Wifi button light flashing / blinking during network usage (it shouldnt)

English Hardware
1

So i 've recently gotten a HP G60 laptop that has a built-in Atheros AR242x / AR542x wireless adapter and using the ath5k driver.

the wifi button shows orange when it’s not connected to a network and blue when it is.

But with openSUSE it flashes constantly between the two colors and sometimes looks purple, whenever the laptop is sending & receiving data.

I’ve searched around on a few forums, but most comments are for ubuntu and for config files that aren’t in my opensuse install.

So how can i diable the blinking so the wifi button just stays the same colour ?

2

On Thu 09 Oct 2014 05:56:01 PM CDT, cra1g321 wrote:

So i 've recently gotten a HP G60 laptop that has a built-in Atheros
AR242x / AR542x wireless adapter and using the ath5k driver.

the wifi button shows orange when it’s not connected to a network and
blue when it is.

But with openSUSE it flashes constantly between the two colors and
sometimes looks purple, whenever the laptop is sending & receiving data.

I’ve searched around on a few forums, but most comments are for ubuntu
and for config files that aren’t in my opensuse install.

So how can i diable the blinking so the wifi button just stays the same
colour ?

Hi
With the ath5k doesn’t look like there is a module option to disable.

Is there info if you run;


cat /sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-21-desktop
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3 
cra1g321@linux:~> cat /sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger
none cpu0 cpu1 cpu2 cpu3 ADP1-online BAT0-charging-or-full BAT0-charging BAT0-full BAT0-charging-blink-full-solid rfkill0 [phy0rx] phy0tx phy0assoc phy0radio
4

On Thu 09 Oct 2014 06:26:01 PM CDT, cra1g321 wrote:

cra1g321@linux:~> cat /sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger
none cpu0 cpu1 cpu2 cpu3 ADP1-online BAT0-charging-or-full BAT0-charging BAT0-full BAT0-charging-blink-full-solid rfkill0 [phy0rx] phy0tx phy0assoc phy0radio

Hi
Ok, so [phy0rx] is selected, try as root user;


echo none | sudo tee "/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::tx/trigger" > /dev/null
echo none | sudo tee "/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger" > /dev/null

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-21-desktop
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please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!

5

No difference, thanks for the help so far.

6

Hi
So if you re run the cat command, did it change?

7

I entered both those lines, opened a new webpage and it still was flashing,

rebooted the laptop and still was flashing during network input/ouput.

8

On Thu 09 Oct 2014 07:46:01 PM CDT, cra1g321 wrote:

malcolmlewis;2668627 Wrote:
> Hi
> So if you re run the cat command, did it change?

I entered both those lines, opened a new webpage and it still was
flashing,

rebooted the laptop and still was flashing during network input/ouput.

Hi
If you run;


cat /sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger

Then;


echo none | sudo tee "/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::tx/trigger" > /dev/null
echo none | sudo tee "/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger" > /dev/null

Then;


cat /sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger

Does it change from [phy0rx] to [none]?

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-21-desktop
If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!

9 
linux:~ # cat /sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger
none cpu0 cpu1 cpu2 cpu3 ADP1-online BAT0-charging-or-full BAT0-charging BAT0-full BAT0-charging-blink-full-solid rfkill0 [phy0rx] phy0tx phy0assoc phy0radio 
linux:~ # echo none | sudo tee "/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::tx/trigger" > /dev/null
linux:~ # echo none | sudo tee "/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger" > /dev/null
linux:~ # cat /sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger
[none] cpu0 cpu1 cpu2 cpu3 ADP1-online BAT0-charging-or-full BAT0-charging BAT0-full BAT0-charging-blink-full-solid rfkill0 phy0rx phy0tx phy0assoc phy0radio 
linux:~ #

It’s stopped flashing !!! woohoo !!
going to reboot and see if it stays like this.

** UPDATE **

rebooted and its flashing again :confused:

after rebooting and logging in again, i did the first command, the one that has “tx” then loaded youtube and it flashed still,
then i did the second command and it stopped flashing.

hope this helps you think of a solution.

10

Hi
OK, so we can turn that into a systemd service file so it runs at boot.

