Kernel config to enable option for wireless

[TroyB]

Hi all,

I'm trying to configure my USB wireless which is supported in linux for my laptop, but it requires these options to be enable in the kernel config.

http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers/ath9k_htc

CONFIG_ATH_COMMON=m
CONFIG_ATH9K_HW=m
CONFIG_ATH9K_COMMON=m
CONFIG_ATH9K_HTC=m

My question is how do I go about enabling this in TC? Is there a post that someone can refer me to, as I have used the search for this topic with no luck.

Thanks for your time.

[tinypoodle]

According to
http://distro.ibiblio.org/tinycorelinux/3.x/release/src/kernel/config-2.6.33.3-tinycore
those are already set, except from the last one; perhaps that option did not yet exist in 2.6.33?

[tinypoodle]

From a search here:
http://kernel.xc.net/
it looks like latter was introduced in 2.6.35.
Perhaps you could look into compat-wireless.

[Arslan S.]

compat-wireless is available in the repository just load it

[TroyB]

compat-wireless is available in the repository just load it

Thanks Arslan & tinypoodle for your reply

I have used the compat-wireless extension, mkdir a /lib/firmware and used a the new and old firmware but I'm still getting the "Firmware - ar9271.fw not found". The following dmesg output below.

e100: eth0: e100_probe: addr 0x40080000, irq 10, MAC addr 00:08:02:67:a5:82
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: CardBus bridge found [0e11:004a]
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: Enabling burst memory read transactions
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: Using CSCINT to route CSC interrupts to PCI
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: Routing CardBus interrupts to PCI
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: TI: mfunc 0x012c1202, devctl 0x64
input: Video Bus as /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXSYBUS:00/PNP0A03:00/device:00/LNXVIDEO:00/input/input7
ACPI: Video Device [C0CE] (multi-head: yes  rom: no  post: no)
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: ISA IRQ mask 0x00f8, PCI irq 11
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: Socket status: 30000006
pci_bus 0000:02: Raising subordinate bus# of parent bus (#02) from #03 to #06
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: pcmcia: parent PCI bridge I/O window: 0x2000 - 0x2fff
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0x2000-0x2fff: clean.
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: pcmcia: parent PCI bridge Memory window: 0x40000000 - 0x402fffff
yenta_cardbus 0000:02:06.0: pcmcia: parent PCI bridge Memory window: 0x44000000 - 0x47ffffff
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0x100-0x3af: clean.
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0x3e0-0x4ff: clean.
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0x820-0x8ff: clean.
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0xc00-0xcf7: clean.
pcmcia_socket pcmcia_socket0: cs: IO port probe 0xa00-0xaff: clean.
input: PS/2 Generic Mouse as /devices/platform/i8042/serio4/serio5/input/input8
squashfs: version 4.0 (2009/01/31) Phillip Lougher
EXT4-fs (hda2): warning: maximal mount count reached, running e2fsck is recommended
EXT4-fs (hda2): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode
intel_rng: FWH not detected
Compat-wireless backport release: compat-wireless-v2.6.37-4
Backport based on linux-2.6-allstable.git v2.6.37
cfg80211: Calling CRDA to update world regulatory domain
usb 1-3: firmware: requesting ar9271.fw
usb 1-3: ath9k_htc: Firmware - ar9271.fw not found
ath9k_hif_usb: probe of 1-3:1.0 failed with error -22
usbcore: registered new interface driver ath9k_hif_usb
oss_ich 0000:00:1f.5: power state changed by ACPI to D0
ACPI: PCI Interrupt Link [C0C1] enabled at IRQ 5
PCI: setting IRQ 5 as level-triggered
oss_ich 0000:00:1f.5: PCI INT B -> Link[C0C1] -> GSI 5 (level, low) -> IRQ 5
usbcore: registered new interface driver oss_usb

I was wondering if I need to load it at boot much like for wicd-start?

Thanks for your time.

[Juanito]

I've found that wireless firmware needs to be loaded before the corresponding wireless module is loaded.

If you made an extension out of your firmware, I'd recommend to make sure it is loaded before the compat-wireless extension.

You can test the theory by copying the relevant extensions to /tmp without any *dep files and loading them one by one with "tce-load -i /tmp/extension_name"

[TroyB]

I've found that wireless firmware needs to be loaded before the corresponding wireless module is loaded.

If you made an extension out of your firmware, I'd recommend to make sure it is loaded before the compat-wireless extension.

You can test the theory by copying the relevant extensions to /tmp without any *dep files and loading them one by one with "tce-load -i /tmp/extension_name"

Thanks Juanito for your reply.

The firmware is only a single file which was place into /lib/firmware, I have removed compat-wireless extension and rebooted the laptop and then once back in again, I reload the compat-wireless exention but with not luck in detection. Still saying "Firmware - ar9271.fw not found", and couldn't find info on compat-wireless usage.

what else can I do to resolve this anyone?

thanks for your time

[maro]

@TroyB: Well, I can't help myself but this sounds an awful lot similar to this thread. In all the cases where my WiFi devices (both built-in as well as USB stick) require a firmware file it won't be required until one activates the device (e.g. with 'ipconfig DEV up'), but I can imagine that other devices require such a file already at the loading of the kernel module (i.e. the installation of the 'wireless-KERNEL.tcz' or 'compat-wireless-KERNEL.tcz' extension).

Instead of installing the whole 'firmware.tcz' extension I'm only using a few commands that are creating the '/usr/local/lib/firmware' directory and are copying the few files that any one of my WiFi devices might require into that directory. All this happens before the kernel modules are loaded and the device is activated. Instead of doing is this way I could have also done it via backup or a private extension. In the end it does not matter how the files are getting in the right place but as Juanito wrote in reply #5 the timing is critical.

In any case I can only repeat what I've written in the other thread: to troubleshoot such an issue do things really slowly step-by-step (e.g. only put relevant extensions into 'onboot.lst' after all problems have been sorted out and dependencies are clear). Maybe also worth following the advice from Arslan as of reply #12 of the other thread to get a potentially updated version of the file in question.

[tinypoodle]

and couldn't find info on compat-wireless usage.

no difference in usage to in-kernel wireless modules