Wifi Card is Recognized natively but not picking up any networks (Atheros ar5b93)

[Ramybakkar]

So I replaced my internal wireless card with an atheros ar5b93 , and it was recognized without any kexts. However it is not showing any networks ... What to do ?

 

[RehabMan]

So I replaced my internal wireless card with an atheros ar5b93 , and it was recognized without any kexts. However it is not showing any networks ... What to do ?

Test the card in Windows or Linux to be certain the hardware is working and is installed correctly.

If you have good hardware, make sure you didn't replace any system networking kexts in an effort to make it work. Also, if this is a laptop, make sure you have the card turned on.

 

[Ramybakkar]

RehabMan, thank you for your quick reply, i appreciate it
Ummm .... i tested the hardware on Windows... Worked like a charm
As for turning the hardware on? I used to do that with Fn+F12 on my keyboard under Windows, and there's no hardware switch ....
I'm at a loss...

 

[RehabMan]

RehabMan, thank you for your quick reply, i appreciate it
Ummm .... i tested the hardware on Windows... Worked like a charm
As for turning the hardware on? I used to do that with Fn+F12 on my keyboard under Windows, and there's no hardware switch ....
I'm at a loss...

Try doing the same Fn+F12 in OS X. That key may be handled via ACPI as well (and depending on what it does, it may need patches to work on OS X).

 

[Ramybakkar]

I already tried the Fn+f12.. it didn't work. However i also tried Fn+f9/f10 which are the volume controls under Windows, and that is exactly what they did.
P.S Pressing : Fn+f12 does nothing . f12 by itself opens the dvd rom

 

[RehabMan]

I already tried the Fn+f12.. it didn't work. However i also tried Fn+f9/f10 which are the volume controls under Windows, and that is exactly what they did.
P.S Pressing : Fn+f12 does nothing . f12 by itself opens the dvd rom

Make sure you're patient. The networks will take time to populate once you get it turned. So don't press it again without waiting a bit. And like I said, that key may be implemented in DSDT (or even a custom app), so you may need to do some DSDT debugging/patching to determine how the key works.

And like I said before, make sure your kexts are vanilla. The common mistake is installing a replacement IO80211Family.kext or NetworkingFamily.kext.

Finally, it could be regdomain issue. Have you changed the regdomain on the card to match what OS X expects for your region?

 

[Ramybakkar]

RehabMan, first of all thank you for being so patient...
Secondly, I did my very best to keep the OS X install as clean as possible. so to answer your concern, i haven't touched the kexts, nor the regdomain(i have no idea what that means , but to sum it up, this is my 4th OS X install, so this time i made sure, i don't mess around with any system files)

I just noticed another thing ... all the Fn+f keys work under OS X the way they do under Windows, except for f12 (the dvd rom eject button).

i don't know if you can make sense of this... and i would appreciate your help, if you have the time .
Thank you.

 

[RehabMan]

RehabMan, first of all thank you for being so patient...
Secondly, I did my very best to keep the OS X install as clean as possible. so to answer your concern, i haven't touched the kexts, nor the regdomain(i have no idea what that means , but to sum it up, this is my 4th OS X install, so this time i made sure, i don't mess around with any system files)

I just noticed another thing ... all the Fn+f keys work under OS X the way they do under Windows, except for f12 (the dvd rom eject button).

i don't know if you can make sense of this... and i would appreciate your help, if you have the time .
Thank you.

For regdomain, see here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/hp-probook/97428-ar9280-athr-unknown-locale-xx-eeprom-mod.html

If you read far enough into the thread, you'll see a guide that uses Linux, which is what I use for this job. Wiindows is a PITA because of all the issues with driver signing in 64-bit.

 

[Ramybakkar]

could it be that the hardware radio switch is off ... i got the card off a friend's laptop ... if he had switched the wireless radio off, would that have become embedded into the wireless card itself or is that command bound only by the os ? seeing as how the hardware radio switch is actually hardware related and in this case my friend's laptop actually has a physical switch .. am i way off or what ?

 

[RehabMan]

could it be that the hardware radio switch is off ... i got the card off a friend's laptop ... if he had switched the wireless radio off, would that have become embedded into the wireless card itself or is that command bound only by the os ? seeing as how the hardware radio switch is actually hardware related and in this case my friend's laptop actually has a physical switch .. am i way off or what ?

In post #3 you said the card works in Windows. That rules out any kind of hardware disablement done in the previous host.

It could be that the radio is off, but that would be a function of your WiFi button (and perhaps DSDT). Does your laptop require special software to be loaded to make WiFi work on Windows, or does it work right away on a fresh install of retail Windows? If it works without issue on a retail install of Windows (no special drivers/apps), then it points to some sort of ACPI problem (assuming your OS X install is vanilla, and not tampered with).

You might look into what your Fn+F12 button actually does (eg. use ACPIDebug to see if any methods are triggered in DSDT).

Note: I've also heard of some cards requiring a specific pin (pins?) to be taped to avoid having the card turned off. I don't know the details, as I've never run into that issue. Given it works on Windows, seems more likely some ACPI shenanigans.