Different subject as the original thread is way too long and goes in different directions. :-)
On linux-kernel mailing list there are currently messages about bugs in wifi support for Aspire One. See http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/14/214 and the thread appears to start at http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/10/220 That looks like relevant.
There are also references to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne and possibly some useful information can be found there.
Michal
On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 10:46:41PM -0700, Michal Jaegermann wrote:
Different subject as the original thread is way too long and goes in different directions. :-)
On linux-kernel mailing list there are currently messages about bugs in wifi support for Aspire One. See http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/14/214 and the thread appears to start at http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/10/220 That looks like relevant.
Interesting. The only thing I've run into is that the 2.6.27 kernel has apparently dropped support for the little sysctl lines that made the wireless LED work.
I've used both the 8GB SSD and the hard drive version. The only trouble I had with Fedora and wireless--but again, I do it manually--was that the live CD, and only the live CD, couldn't connect to a WPA2 network. Another fellow had the same issue, and we both found that with the first upgrade, it was fixed.
On occasion, after one upgrade or another, it would get a connection the first time around--that is, wpa_supplicant would work, but for whatever reason, it couldn't get a DHCP address. This was always fixed with a reboot. However, lately, it's been rather smooth.
I haven't had any trouble with any of the distros with a 2.6.26 or 2.6.27 kernel and the realtek. The only one that was a problem was CentOS, which uses a 2.6.18 or something like that.
It was a fairly major problem as the included r8169 module would cause a core dump, but it's reasonably trivial to fix.
I suspect one reason for my lack of problems is that by using command line tools it's relatively easy to see where the problem occurs.
Again, I've left NM out of the equation--not because of any dislike for it in particular, but just because I have many sessions where I don't start X. I don't know if it works without X, and never checked as the other tools work for me.
In Ubuntu, which I keep on the machine as some of my users have it, I do usually boot into their default Gnome and use it. It's more a of a pain, as it doesn't remember the (hidden) SSID and I have to reset it each time, but it works well enough.
As for the Ubuntu page--it would be better, if they're recommending MadWifi if they keep it up to date. If you follow their advice, don't do wget. Go to the page containing the tarball and get the latest.
Frankly, if one is going to use MadWifi, I think my own page is better and more up to date. http://home.roadrunner.com/~computertaijutsu/rhwireless.html#5007
On the other hand, lately, I've gotten equal or better performance from the ath5k module, with the added advantage that it doesn't require a recompile (which is trivial and takes about 2 minutes) with each kernel upgrade.
At any rate, in my experience, Fedora 10, as soon as one installs, then upgrades, the live CD, works pretty well.
I'm not sure about the various tools, NM, or system-network-config. I simply don't use them in most cases.
I realize that sounds a bit elitist, but it's not meant to be. Most of what I learned about Unix like systems was on FreeBSD, and when a job change brought me back to the Linux world (and when I'd been in it before, the various tools were far less reliable, so back then one was more prone to rely on manually editing config files) it was just easier to continue doing so rather than learn another set of tools.
If it were me, and I needed a static address, the easiest thing for me to do would be edit /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0, disable NM, enable network and the problem would be solved.
As it is, I use it in various places, sometimes with wired, sometimes wireless, and with DHCP, so I have my little scripts and wpa.confs (because it's easier, if checking with wpa_supplicant in the foreground to type -cwpa.conf than -cwpa_supplicant.conf) :)
I suspect part of Ann's problem is that she's getting too much input from too many directions. So, I'll shut up now.
(BTW, good call, IMHO to start a new thread. As you said, it's getting out of hand.)
Maybe one called dissing NM and another called in defense of NM?
whimsically yours,
2008/11/15 Michal Jaegermann michal@harddata.com:
Different subject as the original thread is way too long and goes in different directions. :-)
On linux-kernel mailing list there are currently messages about bugs in wifi support for Aspire One. See http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/14/214 and the thread appears to start at http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/10/220 That looks like relevant.
There are also references to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne and possibly some useful information can be found there.
FWIW, Fedora 10 has been working pretty well on my Aspire One since I installed it, at least once I'd done all updates. I've used NetworkManager to connect to wired, wireless (WPA and unsecured), and GSM (mobile broadband) networks fairly flawlessly ...
Just another (useless) anecdote,
MEF
On Saturday 15 November 2008 08:51:00 Mary Ellen Foster wrote:
2008/11/15 Michal Jaegermann michal@harddata.com:
Different subject as the original thread is way too long and goes in different directions. :-)
On linux-kernel mailing list there are currently messages about bugs in wifi support for Aspire One. See http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/14/214 and the thread appears to start at http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/10/220 That looks like relevant.
There are also references to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne and possibly some useful information can be found there.
FWIW, Fedora 10 has been working pretty well on my Aspire One since I installed it, at least once I'd done all updates. I've used NetworkManager to connect to wired, wireless (WPA and unsecured), and GSM (mobile broadband) networks fairly flawlessly ...
Just another (useless) anecdote,
First thoughts - if we have both fully upgraded, there shouldn't be any difference in our systems at this point, whether we started from the same point or not - agreed?
I guess that it's possible that Acer have done the old trick of selling identically named kit but with different chipsets. Not sure how that could be checked without opening the box, and I'm sure that neither of us want to at the moment.
Anne
On Sat, Nov 15, 2008 at 03:55:39PM +0000, Anne Wilson wrote:
On Saturday 15 November 2008 08:51:00 Mary Ellen Foster wrote:
First thoughts - if we have both fully upgraded, there shouldn't be any difference in our systems at this point, whether we started from the same point or not - agreed?
More or less, but we've both probably added and removed programs--however, I can't see them obviously making a difference.
I guess that it's possible that Acer have done the old trick of selling identically named kit but with different chipsets. Not sure how that could be checked without opening the box, and I'm sure that neither of us want to at the moment.
They, as well as Atheros, the maker of the card in question, are notorious for that. Atheros has a couple of different chipsets that MS sees as AR5007EG.
I think we've covered this one too, but several folks on the AA1 forums felt that the MadWifi drivers were working better for them than were the ath5k mods. I did try both, but all was fine with the ath5k and there was no improvement (nor did it work more poorly, it's simply easier to stick with the kernel module, which is why I did so.)
On Saturday 15 November 2008 05:46:41 Michal Jaegermann wrote:
Different subject as the original thread is way too long and goes in different directions. :-)
On linux-kernel mailing list there are currently messages about bugs in wifi support for Aspire One. See http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/14/214 and the thread appears to start at http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/11/10/220 That looks like relevant.
Yes, it does. Particularly <quote>
Sometimes wireless fails completely, especially after suspend to ram.
Did you get noise calibration failures in dmesg at this point? Felix posted a patch recently that handles them better </quote>
/var/log.messages is full of "noise floor calibration" messages -
kernel: ath5k phy0: noise floor calibration timeout (2437MHz)
There are also references to https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AspireOne and possibly some useful information can be found there.
That one says that if ath_pci is running the wireless should work. Well it isn't.
lsmod | grep ath gives ath5l 112520 0 mac80211 173668 1 ath5k cfg80211 23816 2 ath5k,mac80211
Perhaps Mary Ellen could tell us what she has for that? Thanks
Anne
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Anne Wilson -
Mary Ellen Foster -
Michal Jaegermann -
Scott Robbins