Connecting Ubuntu 8.10 with Atheros Wireless Driver

This setting was a major nuisance to me. I search all over the net for a working solutions. From Madwifi to Ndiswrapper but still, nothing works on my Presario C700 unit. I even fully updated Intrepid release. Thanks for that, the system hit by kernel panic and I need to reinstall the whole OS again. But the working solution is just under my nose. Read on...

Well, not really my nose, it's documented in the Ubuntu help page, under the WifiDocsDriverAtheros topic.

My unit preference is Compaq Presario C700 with Atheros AR242x chip and Ubuntu 8.10 (fresh install). I connect to internet through ethernet cable (wireless is disable duh). If you have similar setup and I assume you know how to set your repository, this might work. This is how I done it:

1. Update only the essential part. Open the terminal and run this command.
   sudo apt-get install build-essential
   
2. Deactivate the installed Atheros Driver. Since we're going to get the new one, disable the default driver which is auto-install during installation.
   System > Administration > Hardware Drivers and click the "deactivate" button.
3. Run this command
   sudo reboot
4. You now need to get the backport module. After the reboot, run this command
   sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-intrepid-generic
5. Run this command
   sudo reboot
6. For some other unit the wireless might be working now. But mine is not working yet. This may be the result of a conflict with either ath_hal or ath_pci, or ath5k might be blaclisted somewhere. So let isolate the ath_hal & ath_pci first. Run this command on the terminal:
   sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist
   and add the following lines to the bottom of the file:
   blacklist ath_hal
   blacklist ath_pci
   save the blacklist file
   
7. Run this command
   sudo reboot
8. By now my unit is able to detect wireless connection and manage to connect using WPA2 Personal pass key. But if your unit still doesn't, the last possible cause is the ath5k being blacklist somewhere, posibbly in modprobe.d. So run this command in terminal:
   grep -r "ath5k" /etc/modprobe.d/
   You just need to comment lines that have "blacklist ath5k" and then run this command:
   sudo reboot
   

Hopefully by now your unit is able to detect and connect to any wireless connection. Good luck and remember patient is a virtue.

From Windows 7 Beta to Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex

The story begin when my notebook (Compaq Presario C700) had an overheating problem. Originally I installed a WindowsXP pro in this unit. Everything when well for 5 months. But then whenever I run a movie or flash application the system automatically shutdown. I try to search the problem source for months but still the problem remain. So what should I do? Read on...

It seems that the notebook can't hold too much concurrent process in one time. Even though formating with a fresh new OS is the last option in my recovery list but I had no choice. Then, Windows released the Windows 7 Beta to the public. I've read all the review (almost) and saw some cool and awsome stuff in their demo video. Even though I knew that it will last until August 2009 and the minimum RAM is 1GB, still I decided to give it a try.



The first distinct different change is the taskbar and much improved on UAC and desktop windows experience which is way better than Vista or XP. The rest was just almost the same like Vista. I have nothing against this new Windows 7 but it doesn't improved my experience with the problematic Compaq C700 notebook. So the quest continue.

The next possible move is to get a less stressful processor & RAM eater operating system. My best bet is the Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex with the Linux kernel (2.6.27-11 as in my grub boot menu.lst). I used to play around with Gutsy Gibbon (v7.10) in VMWare. I just love the way they named their release which is using an adjective and an animal. If you notice, this code names are in alphabetical order since Breezy Badger.

I personally think that you can customized this OS into anything that you want without burning holes in your budget. It does provide an alternative program for each Windows Office tools and it's almost FREE. But you must not be fooled. FREE in Linux realm comes with some "price". For a noobs, it is just like entering a twilight zone. Each release or even update comes with a risk of unworking driver or worst "kernel panic". I guess the best way is to separate the system partition with your data partition and keep the best setting for your unit. Every problem has possible solutions in various forum boards. I guess the Open-Source community just love to share or tell their own story. Sometimes I find myself reading too much suggestion for a single problem. Imagine if normal user had to face such nuance problems.

But for the sake of Compaq Presario C700 that I have here, now I can almost eliminate the overheating problem. At least I can watch the entire movie in full screen mode in peace with no auto shutdown.


P/S: I wonder what is the best linux application with functionality at par with Photoshop.

Linux System Admin Tips

I'm not an avid Linux user but there is no harm learning some of tricks that only the experienced Linux admin would know. Check out this tips from Mike Chirico. It has 200 over of Linux tips and tricks. From setting and keeping the correct time on your computer, permanently deleting documents with shred, making files "immutable" so that root cannot change or delete, setting up more than one IP address on a single NIC, monitering users and processes, setting log rotate to monthly with 12 months of backups in compressed format, creating passwords for Apache using the htpasswd command, common Perl commands, using cfengine, adding users to groups, finding out which commands are aliased, query program text segment size and data segment size, trusted X11 forwarding, getting information on the hard drive including the current temperature, using Gnuplot, POVRAY and making animated GIFs, monitoring selective traffic with tcpdump and netstat, multiple examples using the find command, getting the most from Bash, plus a lot more.


Another article that I manage to digest from the same author is "Breaking Firewalls with OpenSSH and PuTTY". A very interesting reading material. The article shows you how remote Linux and Windows users can gain access to firewalled samba, mail, and http servers without monkeying the firewall. However the author said that those steps only applicable if you have a valid account on all targeted servers. In other words, to get a valid account is another art of hacking.