AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Questions about hardware, drivers and peripherals
Forum rules
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Locked
mr.magoo

AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by mr.magoo »

Took Vincent's advice and created a thread for this little gem. Right now, I'm hardwired to the net. I had this set up in the valley, but it's been idle since I moved here. Although I wouldn't call this brick "portable," it would be nice to be able to get it out of the oven that's my "office" (add-on room with no heating/cooling). This is my device. AFAICT, it is not supported by Linux (is that the proper phrasing?) and a search of their site didn't turn up any wireless device that would work with Linux, though sometimes I don't know a horse when I see one. Perchance, would CrossOver be of any use here? I've yet to mess much with that, kind o' waiting until I get settled elsewhere, but if I can get this jewel going, my time on the computer would be much more enjoyable under certain circumstances. Btw, I had it plugged in and ran the command line lspci -v. This is what I got:

steve@steve-laptop ~ $ lspci -v
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: intel-agp

00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Graphics Port (rev 07)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=01, subordinate=01, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00002000-00002fff
Memory behind bridge: cc000000-ceffffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000d0000000-00000000dfffffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
I/O ports at 1800
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 21
I/O ports at 1820
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1a.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
I/O ports at 1840
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03) (prog-if 20)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
Memory at f2504800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 22
Memory at f2500000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable)
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel

00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=02, subordinate=03, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00003000-00003fff
Memory behind bridge: f4000000-f5ffffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000f0000000-00000000f1ffffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1c.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3 (rev 03)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=0e, subordinate=0e, sec-latency=0
I/O behind bridge: 00004000-00004fff
Memory behind bridge: c0000000-c00fffff
Prefetchable memory behind bridge: 00000000f2000000-00000000f20fffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=14, subordinate=14, sec-latency=0
Memory behind bridge: f2100000-f21fffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 6 (rev 03)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=20, subordinate=20, sec-latency=0
Memory behind bridge: f2200000-f22fffff
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: pcieport-driver
Kernel modules: shpchp

00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
I/O ports at 1860
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
I/O ports at 1880
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 18
I/O ports at 18a0
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: uhci_hcd

00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03) (prog-if 20)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 23
Memory at f2504c00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable)
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd

00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93) (prog-if 01)
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0
Bus: primary=00, secondary=26, subordinate=26, sec-latency=0
Capabilities: <access denied>

00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 0
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: iTCO_wdt

00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller (rev 03) (prog-if 01)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 29
I/O ports at 18f0
I/O ports at 18e4 [size=4]
I/O ports at 18e8 [size=8]
I/O ports at 18e0 [size=4]
I/O ports at 18c0 [size=32]
Memory at f2504000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ahci

00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: medium devsel, IRQ 10
Memory at c0100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
I/O ports at 1c00 [size=32]
Kernel modules: i2c-i801

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G94 [GeForce 9700M GTS] (rev a1)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff01
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at ce000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
Memory at d0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
Memory at cc000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32M]
I/O ports at 2000 [size=128]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: nvidia
Kernel modules: nvidia, nvidiafb

0e:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 30
I/O ports at 4000 [size=256]
Memory at f2010000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=4K]
Memory at f2000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=64K]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at f2020000 [disabled] [size=64K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: r8169
Kernel modules: r8169

14:00.0 Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
Subsystem: Foxconn International, Inc. Device e009
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19
Memory at f2100000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ath9k
Kernel modules: ath9k

20:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): JMicron Technology Corp. IEEE 1394 Host Controller (prog-if 10)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff00
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
Memory at f2200000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]
Memory at f2201000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128]
Memory at f2200c00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128]
Memory at f2200800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: ohci1394
Kernel modules: firewire-ohci, ohci1394

20:00.1 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff02
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
Memory at f2201400 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci

20:00.2 SD Host controller: JMicron Technology Corp. Standard SD Host Controller (prog-if 01)
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff02
Flags: fast devsel, IRQ 17
Memory at f2201800 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel modules: sdhci-pci

20:00.3 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. MS Host Controller
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff02
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
Memory at f2201c00 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>
Kernel driver in use: jmb38x_ms
Kernel modules: jmb38x_ms

20:00.4 System peripheral: JMicron Technology Corp. xD Host Controller
Subsystem: Toshiba America Info Systems Device ff02
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 10
Memory at f2202000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=256]
Capabilities: <access denied>

Not sure I'll ever figure my way around this computer! :lol:
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
vincent

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury

Post by vincent »

I see the following in your lspci -v output:

Code: Select all

Network controller: Atheros Communications Inc. AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) (rev 01)
May I ask, why do you need an USB adapter that you know isn't supported by Linux, when you can use the in-built Atheros wireless card that's in your computer? Most Atheros cards, as far as I know, do work fairly well in Linux...

Anyways, that AT&T adapter you have is in the form of a USB device, correct? Then lspci -v is useless; please give me the output of:

Code: Select all

lsusb
(while your adapter is plugged into your computer, that is)
mr.magoo

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by mr.magoo »

You can ask that Vincent, but I'm just the village idiot in these parts. If I can configure wireless without the stick, then the stick is superfluous.

This is what's applicable from the lsusb:
Bus 002 Device 007: ID 1199:6880 Sierra Wireless, Inc.
So, I guess the proper question is "how do I configure my wireless Atheros adapter?"
vincent

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by vincent »

Your Atheros adapter is already using the ath9k driver, according to your lspci -v output. Does it not already work?

