[Novalug] On wifi hardware (was: Re: Re-intro and advise please)

Derek LaHousse dlahouss@mtu.edu
Thu Aug 8 17:03:41 EDT 2013


I did not follow you here.  You claim the Atheros drivers are wrappers, but
Intel is the one who provides wifi firmware blobs.  I do compile my own
kernel as well (3.10.4 here, I'm a little behind).  Do you compile in the
wifi driver, or do you keep it as a module?  How do you load the firmware
image if you've compiled in the driver?

I believe I may need to start manually making my initramfs (debian) and
putting the firmware into the image.  My end-goal would be a system with no
loadable modules.


On Thu, Aug 8, 2013 at 4:58 PM, Crawford Rainwater <
crawford.rainwater@linux-etc.com> wrote:

> Derek:
>
> There is also a difference here as well.  Some if not most Atheros wifi
> drivers under Linux are "wrappers" versus Intel wifi is kernel modules.
>  Hence the potential for "blobs" of code when using Intel.  However, if you
> have a cleanly compiled kernel, you should be a bit more efficient.  Then
> again, I am a bit of a sadist using Gentoo and hand compiling everything
> for a minimalistic and optimal approach. ;-)
>
> --- Crawford
> PS: I receive this list in Digest format.  Pardon any delays in responding
> in advance.
>
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> ----- Original Message -----
> > Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2013 15:49:01 -0400
> > From: Derek LaHousse <dlahouss@mtu.edu>
> > Subject: Re: [Novalug] Re-intro and advise please
> >
> > Intel's wifi requires blobs from debian-nonfree.  Qualcomm's Atheros
> > chipsets do not.  Look for something supported by ath9k.  "
> > http://wikidevi.com/wiki/Atheros_AR5B22" this is my favorite right
> > now,
> > though the bluetooth does require a blob, the a/b/g/n 2x2 does not.
> >  I got
> > one for ~ $20 off... ebay? maybe?
> >
> >
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