW device - as wireless, add the kernel module ath_pci
• /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist enter at bottom a new blacklist entry blacklist ath5k,
• reboot
• after boot delete your earlier added new wireless device, then edit your NOW editable AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter, enter ath_pci as kernel module!
• Your hardware now should become visible - if in range of an AP you should see the signal. You may however have to restart your network with rcnetwork restart. For unknown reason the NEW kernel modules do NOT autoconnect to the wireless network, even after a new system-start or reboot!

add new wireless device using kernel module ath_PCi

After all above changes - a short prayer and then a reboot. Your verification in your network configuration should show all still correct as below picture. In my Ferrari 5000 case I have 2 network devices, 1 LAN and one wireless. Both properly recognized and working.

Finally only 2 network devices - WIFI and LAN

For an unknown reason the WLAN does NOT auto-connect to the nearest AP even if configured to load on boot or on cable connect ( for wlan cable connect = AP availability ). The problem is annoying but a simple rcnetwork restart always connects properly to the available AP! There is justified hope that a soon to come kernel / madwifi update may solve this issue.

A brief verification of:

lspci -v | grep Atheros -A 20 | grep -v Capabilities | sed 's/^$/\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n/' | head -n 10 | uniq shows:

07:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
Subsystem: AMBIT Microsystem Corp. Device 0422
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
Memory at b0200000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
Kernel driver in use: ath_pci
Kernel modules: ath_pci, ath5k

Thus all perfect now. Above success message ALSO exists directly after reboot / BEFORE rcnetwork restart. So may be the missing connection to the AP before the rcnetwork restart may be a timing problem. May be the AP is too slow for built-in timeout limits or the attempt to access the AP occurs too early during the boot process ... ? Nevertheless, the problem is a minor and since I reboot my laptop every many days or weeks except during travel, it's no deal for me. But all earlier years until now the wifi connection ALWAYS was up and running right after the boot/reboot ! Hence this issue may be but a temporary minor bug to be fixed soon.

My first attempts to blacklist ath5k FAILED

Remember that for an unknown reason my first attempts to blacklist ath5k FAILED during at least 2-3 reboots !!! Now however it appears to reliably work. NONE of any ath5k relevant modules is present / loaded in the current running system. It is UNKNOWN to me what exactly caused the blacklist NOW to work after repeated initial failures!!!

It took me countless hours during the past 2 days and intense googling on my second laptop ( Ferrari 4000 ) to search and read thru all the different other solutions and problems others had and many still have. Hence I am happy to have it working. The advantage of my current working solution is that ALL is default openSUSE - all packages, all configuration ( except the blacklist entry ) and thus ALL current working system can and will be regularly UPDATED using YAST online update until one day it all works again as it did all the years before.

Hoping this above helps some - enjoy Linux and have fun

Love and Bliss

hans