4965AGN (was Re: [ltp] Call to T61 owners)

[John Jason Jordan]

On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:35:48 -0800
Tim Prince <n8tm@matrix.de> dijo:

> John Jason Jordan wrote:
> > My dim understanding is that the Intel 4965AGN
> > won't work right on x86_64 until there is a kernel update, so a BIOS
> > update won't fix it. 
> 
> True, it's not a BIOS issue.  I'm on 4965AGN right now, with no BIOS
> updates.  I'd find a desire to use an old kernel a less than compelling
> reason to remove it.  I believe kernels from 2.6.18 are claimed to be
> sufficient.
> 
>  uname -a
> Linux tim-t61 2.6.22.13-0.3-default #1 SMP 2007/11/19 15:02:58 UTC
> x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Evidently with Gutsy (kept up to date) I have a later kernel than you
do:

jjj@Devil7:~$ uname -a
Linux Devil7 2.6.22-14-generic #1 SMP Tue Dec 18 05:28:27 UTC 2007
x86_64 GNU/Linux

Yet I still have the "hanging up" problem with the 4965AGN. Maybe it
was fixed in your kernel and broken again in mine. Who knows?

> As mentioned before, I had to get an 802.11g hub, as the driver doesn't
> support 11b.

My house is wired for gigabit ethernet, so I never use the wireless at
home. I use it only when away from home, mostly at the university. The
4965AGN does work there, but I get random disconnects, especially if
I'm in an area with poor (less than 50% or so) signal strength.
Unfortunately, that pretty much describes the entire library building.
And as a mere student I have no control over what kind of wireless
equipment the university decides to use.

For a workaround I just use a Netgear WG511 v.A PCMCIA card and leave
the 4965AGN turned off in the BIOS. And push come to shove, the library
does have a limited number of private study rooms with ethernet jacks.
I'd love to help the open source community fix the problem, but I know
nothing of how these things work and I don't have time to learn right
now. I'll just contribute in other ways and wait and watch for a fix.