Create a text file called ath5knoled.service from below and copy it (as root user) to /etc/systemd/system/


# /etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service
#

[Unit]
Description=Disable flashing leds with ath5k module
After=syslog.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "/usr/bin/echo none > \"/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::tx/trigger\""
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "/usr/bin/echo none > \"/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger\""

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then lets test to see if it works;


systemctl start ath5knoled.service
systemctl status ath5knoled.service

If it exits with success, then enable the service and reboot to test;


systemctl enable ath5knoled.service
11 
linux:/etc/systemd/system # systemctl start ath5knoled.servicelinux:/etc/systemd/system # systemctl status ath5knoled.service
ath5knoled.service
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service)
   Active: inactive (dead)


Oct 10 00:03:47 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:3] Assign...ng.
Oct 10 00:03:53 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:1] Assign...ng.
Oct 10 00:03:53 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:2] Assign...ng.
Oct 10 00:03:53 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:3] Assign...ng.
Oct 10 00:04:49 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:1] Assign...ng.
Oct 10 00:04:49 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:2] Assign...ng.
Oct 10 00:04:49 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:3] Assign...ng.
Oct 10 00:04:51 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:1] Assign...ng.
Oct 10 00:04:51 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:2] Assign...ng.
Oct 10 00:04:51 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:3] Assign...ng.
Hint: Some lines were ellipsized, use -l to show in full.
linux:/etc/systemd/system # systemctl status -l  ath5knoled.service
ath5knoled.service
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service)
   Active: inactive (dead)


Oct 10 00:03:53 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:3] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.
Oct 10 00:04:49 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:1] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.
Oct 10 00:04:49 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:2] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.
Oct 10 00:04:49 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:3] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.
Oct 10 00:04:51 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:1] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.
Oct 10 00:04:51 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:2] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.
Oct 10 00:04:51 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:3] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.
Oct 10 00:04:57 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:1] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.
Oct 10 00:04:57 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:2] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.
Oct 10 00:04:57 linux.site systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service:3] Assignment outside of section. Ignoring.

i did

touch /etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service
then opened it in vi and pasted in,

was there anything else i was meant to do ?

like maybe chmos a+x or something ?

12

Hi
Ok, lets just create a script and call that;

Create a file called ath5knoled with the following;


#!/bin/bash
# Disable flashing leds

/usr/bin/echo none | /usr/bin/tee "/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::tx/trigger" > /dev/null
/usr/bin/echo none | /usr/bin/tee "/sys/class/leds/ath5k-phy0::rx/trigger" > /dev/null

Save in /usr/sbin and chmod 0755 it

Then edit your systemd service to;


# /etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service
#

[Unit]
Description=Disable flashing leds with ath5k module
After=syslog.target

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c "/usr/sbin/ath5knoled"

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then run the systemctl commands again.

–
Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890)
openSUSE 13.1 (Bottle) (x86_64) GNOME 3.10.1 Kernel 3.11.10-21-desktop
If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface,
please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks!

13

Did all what you said, then i got a message about it failing and to check it’s status.

I forgot to copy and paste it, but it said something like /usr/sbin/ath5knoled: No such file or directory"

so i did cp /usr/bin/ath5knoled /usr/sbin/ath5knoled

and now when i do the systemctl start command i get no error output,

then doing the status one i get

linux:/etc/systemd/system # systemctl status ath5knoled.service
ath5knoled.service - Disable flashing leds with ath5k module
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/ath5knoled.service; disabled)
   Active: inactive (dead)


Oct 10 01:39:01 linux.site sh[2102]: /bin/sh: /usr/sbin/ath5knoled: No such file or directory
Oct 10 01:40:28 linux.site sh[2142]: /usr/sbin/ath5knoled: line 1: sable: command not found
Oct 10 01:42:40 linux.site sh[2224]: /usr/sbin/ath5knoled: line 1: sable: command not found
Hint: Some lines were ellipsized, use -l to show in full.

and there is no more flashing, so how should i set this to load at boot or login ?

14

Hi
Can you check the script /usr/sbin/ath5knoled script at line one for a typo?

If it’s working, then;


systemctl enable ath5knoled.service
systemctl status ath5knoled.service

That should show the service as enabled, if so reboot and check it works.

15

Fixed the spelling mistakes (oops)

rebooted and no more flashing :slight_smile:

Cheers for all the help MalcolmLewis :good: