Re: [Trisquel-users] Atheros AR5B225

[chris]

The wifi works. The bluetooth does not. Disregard posts to the contrary. I  
believe there is a user out there who tested it and thought it worked because  
of the way in which it was tested. What I believe they did to get the  
mistaken test results is they booted a distribution which included non-free  
software, tested the wifi, then rebooted to Trisquel. The firmware was loaded  
when Trisquel started up and so the bluetooth worked. As a result they  
incorrectly thought that Trisquel was compatible when in fact the ath3k  
firmware which the device depends on is not free and is not included in the  
Trisquel. In fact if the user had shut the computer off and turned it back on  
and then loaded Trisquel the bluetooth would not have worked.

I would like to see Atheros release the code for the ath3k chipset. However  
this involves getting a different department within Atheros to cooperate. It  
may be possible although its not as easy to get it released as it was for the  
newer USB N chipset from Atheros.