# ath9k wi-fi not working, wicd can't detect any networks

## Spidey

Can't help and pin point my problem, so I'll just drop some logs and the info I've got 'till now.

wlan0 is created by udev, ifconfig doesn't differentiate between wlan0 and eth0 (wlan0 doesn't have ESSID fields, for example). iwconfig says wlan0 doesn't have wireless extensions.

dmesg complains about being unable to load a firmware patch to a realtek adapter, I guess it's the ethernet one, not the wireless.

Some logs:

dmesg:

http://paste.pocoo.org/show/541271/

```
# iwconfig  && ifconfig -a

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     no wireless extensions.

eth0      no wireless extensions.

eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500  metric 1

        inet 192.168.1.103  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 192.168.1.255

        inet6 fe80::ea9a:8fff:fe18:33bf  prefixlen 64  scopeid 0x20<link>

        ether e8:9a:8f:18:33:bf  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)

        RX packets 2319  bytes 1819183 (1.7 MiB)

        RX errors 0  dropped 2  overruns 0  frame 0

        TX packets 2358  bytes 318486 (311.0 KiB)

        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

        device interrupt 42  base 0xe000  

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 16436  metric 1

        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0

        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>

        loop  txqueuelen 0  (Local Loopback)

        RX packets 16  bytes 1008 (1008.0 B)

        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0

        TX packets 16  bytes 1008 (1008.0 B)

        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

wlan0: flags=4099<UP,BROADCAST,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500  metric 1

        ether 68:a3:c4:7a:54:3b  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)

        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)

        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0

        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)

        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
```

gentoo-sources kernel .config:

http://paste.pocoo.org/show/541275/

Monolithic kernel, CONFIG_MODULES is not set.

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## chithanh

Wireless extensions are disabled by default because they are only needed for legacy compatibility. Use nl80211 based net-wireless/iw.

```
# iw dev wlan0 scan
```

Also make sure that your rfkill is unblocked.

If you require wireless-tools for some reason, enable CONFIG_CFG80211_WEXT in your kernel.

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## Spidey

Checked rfkill already, the interface is already unblocked.

I emerged iw and I can scan networks now, but wicd still doesn't work. Changed the backend from wext to nl80211 as instructed, no luck at all.

I'll emerge kde 4.8 later/tomorrow and I'll try using KDE's networking software. Maybe wicd is unmaintained and still relies on the legacy API?

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## chithanh

wicd parses ifconfig output, it wouldn't surprise me if it parsed iwconfig output too.

To check, you can try enabling CONFIG_CFG80211_WEXT in your kernel.

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## Spidey

Enabling WEXT compatibility mode solved my problem. Thank you.

I'll keep configuring my box and I'll try again in KDE 4.8 its networking tool and nl80211.

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