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GenMac and T500 w/ AtheOS network adapter

Started by Robert Deed, 2010.09.05, 08:49:02

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Robert Deed

So far I have had no luck.  I have installed the GenMU and have everything setup however the network adapter is failing to work.   I have tried copying the Athw.sys file from my Windows drive over the one included with GenMU and it still fails.   I have tried both different drivers and modified the NIF's with the settings from my windows install as well as the defaults which the driver package would setup.  Still nothing.  Has anyone been able to get this card working in OS/2?  My windows install calls it: 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter III.

Any ideas would be helpful..  On the other hand this machine is flawless.  ACPI works, had to force 2 processors but it works well.  The only concern I have is that the system runs a bit hot when running OS/2.  I am guessing this has to do with the system not throttling the processors.  Are there any utilities out there for OS/2 like TPFanControl which would allow me to control the speed of the system fan?

I guess I should add that the log file gives no errors or indications as to why it is not working, the wifi widget says no wireless adapter found.

melf

/Mikael

DougB

QuoteMy windows install calls it: 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter III.

We need to know the PCI ID of the device. Use the PCI.EXE program to get that information. Also, be aware that there may be a problem with what is supplied with GENMU, where the driver is too new (probably also the case with what you copied from windows), but somebody did report that what you find in GENMU does work, for them. You may have better luck with an older windows driver (win2000 compatible), if you can find one. If you are actually using GENMU_TEST, there are devices that *may* work, but nobody has verified that they actually do work, or not.

QuoteAre there any utilities out there for OS/2 like TPFanControl which would allow me to control the speed of the system fan?

I am working on one, but it is not ready for prime time, yet (and probably never will be, since ACPI is such a mess). It is working good on my ThinkPad T43 (1871-W8M), but only marginally on my Asus M3A78-EM with quad core AMD Phenom processor. The main problem with it, is that it can freeze some processors when it attempts to determine what is, or isn't, supported by ACPI. I am also unable to reboot the Asus, if it is left throttled down when something goes wrong, until I remove AC power (effectively unplug it) for a couple of minutes. I expect that that is really a design problem with the motherboard, since a reset should clear such things, but doesn't.

Robert Deed

PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_0035168C&REV_01
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&SUBSYS_0035168C
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&CC_020000
PCI\VEN_168C&DEV_001C&CC_0200


Obviously that is from Windows.  The 168cX001C.  I've tried several different driver packages.  The drivers appear to be working, they are getting assigned interupts and everything in hardware manager.  The Link option tells me the status of the device, I just cannot scan or connect to anything and the widget says there are no supported devices installed.


BTW.. if you would like someone with a newer TP to check out your utility I would be glad to try.  Anything which can cool this thing down would be appreciated.   I am wondering if the older IBM speedstep driver would be of any use since my bios still refers to it as speedstep.  An oddity though is if I set the AC profile to anything other then performance the system hangs at the ACPI startup.  Even though Battery mode is set to balanced, it boots fine when on battery.  lol.



DougB

QuoteBTW.. if you would like someone with a newer TP to check out your utility I would be glad to try.

I have sent you an offline note about this. let's keep it offline, for now...

QuoteThe 168cX001C.

That one seems to be causing a few problems, but it does seem to work for a few people. If the GENMAC driver loads (with green text, not red), it should work. One thing to check, is that the HELPERW.EXE line, in CONFIG.SYS, should be near the top of file. Try sorting your CONFIG.SYS with:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/util/config/LCSS-0-4-0.wpi
Be sure to READ the instructions, and also get the interim update from:
http://www3.telus.net/public/bissett1/LCSS.dat

I assume that you have XWLAN 3.10, which should, at least, detect the device.

Robert Deed

Quote from: DougB on 2010.09.06, 05:23:07

That one seems to be causing a few problems, but it does seem to work for a few people. If the GENMAC driver loads (with green text, not red), it should work. One thing to check, is that the HELPERW.EXE line, in CONFIG.SYS, should be near the top of file. Try sorting your CONFIG.SYS with:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/util/config/LCSS-0-4-0.wpi
Be sure to READ the instructions, and also get the interim update from:
http://www3.telus.net/public/bissett1/LCSS.dat

I assume that you have XWLAN 3.10, which should, at least, detect the device.


Well I guess I should explain what is happening.   The driver loads (and the log file looks good); it is in green with the address of the device [168C,001C] in white. XWLAN does not see the device.  If I use the default command line tool with genmac after about 30seconds the link status changes to connected.  As far as I can tell it is not actually connected to anything, considering I haven't specified an ssid or password at this point.   I have tried now 8 different versions of the driver with no avail (actually, some won't even pull the "connected" msg).  Some will fail to load.  And several will trap the system.  The only thing I am wondering is if the trap is actually the working driver and is being caused by ACPI.  I haven't tried disabling ACPI because I am scared of what it will do to the system to remove it. 


