HOW TO: Installing the acer_acpi module - activates wireless on Acer laptops

[ovimunt]

Last updated on 29/07/2006 21:03 GMT.

ATTENTION: This HOW TO covers ONLY the installation of the acer_acpi module and NOT of the wireless adapter drivers.

Before you can go ahead and install the acer_acpi module you need to make sure you have some other tools installed.

sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude install build-essential

UPDATED:
You'll also need the linux headers:

sudo aptitude install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

END OF UPDATE

Once this is done you can go ahead and install the acer_acpi.
First you should create a folder to keep all your downloads in one place.

mkdir /home/USER_NAME/download

Where USER_NAME is your actual user name.

Now go to the new folder

cd /home/USER_NAME/download

and download and install the package:

wget http://www.archernar.co.uk/acer_acpi/acer_acpi-0.3.tar.gz
tar zxvf acer_acpi-0.3.tar.gz
cd acer_acpi-0.3
make
sudo make install
cd ../..

Load the acer_acpi into memory and activate the wireless:

su
modprobe acer_acpi
chmod 777 /proc/acpi/acer/wireless
echo "enabled: 1">/proc/acpi/acer/wireless
exit

And check if it worked:

dmesg | grep acer_acpi

You should get some output like this:

[17179594.992000] acer_acpi: Acer Laptop ACPI Extras version 0.3
[17179595.000000] acer_acpi: Wireless value 1

Right, this might have worked for now but you need to load and activate acer_acpi every time your computer starts.
For this you can write a little start up script so you don't have to do it manually each and every time.

ATTENTION!
For Gnome type:

sudo gedit /etc/init.d/acer_acpi_wireless_enable

Or if you're running KDE type:

sudo kate /etc/init.d/acer_acpi_wireless_enable

Paste the following code and save:

#!/bin/sh

case "$1" in

        start|"")

                modprobe acer_acpi

                chmod 777 /proc/acpi/acer/wireless

                echo "enabled: 1" >/proc/acpi/acer/wireless

                ;;

        stop)

                echo "enabled: 0" >/proc/acpi/acer/wireless

                modprobe -r acer_acpi

                ;;

esac

Make the file executable and add it to the appropiate linux run levels.
ATTENTION! Don't miss ANY of the characters in the following lines, especialy the dots in the third line!

su
chmod 755 /etc/init.d/acer_acpi_wireless_enable
update-rc.d acer_acpi_wireless_enable start 39 S . start 34 0 6 .
exit

Now check if it worked:

ls /etc/rcS.d/S39acer-acpi-wireless-enable
ls /etc/rc0.d/S34acer-acpi-wireless-enable
ls /etc/rc6.d/S34acer-acpi-wireless-enable

If you get any No such file or directory messages then something must have gone wrong during the last couple of steps but your acer_acpi is still installed and can be started manually if needed.

If you didn't get any error messages everything should be up and running. You can now restart the computer and, if you have already installed the wireless drivers, your wireless adapter should work fine and be ready to configure.

[jngtt]

for the last 3 lines of codes i replace the dash with underscores
and it worked for me
thanks ovimunt

ls /etc/rcS.d/S39acer_acpi_wireless_enable
ls /etc/rc0.d/S34acer_acpi_wireless_enable
ls /etc/rc6.d/S34acer_acpi_wireless_enable

[WalterIM]

Hi,
I'm using an Acer Aspire 5043. The wireless and mailled are working fine but the bluetooth isn't. Any hints ?

Thanks,

Walter.

[karhulitos]

Thanks ovimunt!

I had exactly one week own time to play with new laptop and get Ubuntu to run on it. I've been struggling to get wlan to work all this time.
It is now day 6 and I found your thread. 15 minutes wlan light is lit.

(Acer Aspire 5044 WLMi)

Thank you very much!

[joellord]

The link to the acer_acpi download doesn't seem to work. Anyone knows an alternate download site ?

[joellord]

The link to acer_acpi seems to work again... never mind that last message.

About acer_acpi, I just tried a fresh install and followed everything here (until modprobe) but I still get the message:

root@joel-laptop:~# modprobe acer_acpi
FATAL: Error inserting acer_acpi (/lib/modules/2.6.15-26-amd64-generic/extra/acer_acpi.ko): No such device

What is it that I'm doing wrong ???

Thanks,
Joel

[mig10k]

i have an acer 2413WLMi(CeleronM, Atheros wifi - using madwifi) and my wireless connection needs to be restarted from time to time. it works for some minutes, sometimes some hours, and sometimes for 2-3 minutes and then it just hangs out.

can i fix somehow that the connection will be stable?

[bloodniece]

You magnificent SOB! I read your thread and got my TravelMate 4400 w/ BCM4318 card to work. You rock!

[HyperFlexed]

The link to acer_acpi seems to work again... never mind that last message.

About acer_acpi, I just tried a fresh install and followed everything here (until modprobe) but I still get the message:

root@joel-laptop:~# modprobe acer_acpi
FATAL: Error inserting acer_acpi (/lib/modules/2.6.15-26-amd64-generic/extra/acer_acpi.ko): No such device

What is it that I'm doing wrong ???

