Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

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ebztz

Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by ebztz »

Greetings Linux techies - With the expiration of WinXP, I've converted some of my older systems to LinuxMint. I'm very pleased with the functionality and ease of install thus far, and I've only run into one issue I can't correct. I have the modem detailed above in a Toshiba L25-S1215. I've read that I need a "Ath5k" driver, and tried numerous different methods for installing the driver (I searched here and Googled), none of which appear to have worked. Being new to Linux, I don't understand the system well enough to provide a good report. Advice on how to proceed appreciated!

https://wikidevi.com/wiki/Atheros_AR5BMB5
http://wireless.kernel.org/en/users/Dri ... ling_ath5k

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-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:c0:9f:f4:7c:3d  
          inet addr:192.168.1.140  Bcast:192.168.1.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
          inet6 addr: fe80::2c0:9fff:fef4:7c3d/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:25 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:102 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:3027 (3.0 KB)  TX bytes:16286 (16.2 KB)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:251 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:251 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:21285 (21.2 KB)  TX bytes:21285 (21.2 KB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:11:f5:b7:46:5c  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...
RTNETLINK answers: File exists
-------------------------
* VI. querying nslookup google.com...
Server:		192.168.1.1
Address:	192.168.1.1#53

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.4
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.9
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.7
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.0
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.6
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.8
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.3
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.1
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.14
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.5
Name:	google.com
Address: 74.125.225.2
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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ebztz

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by ebztz »

After reading some similar reports here, I can report that wireless networks are recognized on my computer (with a strong connection), but I cannot connect to them.
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JeremyB
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13881
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:17 am

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by JeremyB »

Do you see anything from

Code: Select all

dmesg | grep wlan0
entered in terminal?

Have you tried connecting after unplugging the ethernet cable?
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ebztz

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by ebztz »

JeremyB wrote:Do you see anything from

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dmesg | grep wlan0
entered in terminal?

Code: Select all

[   28.670780] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
[   28.671436] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan0: link is not ready
JeremyB wrote:Have you tried connecting after unplugging the ethernet cable?
Yes, the problem exists with or without the ethernet cable plugged in.
Here is the report, sans wired connnection:

Code: Select all

-------------------------
* I. scanning WIFI PCI devices...
-------------------------
* II. querying ndiswrapper...
-------------------------
* III. querying iwconfig...
wlan0     IEEE 802.11bg  ESSID:off/any  
          Mode:Managed  Access Point: Not-Associated   Tx-Power=20 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Encryption key:off
          Power Management:off
          
lo        no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

-------------------------
* IV. querying ifconfig...
eth0      Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:c0:9f:f4:7c:3d  
          inet6 addr: fe80::2c0:9fff:fef4:7c3d/64 Scope:Link
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:2648 errors:15 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:2274 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:2282295 (2.2 MB)  TX bytes:346038 (346.0 KB)

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback  
          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0
          inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:65536  Metric:1
          RX packets:566 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:566 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 
          RX bytes:48936 (48.9 KB)  TX bytes:48936 (48.9 KB)

wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr 00:11:f5:b7:46:5c  
          UP BROADCAST MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
          RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
          TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
          collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 
          RX bytes:0 (0.0 B)  TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

-------------------------
* V. querying DHCP...
-------------------------
* VI. querying nslookup google.com...
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached
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JeremyB
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13881
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:17 am

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by JeremyB »

ebztz wrote:After reading some similar reports here, I can report that wireless networks are recognized on my computer (with a strong connection), but I cannot connect to them.
Are you using the correct security, WPA/WPA2 personal vs WEP?

Code: Select all

iwlist wlan0 scanning
should tell you what option to pick

And check

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lsmod | grep ath
for that ath5k module
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ebztz

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by ebztz »

Thanks again. Here's what I found:

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iwlist wlan0 scanning
wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 
                    Channel:6
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality=60/70  Signal level=-50 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"Benn.link"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
                    Extra:tsf=0000003e45a3bb51
                    Extra: Last beacon: 22908ms ago
                    IE: Unknown: 000942656E6E2E6C696E6B
                    IE: Unknown: 010882848B962430486C
                    IE: Unknown: 030106
                    IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                    IE: Unknown: 2F0100
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: 32040C121860
                    IE: Unknown: DD090010180201F0000000
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00

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lsmod | grep ath
ath5k                 134963  0 
ath                    19187  1 ath5k
mac80211              513247  1 ath5k
dm_multipath           22402  0 
scsi_dh                14458  1 dm_multipath
cfg80211              401436  3 ath,ath5k,mac80211
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JeremyB
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13881
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:17 am

