No wireless: atheros AR5001x, ubuntu 11.04

**chili555** · September 22nd, 2011

Golly, we sure have been busy here, haven't we? I think an important clue was given and consistently ignored way back in post #1. Instead of addressing the error, we've installed compat-wireless, madwifi, considered ndiswrapper and done lots of blacklisting and unblacklisting, all to no avail, since the original error remains unresolved:

[ 15.501196] ath5k 0000:00:06.0: can't find IRQ for PCI INT A; please try using pci=biosirq
[ 15.501271] ath5k 0000:00:06.0: registered as 'phy0'
[ 15.501284] ath5k phy0: request_irq failed
[ 15.501312] ath5k: probe of 0000:00:06.0 failed with error -16

Before you do the obvious, that is try a boot parameter pci=biosirq, I'd look around in the computer's BIOS to see how the IRQs are assigned. In my several systems, I have the best luck with Auto Select. Please see attached.

This is a screenshot from an IBM computer, but most brands have a similar selection available.

If you can make a change, be sure to save your changes and let the computer boot into Ubuntu. Check dmesg for the error again. If it still appears, we'll need to load the suggested boot parameter. If so, please see here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1613132

Scroll down to How to permanently set kernel boot options on an installed OS (not wubi). The boot option you want is, of course, not nomodeset, but pci=biosirq.

After making your change, be sure to save and close gedit. Reboot and check dmesg for the error. Then we'll unsnarl the driver. Sigh...

By the way, the "Ethernet Controller" name is a red herring. It's meaningless.

**Ohramgis** · September 22nd, 2011

My BIOS is very limited. I can set a password, the time, choose the amount of shared memory and set the boot order. Thats it, nothing about IRQ's.

I followed the instructions and added pci=biosirq, saved, closed, rebooted, but dmesg doesn't change much:

Code:

[    0.328673] device-mapper: multipath: version 1.2.0 loaded
[    0.328679] device-mapper: multipath round-robin: version 1.0.0 loaded
[   22.333255] ath5k 0000:00:06.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[   22.333269] ath5k 0000:00:06.0: can't find IRQ for PCI INT A
[   22.333348] ath5k 0000:00:06.0: registered as 'phy0'
[   22.333357] ath5k phy0: request_irq failed
[   22.333385] ath5k: probe of 0000:00:06.0 failed with error -16

**Ohramgis** · September 22nd, 2011

Originally Posted by praseodym

This is not a driver problem, obviously sth. with acpi/BIOS. Please do:

Code:

dmesg >> dmesg-Ohramgis.txt

and upload this .txt-file

I couldn't upload it here since its size exceeds the forum limit, so I put it on paste.org. Here's the link:
http://paste.org/pastebin/view/38734

**chili555** · September 22nd, 2011

You might check here: http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/wir...ar5001x-5.html

It's a Packard Bell Easy NoteR. I buy this machine almost 5 years ago for a computer he should be already withdrawn, for a long time.

Then check here: http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/wir...ar5001x-8.html

I got it working now adding these options to the kernel boot parameters, as the BIOS really seems screwed about these:

Code:

acpi=force irqpoll noapictimer

after that simply typing

Code:

modprobe ath5k

was enough to have the wifi networks show up in NetworkManager.

Then the next post says:

I registered to this site just to say.... THANK YOU!!!
Sanne's solution worked with me and a Easynote 1010R. I was giving up when I found this post, and your solution!!

I suggest you change your GRUB boot parameters as shown and try again.

**praseodym** · September 22nd, 2011

ACPI: BIOS age (520) fails cutoff (2000), acpi=force is required to enable ACPI

Try this parameter instead.

I dont know what that is:

HPET not enabled in BIOS. You might try hpet=force boot option

and that

[ 0.154675] PnPBIOS: Warning! Your PnP BIOS caused a fatal error. Attempting to continue
[ 0.154678] PnPBIOS: You may need to reboot with the "pnpbios=off" option to operate stably
[ 0.154681] PnPBIOS: Check with your vendor for an updated BIOS

Looks like you should try several kernel parameters or upgrade your BIOS

**Ohramgis** · September 23rd, 2011

OMG IT WORKS!

For those with a similar problem, this fixed it for me:

Code:

gksudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Changing
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
to
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash pci=biosirq acpi=force"

Save it, exit it.

Code:

sudo update-grub

Reboot, et voila! Not only does the wireless work, but the battery indicator suddenly works too!

A MASSIVE thank you to you all for your help.

edit: to be complete: you don't even need pci=biosirq. By now, my boot time seemed to have quadrupled. So I did a fresh install and only added acpi=force to the grub file.