The current kernel in Squeeze cannot use wifi devices requiring the ath5k driver. I discovered this after finally upgrading from Lenny to Squeeze when the security updates ended. No tweaking of the install seemed to help, and no suggested fixes from various "help" sites made any difference. Yet it is possible to plug external USB devices in -- if they use a driver other than ath5k -- and they will work fine. It worked perfectly in Lenny, and it still works with other devices, so something to do with that particular driver has been broken.
Searching has turned up other complaints of the problem I have seen, and bug #604613 in the Debian bug tracker, which looks like exactly what I have been seeing on my own system. I have a wifi mini-pci card with an Atheros AR2413 chipset in my laptop, and it cannot get an IP address anymore. This bug reports inability to ever get an IP address using device with an Atheros AR2413 chipset. There is also a fix listed on the bug page, but no hint at when it might be rolled out. So, now I am wondering if the fix listed for kernel 2.6.36 "experimental" will get released to regular Squeeze users in the near future, or if that is going to be held for another major release? Is it something simple that can be brought into the next release of the current kernel? If it will not be available for Squeeze soon, is there a work around for this problem? I tried using the Windows drivers with ndiswrapper and that didn't work. What about the claimed option to use FreeBSD kernels in Squeeze? Would the FreeBSD kernel for Squeeze be newer and have a working ath5k driver? It is possible to just substitute the kernel or does it require a major replacement of other programs? -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-kernel-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/1332204526.18029.yahoomail...@web162603.mail.bf1.yahoo.com
