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Thread: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
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    14

    Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    I recently bought a new laptop from Novatech. (the nSpire 2760 to be precise. not the black edition.) and I cannot find any wifi drivers for it.

    I cannot determine the model number of the wifi card, all I have discovered is that it has the chipset ID '168c:0037'. From general google searching, I have discovered this being referenced as the AR9485, AR9285, AR1111 and various other model numbers. Therefore, I have no idea which model I actually have.

    If anyone has any ideas on how I can get drivers for this card, or any suggestions that I could try, I am open to anything, as it would be such a shame to have to resort to Windows only due to lack of wifi drivers on linux.

    If you need any more information just let me know and I will do my best to provide it.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    2,047

    Re: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    Are there any "Additional Drivers" available for this laptop, including perhaps one for the Atheros AR9485 card you seem to have? Search for "Additional Drivers" in Ubuntu and see if any are suggested. You may have to be online to access/download them however.

    Sometimes plugging the laptop in temporarily with a cable to update and get access to additional drivers can help fix these kinds of problems.

    It's a shame Atheros hasn't provided good Linux support for this wireless card. You aren't the only one with this problem:

    http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1983003

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
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    14

    Re: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    No, I have updated everything that I have installed and there are no additional drivers or compatibility for this card in any updates.

    If it helps, 'ifconfig' does not show up wlan0 at all, and 'lshw' shows *-network UNCLAIMED which has no driver set in configuration.

    I have also tried building and installing the latest version of compat-wireless, still to no avail.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Cincinnati, OH
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    179
    Distro
    Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal

    Re: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    Open a terminal and type;
    Code:
    lspci

    Post the output here please.
    Best,
    Lev

    [Personal Blog]

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
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    Re: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    Quote Originally Posted by levlaz View Post
    Open a terminal and type;
    Code:
    lspci

    Post the output here please.
    Code:
    :~$ lspci
    00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family DRAM Controller (rev 09)
    00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
    00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Panther Point USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
    00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Panther Point MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
    00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Panther Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
    00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Panther Point High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
    00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Panther Point PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4)
    00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Panther Point PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev c4)
    00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Panther Point PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev c4)
    00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation Panther Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
    00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Panther Point LPC Controller (rev 04)
    00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Panther Point 6 port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04)
    00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation Panther Point SMBus Controller (rev 04)
    02:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. Device 0037 (rev 01)
    03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 07)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Cincinnati, OH
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    179
    Distro
    Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal

    Re: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    Try this thread should work for you.
    Best,
    Lev

    [Personal Blog]

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
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    14

    Re: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    Quote Originally Posted by levlaz View Post
    Try this thread should work for you.
    I tried installing the
    Code:
    linux-backports-modules-cw-3.3-precise-generic
    package as suggested by the last post in the thread you specified, however this has had no effect.

    Upon running the command 'modinfo ath9k' in a terminal, it outputs:
    Code:
    :~$ modinfo ath9k
    filename:       /lib/modules/3.2.0-27-generic/updates/cw-3.3/ath9k.ko
    license:        Dual BSD/GPL
    description:    Support for Atheros 802.11n wireless LAN cards.
    author:         Atheros Communications
    srcversion:     21EAA32311830AA82C5169B
    alias:          platform:ar934x_wmac
    alias:          platform:ar933x_wmac
    alias:          platform:ath9k
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000034sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000033sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000032sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000030sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Esv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Dsv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Csv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Bsv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd0000002Asv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000029sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000027sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000024sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    alias:          pci:v0000168Cd00000023sv*sd*bc*sc*i*
    depends:        ath9k_hw,ath9k_common,mac80211,cfg80211,ath
    vermagic:       3.2.0-27-generic SMP mod_unload modversions 
    parm:           debug:Debugging mask (uint)
    parm:           nohwcrypt:Disable hardware encryption (int)
    parm:           blink:Enable LED blink on activity (int)
    parm:           btcoex_enable:Enable wifi-BT coexistence (int)
    Which as you can see, has several aliases for the '168c' cards, but not '0037'.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Beans
    14

    Re: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    Quick update:

    Just tried ndiswrapper. Unfortunately I could not find any supported drivers on the list, or any drivers for my device for windows xp, therefore I had to try the .sys and .inf that I got on the windows 7 driver CD with the laptop, which are the same ones being used by my windows 7 partition.

    Unfortunately, this did not work. The drivers installed succesfully, and after running 'sudo ndiswrapper -l' the driver was installed correctly and had correctly associated itself with the device.

    However, after this whole ndiswrapper process (followed exactly from the tutorial on https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Wi...er/Ndiswrapper) upon running 'iwconfig', there was still no reference to wlan0.

    Any suggestions are appreciated at this point.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
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    2,047

    Re: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    I am very sorry to hear of your difficulties. Wireless cards are probably the worst issue people have with Linux. It's partly due to the way hardware makers themselves choose to support Linux. Many wireless card makers do not directly support their wireless cards and instead work with the laptop maker to release drivers. And usually, laptop manufacturers do not release any Linux drivers. So you have to wait for Linux developers to develop a working driver that is released in the kernels that go into the distros like Ubuntu - or juggle some fixes like trying to install various packages.

    Some hardware manufacturers have much better Linux support than others. Intel has very good Linux support for its wireless cards - one reason I always get an Intel wireless card whenever it's possible. Realtek also has decent support - they release Linux driver source code on their website, but you have to compile it; Realtek chipsets are found in a lot of USB wireless cards.

    I've upgraded many laptops to Intel wireless cards for that reason. Some laptop internal wireless cards are very easy to upgrade (a few screws on a bottom panel, two or three antenna wires). Sometimes the wireless card is buried deep inside the laptop and is a pain to get to. Of course, it could void your warranty upgrading a wireless card if the laptop is new. Even so, some manufacturers' hardware doesn't even allow you to install unapproved wireless cards. HP and Lenovo "whitelist" their wireless cards to block unapproved cards. Dell and Acer (and others) do not. I don't know Novatech's policy or if that is even possible for you. I'm a hardware guy by background so swapping a wireless card is usually routine for me, not for everyone.

    In your case, I'd probably keep googling for AR9485 solutions involving Linux. I'm sure it's possible to get your card working, just a bit of a pain.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Texas
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    29,807
    Distro
    Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa

    Re: Ubuntu 12.04 Wifi Drivers

    Hi, the driver for your card is included with ubuntu 12.04 please post the output of:
    Code:
    cat /etc/lsb-release; uname -a
    lspci -nnk | grep -iA2 net
    lsusb
    iwconfig
    rfkill list all
    lsmod
    by clicking on new reply and click # then paste the information between the brackets.
    Thank you

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