Intel Wireless Wifi Link 5100 on Hardy

[Giblet5]

Just some notes for those considering a switch to Intrepid to correct this:

I am now running Intrepid with a custom kernel 2.6.27-rc5, 64-bit, compiled for low-latency desktop use.

It's a Gateway P-7811FX laptop, has a 5100agn wifi chip and the new Marvell ethernet chip. Intrepid has native support for the ethernet, so there's that.

However, the Intel 5100AGN is recognized, but wmaster0 is disabled and the 5100 does not work as a result.

I could install the 32-bit Intrepid - I too expect this is a 64-bit issue - but I PAID for all this RAM and I will darn-well use it.

This problem is wide-spread, most commonly reported with the "PCI INT A disabled" error message from dmesg.

There are reports of people getting it to work -- heck, even I got it to work for one session - but there is no explanation available as to why it happens and there is no real "FIX".

Disgusted and irate, I chickened-out and ordered a 4965AGN PCIe Mini Card to replace the 5100 chip with something that works and is a higher-end chip. Maybe I'll get an extra 20 cm of range out of it...

[theburningor]

I was following another similar thread to this one relating to the Intel WiFi Link 5300 and found a solution that worked for me with my 5100 WiFi:

This is adapted from a post by pythaes22. I have included some updated steps:


Code:

sudo apt-get install build-essential
wget http://intellinuxwireless.org/iwlwifi/downloads/iwlwifi-5000-ucode-5.4.A.11.tar.gz
tar -xzvf iwlwifi*
sudo cp iwlwifi-5000-ucode-5.4.A.11/iwlwifi-5000-1.ucode /lib/firmware

Now go to http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Do...heretodownload and download the compat-wireless package for your system. The default kernel for 32-bit Hardy is 2.6.24 which is compat-wireless-old.tar.bz2

bunzip2 compat-wireless-old.tar.bz2
tar xf compat-wireless-old.tar
cd compat-wireless-2.6-old/

Now type:
Code:

gedit config.mk

A file will open. Search for the string CONFIG_IWL4965_HT=y. Directly after that string, on a new line, add this string:
Code:

CONFIG_IWL5000=y

Then save and close the file, and finish the installation with:
Code:

make
sudo make install
sudo make unload
sudo make load

Now reboot.

This worked without a hitch for me.

[morgwon]

followed instructions from theburningor and my latitude e6400 now has working wireless. Thanks.

[Jerzabek39]

Made the same on my Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pi 3525 and... nothing..

[phoenix116]

did the same on a COMPAL JHL90 --> no success, even with kernel update to 2.6.27rc5...

my system log shows a kind of timeout when trying to activate wlan0

already tried to activate via sudo ifconfig wlan0 up
get this error: SIOCSIFFLAGS : connection timed out

I am quite sure this is an 64-bit-only problem, has anyone found a solution?

thanks for your help

[Lokiii]

did the same on a COMPAL JHL90 --> no success, even with kernel update to 2.6.27rc5...

my system log shows a kind of timeout when trying to activate wlan0

already tried to activate via sudo ifconfig wlan0 up
get this error: SIOCSIFFLAGS : connection timed out

I am quite sure this is an 64-bit-only problem, has anyone found a solution?

thanks for your help

Thanks to theburningor, I finally have WiFi on my Acer 5930G. However, I also got the SIOCSIFFLAGS : connection timed out when trying to activate wlan0. However, after numerous reboots and repeating the steps in theburningor's guide, it finally worked.

I'm still not sure exactly what I did that solved the problem, but what I did was:

Follow the steps explained in post from theburningor.
Reboot
Start the terminal, navigate to the compat-wireless-2.6-old dir, then type:

sudo make unload
sudo make load
sudo ifconfig wlan0 up

Then it worked perfectly for me! After doing this, I re-installed Ubuntu (as ive been doing so much crap to get the wifi card working), and went through that process again and it worked!

So, good luck all! This one worked for me at least! If the above steps dont work the first time, reboot and try again a few times

Cheers, and thanks loads!

[acheong87]

I confirm that theburningor's instructions (post #62) work perfectly on a clean installation of Slackware 12.1 (Linux 2.6.24.5). Thank you [pythaes22] for translating the German solution, and [theburningor] for further refinements!

My machine is an IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad T500 with the Intel Wireless Wifi Link 5300, but I'm sure it works for the 5100 as well.

Also, although not much shorter, here are some alternate methods to extraction:

tar zxvf iwlwifi-5000-ucode-5.4.A.11.tar.gz

and...

tar jxvf compat-wireless-old.tar.bz2

[superstas]

well 64 bit ubuntu 8.04 and i get SIOCSIFFLAGS: Connection timed out
:/

[tofuconfetti]

theburningor,

Your instructions were flawless. I'm running hardy with a 2.6.24-19 generic kernel (standard updates are current), with nvidia drivers, on a brand new HP dv5-1017nr laptop. Wifi is working flawlessly.

Nice work on the instructions. I was going to wait until 8.10 came out, but now all is cool.

Thanks.

[jasex]

Hey all... struggling with the 5100 too, on a HP Pavilion DV4-1020US, will confirm if theburningor's fix works or not.



EDIT: did not work... not as far as I can tell... about two minutes after performing sudo make load... the computer locked up... nothing would respond, and my capslock light started flashing. restarted... computer locked up on GDM login. restarted again... back in ubuntu... still seem to be at square one... orange wi-fi light... though a new development is... when I turn on the computer, it becomes blue temporarily, then... SIZZLE back to orange... pressing it does nothing. there's not even an option in network manager for enabling wireles... is there perhaps a step I missed... Ubuntu 7.10 64bit... upgraded to 8.04 64 bit... not straight 8.04 install