The solution for antheros WiFi problems (acer 4520) on Ubuntu
These are the specifications of Acer 4520
- AMD Turion 64?2 TL-58
- VGA NVIDIA GeForce 7000M
- HDD 80GB
- WLAN atheros AR5006EG 802.11 b/g
- Acer Crystal Eye webcam
When ubuntu first installed, the VGA can only support the safe graphic mode and the sound card cannot performs. Luckily there are methods to fix this thing.
- Insert Ubuntu’s CD (all version, you may use Xubuntu, ubuntu, edubuntu, etc)
- choose Save graphic mode
- Install as usual
- configure APT so to enable repository DVD’s based instasllation , but if you have internet connection, then you don’t have to configure it
- Install these packages
- nvidia-glx-new (VGA)
- linux-restricted-modules (sound card)
- linux-backports-modules (sound card)
- ndiswrapper-common (Atheros wifi)
- ndisgtk (Atheros wifi visual)
- ndiswrapper-utils-1.9 (dependency
ndisgtk) - cheese (webcam)
- Download the driver net5211.inf (the Win XP version not the Vista version) , you can search via Google, the file usually archieved
- extract the archieved driver
- Execute this programs
# ndiswrapper -i net5211.inf # ndiswrapper -l //make sure the device status is present # ndiswrapper -m //make sure the latest line shows wlan0 alias # ndiswrapper -ma # loadndisdriver
- Configure sound
//sound configuration nano /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-based //add text below on the last line. options snd-hda-intel model=acer
- Save/CTRL + X
- Click System > Administrator > Restricted Driver Manager
- Enable VGA Driver
- Restart your PC
PS: There are some laptops that use broadcomm WIFI instead of antheros, so install the driver:
#apt-get install bcm43xx-fwcutter
restart without installing ndiswrapper.
Tags: Linux and Open Source, Linux, Acer 4520
December 6th, 2007 06:02
hi….thanx for the guide….i need ur help…how u setting ur screen refresh rate…my laptop only get 50 hz…but actual refresh rate on windows is 60 hz…does its effect the quality during u watch movies?thanx…sorry coz my english tooo bad
December 7th, 2007 00:36
If you already install the VGA Card’s driver (if available) then it might be already the optimum solution. CMIIW if you already found the right soulution.
December 7th, 2007 00:37
It also depends on your monitor type too
January 24th, 2008 08:24
can u help me?i have acer 4520 but the wlan still didn’t work in GG 64-bit
January 26th, 2008 08:08
Is there anyone can help yui?
February 18th, 2008 04:56
Can anyone help him…
February 18th, 2008 17:07
Dont know it dude, try the acer’s official site or contact your local acer support.
March 3rd, 2008 02:35
if you have difficitulties downloading net5211.inf, try download using ?Wireless_XP_071011.zip? keywords. Some people said it’s okay.
March 8th, 2008 02:04
[...] After searching for some online sources, i found this link from learningcomputer.info. [...]
April 2nd, 2008 18:59
[...] http://learningcomputer.info/2007/11/17/the-solution-for-antheros-wifi-problems-acer-4520-on-ubuntu/ [...]
April 9th, 2008 13:31
This solution works for 64bits?
I’m using Ubuntu 8.04 64bits
Thanks in advanced
April 29th, 2008 05:30
[...] 4512 and installed Linux on them. Ubuntu Linux that is. You can find the installation instruction here or a more elaborate one here. I find the first guide simple and it worked. The second guide gives [...]
September 20th, 2008 05:48
This post is very helpful, thank you very much!
some cautionary measures since I really made a lot of mistakes before I got the wifi to run.
>I found out that their were some driver issues with the drivers suggested by the “System>Administration>Hardware Drivers” so I turned them off. (HAL and support for WLAN cards)
>The file net5211.inf was par of a set and it needed the other files to run properly.
>I didn’t have to configure the sound and video drivers. Sound was already working on the go. In terms of video, I just downloaded update on the System>Administration>Hardware_Drivers. At first it conflicts with ndiswrapper. the WIFI access points appear and you can select them but the computer doesn’t connect. Just reinstall NVIDIA driver and it should work
ASPIRE 4520
AMD Turion 64
NVIDIA GeForce 700M
WLAN atheros AR5006EG 802.11 b/g
Ubuntu 8.04 64
November 13th, 2008 04:27
Thanx Edward, your comment is very helpful…