Return-path: Received: from mx1.redhat.com ([209.132.183.28]:45298 "EHLO mx1.redhat.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1753450Ab1HRUdH (ORCPT ); Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:33:07 -0400 Subject: Re: [PATCH] ath9k: make driver usable standalone From: Dan Williams To: Pavel Ivanov Cc: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?G=E1bor?= Stefanik , "Luis R. Rodriguez" , Jouni Malinen , Vasanthakumar Thiagarajan , Senthil Balasubramanian , linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org, ath9k-devel@venema.h4ckr.net, linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:35:22 -0500 In-Reply-To: References: <1313695217.23920.4.camel@dcbw.foobar.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Message-ID: <1313699724.23920.18.camel@dcbw.foobar.com> (sfid-20110818_223326_497482_7F86345C) Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: linux-wireless-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: On Thu, 2011-08-18 at 15:30 -0400, Pavel Ivanov wrote: > > In the end, you probably want to be using wpa_supplicant instead of > > trying to configure stuff with iw directly. > > I see Ubuntu already have wpa_supplicant installed and running. > Although its command line is not what suggested in documentation and I > don't see configuration file /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf. Does that mean > it works somehow differently than stated in documentation? And also > does all this mean that even if I'll be able to make wpa_supplicant > work as I need I won't be able to control wireless connection using > the standard Ubuntu's icon and it won't show me its state correctly? NetworkManager is installed by default, and NM sends configuration to wpa_supplicant using a different control interface, not the config file. If you want to take the wifi interface out from NM's control, I think you can add the interface to /etc/network/interfaces and NM will then ignore it, and you can run wpa_supplicant manually with the '-i wlan0' option to point it to the right interface, and when you've got a config file, use '-c /path/to/config/file' to give it your configuration. Or, since I'm a NetworkManager developer, is there something that you're not sure how to make NM do, or are you just looking to experiment? Dan > > Pavel > > > On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 3:20 PM, Dan Williams wrote: > > On Thu, 2011-08-18 at 00:01 -0400, Pavel Ivanov wrote: > >> > Iwconfig and iwlist are themselves deprecated. Iw is the new wireless > >> > configuration tool. > >> > >> I've just tried to use iw and it didn't quite work for me. Maybe it's > >> interfering with something installed in Ubuntu by default but > > > > Ubuntu installs NetworkManager by default, so if you want to manually > > control the wifi card you'll have to tell NM to ignore the wifi device, > > or turn NM off temporarily. > > > >> connect/disconnect commands didn't seem to do anything. And why these > >> commands can be executed only as root? > > > > Because poking and configuring hardware is a privileged operation; tools > > like NetworkManager selectively poke holes through that wall and often > > require administrator passwords to do it, but at the end of the day its > > an operation that can affect security and stability, and that means it > > needs to be privileged. > > > > In the end, you probably want to be using wpa_supplicant instead of > > trying to configure stuff with iw directly. > > > > Dan > > > >> Well, maybe in Ubuntu 11.10 it will work better. > >> > >> > >> Pavel > >> > >> > >> 2011/8/17 Gábor Stefanik : > >> > 2011/8/17 Pavel Ivanov : > >> >>> WIRELESS_EXT is not required for configuring wireless on recent > >> >>> kernels - in fact, the WEXT API is deprecated in favor of nl80211 now. > >> >> > >> >> Since what version it's deprecated? Do user-space tools know about this new API? > >> >> > >> >> Neither iwconfig nor iwlist worked for me without WIRELESS_EXT. > >> >> > >> >> > >> >> Pavel > >> >> > >> > > >> > Iwconfig and iwlist are themselves deprecated. Iw is the new wireless > >> > configuration tool. > >> > > >> >> > >> >> 2011/8/17 Gábor Stefanik : > >> >>> On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 5:28 AM, Pavel Ivanov wrote: > >> >>>> When ath9k is the only wireless driver included in the build > >> >>>> WIRELESS_EXT configuration option becomes undefined. Because of that > >> >>>> driver becomes essentially unusable as you can't actually connect to > >> >>>> any WiFi network. By including WIRELESS_EXT into Kconfig we ensure > >> >>>> that build with ath9k and without other drivers (having WIRELESS_EXT > >> >>>> selected in their Kconfig) is actually usable. > >> >>> > >> >>> WIRELESS_EXT is not required for configuring wireless on recent > >> >>> kernels - in fact, the WEXT API is deprecated in favor of nl80211 now. > >> >>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> Signed-off-by: Pavel Ivanov > >> >>>> --- > >> >>>> > >> >>>> diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/Kconfig > >> >>>> b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/Kconfig > >> >>>> index d9c08c6..2573f77 100644 > >> >>>> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/Kconfig > >> >>>> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/Kconfig > >> >>>> @@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ config ATH9K > >> >>>> select LEDS_CLASS > >> >>>> select NEW_LEDS > >> >>>> select ATH9K_COMMON > >> >>>> + select WIRELESS_EXT > >> >>>> ---help--- > >> >>>> This module adds support for wireless adapters based on > >> >>>> Atheros IEEE 802.11n AR5008, AR9001 and AR9002 family > >> -- > >> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-wireless" in > >> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org > >> More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html > > > > > > > -- > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-wireless" in > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org > More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html