Thanks,
Joel

I get a similar if not the same message

root@Johnny-Laptop:/home/johnny# modprobe acer_acpi
FATAL: Error inserting acer_acpi (/lib/modules/2.6.17-10-generic/extra/acer_acpi.ko): No such device

And I am wondering why my error says nothing about AMD64, because I do have an AMD 64

[mmendez]

Alright so Im on a Ferrari 4000 and I had to update my kernel to 2.6.19.1 for ndiswrapper to work with edgy and now when I go to do ¨make¨ i get (prepare)

manny@mannymovil:~/Downloads/acer_acpi-0.3$ make
awk: cannot open /lib/modules/2.6.19.1/build/include/linux/version.h (No such file or directory)
gcc -I/lib/modules/`uname -r`/build/include -c -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -Wno-trigraphs -O2 -fomit-frame-pointer -fno-strict-aliasing -fno-common -pipe -DMODVERSIONS -DMODULE -D__KERNEL__ -o acer_acpi.o acer_acpi.c
acer_acpi.c:41:26: error: linux/module.h: No such file or directory
acer_acpi.c:42:24: error: linux/init.h: No such file or directory
acer_acpi.c:44:27: error: linux/proc_fs.h: No such file or directory
acer_acpi.c:45:25: error: linux/delay.h: No such file or directory
acer_acpi.c:46:27: error: linux/suspend.h: No such file or directory
acer_acpi.c:47:25: error: asm/uaccess.h: No such file or directory
acer_acpi.c:49:31: error: acpi/acpi_drivers.h: No such file or directory
acer_acpi.c:51: error: expected declaration specifiers or ‘...’ before string constant
acer_acpi.c:51: warning: data definition has no type or storage class
acer_acpi.c:51: warning: type defaults to ‘int’ in declaration of ‘MODULE_AUTHOR’
acer_acpi.c:51: warning: function declaration isn’t a prototype
acer_acpi.c:52: error: expected declaration specifiers or ‘...’ before string constant
acer_acpi.c:52: warning: data definition has no type or storage class
acer_acpi.c:52: warning: type defaults to ‘int’ in declaration of ‘MODULE_DESCRIPTION’
acer_acpi.c:52: warning: function declaration isn’t a prototype
acer_acpi.c:53: error: expected declaration specifiers or ‘...’ before string constant
acer_acpi.c:53: warning: data definition has no type or storage class
acer_acpi.c:53: warning: type defaults to ‘int’ in declaration of ‘MODULE_LICENSE’
acer_acpi.c:53: warning: function declaration isn’t a prototype
acer_acpi.c:76: error: expected specifier-qualifier-list before ‘u32’
acer_acpi.c:91: error: expected specifier-qualifier-list before ‘acpi_handle’
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘is_valid_acpi_path’:
acer_acpi.c:99: error: ‘acpi_handle’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:99: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
acer_acpi.c:99: error: for each function it appears in.)
acer_acpi.c:99: error: expected ‘;’ before ‘handle’
acer_acpi.c:100: error: ‘acpi_status’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:100: error: expected ‘;’ before ‘status’
acer_acpi.c:102: error: ‘status’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:102: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘acpi_get_handle’
acer_acpi.c:102: error: ‘handle’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:103: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘ACPI_FAILURE’
acer_acpi.c: At top level:
acer_acpi.c:107: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘WMAB_execute’
acer_acpi.c:158: error: expected ‘;’, ‘,’ or ‘)’ before ‘*’ token
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘read_mled’:
acer_acpi.c:185: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘sprintf’
acer_acpi.c:185: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘sprintf’
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘write_mled’:
acer_acpi.c:195: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘sscanf’
acer_acpi.c:195: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘sscanf’
acer_acpi.c:197: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘memset’
acer_acpi.c:197: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘memset’
acer_acpi.c:198: error: ‘WMAB_args’ has no member named ‘eax’
acer_acpi.c:199: error: ‘WMAB_args’ has no member named ‘ebx’
acer_acpi.c:200: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘WMAB_execute’
acer_acpi.c:202: error: ‘EINVAL’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘read_bt’:
acer_acpi.c:213: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘sprintf’
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘write_bt’:
acer_acpi.c:223: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘sscanf’
acer_acpi.c:225: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘memset’
acer_acpi.c:226: error: ‘WMAB_args’ has no member named ‘eax’
acer_acpi.c:227: error: ‘WMAB_args’ has no member named ‘ebx’
acer_acpi.c:230: error: ‘EINVAL’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘read_wlan’:
acer_acpi.c:241: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘sprintf’
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘write_wlan’:
acer_acpi.c:251: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘sscanf’
acer_acpi.c:253: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘memset’
acer_acpi.c:254: error: ‘WMAB_args’ has no member named ‘eax’
acer_acpi.c:255: error: ‘WMAB_args’ has no member named ‘ebx’
acer_acpi.c:257: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘printk’
acer_acpi.c:257: error: ‘KERN_INFO’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:257: error: expected ‘)’ before string constant
acer_acpi.c:259: error: ‘EINVAL’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘read_version’:
acer_acpi.c:267: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘sprintf’
