Compatible Wifi adapters

[Bearson]

Which wifi adapters are compatible with android-x86. Would be helpful
to know right off hand what wifi adapters/cards/mini-pci cards are
supported by android out of the box. I understand that the most
notorious problem people are facing with there test machines is wifi
support. Most netbooks and laptops use mini-pci wifi cards and if we
know what cards are supported maybe we could swap out the mini-pci
cards for a compatible card, maybe even a faster compatible card at
that?

Any suggestions or validation or your thoughts on this?

[gamut]

I don't get it myself. Why is it that wifi works perfectly on MeeGo,
Joli, Ubuntu (even old builds), but not on android x86? Is there a
reason all the necessary drivers can't just be bundled in and loaded
as needed? Does hardware detection not function normally in this OS?


On Dec 19 2011, 12:49 pm, Bearson <bearson2...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Whichwifiadapters are compatible with android-x86. Would be helpful
> to know right off hand whatwifiadapters/cards/mini-pci cards are

> supported by android out of the box.  I understand that the most
> notorious problem people are facing with there test machines iswifi

> support.  Most netbooks and laptops use mini-pciwificards and if we

[dscm]

with all the different wifi adapters that exist for laptops/tablets
it is impossible to configure an android kernel to select all of
them...

and wireless hardware compatibility is one of the main problem areas
with laptops
even with linux which android is based on I believe....

so that being said...you could check here: http://www.linux-laptop.net/
and see that your laptop/tablet/etc. has working drivers for
wireless..
then insure that they are configured into your kernel and/or use
modprobe
to install the driver..if they are not configured then you need to
build your own kernel with the driver configured....

On Dec 19 2011, 12:49 pm, Bearson <bearson2...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Wojtek Grabski]

I would agree except that android x86 seems to suffer most from this.
I've never not had my wifi not work on Ubuntu. I've tried three
netbooks now with this and none of them work. Also I've noticed that
almost no drivers are included in the builds. I understand the need
for optimization but with wifi I can't see a reason why. This is
loaded onto netbooks that almost all have more than a few gigs of
storage. Hundreds in fact. Is it boot time then? If so, do the mere
seconds saved get balanced against the hours spent recompiling the
kernel? I've started this discussion in two threads so I'll stop, but
something appears to be wrong with the project approach here. And I
would urge the devs to aim for a wider audience.

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[dscm]

Ubuntu and linux in general are designed/built to cover as many
platforms as possible...Android/Android-x86 are designed/built for
specific
platforms...IMO

On Jan 4, 12:57 pm, Wojtek Grabski <woj...@grabski.ca> wrote:
> I would agree except that android x86 seems to suffer most from this.
> I've never not had my wifi not work on Ubuntu. I've tried three
> netbooks now with this and none of them work. Also I've noticed that
> almost no drivers are included in the builds. I understand the need
> for optimization but with wifi I can't see a reason why. This is
> loaded onto netbooks that almost all have more than a few gigs of
> storage. Hundreds in fact.  Is it boot time then?  If so, do the mere
> seconds saved get balanced against the hours spent recompiling the
> kernel?  I've started this discussion in two threads so I'll stop, but
> something appears to be wrong with the project approach here. And I
> would urge the devs to aim for a wider audience.
>

[Wojtek Grabski]

Right, and that's kind of my concern.  I would worry about adoption and popularity with this philosophy.  Most of us who approach this OS on x86 do so after buying the hardware, not before.  If we happen to get hardware that doesn't work, then we're stuck loading a different OS; that's the practical reality, and one that will keep this project on the fringes, or compel most of those who don't have time to recompile to just buy android pre-loaded.  Which is a shame since the ability to dual-boot windows and android has some spectacular advantages.