If not, could you please provide the output of:

Code: Select all

lspci -nn
iwconfig
mr.magoo

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by mr.magoo »

steve@steve-laptop ~ $ lspci -nn
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub [8086:2a40] (rev 07)
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset PCI Express Graphics Port [8086:2a41] (rev 07)
00:1a.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 [8086:2937] (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 [8086:2938] (rev 03)
00:1a.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 [8086:2939] (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 [8086:293c] (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller [8086:293e] (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 [8086:2940] (rev 03)
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 3 [8086:2944] (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 [8086:2946] (rev 03)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 6 [8086:294a] (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 [8086:2934] (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 [8086:2935] (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 [8086:2936] (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 [8086:293a] (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge [8086:2448] (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation ICH9M LPC Interface Controller [8086:2919] (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller [0106]: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller [8086:2929] (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller [8086:2930] (rev 03)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: nVidia Corporation G94 [GeForce 9700M GTS] [10de:062a] (rev a1)
0e:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller [10ec:8168] (rev 02)
14:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Atheros Communications Inc. AR928X Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) [168c:002a] (rev 01)
20:00.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394) [0c00]: JMicron Technology Corp. IEEE 1394 Host Controller [197b:2380]
20:00.1 System peripheral [0880]: JMicron Technology Corp. SD/MMC Host Controller [197b:2382]
20:00.2 SD Host controller [0805]: JMicron Technology Corp. Standard SD Host Controller [197b:2381]
20:00.3 System peripheral [0880]: JMicron Technology Corp. MS Host Controller [197b:2383]
20:00.4 System peripheral [0880]: JMicron Technology Corp. xD Host Controller [197b:2384]
steve@steve-laptop ~ $ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

wmaster0 no wireless extensions.

wlan0 IEEE 802.11bgn ESSID:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.412 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Tx-Power=off
Retry long limit:7 RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:on
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

steve@steve-laptop ~ $
I tried going wireless a week ago and simply lost connection with the web.
mr.magoo

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by mr.magoo »

Dug out the paltry documentation that came with this machine and tried to set up again. I had an old WPA key that I used in the valley, so I created a new network using that pass key. Computer indicated that a connection was established, but evidently, there was no signal. I couldn't successfully open a browser and there was no indication of activity in the bars.

Gettin' there...
vincent

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by vincent »

Nothing wrong with your iwconfig output...now you just have to find an existing wireless network to connect to. Try the following command and see if your Atheros card can detect any nearby wireless networks:

Code: Select all

iwlist scan
Of course, this will only work if there is an existing wireless network nearby. If this is not the case, or nearby networks are all password-protected and you do not have the password, you obviously won't be able to connect to the web wirelessly. You can't just create a new network using a random old WPA key you have...if you want to create your own wireless network, you'll need to setup a router or some other wireless access point.
mr.magoo

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by mr.magoo »

Looks like there's nothing except my empty attempt. Cell phones don't work real well here, either.
steve@steve-laptop ~ $ iwlist scan
lo Interface doesn't support scanning.

eth0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wmaster0 Interface doesn't support scanning.

wlan0 Scan completed :
Cell 01 - Address: 62:DF:33:91:10:4D
Channel:1
Frequency:2.412 GHz (Channel 1)
Quality=70/70 Signal level=0 dBm
Encryption key:on
ESSID:"steve"
Bit Rates:1 Mb/s; 2 Mb/s; 5.5 Mb/s; 11 Mb/s; 6 Mb/s
9 Mb/s; 12 Mb/s; 18 Mb/s
Bit Rates:24 Mb/s; 36 Mb/s; 48 Mb/s; 54 Mb/s
Mode:Ad-Hoc
Extra:tsf=0000000000000000
Extra: Last beacon: 89108ms ago
IE: Unknown: 00057374657665
IE: Unknown: 010882840B160C121824
IE: Unknown: 030101
IE: Unknown: 06020000
IE: Unknown: 32043048606C
vincent

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by vincent »

Well, then you're stuck without a wireless connection (creating one doesn't count...that ad-hoc network you've created is useless). I'm sorry, but no amount of hacking or tinkering with Linux can substitute a properly configured router and a wireless network that works. :P

Routers are fairly cheap though, especially if you're just looking for the average consumer-class type of routers. Just go to your local computer store and ask around.
mr.magoo

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by mr.magoo »

Actually, I have one and I'm connected through it. It's a Lynksys Wireless-G Broadband Router, but me getting anything on this machine to work is like pulling teeth right now and I'm so distracted with my health and my living situation that getting anything done at all is a monumental effort and when I mount it, it invariably comes to grief. I keep tryin', though.
vincent

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by vincent »

All right, well you need to learn how to configure that router appropriately. Still got the router's manual with you? There should be a step by step guide somewhere about the installation and setup of your Linksys router. Failing that, here is a generic guide to setting up a router: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/organiz ... setup.aspx (ignore references to Microsoft-specific things)
mr.magoo

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by mr.magoo »

Me, the packrat? Yeah I got it somewhere. I've found though, in trying to get rid of my excess paper, that I've occasionally trashed something I should've kept. :roll:
vincent

Re: AT&T USBConnect Mercury/ wireless connection

Post by vincent »

If you can't find the manual in paper, you could probably find it online on Linksys' website...but you'll need to know the exact name, model, and revision number of your router (look around for some stickers on it, should tell you the required info).
Locked

Return to “Hardware Support”