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by JeremyB »

ebztz wrote:Thanks again. Here's what I found:

Code: Select all

iwlist wlan0 scanning
wlan0     Scan completed :
          Cell 01 - Address: 
                    Channel:6
                    Frequency:2.437 GHz (Channel 6)
                    Quality=60/70  Signal level=-50 dBm  
                    Encryption key:on
                    ESSID:"Benn.link"
                    Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
                              24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
                    Bit Rates:6 Mb/s; 9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s
                    Mode:Master
                    Extra:tsf=0000003e45a3bb51
                    Extra: Last beacon: 22908ms ago
                    IE: Unknown: 000942656E6E2E6C696E6B
                    IE: Unknown: 010882848B962430486C
                    IE: Unknown: 030106
                    IE: Unknown: 2A0100
                    IE: Unknown: 2F0100
                    IE: IEEE 802.11i/WPA2 Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: 32040C121860
                    IE: Unknown: DD090010180201F0000000
                    IE: WPA Version 1
                        Group Cipher : TKIP
                        Pairwise Ciphers (1) : TKIP
                        Authentication Suites (1) : PSK
                    IE: Unknown: DD180050F2020101800003A4000027A4000042435E0062322F00

Code: Select all

lsmod | grep ath
ath5k                 134963  0 
ath                    19187  1 ath5k
mac80211              513247  1 ath5k
dm_multipath           22402  0 
scsi_dh                14458  1 dm_multipath
cfg80211              401436  3 ath,ath5k,mac80211
Can you change the security on this wifi router to none for testing to see if you can connect then or change the name to ben-link?
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ebztz

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by ebztz »

JeremyB wrote:Can you change the security on this wifi router to none for testing to see if you can connect then or change the name to ben-link?
Thanks for the suggestions. We've definitely narrowed in on the problem. I tried various naming permutations (ben-link, etc), but they didn't affect the ability to connect. Removing the wifi security entirely did allow for connection. I tried various security modes - WPA Personal; WPA2 Personal, the original setting, and WPA Personal - Mixed, but only WEP worked, though extremely slowly, and with stalling.
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JeremyB
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13881
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:17 am

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by JeremyB »

ebztz wrote:
JeremyB wrote:Can you change the security on this wifi router to none for testing to see if you can connect then or change the name to ben-link?
Thanks for the suggestions. We've definitely narrowed in on the problem. I tried various naming permutations (ben-link, etc), but they didn't affect the ability to connect. Removing the wifi security entirely did allow for connection. I tried various security modes - WPA Personal; WPA2 Personal, the original setting, and WPA Personal - Mixed, but only WEP worked, though extremely slowly, and with stalling.
This should be worth trying,

Code: Select all

rmmod ath5k

Code: Select all

modprobe ath5k nohwcrypt=1
and see how it works with wpa/wpa2/wep
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ebztz

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by ebztz »

Code: Select all

rmmod ath5k
libkmod: ERROR ../libkmod/libkmod-module.c:753 kmod_module_remove_module: could not remove 'ath5k': Operation not permitted
Error: could not remove module ath5k: Operation not permitted
The other command did not produce a response.
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JeremyB
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13881
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:17 am

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by JeremyB »

ebztz wrote:

Code: Select all

rmmod ath5k
libkmod: ERROR ../libkmod/libkmod-module.c:753 kmod_module_remove_module: could not remove 'ath5k': Operation not permitted
Error: could not remove module ath5k: Operation not permitted
The other command did not produce a response.
I forgot about entering sudo before those commands, it should be

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sudo rmmod ath5k

Code: Select all

sudo modprobe ath5k nohwcrypt=1
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ebztz

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by ebztz »

Both lines of code ran, but the problem continues (no output was returned). So long as any security is enabled, I cannot access the wifi.
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JeremyB
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13881
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:17 am

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by JeremyB »

I am sorry but I can't help you any further. I might suggest posting on the ubuntu forum and possible chille or one of the others can help you
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ebztz

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by ebztz »

Jeremy - thank you very much for your assistance. I can access the wifi now, which is definite progress. Hopefully I can learn how to set it up with security. I'll check out the Ubuntu forums you mentioned.
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JeremyB
Level 21
Level 21
Posts: 13881
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 8:17 am

Re: Atheros AR5BMB5 wireless modem

Post by JeremyB »

ebztz wrote:Jeremy - thank you very much for your assistance. I can access the wifi now, which is definite progress. Hopefully I can learn how to set it up with security. I'll check out the Ubuntu forums you mentioned.
ubuntuforums.org

I don't like the login procedure but they have some very good posters in the networking subforum
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