Rebranding the Atheros 928x cards - The guide

[RehabMan]

I'm completely frustrated... the replacement adapter card didn't work for me either ... still no WiFi signal I just don't get why it isn't working for me when it did work properly for this guy:
http://www.tonymacx86.com/laptop-co...-2-aka-ngff-wireless-card-mini-half-pcie.html

You got past the BIOS whitelist, I assume... Two different computers in your case vs. the one you link?

 

[Ludacrisvp]

You got past the BIOS whitelist, I assume... Two different computers in your case vs. the one you link?

Yeah I made it past the BIOS whitelist ... that was the reason for re-branding it from Atheros to Intel.

My computer is the Lenovo T440s, the computer used in the link was a Lenovo Flex 2 14". The Flex 2 apparently still has an option to bypass the whitelist with a BIOS mod.

With both being Lenovo I assumed this would have worked for me as it did him as I was able to get around the whitelist with a rebrand, he got around the whitelist with a BIOS mod.

 

[RehabMan]

Yeah I made it past the BIOS whitelist ... that was the reason for re-branding it from Atheros to Intel.

My computer is the Lenovo T440s, the computer used in the link was a Lenovo Flex 2 14". The Flex 2 apparently still has an option to bypass the whitelist with a BIOS mod.

With both being Lenovo I assumed this would have worked for me as it did him as I was able to get around the whitelist with a rebrand, he got around the whitelist with a BIOS mod.

Having them both be Lenovo probably doesn't say much about their similarities/differences.

Does the rebranded card work in Linux?

 

[Ludacrisvp]

Having them both be Lenovo probably doesn't say much about their similarities/differences.
Does the rebranded card work in Linux?

In Linux via the adapter card the rebranded card works to the same level as it does in OSX....
The card can be turned on but it is unable to find any Access Points.
You can enable ad-hoc mode to make the laptop an access point and even connect to it from another device but the signal is almost 0 and there is no ability to perform a ping between the devices.

I've verified the M.2 slot still works as my NGFF intel card does work in linux still and is able to pickup and function properly as a wifi card.

I just can't understand what could possibly prevent this from working properly.. what / how could the adapter possibly effect the ability for the WiFi card to pick up a signal.

 

[RehabMan]

In Linux via the adapter card the rebranded card works to the same level as it does in OSX....
The card can be turned on but it is unable to find any Access Points.
You can enable ad-hoc mode to make the laptop an access point and even connect to it from another device but the signal is almost 0 and there is no ability to perform a ping between the devices.

I've verified the M.2 slot still works as my NGFF intel card does work in linux still and is able to pickup and function properly as a wifi card.

I just can't understand what could possibly prevent this from working properly.. what / how could the adapter possibly effect the ability for the WiFi card to pick up a signal.

Sounds like a problem with the antenna setup.

 

[Ludacrisvp]

Sounds like a problem with the antenna setup.

I've actually been wondering if perhaps the card isn't getting enough power to run properly... as this laptop is all about low power usage I wonder if the NGFF port has lower output.
As I've been able to connect this card while connected to the adapter in the lenovo to the antennas that are built in to my toshiba and still had no signal.

Another idea ... is there a non 1/2 height AR928x card that works with OSX? or a different manufacturer of the card that I might try?

This one is wrapped in black model ATH-AR5BHB92-H FCC ID: PPD-AR5BHB92-H
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JESLUWQ

Or do you have a different card in mind that I should rebrand?

 

[RehabMan]

I've actually been wondering if perhaps the card isn't getting enough power to run properly... as this laptop is all about low power usage I wonder if the NGFF port has lower output.
As I've been able to connect this card while connected to the adapter in the lenovo to the antennas that are built in to my toshiba and still had no signal.

Another idea ... is there a non 1/2 height AR928x card that works with OSX? or a different manufacturer of the card that I might try?

This one is wrapped in black model ATH-AR5BHB92-H FCC ID: PPD-AR5BHB92-H
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JESLUWQ

Or do you have a different card in mind that I should rebrand?

There are full height AR9280/AR9380 cards:
AR5BXB92 (ar9280)
AR5BXB112 (ar9380)

I don't know about the power thing... Seems to be more of an issue with that adapter gizmo you're using.

Perhaps you should wait for an NGFF card you can rebrand.

 

[shpokas01]

You'll need the following:
- An Atheros 928x based card, running with the stock Atheros driver.

Has anyone tried to rebrand AR5BXB112 (ar9380) using tools in this thread?
I need to change subsystem and subvendor ID from Apple to HP to bypass laptop's whitelist.
So far did not have much success even to read the rom.
Got a little further on Linux, but still cannot write rom back to the card.

 

[RehabMan]

Has anyone tried to rebrand AR5BXB112 (ar9380) using tools in this thread?
I need to change subsystem and subvendor ID from Apple to HP to bypass laptop's whitelist.
So far did not have much success even to read the rom.
Got a little further on Linux, but still cannot write rom back to the card.

I don't see why it would not work...

Did you modify iwleeprom correctly?

 

[shpokas01]

Did you modify iwleeprom correctly?

Not sure.
I am using various versions found elsewhere, but did not modify anything myself.
Atheros branch from Google code:

two versions from here:

different iwleeprom versions either report all OK, or complain about "Write verify error", but rom does not change.

like below:

# ./iwleeprom -d 0000:02:00.0 -i mod.rom
Using device 0000:02:00.0 [RW] AR9300 Wireless Adapter (PCI-E) 
IO driver: ath9300
HW: AR9300 (PCI-E) rev 0003
RF: integrated
Trying EEPROM access...
OTP address out of range: 0fff
OTP address out of range: 1001
ath9300_eeprom_check_header 00000000  @0fff r=0
Filling ath9300 EEPROM... DONE
OTP address out of range: 0401
ath9300_eeprom_check_header 00650000  @03ff r=1
AR9300 device NVM type: EEPROM  (data block @03ff)
Found block at 3ff: code=3 ref=5 length=635 major=2 minor=12 (RAW: 0cb22765)
Calculating EEPROM CRC...
CRC (stored): c211
CRC (eval)  : c211
compression : block
ath9300 short eeprom base: 383 (0x017f) size: 641




**** About to write to EEPROM ****
About to write device EEPROM, press 'Y' if you are sure... Y
Writing data to EEPROM...
  '.' = match, 'x' = write
Dump file byte order: LITTLE ENDIAN
0000 [.......
**** Write verify error: Addr 000e, wrote 103c, read 106b ****
**** Write verify error: Addr 0010, wrote 1627, read 9a ****.......................................................]
0080 [................................................................]
0100 [................................................................]
0180 [................................................................]
0200 [................................................................]
0280 [................................................................]
0300 [................................................................]
0380 [................................................................]


EEPROM has been written from 'mod.rom'