Some time ago, while using Gentoo, I modified the kernel to stop a wireless problem I had been having and forgot to make a post about it. Now, I’ve switched by to Ubuntu (didn’t have time to administrate Gentoo and compile everything, and I missed Ubuntu). Luckily, version 8.10 BETA was released just a few days earlier and I was able to upgrade, getting the 2.6.27 kernel (required so my computer wouldn’t randomly shut down (other computers may freeze instead) due to the drivers, while the net was in use).

For settings up RaLink drivers for your wireless device, please see a previous entry: RT61 / RT2×00 RaLink Linux Driver Installation

In many previous kernel versions, including 2.6.27, my wireless would randomly go down. I checked dmesg | tail and found that I received the following error:


[41884.647257] wlan0: authenticate with AP 00:15:e9:76:1a:ee
[41884.658208] wlan0: authenticated
[41884.658208] wlan0: associate with AP 00:15:e9:76:1a:ee
[41884.668257] wlan0: RX ReassocResp from 00:15:e9:76:1a:ee (capab=0x431 status=0 aid=5)
[41884.668257] wlan0: associated
[41892.844239] wlan0: no IPv6 routers present
[68822.729255] wlan0: No ProbeResp from current AP 00:15:e9:76:1a:ee - assume out of range


For more information, please see my posts in the following bug report:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/200500
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/200500/comments/35

Within the bug report, a link was referenced to modify the kernel, increasing the amount of time to wait for a response, so it doesn’t assume it’s out of range and disconnect. The problem is - the file to edit didn’t exist anymore in 2.6.27:

http://rt2×00.serialmonkey.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2081&p=30312&hilit=No+ProbeResp+from+current+AP#p30312

First, you must obtain your kernel source. In gentoo, emerge the vanilla or gentoo sources. In Ubuntu, run the following commands (taken and modified from https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Kernel/Compile):


$ su
(Enter root password - if it's not set, run "sudo su" instead
$ apt-get install linux-source
$ cd /usr/src
$ tar xjvf /usr/src/linux-source-*.tar.bz2
$ cd linux-source-*
$ vi ./net/mac80211/mlme.c #or use your favorite text editor


In the file mlme.c, find the following line:

#define IEEE80211_MONITORING_INTERVAL (2 * HZ)

Modify it so it looks like this (we’re changing the “2″ to “100″):

#define IEEE80211_MONITORING_INTERVAL (100 * HZ)

Save and close the file. Let’s get to building it. With Gentoo, you would simply run “make && make modules_install”, navigate to “arch/your_arch/boot”, find the image, and copy it to /boot. Then modify GRUB/Lilo accordingly. Since Gentoo users probably know what they’re doing, I’ll focus on Ubuntu, which I recently figured out how to do via the above wiki. Ubuntu does it oddly.

Using the commands in the wiki, I had some trouble. It was trying to build using the “xen” archeticture - definatly not what I have. I wanted amd64 (which is x86_64 in the eyes of the kernel). So, I added the –arch option to the below commands. Be sure to specify YOUR architecture (such as i386). Also note the –apend-to-version line. This will append text to the kernel version (which’ll show up in uname -r). Remove it if you don’t want anything. If you do, modify the text in the command.

Multi-core/multiple processors: If you have multiple processors or cores (such as dual-core), type the following command before continuing, replacing the number with 1 + number of processors/cores. This will increase the compiling speed (trust me, you want that) by utilizing all available processors/cores. If you’re busy doing something else, you may wish not to set it, so your computer doesn’t slow down too much.

export CONCURRENCY_LEVEL=3


$ cp -vi /boot/config-`uname -r` .config #copy current configuration to use when building kernel
$ make-kpkg --arch=amd64 clean
$ fakeroot make-kpkg --arch=amd64 --initrd --append-to-version=-some-string-here kernel-image kernel-headers


Go grab something to eat, watch TV, throw pebbles at young children - something to pass the time. It’ll take a while.

After it is complete, in Ubuntu, this will have created *.deb files and placed them in the parent directory (in this case, /usr/src). Let’s install them!


$ echo vesafb | sudo tee -a /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
$ echo fbcon | sudo tee -a /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
$ dpkg -i linux-*.deb


After that, check out the following link for building the restricted modules:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CustomRestrictedModules

Then, of course, modify GRUB to boot the new image. Good luck!

Ah - the weather in NY is finally starting to look up. I’m sure it’ll be a while yet before it is consistantly warm, however it gives me a wonderful glimpse of how things will be. In spring/summer, the quality of my work (as well as quantity) tends to increase. Hopefully this means MyCustomBB will start to grow a bit more quickly than it has been.

A few days ago, I received my FSF membership goodies in the mail. Among these things were a bootable GNU/Linux membership card / CD-ROM, utility flash drive, a CD containing the source code for the files contained on the membership card, a small collection of articles and a very generous amount of creative stickers which I could not help but show everyone. Click on the image above to enlarge.

In an effort to give back to the open source and free software communities that has so positively affected both my life and career, I have become an Associate Member of the Free Software Foundation to provide my support. I encourage other open source supporters to do the same, or make a small donation toward the effort. For more information on membership, click the image on the lower-right hand column of this page.

With that said, GNU GPLv3 has been released and has some impressive improvements over version two. All my open source projects, most notably MyCustomBB, will adopt this new license.

I have also made my final decision not to return to developing for Microsoft Windows. All my open source projects will be cross-os / cross-browser, however I will no longer be developing projects exclusively for Windows. After getting Internet Explorer working on Linux (for developing websites to conform to its absence of standards), I have abandoned it completely and now exclusively use Linux (Ubuntu) and open source software.

Finally, on a lesser note, I’ve modified this blog’s theme to be a bit more fitting. Hopefully everyone likes it.

Welcome to my new blog. Origionally I simply had this URL forward users to my account on RentACoder, but decided to do a little bit more. Until I have the time to create a fully functional website of my own (I’m exceptionally busy), I’ll be using WordPress.

This site is not going to contain too much information. Mostly it will contain links to any other projects I may have, and small things I make in my spare time. For those of you who are here in hopes of contacting me for a project, you may do so directly via E-mail at mike@mikegerwitz.com, or via RentACoder.