Hi all.. Novice user having woes getting Atheros card up in FreeBSD 6.0

[Freddie Cash]

On Thursday 26 January 2006 08:10 pm, resonant evil wrote:
> Hi there..  So I can't use this wireless card at all right now?  Damn
> why did I buy this thing then.. People from the mailing list showed me
> this one so I ordered it :-(

All the posts on BSDForums.org list that the ath(4) driver in FreeBSD 6.0 
only supports the AR5210, AR5211, and AR5212 chipset.  It does not 
support the AR5213 which a lot of the newest Atheros-based cards are 
using.  A quick search of the forums would have shown that.  :)

Similarly, the man page for ath(4) shows the three chipsets it supports.

When buying wireless cards, the chipset is the only thing that matters.  
The name, model are irrelevent and often misleading.  You have to search 
through the support/docs area of the manufacturer's website to find out 
exactly which chipset the card uses.

> This is horrible, I just spent a hundred bucks on something I can't
> even use? :(

Update your system to RELENG_6 (6-STABLE) and apply the patches that Sam 
Leffler posts to http://people.freebsd.org/~sam  That will allow you to 
use AR5213-based wireless NICs.  I tested the patches on my laptop and 
they apply cleanly.  I don't have any AR5213-based NICs to test with, 
though (all AR5212 at my house).

I have instructions for getting the patches, applying the patches, and 
testing them.  I'll send them to you via BSDForums (since that's where 
they're saved).

-- 
Freddie Cash
fcash at ocis.net