Disabling free modules on Ubuntu

Since the kernel 2.6.27 was released we can take advantage of the new free modules that support almost all webcam and wifi devices. But there is something weird sometimes, above all on wifi devices, what happens is that the free module is so much slower than the privative one.

The way to fix it is disabling the free modules and installing the privative one. To do this on Ubuntu (Intrepid) we need to edit the file /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist and add a new line for each module we want to disable. Of course, it is completely necessary to know which is the module name.

Here are two examples: with atheros and bcm4xxx devices. My problem was that the top speed with the “old” privative driver was at least 300kb/s (the speed line), however, with the free module, this speed was 100kb/s (just annoying).

So if we want to disable these modules, here is what we have to do. Open a terminal and:
sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist

A new window will appear. Go to the bottom and add these lines (it depends if you have one or the other device):
blacklist ath5k
(for atheros devices)

blacklist bcm4xxx
(for bcm4xxx devices)

And that’s all. The install the privative drivers and all will work fine.

Tags: atheros, bcm4xxx, kernel, Ubuntu