FreeBSD 7.0-RC2 ath wireless issues

[Ian Smith]

Hello list,

I have some issues with an Atheros card in a Dell Inspiron 6000 that I was hoping someone may be able to shed some light on. I can associate with an access point but am unable to connect to anything via the wireless card. The card appears to be associated (see below) but I am unable to connect/ping the router or anything connected/beyond it. Please see the following for more details:

Hardware info:
Laptop: Dell Inspiron 6000
Wireless Card: Complex WLM54G23 (http://www.msdist.co.uk/product_compex_WLM54G23_200mW_miniPCI.php)

FreeBSD output:
root#   uname -a
FreeBSD dmon.bsd.home 7.0-RC2 FreeBSD 7.0-RC2 #0: Sun Feb 24 09:08:01 GMT 2008     root at my.domain:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC  i386

root# dmesg | grep ath0
ath0: <Atheros 5212> mem 0xdfcf0000-0xdfcfffff irq 17 at device 3.0 on pci3
ath0: [ITHREAD]
ath0: using obsoleted if_watchdog interface
ath0: Ethernet address: xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
ath0: mac 10.4 phy 6.1 radio 6.3

root# pciconf -lv
    ...
    vendor     = 'Atheros Communications Inc.'
    device     = 'AR5006 family 802.11abg Wireless NIC'
    class      = network
    subclass   = ethernet

root# sysctl hw.ath
hw.ath.hal.swba_backoff: 0
hw.ath.hal.sw_brt: 10
hw.ath.hal.dma_brt: 2
hw.ath.hal.version: 0.9.20.3
hw.ath.txbuf: 200
hw.ath.rxbuf: 40
hw.ath.regdomain: 0
hw.ath.countrycode: 0
hw.ath.xchanmode: 1
hw.ath.outdoor: 1
hw.ath.calibrate: 30

root# sysctl dev.ath.0
dev.ath.0.%desc: Atheros 5212
dev.ath.0.%driver: ath
dev.ath.0.%location: slot=3 function=0
dev.ath.0.%pnpinfo: vendor=0x168c device=0x001b subvendor=0x168c subdevice=0x2063 class=0x020000
dev.ath.0.%parent: pci3
dev.ath.0.smoothing_rate: 95
dev.ath.0.sample_rate: 10
dev.ath.0.countrycode: 0
dev.ath.0.regdomain: 0
dev.ath.0.slottime: 9
dev.ath.0.acktimeout: 48
dev.ath.0.ctstimeout: 48
dev.ath.0.softled: 0
dev.ath.0.ledpin: 0
dev.ath.0.ledon: 0
dev.ath.0.ledidle: 2700
dev.ath.0.txantenna: 0
dev.ath.0.rxantenna: 2
dev.ath.0.diversity: 1
dev.ath.0.txintrperiod: 5
dev.ath.0.diag: 0
dev.ath.0.tpscale: 0
dev.ath.0.tpc: 0
dev.ath.0.tpack: 63
dev.ath.0.tpcts: 63
dev.ath.0.monpass: 24

Attempting to get an address from the AP after associating:
root# dhclient ath0
DHCPDISCOVER on ath0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 6
DHCPDISCOVER on ath0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 13
DHCPDISCOVER on ath0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 14
DHCPDISCOVER on ath0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 17
DHCPDISCOVER on ath0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 11
No DHCPOFFERS received.
No working leases in persistent database - sleeping.

With manual IP address:
root# ifconfig -v ath0
ath0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
        ether xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
        inet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast xxx.xxx.xxx.255
        media: IEEE 802.11 Wireless Ethernet autoselect (OFDM/54Mbps)
        status: associated
        ssid XXXXX channel 11 (2462 Mhz 11g) bssid xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
        authmode OPEN privacy OFF deftxkey UNDEF powersavemode OFF
        powersavesleep 100 txpower 31.5 txpowmax 23.0 rtsthreshold 2346
        fragthreshold 2346 bmiss 7 scanvalid 60 bgscan bgscanintvl 300
        bgscanidle 250 roam:rssi11a 7 roam:rate11a 12 roam:rssi11b 7
        roam:rate11b 1 roam:rssi11g 7 roam:rate11g 5 -pureg protmode CTS -ht
        -htcompat -ampdu ampdulimit 8k ampdudensity - -amsdu -shortgi
        htprotmode RTSCTS -puren -wme burst -ff -dturbo roaming AUTO
        bintval 100

In either case pinging anything on the network results in the following:
root# ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
PING xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx): 56 data bytes
^C
--- xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx ping statistics ---
9 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss

For the purpose of this testing the AP was running without a firewall, encryption or an access list.

Interestingly when I run `tcpdump -ttt -vv -n -i ath0` I am able to see broadcasts from other clients on the network. Also if I run ` airodump-ng --band bg ath0` I can see a whole host of wireless networks including the one I am trying to connect to.

Any information/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Ian.




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