Just try to write my own note here for my future reference, but I think it won’t be useful if I keep it myself.

I realized that after upgrading the kernel to version 3.8.8, I can’t found my ethernet card detected. Even if I have broadcom wifi installed and already set up wifi network at home, ethernet card sometimes required when I need to visit my client’s office where wifi network is unavailable.

atheros_not_detected

As usual, after googling for a while, I found that kernel.org host backport driver. you can found it here https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/backports/2013/03/28/compat-drivers-2013-03-28-5-u.tar.bz2. Just browse parent directory to find the latest update.

How to Install

The first step, you need to download the driver archive mentioned above, it’s not a big file, around 6-7 Mb. Use any download manager to download it, I am using wget here

$wget https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/projects/backports/2013/03/28/compat-drivers-2013-03-28-5-u.tar.bz2

After the download is finished, just extract it using any archive manager you prefer

$tar -xvf compat-drivers-2013-03-28-5-u.tar.bz2

atheros_extract_alx_archive

change current directory to the directory where the archives are extracted, select the alx driver, and make

$tar -xzvf compat-drivers-2013-03-28-5-u.tar.bz2
$sudo ./scripts/driver-select alx
$sudo make

atheros_driver_select

after finish compiling the source, run make install and modprobe alx (reboot when necessary)

$sudo make install
$sudo modprobe alx
$sudo reboot

 atheros_make_n_make_install

After rebooting your machine, you should see your ethernet card detected and enabled

atheros_detected

atheros_lshw