Robert Deed

So an update.   I updated the .inf file with settings from my windows registry, and added several which were not in it originally.  Now the wifi led lights up when the driver loads (just as it does in windows) and apparantly is scanning (blinking on and off at about 10second intervals).  If I use the genmac\bin\default.exe the link status changes to Connected and the light stays on solid.  Dis.exe will restore the original blinking.  XWLAn still does not detect a wifi adapter however.  Scan.exe returns nothing.   Something is going on here..  I checked all the settings and everything is looking good.. I would say I have a functional driver seeing and I am getting anything from it.   Has anyone had any luck getting the b/g Wireless Adapter III working in a T500.  (as a side note, I am already far ahead of where I was with OS X :)

DougB

It sounds like the driver is actually working. That puts the problem in the XWLAN setup. I would uninstall every trace of XWLAN, and reinstall it. If you have eCenter, or XCenter, use the widget version. otherwise you need to use the EXE version. Don't try to use both or they can interfere with each other, unless you are very careful about how you try to use them (only one at a time).

Robert Deed

Gonna give that a try.   The option which caused the activity light to start functioning was adding the flags in the .nif to disable power management, and another flag which indicates how the driver sets the led status.

Don't know, well atleast I got this far using the driver which is in the package which is a known working driver (for atleast some versions of the adapter)..

Robert Deed

I guess it just isn't going to work.  The driver loads fine, and everything looks good, but it cannot scan any access points.  The only functions which work are default, dis and link and they actually don't do anything other then make the wifi led come on and blink.  Netstat is claiming that data is going through the interface, but since it is impossible to connect to any networks it isn't actually going anywhere.  I have now tried every version of the driver since the first which supports this lan adaptor all the way through the most recent (the most recent traps), all the other ones seem to work but don't function (shows up in hardware manager, has resources assigned).

DougB

QuoteI guess it just isn't going to work.
Why would you say that? You say
QuoteThe driver loads fine,
That means that the driver it is working.

You seem to have a problem with XWLAN, not the GENMAC driver. The problem with XWLAN is likely some error in the way you have it set up, or you are not using it properly. You say that you can't scan for any access points. Why not? What do you see? How, exactly, do you attempt to do that? Be aware, that if you select network access type "Public networks", and there are no open networks near you, you will not see anything in the list. Be sure that you select "All networks", to see all public, and private, networks in the area. You also won't be able to connect if you haven't made a profile for the access point, and then select it. It is also possible to have a hidden SSID, which will not show up on the Hotspot scan, but you can still connect if you know what is needed to connect to it.

Robert Deed

#11
Genmac isn't able to successfully scan for access points (it reports and error).  The atheos drivers are a mess..  I was looking at the inf's for it (and the linux sources) and the one driver operated about 14 different hardware revisions.  I am guessing that genmac is doing something which is causing it to select the incorrect hardware (I've checked multiple times to see that it was set right, the .inf i am using has the same hw id passed to the driver that windows does).  When browsing the Linux source for the specific model which I have if everything isn't set just right the card will just sit there with the radio on and do nothing :)

DougB

Linux has nothing, at all, in common with GENMAC. GENMAC uses the windows drivers, when it can. If the driver loads, and you can do anything, at all, with the supplied utilities (which are almost completely useless) the driver is working. XWLAN is where your problem lies, and that is almost guaranteed to be a setup problem.

Quote(it reports and error)

What error?

BTW, it is not GENMAC that scans for access points, or connects to one. It is XWLAN that does that.

Robert Deed

Quote from: DougB on 2010.09.08, 18:14:05
Linux has nothing, at all, in common with GENMAC. GENMAC uses the windows drivers, when it can. If the driver loads, and you can do anything, at all, with the supplied utilities (which are almost completely useless) the driver is working. XWLAN is where your problem lies, and that is almost guaranteed to be a setup problem.

Quote(it reports and error)

What error?

BTW, it is not GENMAC that scans for access points, or connects to one. It is XWLAN that does that.

RC=2.   scanloop does nothing but error out
The linux driver have something in common with the windows driver, they are both official atheos drivers and let me know what flags need to be set by the driver in order to even make my hardware function.  It is clear (I think) that the windows drivers under genmac are not doing this. 

warpcafe

Hi all,

I know this is of little help, but in case "Atheos" refers to "Atheros", then let me just tell you that these things are the worst piece of crap under the sun. They should come with stickers "designed for windows only or any available trash can". Prejudice? No - experience. I tried a couple of them and once you tear them out of their target environment (Windows), they become unstable, unpredictable and useless.

I surrendered after two weeks of frustration and bought an Intel 2200BG. Works like a charm right from the start.
In the end, I preferred paying twentysomething Euro including shipping for an Intel MiniPCI instead of waisting my time with that Atheros crap.

Yeah, I know this doesn't help - anyway, good luck. Perhaps it'll work in your case.
Thomas
"It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority.
By definition, there are already enough people to do that"
- G.H. Hardy