linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] ath9k: make driver usable standalone

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Message-ID: <CAG1a4rvqdB8y9ARQ=FckArm3UVG7=LFqF25kqYUYL0Uw7QNV8g@mail.gmail.com>
Date:	Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:30:33 -0400
From:	Pavel Ivanov <paivanof@...il.com>
To:	Dan Williams <dcbw@...hat.com>
Cc:	Gábor Stefanik <netrolller.3d@...il.com>,
	"Luis R. Rodriguez" <lrodriguez@...eros.com>,
	Jouni Malinen <jmalinen@...eros.com>,
	Vasanthakumar Thiagarajan <vasanth@...eros.com>,
	Senthil Balasubramanian <senthilkumar@...eros.com>,
	linux-wireless@...r.kernel.org, ath9k-devel@...ema.h4ckr.net,
	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] ath9k: make driver usable standalone

> 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?


Pavel


On Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 3:20 PM, Dan Williams <dcbw@...hat.com> 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 <netrolller.3d@...il.com>:
>> > 2011/8/17 Pavel Ivanov <paivanof@...il.com>:
>> >>> 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 <netrolller.3d@...il.com>:
>> >>> On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 5:28 AM, Pavel Ivanov <paivanof@...il.com> 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 <paivanof@...il.com>
>> >>>> ---
>> >>>>
>> >>>> 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
>> --
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>
>
>
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