Viao VPCW111XX network

[clicktician]

The Sony Viao VPCW111XX netbook hardware is too new for most distros at the moment (8/20/2009). Of the 18 I tried, only Suse 11.2 Milestone 6 and Ubuntu Karmic Koala Alpha 2 were able to activate the network. So, out of the box support is coming soon, but it's not here yet. (Note Karmic Koala ships Oct 29, 2009)

I have upgraded my Viao with 2GB of memory and Ultimate Edition 2.3 which I downloaded/burned using another Linux box, and installed using a USB DVD drive. (I blew away Windows XP. I don't know how to use it anyway so I doubt I'll miss it.) Everything works splendidly except the network. And what good is a netbook with no "net"?

The Viao has Atheros network hardware:
AR8132 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter

Here's how I got both of these working in Ultimate Edition 2.3. My plan was to first get the wired network running, and then use it to get the wireless up. Below, I detail what worked for me in a way that I think a newbie could follow.
You'll need to use another computer (or Windows on the Viao) to get the driver file... there are lots of solutions to this problem. If you've installed Ultimate Edition on the Viao, then you already know what to do.

1) Obtain Fast Ethernet network driver from Atheros.
http://partner.atheros.com/Drivers.aspx
The file will be named something like:
AR81Family-linux-v1.0.0.10.tar.gz

2) Create a directory in your $HOME and call it say... Atheros (you'll be keeping this directory around for a while, so make it meaningful)

3) Move/Copy the AR*.gz file above to this directory using a USB stick, CD, SD card, or whatever.

4) Open a terminal (Applications => Accessories => Terminal) and cd to your Atheros directory.

5) Enter:
tar -xzvf AR81Family-linux-v1.0.0.10.tar.gz
(this unpacks the archive into your directory)

6) Your ethernet cable should be plugged in at this point.
Enter:

cd src
make
sudo make install
(At this point you may be asked for your user password.
Don't worry about the man page error.)
sudo insmod atl1e.ko


(NOTE: you can find the new driver by:
cd /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/net/atl1e
If you don't see the file atl1e.ko then something went wrong in this step.
HINT: If you don't know what kernel you're running try entering: uname -r
or cat /proc/version

In a few seconds, the X on the Network Icon on the right side of the menu bar should clear.
If it doesn't there are lots of things you can do, but just restart instead.

optionally, you can open a terminal and enter:

ifconfig -a

(This should display your network interfaces. You are looking for "eth0". If you don't see it, something went wrong)

Now that you have a wired network, we need to get the wireless working, but we must update our kernel and do some housekeeping first.
7) System => Administration => Synaptic Package Manager
(You may be prompted for your user password)
Hit Reload, then Mark All Upgrades, and then Apply

Lots of upgrades will be downloaded and installed, but most importantly you've got a new kernel. So, restart again!

Now that you're on the new kernel, notice that your network icon has the dreaded X on it and now you have no network!

8) cd back to your Atheros directory and repeat step 6 above. The network is fixed again. You will have to repeat step 6 each time Synaptic tells you that a new Kernel has been installed (this doesn't happen very often). Once Ultimate Edition has reached the Karmic Koala underpinnings, however, you won't need to do this anymore.

Now let's install our wireless drivers and configure them (easy part).

9) Enter:

sudo apt-get install linux-backports-modules-jaunty


Let the update finish. Be sure the wireless switch on the front left side of the Vaio is turned on.
Restart once again.

Now, when you click and hold on the network icon, a list of your available wireless networks should be displayed. To connect, select one and follow the prompts.
And the ifconfig command shows you have a new network interface called "wlan0"

NOTE: If you use WMWiFiRouter on your smartphone for WiFi tethering (as I do), this ad-hoc network could be "hidden" and might not appear in the list. So, select "Connect To Hidden Wireless Network...", and enter your connection info. This connection will be remembered from then on.