[SOLVED] Re: wireless (Atheros AR5001) was working on squeeze, then stopped
On Wed, 2010-06-30 at 07:28 +0100, Berni Elbourn wrote:
> Brian C. Wells wrote:
> > Hi. I have an HP G60-249WM laptop, and am currently using squeeze for
> > better wireless support. (The latest kernel from backports might also
> > work; but after trying that, I can say it doesn't play well with the
> > non-free nvidia driver, which I also need.)
> >
> > After "upgrading" to squeeze, and updating my firewall rules, the
> > wireless was working at first. But while browsing the web a couple days
> > ago, network-manager repeatedly prompted me for my wireless password,
> > and would not accept the correct one. Then I tried unchecking "Enable
> > Wireless", hoping to re-check it later, but it went gray (disabled)!
> >
> > After asking some questions and being given suggestions on #debian, and
> > searching the web (with my wired connection) for answers, I installed
> > the lshw and rfkill packages and found the following:
> >
> > # lshw -C network
> > *-network
> > description: Ethernet interface
> > ...
> > *-network DISABLED
> > description: Wireless interface
> > product: AR5001 Wireless Network Adapter
> > vendor: Atheros Communications Inc.
> > physical id: 0
> > bus info: pci@0000:07:00.0
> > logical name: wlan0
> > version: 01
> > serial: [MAC address]
> > width: 64 bits
> > clock: 33MHz
> > capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet
> > physical wireless
> > configuration: broadcast=yes driver=ath5k latency=0 multicast=yes
> > wireless=IEEE 802.11bg
> > resources: irq:23 memory:c2000000-c200ffff
> >
> > # rfkill list
> > 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
> > Soft blocked: no
> > Hard blocked: yes
> >
> > If I have read the top Google result for rfkill [1] correctly, this
> > means that the problem cannot be fixed by *any* software, and is thus a
> > hardware issue. Is that right?
> >
> > Assuming it is hardware, I have noticed that there is a button with a
> > little wireless logo LED. Before I "upgraded" to squeeze, it was always
> > amber-colored. Afterward, it was usually blue, but blinked between both
> > colors while I was browsing the web. Now it is always blue.
> >
> > I have tried pushing this button once, briefly; several times, quickly;
> > and holding it down for 30 seconds. I have also tried every Fn-FXX key
> > combo from F1 to F12, and some combinations of these with the wireless
> > button. No change.
> >
> > I have also tried the Ubuntu LiveCD; it seems to have the same problem.
> > And I've tried removing network-manager, manual configuration and
> > ifdown/modprobe/ifup, and the alternative manager wicd. None worked.
> >
> > For additional reference, here's the information provided by ifconfig -a
> > and iwconfig:
> >
> > # ifconfig -a
> > ...
> > wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr [MAC address]
> > 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)
> >
> > # iwconfig
> > ...
> > wlan0 IEEE 802.11bg ESSID:off/any
> > Mode:Managed Access Point: Not-Associated Tx-Power=off
> > Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
> > Encryption key:off
> > Power Management:off
> >
> > So, is my wireless card fried? Or what other information is needed to
> > know?
> >
> > [1] http://www.mjmwired.net/kernel/Documentation/rfkill.txt
> >
> >
> >
>
> Just by way of comparison. Here is what I see on my hp laptop (also
> running squeeze) just now:
>
> hp6715:~# lspci | grep Broadcom
> 10:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5787M
> Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express (rev 02)
> 30:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4312 802.11a/b/g
> (rev 02)
>
>
> hp6715:~# iwconfig wlan0
> wlan0 IEEE 802.11abg ESSID:""
> Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point:
> Not-Associated
> Bit Rate:54 Mb/s Tx-Power:32 dBm
> Retry min limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
> Encryption key:off
> Power Managementmode:All packets received
> Link Quality=5/5 Signal level=0 dBm Noise level=-57 dBm
> Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
> Tx excessive retries:32 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
>
> It is currently on wires...but the wireless is on and Tx-power is still
> showing a number.
>
> Maybe this suggests your wireless really is disabled or faulty ... try
> looking for a setting in your Bios menus that turns the wireless on and off?
>
That was it! The BIOS setting got disabled somehow. THANK YOU SO VERY
MUCH! I thought I'd have to get a new card installed!
Now I have another question: how did the BIOS setting get disabled while
the computer was turned on? Did Debian automatically update the BIOS
firmware or something? Or did it just start suddenly respecting the
BIOS settings? Or did some key combo I pressed somehow disable it? (I
know next to nothing about how BIOS works, as you may be able to tell.)
> Given it is an HP - you may have to run up "another OS" before logging a
> support call to make it easier to prove it is a hardware issue to them.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Berni
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