acer_acpi.c: At top level:
acer_acpi.c:280: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘__init’
acer_acpi.c:300: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘__exit’
acer_acpi.c:314: error: expected ‘)’ before ‘handle’
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘acpi_acerkeys_add’:
acer_acpi.c:329: error: ‘acpi_status’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:329: error: expected ‘;’ before ‘status’
acer_acpi.c:332: error: ‘EINVAL’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:334: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘kmalloc’
acer_acpi.c:334: error: ‘GFP_KERNEL’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:334: warning: cast to pointer from integer of different size
acer_acpi.c:336: error: ‘ENOMEM’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:337: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘memset’
acer_acpi.c:338: error: ‘struct acer_hotk’ has no member named ‘handle’
acer_acpi.c:338: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
acer_acpi.c:339: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘strcpy’
acer_acpi.c:339: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘strcpy’
acer_acpi.c:339: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘acpi_device_name’
acer_acpi.c:339: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘strcpy’ makes pointer from integer without a cast
acer_acpi.c:340: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘acpi_device_class’
acer_acpi.c:340: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘strcpy’ makes pointer from integer without a cast
acer_acpi.c:341: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘acpi_driver_data’
acer_acpi.c:341: error: invalid lvalue in assignment
acer_acpi.c:344: error: ‘status’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:344: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘acpi_install_notify_handler’
acer_acpi.c:344: error: ‘struct acer_hotk’ has no member named ‘handle’
acer_acpi.c:344: error: ‘ACPI_SYSTEM_NOTIFY’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:345: error: ‘acer_acerkeys_notify’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:347: error: ‘KERN_ERR’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:347: error: expected ‘)’ before string constant
acer_acpi.c: In function ‘acpi_acerkeys_remove’:
acer_acpi.c:354: error: ‘acpi_status’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:354: error: expected ‘;’ before ‘status’
acer_acpi.c:358: error: ‘EINVAL’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:359: warning: cast to pointer from integer of different size
acer_acpi.c:361: error: ‘status’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:361: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘acpi_remove_notify_handler’
acer_acpi.c:361: error: ‘struct acer_hotk’ has no member named ‘handle’
acer_acpi.c:361: error: ‘ACPI_SYSTEM_NOTIFY’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:362: error: ‘acer_acerkeys_notify’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:364: error: ‘KERN_ERR’ undeclared (first use in this function)
acer_acpi.c:364: error: expected ‘)’ before string constant
acer_acpi.c:365: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘kfree’
acer_acpi.c: At top level:
acer_acpi.c:370: error: variable ‘acpi_acerkeys’ has initializer but incomplete type
acer_acpi.c:371: error: unknown field ‘name’ specified in initializer
acer_acpi.c:371: warning: excess elements in struct initializer
acer_acpi.c:371: warning: (near initialization for ‘acpi_acerkeys’)
acer_acpi.c:372: error: unknown field ‘class’ specified in initializer
acer_acpi.c:372: warning: excess elements in struct initializer
acer_acpi.c:372: warning: (near initialization for ‘acpi_acerkeys’)
acer_acpi.c:373: error: unknown field ‘ids’ specified in initializer
acer_acpi.c:373: warning: excess elements in struct initializer
acer_acpi.c:373: warning: (near initialization for ‘acpi_acerkeys’)
acer_acpi.c:374: error: unknown field ‘ops’ specified in initializer
acer_acpi.c:374: error: extra brace group at end of initializer
acer_acpi.c:374: error: (near initialization for ‘acpi_acerkeys’)
acer_acpi.c:377: warning: excess elements in struct initializer
acer_acpi.c:377: warning: (near initialization for ‘acpi_acerkeys’)
acer_acpi.c:381: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘acer_acpi_init’
acer_acpi.c:430: error: expected ‘=’, ‘,’, ‘;’, ‘asm’ or ‘__attribute__’ before ‘acer_acpi_exit’
acer_acpi.c:441: warning: data definition has no type or storage class
acer_acpi.c:441: warning: type defaults to ‘int’ in declaration of ‘module_init’
acer_acpi.c:441: warning: parameter names (without types) in function declaration
acer_acpi.c:442: warning: data definition has no type or storage class
acer_acpi.c:442: warning: type defaults to ‘int’ in declaration of ‘module_exit’
acer_acpi.c:442: warning: parameter names (without types) in function declaration
make: *** [acer_acpi.o] Error 1

which is right (the no such file or directory ALL THE WAY AT THE TOP) and unfortunately when i try to update the kernel headers before this I get

manny@mannymovil:~$ sudo aptitude install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information
Initializing package states... Done
Building tag database... Done
No packages will be installed, upgraded, or removed.
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Writing extended state information... Done

Any Ideas????????

MAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNYYYYYYYYYYY THANKS