[Aaron Caba]

this issue is bugging me so much. all i would like a dev to tell me is.. how to add the wifi adapter drivers to android x86. the question has been asked , noone has answered for two years. going through post after post people just like to tell each other how stupid they are there is no real help for a normal guy who doesn't want to learn the last 20 years of computer programming just to have a question answered like "why don't you already know how stupid can you be?" i am a persistant person who WILL learn a sht load just to do one thing but i know not everyone is like this and will just give up remove x86 and tell their freinds it doesn't really work, rather than getting more people to use x86 and the os can grow in popularity. my 1st request would be instructional videos, but the only vids to be found are 2year old install on virtual box and thats about it you have to toil through hundreds of posts or boasts ive come to know them by with no real help regarding any of the issues i face. this group is flawed in that respect if your not bill gates don't bother asking a single fucking question!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Vivi]

Aaron -


Here is my understanding of what you have to do to add any driver that is not included with standard Android x86 distro:
- Get the specs of the module to be driven or find a source code for a suitable linux driver
- be sure you understand linux drivers development (you may have to learn it, it is not an easy task)
- get yourself an Android x86 build environment (this is explained here : http://www.android-x86.org/getsourcecode ) and make sure it works
- create or adapt the source code for the driver for it to be buildable with Androidx86 build chain
- include your source files into the source tree, create the makefiles and everything that is needed and build your driver
- test it. It won't work at first try (unless you are really genius a developer)
- when it works, propose it to be included in the standard source tree

As you can see, it is not an easy task. Android x86 is NOT a product that you can request support for and blame someone when not receiving it. It is a collaborative project (mainly on Chei Wei's shoulders, and he is doing a really great job). A project. Not a product.

If you want an x86 android that you can have support with, you may want to find one of the commercial tablets that use Intel chips and that runs Android

On 04/06/2014 14:24, Aaron Caba wrote:

[dscm]

simply use google and find answers.....

https://community.freescale.com/docs/DOC-93603

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=how%20to%20add%20the%20wifi%20adapter%20drivers%20to%20android%20x86

if you search this forum you'll find whenever a wifi card has been suggested the dev have ended up adding it...

Unlike MeeGO /Joli / Ubuntu /etc. who have "paid employees" to include/debug/test added drivers, this is all
volunteers.....donating their time and efforts!!!!

[fuzzy7k]

I think you'll find the reason nobody has responded is a combination of there not being any clear cut answer and nodody with enought experience to feel comfortable answering it. I'm assuming you are referring to proprietary drivers, because for in kernel drivers the answer you are looking for is in the project documentation section under modifying kernel source.

As far as I know, there has only been one proprietary driver added to the project, Broadcom-sta( a.k.a hybrid, wl.ko). And that was by me, and I didn't know what I was doing.

The biggest challenge is learning the Makefile system. A search for GNU make will get you the manual. What I did was put the driver source in the kernel tree and call out the module from the drivers/net/wireless/Makefile. On the issue tracker, I posted a script that downloaded the source (since nobody is legally allowed to redistribute it) and patched the Makefiles and source code necessary for it to compile. CW found it and was kind enough to incorporate it into the Android.mk and write a Kconfig for the menuconfig system.

However, this approach has not been without issues. At the time it served us well because all targets could easily make use of it and every new kernel needed new patches for it to work. Now that Broadcom has stopped supplying that version driver, those kernels no longer build without maintenance. If I were to redo it today I would put the source in external/broadcom-sta and modify the makefiles to look in the proper place for the kernel source and output the module to the proper place.

On Wednesday, June 4, 2014 8:24:49 AM UTC-4, Aaron Caba wrote:

[Somebody]

Most (if not all...) wifi devices made by Qualcomm (used to be called "Atheros") should work. Intel can often work, last time I used an intel wifi card was several years ago, and back then it was hit/miss on them (even back then, Atheros hardware was 100%). Broadcomm and just about everything else sucks ass.

[Somebody]

Not all Qualcomm, actually. There is one qualcomm device that had a serious design flaw. QCA9880v1. Its a very early 802.11ac device. They decided not to put the resources into supporting it because of its defects. That device's *replacement* however, the QCA9880v2 **IS** supported and working under linux.

It uses driver ath10k, which is fairly new, but should be part of the kernel source. Don't ask me if its actually being built though.

On Monday, December 19, 2011 12:49:46 PM UTC-5, Bearson wrote: