Re: ath5k and Atheros AR242x - No scan results

[Joel Roth <joelz@pobox.com>]

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 07:09:16AM -1000, Joel Roth wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> I'd appreciate some help troubleshooting my wireless connection.
> 
> I have a Toshiba Satellite L305 series laptop running Debian
> sid with a recent, stock Debian kernel version 2.6.29-2-486.
> 
> $ lspci | grep Atheros
> 
> 05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR242x 802.11abg Wireless PCI Express Adapter (rev 01)
> 
> I am seeking to connect to a D-Link 614+ wireless router.
> For initial testing, the AP is unencrypted, unsecured.
> 
> My wife's G3 i-Book with AfterTheMac USB wireless adapter
> connected just fine, on the first try.
> 
> I believe I have the modules I should have:
> 
> $ lsmod | grep 80211
> mac80211              139680  1 ath5k
> cfg80211               21576  2 ath5k,mac80211
> 
> My wireless network interface is present:
> 
> $ iwconfig wlan0
> 
> wlan0     IEEE 802.11  ESSID:""  
>           Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
>           Tx-Power=0 dBm   
>           Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr=2352 B   
>           Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
>           Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
>           Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0
> 
> $ ifconfig wlan0
> 
> wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:21:63:82:82:40  
>           UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
>           RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
>           TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
>           collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
>           RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)
> 
> 
> However, I don't find the D-Link 614+:
> 
> $ iwlist wlan0 scan
> 
> wlan0     No scan results
> 
> And of course, dhclient fails to find a server.
> 
> Am I missing something? What could I try next?
> I'd appreciate any pointers.
> 
> Thanks.

Okay, I'm back with a new kernel 2.6.30.1 and the latest
ath5k. Here are my basic diagnostics data. 

$ iwlist wlan0 scan

wlan0     No scan results

$ iwlist wlan0 ap

wlan0     Interface doesn't have a list of Peers/Access-Points

$ iwconfig wlan0

wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:""  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:2.412 GHz  Access Point: Not-Associated   
          Tx-Power=27 dBm   
          Retry min limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:off
          Link Quality:0  Signal level:0  Noise level:0
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:0   Missed beacon:0

$ ifconfig wlan0

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:21:63:82:82:40  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

dmesg highlights
 
[    4.884157] ath5k 0000:05:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[    4.884223] ath5k 0000:05:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 18 (level, low) -> IRQ 18
[    4.884283] ath5k 0000:05:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
[    4.884326] ath5k 0000:05:00.0: registered as 'phy0'
[    6.411392] ath5k phy0: Atheros AR2425 chip found (MAC: 0xe2, PHY: 0x70)
[  337.543014] ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready

I compiled the kernel with debugfs support for wireless. Can someone
point me to helpful docs in setting this up.

Also, is there a chance that another driver would serve me better?

Regards,

-- 
Joel Roth